Rapture Flight to Heaven

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In Loving Memory
  April 29, 1947 - September 5, 2020



Update: On Saturday, September 5th, 2020, the founder, administrator, and head moderator of this forum, Valerie S., went Home to be with the Lord.  Her obituary can be found on https://memorials.demarcofuneralhomes.com/valerie-skrzyniak/4321619/index.php.

This posting is dedicated to the forever memory and honor of Valerie, who was the founder of, and the inspiration for, this Web site.  The Web site will continue to operate in Valerie's remembrance, as requested by her family.  God bless!

Dedicated to God  the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit​​​​​​​
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

   For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  For the Lord Himself will 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:  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.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.     

​​​​​​​2 Timothy 4:7-8
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing
.

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Nearing Midnight - April, 2022

"Fair Use for Information and Discussion Purposes"

4 Apr 2022
Published on: April 3, 2022 by RRadmin7

Constant Crisis Mode

One of the most active features of our domain has been the Rapture Index. It has been the subject of a plethora of articles by the secular media. When I started it in 1987, my simple interest was focused on the activity of end-time events. There have been times when not much was going on in relation to Bible prophecy.

When I was in the Air Force, there was a time when I could be sent on a 45-day deployment to the Middle East and leave the site on hold the whole time. Today, if I forget to update something on a daily basis, I get calls from friends worried about my health.

A couple of years ago, I realized that the Rapture Index had lost its importance, primarily due to the fact that it is constantly stuck at high levels. The index has not been below 170 in 20 years. It is amazing that the index had a low of 58 in 1993. What keeps the RI high is that we are in Constant Crisis Mode. There is always something going on that keeps prophecy-related events in the news.

One of my favorite drought sites is the US drought monitor: https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu. It is run by the University of Nebraska, and they track areas of the US that have received below-average amounts of rainfall.

The site has records that go all the way back to the year 2000. I looked at them and noticed that in most years, the average level of droughts was less than 30% of the whole US. Right now, the percentage of the US in drought condition is 60%, which is the highest reading in the history of the site.

Because most western states receive their rainfall during the winter months, there was much hope that this season would end the Californian drought. The first couple months of winter looked good, with California receiving large amounts of rainfall, but the rain suddenly stopped. Since very little rainfall occurs in the summer months, California is back in the red zone for drought.

California has been in the drought category for four years straight. I was amazed at the state record of having the largest wildfires each year. I didn’t think there was anything left to burn in California from the 2018 to 2020 fire seasons. Somehow California had the misfortune of having 2021 as the fresh record for the most areas burnt.

Normally when winter comes, the recorded numbers of wildfires significantly decrease because of the reduced average temperature and the increased moisture levels. A week ago, I saw a map that had at least a dozen fires burning over the state of Texas.

What makes the current fire season odd is that I’ve been tracking them for several years and noticed the few odd years. In 2018 we had a generally wet year. It was odd because the moisture levels made it unproductive for growing anything.

I’ve been monitoring wildfires for 37 years, and I don’t ever recall so many fires during the spring in the Midwest. There was one report of fires in the Smoky Mountains. The Smoky Mountains are named so because of the natural configuration of clouds. To have an abundance of moisture is very odd and dangerous.

The funny thing is not that we are entering into a season that is prone to fire hazards; we are approaching a season that is the kingpin of fire dangers. I know we quickly become complacent to end-time views but are at a point where we don’t understand the current reality.

The reason why we are experiencing constant crisis is that we are very near to the cause of these end-time events. Once we realize that God is in control of events, we can make sense of the progression of events.

“And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?'” (Revelation 5:1-2, NKJV).

__ Todd



Author’s note: This week’s Nearing Midnight article is one written some time ago. Never, however, has its subject been more time-appropriate than at this moment. With issues and events moving at accelerating swiftness, and in ever greater proliferation, we who name the Name of Christ must be constantly aware of the glorious fact that we could at any moment meet Him face to Face. –Terry

Thief in the Night

By

Terry James

No scriptural proof-text in God’s Word more clearly points to the first of the two phases of Jesus Christ’s second coming than does the following: “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2).

We who hold to the pre-trib rapture viewpoint are often accused of being deceivers. We are condemned by our detractors as leading astray Christians alive now –if they live to see it– who will be required to endure the tribulation, thus to wash their robes clean in preparation for inheriting God’s Kingdom.

We are castigated for foisting upon innocent, gullible believers a “secret rapture” that will somehow lead these Christians to take the mark of the beast (Rev. 13:16-1 .

I’m not precisely sure of their “reasoning,” but I think they claim this because they are convinced that the ones who fall for the rapture viewpoint won’t be able to recognize Antichrist when he comes to power. We who teach the pre-trib rapture, so the accusation goes, would have falsely led these people to think the Church would not be here when Antichrist is on the world scene.

Almost all who are antagonistic to the pre-trib rapture doctrine teach that the “elect” will have to endure part or all of the seven-year tribulation era.

Those who hold to a post-tribulation rapture, or a no-rapture position, believe that Christ will come back at the end of the tribulation, at Armageddon.

They hold to the notion that that is His only return in the second coming. There are other views of the second coming that have Christ returning when the earth is perfected and made ready, but we won’t go there in this essay.

Let us look at only the pre-trib rapture and the post-trib rapture positions for the purpose of exploring what is meant by the “thief in the night” references in 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and 2 Peter 3:10.

These two viewpoints–the pre-trib, and the post-trib–offer the greatest contrast to examine in consideration of the second advent of Jesus Christ, within the overall belief that rapture will, according to Bible prophecy, happen before Christ’s foot actually touches down on Planet Earth.

The pre-trib view of rapture says that Christ’s second coming is in two phases, separated by at least seven years. The post-trib rapture view says that the rapture and Christ’s coming back to the Mount of Olives will occur almost simultaneously–certainly with no more than a matter of days separating the two events. The post-trib position says there is no “secret” rapture. Christ’s coming again will be fully seen in the heavens by all, including Christians who will be watching for Him to break through the darkness of that hour.

We agree that the rapture of the Church (all born-again believers in Jesus Christ for salvation since the Church Age began at Pentecost) will be anything but a “secret”. The world will instantly go into cataclysmic chaos at the moment that stunning event takes place. The imagination is hard-pressed to fathom the ramifications of what will happen when millions suddenly vanish. Every child below the age of accountability will be gone in that mind-boggling instant of time. I am convinced that all babies (including those in the wombs of their mothers) will be instantly in the presence of Christ in the clouds of glory. Every corpse of every dead Christian will be raised to join with his or her soul to meet Christ in the air in that atomos of time.

The rapture will be mystifying, and to some an inexplicable phenomenon, but it will not be a secret. It will happen before the eyes of a stupefied planet of left-behind earth-dwellers. This declaration that Jesus will call His Church to be with Him seems audacious to many. But, it didn’t seem so to the Apostle Paul. He was quite confident–even adamant—in his prophecy concerning the “mystery” he had been given by the Holy Spirit to instruct all believers down through the Age of Grace (Church Age).

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51-52).

He explains what will take place next, in that stupendous fraction of a second: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 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: 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” (1 Thess. 4:15-17).

Jesus himself told of this “mystery” Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 15:51. The Lord explains what happens after believers –both the bodies of the dead and those who are living– are caught up in the air to be with Him: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (Jn. 14:1-3).

So, the rapture will take place. Believers and the bodies of those who died during the Church Age will be “caught up” in one single moment of time. “ALL,” not “some,” will go instantly to be with Jesus, who will then take them into heaven, where He has been preparing their dwelling places since He ascended from the Mount of Olives.

Again, the pre-trib position on this joyous event is that it is imminent (could happen at any moment), and will happen before the tribulation period begins.

The post-trib position says that it happens at the end of the most terrible time in human history, just as Jesus Christ is returning from heaven at Armageddon.

The pre-trib view holds that it will occur at an unknown time. It will be a stunning, sudden, and unannounced-to-the-world-at-large break-in upon business as usual on Planet Earth. The post-trib proclaims that it will occur following all of the horrors of the judgments outlined in Revelation.

The pre-trib view says that the world at large (left-behind earth-dwellers) won’t see it coming. The rapture will cause all left on earth to wonder what has happened. The post-trib view says that all eyes will behold Christ’s coming again to a hellish planet, and the living and dead saints will then be gathered to Christ.

The defining thing to consider in thinking on the two diametrically different views of the rapture and second coming is wrapped up in the term “thief in the night”. The Apostle Peter again uses this mysterious term, first used by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:2: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Pet. 3:10).

Peter is saying here that the day of the Lord–that time when God and His Christ, His Son, takes over this fallen planet—will begin like a thief in the night.

It will be a sudden, catastrophic break-in upon a world doing business as usual. (Read Luke 17:26-29 to understand how things will be going along as usual when Christ comes back.)

This description hardly fits the post-trib view, or any other view that says Christ will rapture His Church during a time of unprecedented trouble (Jer. 30:7; Matt. 24:21). This indicates that it will be a total surprise, because a thief in the night doesn’t announce his coming with great, cataclysmic fanfare.

The break-in is swift, stealthy–a totally unexpected event.

Peter foretells in these passages that the “day of the Lord” will then run its course, until the remaking of the heavens and the earth. The rapture will begin this “day of the Lord,” which will then run at least 1,007 years.

This is the first phase of Christ’s second coming. The rapture occurs like a “thief in the night”. The second advent, when Jesus’ foot touches down on the Mount of Olives, is the second phase of His second coming.

There are those who say with vehemence that it is blasphemous to equate Christ’s coming again as being like the break-in of a thief in the night. How dare we liken their Lord to a “thief”!

Really? Here’s what Jesus, the Creator of all things, said about this matter:

“But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.

Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matt. 24:43-44).

Looks like a pretty good case for the Lord’s sudden intervention into the nefarious affairs of this increasingly wicked world, does it not? That thief-in-the-night

moment could happen, literally, at any moment. Certainly, signals of the tribulation are beginning to come to pass.

“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Lk. 21:2 .

—Terry

https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/

Re: Nearing Midnight - April, 2022

"Fair Use for Information and Discussion Purposes"

11 Apr 2022
Published on: April 9, 2022 by RRadmin7

Vegetarianism Has Become an End-Time Religion

It has become clear to me that vegetarianism has transformed into a religion for millions of people. They live the vegan lifestyle, and they are more than happy to share their diet with everyone. Just as Christians seek to convert the lost by bringing them to the cross, vegetarians seek to create a works-based salvation. The new Mayor was recently giving a news conference, and he proclaims, “I eat plant-based centered life.”

The powers that be are on track to repeat the energy disaster that led to the current massive shortfall of fossil fuels. If the government sets goals on when we will stop eating meat, the likely result will be a shortage in protein. The left would cheer a no-meat-by-2035 deadline. Because of the disinvestment in animal farming, people would be starving by 2027.

Vegans can be so hateful to omnivores, their actions are often cultic. They have the moral high ground, and everyone needs to hear them. Here are three statements from people who posted online:

“I haven’t personally met every vegan on Earth, but every vegan I’ve ever met has tried to force their beliefs on others. Some of them have just said outrageously terrible things to me, others have started an online mob campaign against me, and others have tried to get me fired from my job. So there is definitely a varying degree in the intensity of the attacks, but I have never once met a vegan who could just live their life and let me live mine.”

“I’ve lost count of the number of so-called ‘friends’ who became vegan and then almost immediately fell out with me simply because I’m not vegan.”

“I am probably one of the most un-vegan people in existence (meaning my entire diet revolves around meat and animal products) simply because I don’t agree with the ideology behind it. Namely, I don’t agree that not eating meat or animal products will end animal suffering, which seems to be one of the main reasons for somebody becoming vegan.”

In 2019 an Australian woman sued her neighbors because the smell of BBQ was drifting into her yard. Claiming they were doing it on purpose, Cilla Carden told a TV reporter, “All I can smell is fish. I can’t enjoy my backyard.”

She feels that if she can’t enjoy her backyard without the aroma of meat and fish cooking on the barbie, her neighbors shouldn’t be able to enjoy their backyard either.

So far, it seems the courts are taking a dim view of her contentions. Her complaint was tossed out of court last year. She filed an appeal, but the Supreme Court of Western Australia rejected it as well. She reportedly has vowed to keep fighting.

The end result may be just the beginning of Cilla’s troubles. It seems that in response to her legal challenges, her neighbors are organizing a neighborhood cookout outside her home. According to a Facebook page, the event is being called “Community BBQ for Cilla Carden.”

“Don’t let Cilla destroy a good old Aussie tradition; join us for a community BBQ, and help Cilla Carden get some pork for her fork,” the event description reads. The event never took place because Facebook blocked the page.

It is rather remarkable that most, not some, of the worst genocidal maniacs were vegans. Genghis Kahn, who terrorized most of Asia, killed 1,780,000 people in just one hour. Pol Pot, who murdered 2 million Cambodians, or one-quarter of his fellow countrymen, was also an avowed vegan. The same is true of Joseph Stalin, who mostly ate walnuts, garlic, plums and pomegranates. He also drank copious amounts of wine.

There is no question that Charles Manson was a confirmed vegetarian, and he was also very vocal about animal rights. I guess it’s okay to kill people, but you’d better not be killing any puppy dogs! A more recent vegan gone mad was Adam Lanza, the nut job who killed 20 innocent kids in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newton, Conn.

Joseph Goebbels, who was Hitler’s propaganda minister, developed this whole media campaign around the idea that Hitler loved animals so much that he couldn’t eat them, and this proved that he could never have any people killed. Needless to say, it was not the most successful propaganda campaign in history, if you know what I mean? Hitler was also said to be an ardent opponent of torture and the dissection of animals. I guess it didn’t bother him that his Nazi underlings chopped up and gassed millions of humans before burying most of them in mass graves. But you’d better not be kicking any cats around!

Hitler often had meetings with his top Nazis and always tried to dissuade his colleagues from eating any meat. Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s Deputy Fuhrer, was so vegan that he brought his own veggie meals to these dinners. At the end of his life, Hitler mostly ate beans and mashed potatoes. No wonder he suffered terrible bouts of flatulence.

The Apostle Paul, in the book of Timothy, predicted that vegetarianism would be a sign of the latter days. Mankind is always looking for some way to find salvation. By abstaining from eating meat, even people like Hitler can view themselves as good moral beings. The only way to true salvation is to be washed in the blood of Christ; anything else is just a distraction.

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:1-4).

–Todd

https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/

Re: Nearing Midnight - April, 2022

"Fair Use for Information and Discussion Purposes"

Prophesied Power-Bloc Players Appear

Such a great many end times stage-setting issues and events are inundating our hourly news that it is as if they are wearing camouflage, blinding the prophecy observer to things actually transpiring. In some cases, we don’t see developments in their actual, dynamic context; they’ve become so prolific that we’re desensitized to their importance.

This has, to this point, definitely been the case of developing geopolitical power blocs foretold by the prophetic Scriptures for the rollout of the end of human history. While the Second Advent approaches, the alignments of nations should become increasingly observable.

We’ve gone over a number of times the developing one-world order. We’ve examined, in general terms, the European Union and its likelihood for being the nucleus out of which the Antichrist kingdom will form. We’ve explored the fact that three major players that will make up the Gog-Magog coalition force of Ezekiel 38–39 have formed north of Israel.

We have looked—again, in general terms—at China and it becoming the king of the “kings of the east” found in the prophecies of Revelation chapters 9 and 16. However, there’s now appeared a definite formulation of end-times geopolitical entities that insinuate at least a degree of demarcation, so far as final arrangements for the abrupt end of this Age of Grace and the beginning of the Tribulation era are concerned.

I believe three distinct power blocs that are important to the playing-out of prophetic fulfillment have just emerged with the recent coming together of two primary nation-spheres. And by “spheres,” I mean to imply those two nations and the vast regions that now or will soon come under their hegemony.

Before we look at those, I want to mention the nations of the Western alliance, as it is generally configured.

The United States, for the most part, is still at the helm of this bloc. Europe is a growing influence, with guys like Emmanuel Macron of France and others making a lot of noise in attempts to shape how Western culture and geopolitics will control the masses from here forward. This group almost certainly is destined to shape things to come.

So, I believe we are looking at the Antichrist empire in its gestation period. These, in addition to some Arab states in the Middle East, will likely comprise the group of countries that will send the note of protest when the Gog-Magog attack occurs. It is more than merely conceivable that Antichrist will anticipate that carnage, and will march in to claim his place in prophetic history despite that the Lord God of Israel clearly will have won the day.

Now to the most recent development that has piqued my interest.

The lead-in to the following news more or less depicts the matter. I’ll let it speak to the developing situation.

Lavrov: Russia, China Moving Towards Multipolar “Fair World Order”

Lavrov and Yi were seen on Chinese state TV in face masks bumping elbows in front of their national flags shortly before the meetings – which Lavrov will attend – to discuss ways to help Afghanistan….

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov affirmed Thursday his country’s keenness on the steady and continuous development of relations with China, noting that the two countries intend to move forward towards “a multipolar, fair, and democratic world order.”

Lavrov has arrived in the Chinese city of Tunxi to participate in the third Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan’s Neighboring Countries.

At a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, the Russian minister expressed that Moscow is “interested in our relations with China developing steadily and consistently, our leaders – President [of Russia Vladimir] Putin and President [of China] Xi Jinping agreed upon this.”

He indicated that “Today, as you have said, we will consider concrete steps to ensure that all those agreements are consistently implemented.”

For his part, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Russian-Chinese relations “have withstood new tests by changes in the international situation, maintained the right direction, and demonstrated a solid development trend.”

Wang pointed out that “The desire of the two sides to develop bilateral relations has become even stronger, so did the confidence to promote cooperation in various directions.”

In a joint statement issued following the meeting, the two ministers “stated that in light of the challenging international situation, Russia and China continue to strengthen their strategic partnership and speak with a unified voice in global affairs.”

“It was agreed to further bolster foreign policy coordination, enhance cooperation on the bilateral track as well as in various multilateral formats,” the statement read. (“Lavrov: Russia, China intend to move towards ‘multipolar’ world order,” By Al Mayadeen, Net Source: Agencies, March 13, 2022)

As I view it, with this declaration by Russia and China to claim their part of the multipolar world order, the three major power blocs of final prophetic fulfillment are now brightly lighting up God’s radar scope. The Antichrist system, with all of the so-called Deep-State intrigues and COVID-type manipulations; the Russian system that will influence a confluence of nations to attack Israel, as given by Ezekiel; and China, the growing power of the regions east of the Euphrates set to dominate all within their sphere…all is in readiness. Can the Rapture of the Church be far off?

For when you see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your head, for your redemption draws near. (Luke 21: 2

—Terry

https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/

Re: Nearing Midnight - April, 2022

"Fair Use for Information and Discussion Purposes"

18 Apr 2022
Published on: April 17, 2022 by RRadmin7

Is the Dollar about to Be Dethroned as the World’s Reserve Currency?

The dollar has been the world’s reserve currency since the U.S. and its allies agreed at the 1944 Bretton Woods conference. According to the International Monetary Fund, the dollar’s share of global reserves stands at 59%, far above the euro at 20.5%. After the euro, there’s a steep drop to the No. 3 slot, which is occupied by Japan’s yen at 5.83%.

What really cements the dollar as the world’s reserve currency is an agreement reached with Saudi Arabia. The U.S. promised to protect Saudi Arabia if it would require that all oil sales be made in dollars. If a nation wants oil from the kingdom, they would have to go to the F.X. market and buy dollars. The majority of global oil sales—around 80%—are done in dollars.

As the world’s primary reserve currency, the U.S. enjoys the “exorbitant privilege” that goes along with that, such as interest rates that are lower than they might otherwise be and the government being able to fund budget deficits in perpetuity.

The U.S. has a massive shortfall in trading with the rest of the world. The U.S. goods trade deficit reached a record $1.09 trillion in 2021—an increase of $168.7 billion (18.3%) from the 2020 trade deficit—according to new U.S. Census Bureau data. In 1991 our trade deficit was only $28 billion. There is very little concern about the deficit because we can simply print the money to pay for our imports.

We do export a lot of goods and services to our trading partners. In December of 2001, the value of our exports was $228.1 Billion, but we imported $308 Billion worth of stuff, leaving us with a deficit of $80 Billion.

Over the years, the quantity of dollars has built to a huge amount. According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, foreign countries held a total of $8 trillion dollars. It would be very natural to assume that the $1 dollar bill has the highest quantity in circulation. There are actually more $100 bills in circulation than $1 bills.

The dollar has been slowly losing its status as the reserve currency. After peaking at 73% of all currency transactions in 2001, the dollar has been in constant decline. The one thing that is preventing a collapse in the dollar is that no other currency is set to capture the world’s reserve currency title.

One of the greatest dangers to the dollar is inflation. High levels of inflation are eating away at the purchasing power of the dollar. Once people realize what is happening, they will use their dollars to buy hard assets like gold, silver or real estate.

Another reason for nations to back away from the dollar is sanctions. The U.S. has frequently used the dollar to punish rogue nations. Over the years, the White House has increasingly turned to economic sanctions to punish other nations. In the 90s, there were about 20 sanctions issued every year. In 2021 there were over 100 sanctions issued. One explanation for the massive increase in the number of sanctions is the start of issuing them against individuals.

Russia is currently the top target because of its invasion of Ukraine. Putin has been very crafty at avoiding sanctions. He sold off all of Russia’s holdings of U.S. bonds and purchased large quantities of gold, which has no financial loyalty to any nation.

The latest move by Putin is to require all purchases of Russian commodities to be made in rubles. This is very clever because many nations need Russian natural gas, oil, and fertilizer. By forcing them to buy rubles, Putin will gain access to foreign currency.

China is making moves that may harm the dollar. It is in active talks with Saudi Arabia to price some of its oil purchases in yuan. This move would dent the U.S. dollar’s dominance of the global petroleum market.

Because America is not mentioned in Bible prophecy, it is very likely that the U.S. is going to suffer a financial meltdown or some other calamity. If the Antichrist is able to control the world’s financial centers, the Mark of the beast will clearly become the world’s reserve currency.

“He causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Rev 13:16-17).

–Todd

Messiah Misunderstanding

Fiction is something not many Rapture Ready family members or people who come to my blog Terryjamesprophecyline.com want to entertain. Just the facts—or at least an opinion on the facts, based upon Bible truth, for the most part, are what our fellow believers who come to the websites want.

Fiction is something, however, that sometimes–often, as a matter of fact—inserts itself in a way that doesn’t allow for its dismissal out of hand.

My great friend, Dr. Tim LaHaye, used to say with a laugh that many detractors charged that everything he wrote was fiction. These, of course, were planting their invective based upon his being part of the Tim LaHaye/Jerry Jenkins writing team that produced the phenomenal-selling fiction series Left Behind. Anyone who knew Tim’s tremendous volume of writing work knew that was as far from truth, as some fiction can be from fact.

His nonfiction writing on themes directly from the Bible that formed the basis for many Christians, and even non-Christians, to understand God’s truth is legendary. And his participation in the fiction involved in the Left Behind series thrust forward God’s message to an audience of millions across the world in ways that continue to reverberate in results for the great cause of Christ today. It was fiction with a Heaven-sent core of truth.

Again, Left Behind was steeped in absolute truth. There is coming a removal of believers in Christ from this fallen planet, and then all hell will break loose. This will be followed by Christ’s return at Armageddon to put an end to all of the wicked one’s death and carnage inflicted upon mankind. Christ will then rule and reign over a restored, pristine planet for a thousand years.

This Tim LaHaye, with the tremendous novel-writing skills of his friend, Jerry B. Jenkins, portrayed all of the above in ways that couldn’t be done through nonfiction books.

It is with that as preface that I mention again a fiction series for which I’m currently writing the third book. It is entitled MESSIAH: The Prince That Shall Come.

As the prophecy student that is up to understanding the facts about what Bible prophecy has to say on this topic, the title is an oxymoron of sorts. The Messiah is the Lord Jesus Christ, while “the prince that shall come” is to be Antichrist—as found in Daniel 9:27.

And it is a melding of fiction and fact about which I write at present. My fictional account will be meant to portray that the world is looking for a Savior, as are the Jewish people of Israel who are religious–still within Judaism. They are looking for, praying for, their Mashiach to appear to them and vanquish all enemies. He, they believe, will then set up his kingly rule, where Israel will live and prosper in peace, free from any enemy threats.

There has developed in these last days both fact and fiction involving Israel’s Mashiach–Messiah. The intrigue interwoven within the reports on the matters involved is great fodder for the novelist. I’m thinking hard on how it might be used in MESSIAH: The Prince That Shall Come.

Be that as it may, there continues to be profound misunderstanding about Israel’s Messiah, and it’s not something to be dismissed as unimportant. Within its intrigues loom world war and peace and resides the very truth about God’s salvation message to all of mankind.

Here are excerpts from the item that tripped my fascination.

Israel is among the most vaccinated countries against Covid. Many people don’t know that Israel is also among the countries that check for Covid the most.

According to one famous rabbi, there is a far more sinister agenda behind the tests. In a recent lecture, Kabbalistic Rabbi Alon Anava asserted that the Vatican is examining all nasal swab tests for Covid-19 to determine whose DNA the tests accumulated matches King David’s.

According to Rabbi Anava, who was at one point in his life pronounced clinically dead and then came back to life, the Vatican excavated underneath King David’s tomb on Mount Zion to collect his DNA. He added that the Vatican knows that the Messiah will come from the lineage of King David, and so they are trying to see who is alive today that is a match with the Biblical king. He added that they are doing this to preemptively kill the Messiah or messianic candidates before they redeem the world.

There is some legitimacy to his claim on the Vatican tomb raiding the grave of King David.

In March 2021, Israel365 News reported on a motion filed against the Jerusalem Municipality for turning a blind eye to a massive illegal digging project under the Tomb of King David in Jerusalem’s Mount Zion. According to the case brought by the Israeli NGO Regavim, the Jerusalem Municipality has been concealing the existence of an underground tunnel dug by the Church of the Dormition, one of the largest and most recognizable Catholic churches in Jerusalem….

This section of Mount Zion includes the subterranean area believed to be King David’s tomb, the Hasmonean-era city walls, and the First Temple-era city wall. (“Covid tests are checked by Vatican to determine who Messiah will be, rabbi says,” David Sidman, Mar 3, 2022 | Biblical News)

If there is truth to be found within this story, it just confirms that a powerful fiction still tortures the minds of those within both Judaism and in Catholicism. They, if the account is even partially true, still hold that the coming Messiah prophesied in God’s Word is something other than God Himself. In this belief–either system—lies eternal doom, not salvation.

Let us pray that that those within both systems will look for the return of the true Messiah. One that cannot be destroyed, and who will make all things right on this fallen planet full of anti-God rebels.

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22: 20)

—Terry

https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/

Re: Nearing Midnight - April, 2022

"Fair Use for Information and Discussion Purposes"

25 Apr 2022
Published on: April 23, 2022 by RRadmin7

Are Things Betting Better for the Republicans?

The liberal media and the Democrats are having a bad month. Both of them are suffering from poor ratings. President Biden’s approval ratings are down 33%. Biden frequently mispronounces words in his speeches. The press ignores the bloopers in his speech, but there is no covering up Biden trying to shake hands with an invisible person.

After delivering a speech in North Carolina, he turned to his right and offered a handshake with no one there to receive it. He then turned his back to the audience and stood for a second or two before walking off the stage.

Amid soaring inflation, 47% of the public say the economy is “poor,” the highest number in that category since 2012. Only 17% rank the economy as excellent or good, the lowest since 2014.

Only one in five Americans describe their personal financial situation as “getting ahead,” the weakest showing in eight years. Most say they are “remaining in place,” and one in 10 say they are “falling backward.” Meanwhile, 56% say they expect a recession in the next year — a level only achieved in the survey during an actual recession.

The Republicans have a good chance of taking back the Senate and the House this fall. In a normal year, the party out of power picks up several seats. As it stands right now, the Republicans appear set to have a sizable majority in the House and a slim lead in the Senate.

Many liberal organizations are having a difficult time drawing viewers. Following a string of reports about underwhelming subscriber numbers, Discovery has reportedly decided to shut down CNN+, CNN’s ill-fated streaming service, one month after its launch. CNN+’s dramatic failure to launch comes after it lured talent such as Chris Wallace from Fox News and Kasie Hunt from NBC News.

Netflix’s stock fell sharply last week after the streaming giant posted disappointing first-quarter earnings, prompting a flurry of price target cuts and critique from analysts. Netflix saw exponential growth in earlier years. As Netflix started producing more leftist content, many conservatives started backing away from the service.

The Obamas are set to part with Spotify after the streaming giant decided against offering a new deal, a report says. The Obama’s helped boost Spotify’s podcast credentials after announcing in June 2019 that they would develop and produce audio shows for the streaming giant. Higher Ground had begun shopping for new deals in recent months ahead of the end of the three-year deal, podcast industry insiders previously told Insider. Spotify and the Obamas are parting ways because they are boring. I constantly monitor the news, and I’ve never run across a story that quoted the former President and his wife’s media project.

Walt Disney Co. has been protesting a New Florida law that blocks teachers from talking to young students about sex. Florida legislators passed a bill that revoked a special tax status given to the company in 1967. I couldn’t find any articles on how much it would cost Disney. Walt Disney Co. has no business sticking its nose into matters that should solely be between a parent and their children.

Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter for $46.5 billion. By making the offer, he revealed how the leftists view social media as the exclusive domain. Twitter’s board of directors threatened to fight back with a “poison pill” strategy, allowing it to flood the market with new shares if Musk buys more than 15 percent of the company.

Fending off Musk’s $46.5 billion offer by creating more shares could dilute the value of shareholders’ stock — but Twitter’s 10 board members own just a tiny portion, Musk noted in an April 16 tweet: “The Twitter board collectively owns almost no shares! Objectively, their economic interests are simply not aligned with shareholders.”

Musk’s reason for wanting to purchase Twitter is to increase the value of the firm by making it open to people of all views. The Twitter board is only after power, and their willingness to damage the firm’s financials shows their lust for control.

I’m hopeful that the mid-term elections will go well for the Republicans. It is depressing to realize Bible prophecy predicts that any respite will only be brief, but the ultimate joy comes in knowing that someday all of the ungodly will be blown away like chaff for grain.

“The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Psalms 1:4-6, KJV).

–Todd

Post-Rapture World—Evidence, Verdict, and Sentence

While interviewing for our book, The DISAPPEARING: Future Events That Will Rock the World, one of the questions Pete Garcia and myself are often asked about is chapter 6, “Children and the Rapture.”

My first response always begins with something like: “This is my pet subject. It’s a passionate matter with me.” I can’t seem to help but answer that way. It just comes out of my mind and mouth automatically.

I’ve been told it’s because of my ol’ grandpa heart for children. Well, maybe that’s a part of the reason, but it is less-important than the priority part. I’ve assessed over the years that my passion about this comes primarily from my studied understanding of the character of our great God. This stems from the truth that God will never punish the innocent with eternity apart from Himself. All of His creation called man is born into sin, thus all are not innocent, but guilty. (“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

All are lost who are not in Christ. God provides a pathway to redemption—a way to be saved from guilt—to become innocent. His name is Jesus Christ, God’s only Begotten Son. All who are within Christ’s salvation shelter, through His shed blood on Calvary, are declared innocent in God’s holy eyes.

This is what Easter, or Resurrection Sunday, we just celebrated is all about. Christ died, was buried, and took up His life again as part of the salvation process, so that all who believe in Him according to Romans 10:9–10 will be saved—that is, saved from the punishment of eternal death that is separation forever from God the Father and Heaven.

Jesus said:

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man (or woman) comes to the father, but by me. (John 14: 6)

So to be in Christ is at the very heart of God’s great character. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. All who have believed in Jesus Christ for salvation are innocent in God the Father’s holy eyes.

No one can “repent” and “believe” in God’s plan for salvation if they are incapable of doing so because they have never had the ability to repent and believe. Such are therefore “in Christ” until they have the ability to understand that Jesus died for them and is the only way to be saved (declared innocent).

This is biblically true whether a person is born with a cognitive disability and grows up still unable to understand, or whether one is a child who hasn’t yet reached the time of being able to understand the need to be saved from sin. In these cases, these are all “in Christ,” meaning they will go to God the Father upon death–or at the moment of Rapture.

As we discuss in our book and during interviews, children, before reaching the “age of accountability,” as it is termed, are considered “safe” within God’ salvation program. Salvation is an individual matter, not a corporate one. God does not have grandchildren, as it is said. He has only children—i.e., we can’t be saved as a result of our parents being saved. Salvation is a one-on-one redemptive process with Jesus Christ and belief in what He did on the cross at Calvary.

All children will go to Jesus when He calls to believers of the Church Age (Age of Grace) based upon this truth. Even children in the womb at the moment of conception will go to be with Jesus when He makes that glorious call to believers.

I firmly believe that God will make a profound statement as to when life begins—that is, at the moment of conception.

All of this I have laid down to attempt to make the point I tried to frame with this commentary’s title.

God’s love for children, considering them as innocents before the age of accountability, is a profound providential concept I believe we can’t fully fathom. Jesus said that it would be better for a millstone to be placed around the necks of those who would harm children and prevent them from learning of God’s love for them, and for the perpetrators to be then cast into the sea, than to endure what they will face in the form of His holy punishment for such offenders. Such is an indeed terrifying prospect, coming from the mouth of God Himself!

When thinking on the Tribulation to come–the final seven years of human history leading to Christ’s Second Advent, I think it is pertinent to consider how those who have offended in this manner leading up to that horrific time have dealt with the innocents that are the children before they reach the age of accountability.

We in this nation are faced daily with reports of children as young as three years old being subjected to some of the most evil, adult-engendered, salacious maliciousness imaginable. Teaching them about sexual matters and even enacting legal prohibitions against parents being allowed to stop the activity is a societal and cultural cancer of the deadliest sort. Children in kindergarten through the elementary school years are taught that they can be whatever gender they want to be. That God decided their gender is unimportant. As a matter of fact, it doesn’t even enter the equation for sexuality in any way.

Activity as egregious as any found in the account of Lot’s day in Sodom has infected our own time on this fallen planet. Less than 1 percent of the American population dictates what the entire nation must follow–the satanic pathway into perdition of anti-God behavior.

The following excerpt further informs:

Culture warrior and researcher Chris F. Rufo of the Manhattan Institute has posted a series of videos in which CEO Karey Burke, who admits that she has “two ***** children,” supports having those kinds of characters in more Disney films and projects, demanding that at least 50 percent of all movie characters are gay, transgender or racial minorities.

“SCOOP: Disney corporate president Karey Burke says, ‘as the mother [of] one transgender child and one pansexual child,’ she supports having ‘many, many, many LGBTQIA characters in our stories’ and wants a minimum of 50 percent of characters to be LGBTQIA and racial minorities,” he wrote in one Twitter post…

Also, Disney execs are getting rid of all references to gender, in an obvious woke pander to 0.0001 of the population.

“SCOOP: Disney diversity and inclusion manager Vivian Ware says the company has eliminated all mentions of ‘ladies,’ ‘gentlemen,’ ‘boys,’ and ‘girls’ in its theme parks in order to create ‘that magical moment’ for children who do not identify with traditional gender roles,” Rufo noted in another tweet containing a second video clip. (“Disney takes WOKE to the extreme as CEO demands 50% of all movie characters must be gay, trans, lesbians or racial minorities,” by JB Hayes, Thursday, April 14, 2022, The Daily Wire)

This is only the proverbial tip of the hellish mountain of wickedness deserving of God’s coming wrath. I could have, of course, found much more condemning news items we have had come across our news outlets of late.

The evidence for conviction and sentencing judgment in that most terrifying courtroom of the prophetic future is building–compounding day by day. More than 60 million babies murdered while in their mother’s wombs will doubtless heat eternity’s lake of fire furnaces to white hot. Sadly, tragically, many who offend the little ones in such ways as Jesus condemned will face their offenses at the Great White Throne.

However, even this horrendous sin can be forgiven by God, through His Son Jesus Christ. Here is how.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10)

—Terry

https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/