"2019: Future Trends"

With the New Year breathing down our necks, trend "experts" are chomping at the bit with insights into what 2019 will bring.

Top of the list? Multi-tasking mirrors, according to WGSN. That's right folks, mirrors aren't just for looking anymore.

"Don't be surprised if come 2019 you hear your mirror telling you you're running low on vitamin D or running late for that crucial meeting while you're brushing your teeth in the morning!" explains WGSN. Mirrors will also double as lighting devices, calendars, and entertainment systems as well as health trackers. Who knew?

And then there's every body's favorite trends prognosticator, Gerald Celente, with his yearly dose of Doom & Gloom. A little Celente goes a long way, so you only get two of his Top 10 Mega Trends:

• An economic 9/11 is poised to strike causing a world-wide equity markets meltdown. Yikes.
• The Great Migration trend accelerates across the globe, as do populist movements that will dismantle entrenched governments and push nationalism. Double yikes.

Even the Director of National Intelligence is interested in predicting future trends.

Every four years since 1997, the National Intelligence Council (NIC) has published an unclassified strategic assessment of how key trends might shape up over the next 20 years.

"We identify global "drivers" and estimate their impact," says the NIC. Meeting globally with a range of experts, they don their thinking caps and gaze into the future based on present trends and what they see as possible "global trajectories." Good luck with that.

The only sure-fire trend? The Bible will continue to predict the future with 100% accuracy.

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is woven with predictions. In fact, more than 1/4 of the Bible is prophecy. Most of them (roughly 80%) have already been fulfilled. God uses prophecy to authenticate His Word. If the prophetic scriptures prove true, and history tells us they do, then we can also trust what they teach about Jesus and God's plan of salvation. (See the How To Go To Heaven link at the end of this post).

Meanwhile, the remaining 20% of unfulfilled prophecy will probably be fulfilled in our lifetime as every major player and global trend continue to fall into place exactly as the Bible predicts. So, if you want to know what the future holds--study the Bible.

A wise man once said: "To the student of prophecy, it all fits into a precise pattern that was predicted long ago. It motivates me to tell as many family and friends and even strangers as possible before it's too late." -- Hal Lindsey, author

"I am God, and there is no one else like Me. Only I can tell you what is going to happen even before it happens" (Isaiah 46: 9-10).

How To Go To Heaven

News:

• Drudge Report: Stocks Wild, Confidence Falls
• The Sun: Russia deploys nuclear bombers to Caribbean; largest deployment since Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
• DEBKAfile: Russia, Syria threaten Israel: "Any more air strikes and missiles will be fired deep into Israel.

"Killing Christmas"

The Grinch who stole Christmas is alive and well in Victoria, Canada in an apparent body-snatch of Councillor Ben Isitt.

His goal? Less Christmas, more diversity in seasonal decorations.

In other words--forget about decking the (public) halls with boughs of holly, firing up the lights or dressing a tree for the Holiday. Isitt wants things "secularized".

"I don't want a poinsettia. It is a symbol of the Christian faith," he complained, adding that the city's main Sequoia tree should not be lit up and turned into a Christmas tree because that is not "inclusive" enough and may offend Muslims.

Then there's the Nebraska principal, Jennifer Sinclair, who sent a memo banning teachers from using Christmas or holiday-related symbols or activities in the classroom, including:decorating Christmas trees

• singing Christmas carols
• playing Christmas music
• Elf on the Shelf (seriously?)
• making ornaments as gifts
• reindeer
• no Christmas videos/movies and/or characters from Christmas movies
• (and last but not least...) no candy canes!!!

Why no candy canes, you ask?  Sinclair told the teachers in the memo that candy canes are shaped in a "J for Jesus", and that the red is for the "blood of Christ" and "white is a symbol of His resurrection".

Sinclair's memo went viral and the very next day the principal was placed on administrative leave by the school district,  reports CNN.

Score one for the good guys and check this out: Most Americans still believe Jesus is the reason for the season, this according to a new Rasmussen poll.

67% believe Christmas should be more about Jesus Christ than about Santa Claus.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Mr. Grinch.

A wise woman once said: "More that two thousand years ago, a little baby was born in a manger; an event that changed the world. This boy-child, Jesus, is the promised Messiah who stepped down from Heaven to be born as a babe, live a sinless life and willingly give His life as the Perfect Lamb of God to pay a sin debt that He did not owe. As foretold in the Scriptures, He did this for you and me and the whole world. When we believe this simple truth, Jesus' payment for sin is accounted to us and we are promised eternal life."  -- Pamela Rose Williams

How To Go To Heaven "Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the City of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!"  (Luke 2:10-11).

News:

• The Jerusalem Post: Netanyahu: "We will do whatever we need to do to protect ourselves against Iran."
• SF Gate: Bomb threat emailed to hundreds of businesses, schools and government agencies in apparent cyber terror hoax. 
• Miami Herald: Heart attack risk greatest on Christmas, new study says

"Strange Seismic Wave Circles Globe: 'Remarkably Weird', Says Scientists"

Last month a strange, 9,000 mph seismic wave rippled across our planet, leaving seismologist @ALomaxNet baffled, as he quickly put out an alert over Twitter.

National Geographic reports; "On the morning of November 11, just before 9:30 UT, a mysterious rumble rolled around the world.

"The seismic waves began roughly 15 miles off the shores of Mayotte, a French island sandwiched between Africa and the northern tip of Madagascar. The waves buzzed across Africa, ringing sensors in Zambia, Kenya, and Ethiopia. They traversed vast oceans, humming across Chile, New Zealand, Canada and even Hawaii nearly 11,000 miles away.

"These waves didn't just zip by; they rang for more than 20 minutes. And yet, it seems, no human felt them."

Researchers around the globe racked their brains for the source of the waves--"Could it be a meteor strike? A submarine volcano eruption? An ancient sea monster rising from the deep?" asked NatGeo.

"I don't think I've seen anything like it," says Göran Ekström, a seismologist at Columbia University who specializes in unusual earthquakes. "Many features of the waves are remarkably weird--from their surprisingly monotone, low-frequency "ring" to their global spread."

And though researchers are still chasing down an explanation for this geological mystery, scientists believe they may have a potential answer: The collapse of an underground magma chamber.

While interesting, this worldwide "seismic wave" doesn't compare to what the Bible predicts will happen someday in the future.

The 6th Seal of Revelation depicts a global earthquake that is so powerful it moves every mountain and island out of place. Revelation also mentions earthquakes in Chapters 8:5, 11:13 and 11:19 concluding with the greatest earthquake in mankind's history. 

"And there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as has not occurred since men were on the earth"  (Revelation 16:18).

Unfortunately, it appears today's seismologists really haven't seen anything yet.

A wise man once said: "Various Scriptures warn us that the end-time events will come to pass suddenly and unexpectedly. God issued a warning that we should not be weighed down by the cares of this life so that the day of Christ's return arrives when we are not prepared. For it will come at a time when the world least expects it." -- Andre Van Blekum, Life, Hope & Truth

"But you aren't in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won't be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief...So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be sober" (1 Thessalonians 5: 4,6).

How To Go To Heaven!

News:

• AlaskaNews: Over 1,800 aftershocks have been measured since Friday's 7.0 earthquake in Alaska including 153 greater than 3.0; 18 at 4.0; 5 greater than 5.0
• DEBKAfile: Russian air defense missiles in Syria would threaten U.S. troops says U.S. Centcom chief; Russian systems deployed, but not yet activated
• LifeSite News: Facebook censored image of Santa Claus kneeling before Baby Jesus; 'violent or graphic content' cited.