Does your faith need strengthening? Are you confused and wondering if Jesus Christ is really "The Way, the Truth, and the Life?" "Fight for Your Faith" is a blog filled with interesting and thought provoking articles to help you find the answers you are seeking. Jesus said, "Seek and ye shall find." In Jeremiah we read, "Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall seek for Me with all your heart." These articles and videos will help you in your search for the Truth.

Monday, March 30, 2020

Technocracy Rising - Book Review

The dark horse of the New World Order is not Communism, Socialism or Fascism. It is Technocracy.

With meticulous detail and an abundance of original research, Patrick M. Wood uses Technocracy Rising to connect the dots of modern globalization in a way that has never been seen before so that the reader can clearly understand the globalization plan, its perpetrators and its intended endgame.

In the heat of the Great Depression during the 1930s, prominent scientists and engineers proposed a utopian energy-based economic system called Technocracy that would be run by those same scientists and engineers instead of elected politicians. Although this radical movement lost momentum by 1940, it regained status when it was conceptually adopted by the elitist Trilateral Commission (co-founded by Zbigniew Brzezinski and David Rockefeller) in 1973 to be become its so-called "New International Economic Order."

In the ensuing 41 years, the modern expression of Technocracy and the New International Economic Order is clearly seen in global programs such as Agenda 21, Sustainable Development, Green Economy, Councils of Governments, Smart Growth, Smart Grid, Total Awareness surveillance initiatives and more.

Wood contends that the only logical outcome of Technocracy is Scientific Dictatorship, as already seen in dystopian literature such as Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932) and Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1948), both of whom looked straight into the face of Technocracy when it was still in its infancy.

With over 250 footnotes, an extensive bibliography and clarity of writing style, Wood challenges the reader to new levels of insight and understanding into the clear and present danger of Technocracy, and how Americans might be able to reject it once again.

https://www.amazon.com/Technocracy-Rising-Trojan-Global-Transformation-ebook/dp/B00SM2UPR6

A New and Right Spirit

Words from Jesus

Audio length: 10:10 Download Audio (9.3MB)

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”—Psalm 51:101

Behold, I will do a new thing. Behold, I make all things new.2 If you have the faith of a little mustard seed and you desire change and put your will on My side, you can trust that I will bring forth the newness of life that I have promised.

But in order to receive the new, you have to first let go of the past and forget the things which are behind. Forget past wrongs, hurts, and bitterness, and do not allow yourself to be distracted with things of the past that burden you. Even as I have wiped your slate clean, you can also determine to wipe the slate clean and begin anew.

Today is a new day, and I have created in you a new heart.—A new day, a new heart, a new and right spirit. I have given you a new approach and a new outlook. I make all things new, if you will just drop the garments of the past and take upon you My garments of newness of life. Give your heart to Me, and I will hold it above the waters that surround you and you will not sink. Your moments of sadness will be gone as the darkness disappears when the day has come, and as you walk in the newness of life that I give you through My words.

Today is a day to learn how to let the Holy Spirit lead and guide you. My Spirit seeks the humble and the lowly, and it dwells there with them. Lift Me up and I will draw people to Me.

Today is a new day, a day when My instruments allow themselves to be retooled and made into new vessels. I do a new thing in every age and new day; therefore, My pottery must be malleable and capable of changing. Not that it wasn’t fit for the purpose that it was made for, but it needs to be open to change to fit for a new purpose and a new day.

Receive My new anointing for a new day! I will work through you in every situation you face, and I will not fail you, for I am always with you. As you look to My Word, you will be strengthened and empowered, for as your days, so will your strength be. I know your frame and I remember that you are but dust, and I will always be with you. I will dry your tears and comfort your heart and assuage your grief, and I will give power when you feel faint and increase your strength when you have no might.3

You will see the manifestation of My love and anointing upon you. You will be blessed. You will prosper. You will feel loved. You will be empowered by My Spirit to love and reach those who are lost, weary, worn, and searching. You’ll be like the good Samaritan who takes the time to care for the lost, the needy, and the unloved. You will see them become transformed, like Lazarus raised from the dead, with new life, hope, and gladness.
Seeking and finding

“For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the do

or will be opened.”—Matthew 7:84
I have formed you and purposed you according to My will and plan for your life. From the foundation of the world you were predestined and called to fulfill My purpose. All you have to do is place yourself under the light that I beam down upon you and receive My anointing to fulfill My purpose for you.

Ask of Me and you will receive. Don’t cling to the shadows of your past, but reach forward in faith and trust that I will never stop giving if you will ask and open yourself to receive. Lift up your hands and receive My love. The supply is limitless, above and beyond all that you could ask or think.

You are My children and have been called for My purpose, and I will pour My Spirit and love on you, so that you in turn can pour it out on a wounded and needy world. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people.5 I have chosen each and every one of you and ordained you from the foundation of the world to be like a city set on a hill. Others will know that you are My disciples because of your love for one another.

As you pour out My Word and love to others, I will pour in, and you will never run out. You can’t imagine how much love I have for you, for the lost, and for the world. I am counting on you to share that love and truth with others. I will never fail to pour forth more as you give and share with others.

Time is short, and I ask you to give out in the same measure you have received, even when it costs. Give freely as you have freely received, for the time will come when the lost and the lonely will not have any more time to receive My love. So give now while you have the opportunity.

It is My pleasure to give you the kingdom, so don’t worry or fear; I will provide all that you need. All you need to do is say yes! “Yes, I want Your love, Jesus. I want to be more like You.” All you need to do is to put your will on My side, and I will anoint and empower you to fulfill My will and purpose for you.
Just say yes to Jesus

“So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”—Luke 11:136

Receive the anointing that I would pour upon you. Reach out and grasp it! Desire it and seek for the anointing of My love. You can receive it just as you would receive any gift from Me. You ask, you believe, and you accept the gift.

How do you enact it? One step at a time in one deed of love followed by another, followed by another. The raindrops on their own are small, falling from the air, but they reach the ground and bring forth flowers and trees and life; and as these raindrops are absorbed into the earth, so will your love be absorbed into the earth of this world and received by those that are so lost.

Each deed of love seems like only a raindrop, but they will grow and multiply, and one day My love and truth will fill the earth even as the waters cover the seas. So receive My anointing, and enact it day by day, step by step, deed by deed, word by word, and action by action. And as you put forth an effort to share My love with others, I will pour My strengthening love into you.

All you have to do is just receive by faith. Just say yes. As you open yourself up to receive My anointing, it will bring forth fruit in your life and in the lives of those about you, and those who hear the message that you share with them. This love, though seemingly small, is of great power and will change and one day overcome the world.

Originally published February 1995. Adapted and republished March 2020.
Read by Jerry Paladino. Music by John Listen.

1 NRSV.
2 Revelation 21:5; Isaiah 43:19.
3 Isaiah 40:29.
4 NLT.
5 1 Peter 2:9.
6 NLT.

Sunday, March 29, 2020

Friday, March 27, 2020

Thursday, March 26, 2020

O Lugar Mais Seguro


Compilação

No que a palavra refúgio faz você pensar? Talvez um edifício imponente com fechaduras nas portas, talvez uma fortaleza de paredes grossas, ou talvez algo tão simples como um toldo para mantê-lo seco em uma tempestade. Qualquer que seja a imagem, podemos concordar que um refúgio é um lugar seguro. Quando a Bíblia descreve Deus como nosso refúgio, está dizendo que Deus é nosso lugar seguro quando precisamos de proteção contra algo.

Conhecer Deus como nosso refúgio nos permite confiar nEle mais livremente. Não precisamos temer situações ou pessoas que ameacem nosso bem-estar físico ou espiritual. Nenhuma situação que venhamos a enfrentar estará fora do controle de Deus; portanto, o melhor lugar para se estar, sempre será junto dEle. “O nome do Senhor é uma torre forte; os justos correm para ela e estão seguros.” [Provérbios 18:10, NVI.]

Uma pergunta que surge é “como faço de Deus meu refúgio?” É fácil imaginar um refúgio físico nos protegendo de algum perigo, mas como podemos fazer de Deus, a quem não podemos ver, o nosso refúgio?

Davi é um ótimo exemplo de alguém que conhecia Deus como seu refúgio. Em diferentes ocasiões, Davi teve que fugir, literalmente, daqueles que desejavam matá-lo, mas ele sempre encontrava segurança em Deus. “A minha salvação e a minha honra de Deus dependem; ele é a minha rocha firme, o meu refúgio. Confiem nele em todos os momentos, ó povo; derramem diante dele o coração, pois ele é o nosso refúgio.” [Salmo 62:7–8.] Uma maneira fácil de fazer de Deus nosso refúgio é simplesmente pedir que Ele seja. Davi disse: “Derramem diante dele o coração.” Foi o que Davi fez o tempo todo. Ele derramou seu coração a Deus sobre o que estava acontecendo em sua vida e pediu a Deus para intervir em seu nome. Quando recorremos a Deus em busca de ajuda ou proteção, começamos a conhecê-lO como nosso refúgio. ...

Deus é o nosso refúgio. No entanto, isso não significa que Ele nunca nos levará a situações difíceis ou perigosas. Jesus levou os discípulos a um barco, sabendo muito bem que uma tempestade violenta estava se formando; os discípulos ficaram aterrorizados, mas Jesus, seu refúgio, acalmou a tempestade [Mateus 8:23–27]. Quando estamos na vontade de Deus, podemos enfrentar até as situações mais perigosas com confiança, porque Deus está conosco.

Inúmeras vezes, Deus liderou os israelitas em batalhas contra exércitos muito mais poderosos do que eles; contudo, quando confiavam em Deus e Lhe obedeciam, sempre saíam vitoriosos (ver alguns exemplos em Josué, capítulos 6 e 8). Jesus disse: “Eu lhes disse essas coisas para que em mim vocês tenham paz. Neste mundo vocês terão aflições; contudo, tenham ânimo! Eu venci o mundo.”[ João 16:33, NVI.]

Não importam as circunstâncias, o lugar mais seguro para se estar é sempre no centro da vontade de Deus. Ele promete ser nosso refúgio: “‘Nunca o deixarei, nunca o abandonarei’. Podemos, pois, dizer com confiança: ‘O Senhor é o meu ajudador, não temerei. O que me podem fazer os homens?’” [Hebreus 13:5–6, NVI.]— []https://www.gotquestions.org/God-our-refuge.html

Nosso Pai celestial nos oferece segurança e paz. Podemos confiar em Seu cuidado e proteção divinos, mas também precisamos colaborar. Fazemos isso mantendo-nos próximos a Ele—amando-O e fazendo o possível para viver de acordo com os princípios que Ele estabeleceu em Sua Palavra—e tomando as precauções práticas necessárias. Quando depositamos nossa fé em Jesus, podemos contar com Ele para nos proteger ou nos livrar do mal.

“Deus é o nosso refúgio e fortaleza, socorro bem presente na angústia.”[Salmo 46:1.] Maior é aquele que está em nós do que qualquer coisa que este mundo possa lançar sobre nós [1 João 4:4.] Seu amor e o Espírito Santo podem nos encher de poder e nos dar uma mente sã. [2 Timóteo 1:7.] Estamos cercados e protegidos por Deus e Suas forças angélicas [Salmo 34:7; 91:11]. Podemos confiar em Deus para cumprir Suas promessas, e pela fé nelas podemos ter paz de espírito, independentemente das circunstâncias ao nosso redor. Vivemos em tempos perigosos, mas, ao fazermos nossa parte, podemos contar com Seu conselho infalível, advertência, proteção e cuidado. Nós somos abençoados!—M. Fontaine

O lugar mais seguro no mundo é perto de Deus e onde Ele quer que estejamos. Não importa onde você esteja, ou as adversidades que enfrente, Ele o protegerá. “O nome do Senhor é uma torre forte; os justos correm para ela e estão seguros.”[Provérbios 18:10, NVI.]

Deus prometeu proteger Seus filhos, mas por acaso já lhe aconteceu algo ruim desde que O aceitou no seu coração e vida? O Senhor já lhe permitiu sofrer de alguma maneira, por meio de um acidente, doença, ou algum outro problema?

Veja o que aconteceu a Jó![Ver Jó 1:6–19.] Todas as calamidades que sucederam a ele e sua família foram culpa dele? Será que Deus o estava castigando pelos seus pecados? Não. Seus males ocorreram porque o Diabo pediu a Deus para pôr Jó à prova e tentá-lo, com o propósito de destruir sua vida e fazê-lo perder a fé. O Senhor permitiu que Satanás tirasse toda a riqueza de Jó, depois sua família e, por fim, a sua saúde. Tudo isso foi uma prova executada pelo Inimigo, mas autorizada pelo Senhor, para mostrar que Jó continuaria amando e honrando Deus apesar de tudo! E quando Jó passou no teste, recebeu de Deus o dobro de tudo que tinha perdido.[Jó 42:10–16]

Não se preocupe, Deus não permitirá que sejamos tentados acima do que podemos resistir.[1 Coríntios 10:13.] Ele não deixa o Diabo ir além do que podemos suportar, mas permite que nos coloque à prova para ver se vamos verdadeiramente depender do Senhor e das promessas na Sua Palavra, mesmo sob circunstâncias difíceis. E depois de sermos aprovados, Ele sempre nos livra, como fez com Jó.

A Bíblia está cheia de exemplos de situações em que o Senhor deu poder e protegeu milagrosamente aqueles que recorreram a Ele. E milagres de poder e proteção semelhantes aos dos tempos bíblicos podem acontecer em nossos dias. “Jesus Cristo é o mesmo, ontem, hoje, e eternamente!”[Hebreus 13:8] Se Jesus pôde realizar esses prodígios no Seu tempo, pode fazê-los hoje também. Deus ainda é o Deus de milagres e pode repetir o que fez em tempos passados.

Jesus disse: “É-Me dado todo o poder, no céu e na terra!”[Mateus 28:18] E isso é muito poder! E se você tiver aceitado Jesus no seu coração e vida, também terá acesso a essa energia. Deus prometeu todo este poder e proteção, e prometeu para agora mesmo, e para você, se acreditar!—D. B. Montanha

Muitos estão preocupados com o futuro, e não é de admirar. Do jeito que andam as coisas, há razão para temer o que pode sobrevir a si, à sua família, cidade, ao seu país ou ao mundo. Às vezes você desejaria ter um abrigo, lacrar todas as janelas e portas e se isolar do mundo.

Não adianta fingir que os problemas não existem, mas você não precisa ter medo, porque estou cuidando de você. Aconchegue-se a Mim quando se sentir dominado pelo medo. Peça-Me ajuda quando se vir em perigo e fique tranquilo sabendo que vou protegê-lo. Quando não tiver condições de cuidar dos seus amados, coloque-os sob os Meus cuidados. No caso de uma crise nacional ou internacional, Eu proverei um abrigo para você e os seus.

E depois desta vida, existe uma melhor no outro lado. No céu todos os erros do mundo são retificados. Entenda que, apesar de haver muitos motivos para preocupação, não precisa se preocupar com nada. Eu estou cuidando de você!—Jesus, falando em profecia

Publicado na Âncora em março de 2020.


Que Deus aben̤oe e guarde cada um de voc̻s. Em nome de Jesus oramos. РDennis
Por mais informações 915016534 ou fightforyourfaith.blogspot.com

Will Biometric Monitoring Be the Solution to Future Epidemics?

Dennis Edwards:

I am going to transcribe, not word for word, but pretty much so, an interview on CNN between Christiane Amanpour and Yuval Harari. Yuval Harari is an Israeli historian and has written the book “Sapiens” which was a New York Times bestseller. Christiane Amanpour is a repórter for CNN. The reason why I am posting this interview is because it reveals the direction the world is heading. Harai calls for new world leadership to stand up. He calls for the need for biometric monitoring of the population of the world to protect us from events like the present virus. He even warns that the technology we have available to us to protect our health could be used to form a totalitarian state of government. Of course, those who know Bible prophecy know that God's word predicts that an antichrist world government shall arise in the last days before the return of Christ. Could the Corona Virus be ushering us to accept such a world government in order to protect our health and that of our loved ones? Let's read the interview and see the ideas that are being presented.

Christiane:

Welcome back Yuval Harari. You’ve written much about history and a lot about what makes us human. These are extradinary days. Have you seen in modern times in our technological economical global society a crisis quite like this one?

Harari:

No, not quite like this one for a least a hundred years and nobody has a living experience of what we are seeing which makes it quite frightening. But if you look at the broader perspective of history then, yes, humanity has dealt with many such epidemics before. But probably we are in a better situation today than ever before to deal with such an outbreak.

Christiane:

Because of?

Harari:

Modern medicine. When the Black Death came in the 14th century and swept from China to Britain in about 10 years killing between a ¼ to ½ of the entire population of Asia and Europe, no one had any idea of what was happening, what was the cause of the disease and what could be done about it. Today, with the Coronavirus epidemic, it took just two weeks for scientist and doctors not just to identify the vírus behind the outbreak, but to also sequence the entire genome of the vírus and develop a test to at least tell us who has the vírus and who doesn’t. We are still a distance away from over coming this, but we are in a better position than any previous time in history.

Christiane:

But Coronavirus swept from China to Britain to the USA in a much shorter period of just a few months. What as an ordinary citizen frightens you the most or you wish most would happen to stop the pandemic at least?

Harari:

I think the worst thing is the disunity we see in the world, the lack of cooperation and coordination between countries and also between the population and the government. This is basically the payday of what we have been seeing in the last four years with the epidmic of “Fake News” and with the deteriation of international relations. If you compare the present crisis to the 2008 financial crisis, which of course was a crisis of a different kind, but there are still similarities. In 2008 you had responsible adults in the world with or who took a leadership position to rally the world behind them which thus prevented a worse outcome. But over the last four years, basically we have seen a rapid deteriation of trust in the international system. The country which was the leader in the previous 2008 crisis and also in the last epedemic in 2014, the Ebola epidemic, and that was the USA. Now, it’s not taking any kind of leadership position.

Actually in 2016 the current administration made it very clear that the USA has resigned its position as gobal leader and the US doesn’t have any friends in the world. It only has “interests.” Even if now the US, which it is not doing so far, but even if it would try to assume a leadership position, no one will follow a leader whose motto is “Me first.” But what really frightens me is the lack of leadership and cooperation. What people should realize is that the threat of an epidemic in any one country, threatens the entire world. The danger is that if we don’t contain it in time, the vírus will grow. That is one of the worse problems with this kind of epidemic, it is the rapid evolution of the vírus. We saw this before with the 2014 Ebola epidemic. It actually started with one genetic mutation in the virus in one person in West Africa. The rare Ebola disease became a raging epidemic because this one mutation increased the contagiousness of the vírus 4 times. The same thing could be happening right now, somewhere in Iran or Italy or any where else and wherever it happens, it endangers the entire world. When this happens you must close ranks against the vírus. 

[Dennis Edwards: It seems like Harai is calling for new world leadership to step up. That the world needs a leader who can give us more cooperation and coordination. He seems to calling for a non-American world leader to stand up and help lead the world. Could this seeming good world leader be the Antichrist predicted of in the Bible that will lead the world during the last seven years. A world leader who comes in peaceably, deceiving the nations, but ultimately implements the famous biometric implant needed to buy or sell. Those that refuse the implant will be considered criminals, terrorists, or enemies of the state. Are we moving quickly toward the road of One World Government under a new world leader whose not American?]

Christiane:

You say close ranks but that seems to be contrary to what the populous or nationalists of 2016 whether it is the USA or UK or elsewhere around the world. The idea that globalization is just “bad” and we need to always close ranks so that we don’t get anything “bad” from around the corner. But what your saying now is that idea is a bankrupt theory when dealing with this type of crisis. 

Harari:

Yes, because you can’t deal with virus or we can’t prevent epidemics through isolation. You can only prevent them with information. If you really want to isolate yourself to the degree that you are not exposed to outside epidemics, you’ll have to go back, and even to the Middle Ages is not far enough. We had the same kind of epedemics even in the Middle Ages. If you really want to isolate yourself against epidemics you have to go back all the way to the Stone Age. And nobody can do that. 

The real border you need to protect is not between countries, but the border between the human world and the vírus field. Humans are surrounded by all sorts of vírus in animals and all sorts of places and if the vírus crosses the border to the human field that’s what we need to prevent. If the vírus that let’s say originates in a bat, manages to cross the border and enter the human espécies anywhere in the world that vírus then adapts to the human body and then it is a danger to everybody all over the world. Now it is an illusion to think that in the long term you can protect yourself from that vírus by simply closing the borders of your country. The more effective policy is to police the border between human kind and the vírus world.

Christiane:

How do you do that?

Harari:

By supporting health systems all over the world and by realizing that something that is happening now in West Africa, Iran, or China, is a threat to everyone in the world. So we need more organizations like the World Health Organization and more international solidaritry to help the country which is currently most affected. Deal with the crisis whether it is by sending them equipment or personal help and more than anything else good information or by economic support. 

A country where an outbreak begins, if it thinks it is on its own, it will hesitate to take drastic quarentene measures. It thinks that if we lock down the entire country or city we will collapse economically and nobody will come to help us. So let’s wait and see whether it really is such a big danger or not. But then, it’s too late. Now, if a country like Italy would know that if it locks itself down it will receive help from other countries, it will be willing to take these drastic measures sooner which will be a benefit for the whole of humanity. And every euro that Germany or France use in supporting Italy in such a situation would save them a hundred euros later on not having to deal with the epidemic in their own city or country.

Christiane:

Now that this vírus is out of the box and there has been a slow response around the world to try to police that border between the vírus and human beings. Italy has taken a drastic measure with the whole country in lock down, what do you think about that?

Harari:

I would say that this is a test for the European Union which has lost a lot of support over the last few years. It is a chance for the European Union to really prove its worth. It is the time for the other members of the Union to come to the aid of Italy. If they do that, they will not only protect their own citizens, but they will show the value of such a system as the European Union. If they don’t do that, the vírus could destroy the Union and not just individual human lives.

Christiane:

I want to ask you about the social impact. Does something like this, where people are forced to be self isolated with very little information, very little testing , very little belief in what they are being told, how do you see this affecting society?

Harari:

The immdeiate issue is the issue of trust, whether people trust their governments, and whether people trust what they are being told by the media. To have effective quarentene, you need the cooperation of the population and that is a very problamatic isuue. Trust of government and media over the last few years has been eroded. The other part of the problem, more long term, is about surveilence. One of the dangers in the current epidemic is that it will justify extreme measures of surveilence, especially biometric surveilence. Biometric surveilence will be justified as a need to deal with the emergency. But what we have seen in the past is that even after the emergency is over, the surveilence will remain. We are talking about a system of monitoring an entire population all the time through biometric signals , alledgedly to protect people from future epidemics. 

But the biometric surveilence could also form the bases of an extreme totalitarian regime. We are facing the huge issue of surveilence and privacy in our age. I think we will see a big battle between privacy and health and in the long run health is likely to win. People will have no privacy at all in the name of protecting them from the spread of infectuos epidemics. We have the technology which can be very effective. We now have the technolgy to monitor the entire population and discovery the outbreak of a new disease when it is only just beginning and when it is very easy to contain. We would be able to follow all the infected people and know exactly where they are and what they do. But this kind of surveilence system can then be used to monitor many other things, such as what people think, what people feel, etc. If we aren’t careful the present epidemic can give justification for the excellerating the development of a totalitarian regime.

Christiane:

That’s a pretty dramatic thought, to try to digest. Humans were not meant to be self isolating species and there are already anedotal reports from Italy and elsewhere of people not being able to have that normal social contact in a café etc, resulting in loneliness and shut in syndrone and depression. That also is a big worry for society.

Harari:

The reason humans are especially vulnerable to epidemics is because we are a social animal. And this is how epedemics prey. The thing about the viruses is that they often exploit the best part of human nature against us. They exploit the fact that we like to socialize,but also that we help each other. When somebody is sick, the obvious natural thing to do, especially to someone who is a friend or a family member, is to come to them and give them support and to take care of them, to give them emotional support, to touch them, to hug them. But this is exactly how the víruses prey. The vírus makes use of our best qualities of human nature against us. 

Again there are two ways on how to deal with that. One way is to give information to people. If people will trust the information they receive, they can change their behavior unleast until the epidemic is over. The other way is the totalitarian way through technological biometric monitoring. It couldn’t have be done in the Middle Ages, but it can be done today. We have the technology where we could survey everybody so that we can identify the initial signal of someone becoming sick. We now have the technology to know your temperature even without putting something inside your body. Just from a distance we can know if your body temperature is higher. We can know all the people you have visited. We can know who broke the government instruction of not to hug people and not to kiss them. So if people do not believe the information and they don’t obey their government out of trust, they can be compelled to do it by an omnipresent regime of surveilence. It is a dangerous path. I hope we don’t go in that direction.

Christiane:

Thank you for joining us.

Dennis Edwards: Those of you who have studied Bible Prophecy know that in the last days the prophets have prophesized that a totaliatarian world dictator would arive on the scene peacefully and gain power through deceiving the public. The world leader would support the poor and share the wealth with them. He also would enact a treaty or world agreement which would solve the Middle East problem and in some way unite the world religions. The agreement would allow the Jews to begin sacrificial worship on the Temple mount and rebuild the temple. Eventually, some three and a half years into the seven year agreemnet that he makes with the nations, he will break the agreement, invade Israel, and set up his own world government there. He will enter into the recently rebuilt temple, proclaim himself God, and place "the abomination that makes desolate" in the temple. Could the abomination be some sort of world computer or AI that is able to help him monitor the whole world? At that point, he begins a deadly persecution of all those who refuse to accept the biometric monitoring device implant which they will need in order to buy or sell. All those who refuse to accept such a device will be hunted down as criminals, terrorists, or enemies of the state. Jesus called that period, just before His miraculous return in the sky, the time of Great Tribulation. It will last for three and a half years.

Brethren, we could very well be moving faster towards those horrific years than we wish to. If you are interested in having a more indepth study of these coming events, please let me know.

Dennis

Monday, March 23, 2020

Corona Virus Walk

By Dennis Edwards

I’m walking along the beach and it’s March 22,2020. All this thing about Corona Virus has hit here in Europe, especially in Italy and it’s been quite a pandemic, epidemic, plague, or whatever you want to call it. I was thinking about how we are all being forced to be quiet. The Bible says in the book of Revelation that there was silence in Heaven for half an hour.[1] When was that silence in Heaven? It’s just before the time of the pouring out of the trumpets of tribulation on the nations which is followed by the wrath of God on the nations. We could be very well moving closer to those events. Those of you who have some understanding of Bible prophecy and have your eyes opened through them will certainly see these present events as conforming to the signs of the times spoken of by Jesus in the Gospels. We could very well be on the verge of the prophetic Last Seven Years of Bible Prophecy spoken of by Daniel the Old Testament prophet and mentioned by Jesus in His prophetic message in the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament.

Jesus said, “When ye shall see the abomination of desolations spoken by Daniel the prophet stand in the Holy place (let him that reads understand), for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake, the believer’s sake, those days shall be shortened.”[2] Then, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”[3]

The verses in Matthew 24 give us a scenario that will be followed. But why is Jesus talking about the prophecy in Daniel, “When ye shall see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet?” Different Bible scholars have speculated about the fulfillment of that prophecy. The Jewish scholars in their commentary on the 1st or 2nd Maccabees, which was a period before the time of Christ, claim that that prophecy of Daniel concerning the “abomination of desolation” was already fulfilled by the Greek General Antiochus Epiphenes IV around 120BC. Antiochus persecuted the Jews and killed many Jews in Jerusalem and defiled the temple by throwing a swine’s head into the Holy place. Jewish scholars claim that the “abomination of desolation” already occurred, and that the prophecies of Daniel are already fulfilled and therefore, you cannot apply it to a future event.

There are others who say, “No,no,no, what Jesus was talking about here was the destruction of Jerusalem by Roman General Titus in 70AD. Surely part of the prediction of Jesus could be applied very well to the Roman destruction of the city and the resultant death of some one million Jews by crucifixion as described by Jewish/Roman historian Josephus. But if we fully apply the prophecy of Jesus and say it has already been completed then we miss the fact that Jesus tied the placing of the abomination as a sign for the beginning of the great tribulation. Jesus said that the tribulation would be the worst tribulation the world would ever see. He said that if He didn’t shorten the period of tribulation no life would be saved. Besides that, Jesus also connected the great tribulation to His coming back in the clouds in the rapture event where all God’s people are miraculously raised up to meet the Lord in the sky.

“And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”[4] Therefore, Jesus has tied the events all together: the placing of the “abomination of desolations,” together with the great tribulation period, followed by His coming in the clouds and the rapture event.  I’ve heard a very knowlegdeable Christian scholar claim that Matthew 24 was fulfilled at the time of the Roman invasion in 70AD. He explains that Jesus was receiving the souls of the dead saints up into heaven at that time. He says that Jesus was talking about the heavenly realm, the spiritual realm, and we shouldn’t confuse Matthew 24 with the rapture. He believes that Matthew 24 has been completely fulfilled. That is what he teaches. So some scholars put the prophecy of Matthew 24 in the past and say we don’t have to worry about it. It’s all past. It has nothing to do with us. There is not going to be a great tribulation. There’s not going to be a last seven years. So that’s how some of the different scholars read and understand that passage in Matthew about the abomination of desolations.

But if you go back and read the writings of all the leaders of the early church who came after the apostles we find something very different. The early “Church Fathers,” who were the disciples of the apostles and the forefathers of both the Catholic and Protestant faiths, ring a different bell. We find the early Church Fathers speaking of the tribulation period, a time of Antichrist, of the Antichrist sitting in the temple, of the world in apostasy, and even mention of the last seven years and the 3 ½ years of tribulation. Such is what we find in the writing of Polycarp, who was a disciple of Apostle John, Ireneaus, who was a disciple of Polycarp, Justin Martyer, Origin, and many others whose name’s I don’t remember being that they are either Roman or Greek and harder for me to recollect. But all those men, one after another in full chorus, or in perfect unity like the militaries marching formation make the same claim that a time of great tribulation, a time of great trouble, a time of antichrist with the Antichrist himself sitting in the temple calling himself God would come, just as Apostle Paul wrote in 2nd Thessalonians 2.

Paul said, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 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 the Lord is at hand. 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; who opposes and exalts himself above all that is God, oor that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”[5] That little prophecy of Apostle Paul, tied together with Jesus prophecy in Matthew 24 and the other prophecies from the Old Testament prophet Daniel and the New Testament prophet John from the book of Revelation, all the different prophecies fit together and give us a good picture of the days that are ahead.

My mother used to say she didn’t like reading the book of Revelation because it was too horrific. I don’t think that only Bible scholars can understand these things.I don’t think you have to know Greek and Hebrew to understand the prophecies. I believe God has made His word sufficiently clear that it can be understood by almost anyone. The best way to understand it, like we read in the psalms, is to meditate on it and obey it. “I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.”[6] If we meditate on God’s word, if we follow it’s precepts, we will have better understanding than the scholars, than the guys who know Hebrew and Greek. What in the world does it matter if they know Hebrew and Greek? If they are not following the precepts and obeying them, they can’t understand it properly. Jesus said, "If any man will do the will of God, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I  speak of myself." It’s in the doing, in the following, in the obeying the simple things Jesus said to do that our minds are opened up to the Bible’s truths.

That’s why Augustine said, “Seek not to understand that you might believe. But seek to believe that you might understand.” All these guys that are trying to understand the Bible without obeying it, just end up totally confused. That’s why we have so many different people spouting off all these different interpretations. They make our heads spin. But how many of those authors or Pastors or evangelists are really following the simple words of Jesus? How many are really loving God, loving their neighbour, being generous, being forgiving, not loving money or material goods, not being soon angry or violent, not being selfish, or greedy, or covetous, or have sexual impurites in their lives, or are given to alcohol, or are helping the poor and needy and oppressed?

Anyway, we have a period of seven years which were spoken of by many the forefathers of the Christian faith who with one voice predict a time of trouble, a time of Antichrist before the second coming of the Lord. Apostle Paul said the falling away from the faith would come first before the man of sin be revealed. We have seen a falling away from the faith in our life time. From the time of Christ Christianity spread into Europe. Christian Europe became the beacon of science and intellectual thinking as the light of God enlightened the hearts of men and resulted in scientific inventions and improvements in living. But now we see a great falling away.

We see today that godless doctrines of men have come in. The doctrines are actually spiritual entities, or doctrines of devils as Apostle Paul calls them. Such doctrines that deny God, like evolution, naturalism, humanism, atheism are embraced by much of the modern “advanced” world, where everything but the God of the Bible is allowed. Everything but a godly Biblical framework or worldview or mindset is allowed. God is mocked and we accept abortion and kill our unborn children. In Jeremiah we read, “Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these.”[7] We brag about the fact that we are pro-choice or pro-rainbow. Our minds have already been seared with a hot iron of all these doctrines of devils so that our conscience doesn’t even work properly.

We’ve accepted these demonic doctrines as truth and have denied and forsaken the faith. God as a result has allowed the present plague and we are having to stop, look, and listen. He’s trying to talk with us. We should stop and put off the television. Allan Watt from Scotland said that the television was the best scientific indoctrination device ever invented because it has changed the culture of nations, not just one nation. Why do you think it became mandatory that everyone have access to a television? Because the government is so kind? Do you really believe that? Why do you think India and China have been under the same program? It is because your opinions are formed by what you see and hear. Don’t watch television. You can’t even watch a movie unless you do it critically.[8]

We need to get out our Bibles, get on our knees, get desparate in prayer, pray with our family, ask God to show us what’s about to happen, and what we should do to be prepared for it. Ask God to open up our eyes. As we read His word, we should try to obey every little bit that speaks to our heart. And it will speak to our heart if we read it. Then we can take one thing and try to put it into practice. Here is says I should forgive others, as I myself want to be forgiven. Now who do I need to forgive in my life? Who am I holding a grudge against? Who am I feeling bitter towards, who has done something to me that I don’t feel good about?  I need to forgive them. We can start with forgiveness and try to obey that and try to make things right with other people in our family, or at our work place. It doesn’t mean we have to accept what they have done as right or that they were right in what they did. It means that I have to try to get rid of the grudge I am feeling in my heart  towards them and put it up to the Lord. That’s what I can do to get my mind illuminated by starting to obey the word of God.

Start acknowledging that there is a God. If we just start to acknowledge Him, it will please Him. You can keep holding on to your atheistic, ignostic, naturalistic, world view, but it’s just rubbish if you really think about it. I’m not telling you that you have to go back to church or be religious. But I’m just saying that it’s irrational  to say and think that everything we see and hear and feel, that it just all came from nothing. That it has no purpose or reason and we are just here on a cosmic ball that’s just going to burn up. Yes, it’s going to burn up one day, but God is going to resurface the face of the earth. He is going to come and dwell with man for a thousand years on planet earth. Then He will make a new heaven and a new earth.

As I was walking along the beach a man coming toward me sneezed and so I yelled at him, “Don’t pass me any of that vírus!” He responded, “Don’t worry.” He was about 10 meters in front of me, walking towards me. His accent seemed more Spanish or Italian than Portuguese. We both laughed and he said, "Have a good day." I responded with, "Okay, you, too." It was a bit of comic relief from the quarentine situation. As we bid good day I remembered Louie Armstrong’s song and him singing, "People shaking hands, saying 'How do you do?' But they're really saying, 'I love you.'" In just that short moment I felt I had connected with the stranger. 

I'm reminded of what my son said, "Dad, don’t forget you need to give people some hope. Don’t just put all the horrible stuff in so they aren’t left without hope." Like Paul wrote, “We have the hope of the gospel." And the gospel is our hope. But what is the gospel but the fact of the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Our hope is actually eterenal life. Many of the early Christians  and the men of God throughout the Old and New Testament, and past the time of the New Testament, died as martyers for their faith. So our hope is not here. Our hope is that Christ has raised from the dead and through Him we have eternal life. Our hope is salvation from death and eternal life with God. Both Job in the oldest book in the Bible, and in the psalms of David we see they had hope of life beyond the grave. That’s our hope. That’s what we should keep as the focal point in our life. I am going to obey God and live for Him and God is going to bless me and reward me. He will reward me both here and here after. That's my hope and I have that hope because I am not trusting in my own righteousness, but in the righteousness of the One who rose from the dead!

The early Christians didn’t pick up arms and die in battle to gain eternal life and kill their enemies. Maybe some of them thought that was the way they should walk, with the Crusades. The false Church had sent them on these false ungodly missions. But the true believers didn’t take up arms. The true believers died and had their heads cut off. They died as martyers, because they weren’t willing to bow down to the gods of the Romans. Justin Martyer and six of his students got their head cut off because they refused to worship the Roman gods. They had another God, an invisible God. The Romans considered them atheists because they didn’t believe in the Roman gods. They didn’t like the Christians because of their strange different faith even though they knew that the Christians had love. It was during the times of the plagues that Rome experienced in the 2nd and 3rd century that the Christians that stayed in Rome won the Romans to Christ.  By the love that they showed in ministering unto the Romans during the time of the various plagues was what converted the Romans. The Christians were willing to sacrífice their own lives, if need be, in order to help others. That’s Christianity.

Please, have hope. Don’t have fear. But realize that our hope is not necessarily here on earth. We have an eternal hope that we shall live with Him in heavenly places forever. In fact we are going to live here on earth again with God who will come down and dwell with men. He’s going to bring us back to this earth and later make a new heaven and a new earth. Ultimately, God is our hope. Our hope is build on Jesus’s raising from the dead. That’s where our hope is. Because He lives, we will live also.  Because He suffered and died, we may very well suffer and die for His name sake in a like manner. He said, if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. I can’t give you much hope for right now. I can give you hope that God is going to be with you throughout whatever happens to you, because the Christians were able to go to their death in faith. They could raise their hands praising God inspite of the fact that they were in the fire of affliction. They turned their screams into songs of praise. God gave them the grace to die bravely.

You may think, “I don’t have the grace for that, Dennis. Well, you don’t have to have the grace for it right now, because you’re not dying right now. But when the time comes, God will give you the grace. Like the story of Corrie Ten Boom. She confessed to her father that she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to stay faithful to Christ under Nazi persecution. The Nazi’s were persecuting the Jews and any one who would help them or the underground resistance movement. Corrie’s family was helping both.  Corrie said, “Dad, I don’t have faith for persecution. I wouldn’t be able to stand it and I will deny my faith. I don’t have faith for persecution.” Her father responded, “Corrie, when do I give you the money for the train to Amsterdam. Do I give it to you a year, or a month, or a week in advance?” “No, Dad, you give it to me when we get to the train station, when it’s time to buy my ticket.” Her father answered, “That’s the same with God. You’re not facing the persecution now, so He hasn’t given you the grace. But the time will come when, if it is your time to face the persecution, He will give you the grace.”

You might be fearful and frightened like Corrie was, but don't be. If the time comes that you need to stand up for the truth, that you need to stand up for Jesus, don't worry. God will annoint you with His Holy Spirit and help you to be that witness. Just try to stay close to God today. Try to stay faithful today. Spend more time  reading God’s word today. Spend more time in prayer today. God promises to be with you and help you  and keep you both today and tomorrow. That’s where our hope is. Our hope is in God’s word. Our hope is in His promises. No matter what happens here, we can still  rest assured that our hope is in heaven and in heavenly places. “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but truly rest on Jesus name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.” Keep your hope on the solid rock of God’s word. Read it. Memorize it. Use it to fight the good fight of faith, to fight the mental battles, to fight the lies of the Wicked One that attack your mind. Use God’s word as an attacking weapon. It’s the sword of the spirit which can help you fight the firery darts of the enemy. Jesus used it to rebuke the devil and we need to use it too.



[1] Revelation 8:2
[2] Matthew 24:15, 21, 22.
[3] Matthew 24:29-31
[4] Matthew 24:30b
[5] 2 thessalonians 2:1-4
[6] Psalm 119:99-100
[7] Jeremiah 2:34
[8] Allen Watt, "Cutting through the Matrix," radio program.

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Through the Storm


Words from Jesus

https://anchor.tfionline.com/post/through-storm/



Audio length: 8:16
Download Audio (7.5MB)
Remember the account when I calmed the sea?1 My disciples were panicking and thought that they would certainly perish. But when they looked to Me for help, rather than looking at their circumstances, I came to their rescue in spite of the waves and the storm.
It’s the same for you. There are many waves, and you may even see storms brewing on the horizon of your life, but if you look to Me and the assurances of My love and care for you, of My wisdom to guide you, you will find the answers you need. These worries about the future are like the waves washing over you and your little boat. The situation around you is like a menacing storm. At times you might be tempted to think you will capsize.
If you will ask Me to calm the storm, I will. Or I will show you how to weather the storm. I will do it, just as I have always done it in all these years you have so faithfully trusted in Me. Remember that I am in the boat with you.
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Your life’s journey is like that of a ship out on the open sea. Sometimes the seas are calm and the sky is blue and the sun is shining, but frequently there are great gales, with massive waves, and angry dark skies. These are like the difficulties and challenges of your life.
Sometimes you wish that you could just tie up in port, in some safe and sheltered bay, whenever the dark clouds start building on the horizon. But I didn’t make your ship for the sheltered bay; I made it for the storms! I built it to withstand the storms and the crashing waves, so long as you face into the wind instead of trying to run and hide from it. And the more you face the storms, trusting Me and letting Me pilot, the more weathered you become, and better equipped to face the storms and challenges of life.
During the storms of life, the wind may blow so fiercely and the waves loom so high that you feel like you’re going to capsize sometimes. But meanwhile you often find that you’re being propelled onward in your life so much farther and faster than if you were on a flat and placid sea with not even a flutter of a breeze.
So bravely face the storm, and cherish the peace I give you in the midst of it. The storms will come, but know that I have the power to say, “Peace, be still,” when necessary, and most importantly, to steer you safely through each one, so that you come out on the other side so much farther along in your exciting journey around the globe, exploring new lands and bringing My light to the far corners of the Earth.
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During a storm, it’s easy to become preoccupied with keeping your boat steady and above water. That’s understandable. But never lose sight of the fact that I am at the helm of your boat. The key is seeing Me in all things—even in the wind and the waves—and then, in a spirit of faith, trusting Me to see you safely to the shore of victory, just as I always have.
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No matter what, you will always have My unconditional love. It will see you through anything. It will be a light in dark places, a compass when you are lost, an anchor to hold you fast in a storm, and a warm blanket to comfort you when you are alone and cold.
Treasure My unconditional love. Know that it doesn’t cost you anything‚ but has been freely given to you from someone who loves you to the core.
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My child, I am the Lord Who does not change. People and circumstances in your life continually change, creating undercurrents of anxiety. When anxiety threatens to overwhelm you, come to Me and praise Me that I am holding you ever so tightly. When the waves of life roll around you, cling to Me as the One Who never changes. I am Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. Praise Me continually, especially during tumultuous times. When you dare to praise Me, I will strengthen your confidence in Me as your rock. I am your refuge and strength, a continual help, even during seasons of transition. I am your security. My presence goes with you through every changing season. Do not fear tomorrow; I am already there. I lovingly call you to new adventures. Change in your life doesn’t happen by chance. Nothing can thwart My plans for you, plans for good and not evil. In the midst of this changing world, I am constant and never change.2
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For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat.—Isaiah 25:4

1 See Mark 4:37–41.
2 Becky Harling, The 30-Day Praise Challenge (David C. Cook, 2013). For scriptures referenced in this passage, see Hebrews 13:8,15; Psalm 46:1,7; Job 42:2; Jeremiah 29:11.

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