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RECAP NEWSLETTER - 9/19/5 Issue 42
"EVIL TIDINGS" "A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion... He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon enemies." I'm sure it comes as no surprise to you that informedchristians.com covers what some may call 'evil tidings.' However, that is the undesirable aspect of a prudent watchman's duty. As Christians, though, our reaction to 'evil tidings' should be markedly different from that of the world. There are far more websites and geopolitical information clearinghouses than Christian ones. Many times we both cover the same events, news items, and similar predicted scenarios. So, why have a Christian news outlet? As Christians, we have a different perspective in watching world events. Not only in light of prophecy, but also in the realm of reactions. We need to be constantly reminded that the events that we see or foresee are not to shake our faith, but make it stronger. Many unsaved patriots look at the direction that our country and world is heading, and can only be filled with fear, trembling, and uncertainty. That should not be the case for the Christian. Certainly, the events that are coming upon our nation and world before Christ returns will be harrowing; but our steadfastness, determination, and hope in this life lies not in our ability to handle or surmount circumstances, to hold onto Christ! It is interesting that the verse describes the individual as one who "guides his affairs with discretion." Every Christian should be described by that! Unfortunately, many American Christians have a happy-go-lucky attitude, not concerned about prophecy or what they perceive as 'evil tidings.' Prudent Christians, when they hear or experience trying times or events in their life, will be shaken terribly if their faith and trust is not solely in God! Notice that the verses state that his heart is fixed on God *before* the event happens. Do not wait until regional or national catastrophes occur to get close to God. Do not wait until some loved one is thrust into the hospital, and your world turned upside-down, before you grab a hold of God! Sure, you may be a Christian, but how close are you to God? Is He just a Bible that sits in your vehicle to be used for Sunday church? Is He just someone who you give rote prayers to every day at meal times? How big is your God? The good and righteous man was not shaken when he heard evil tidings. Yes, he knew things might be rough, but that did not shake his faith or trust in God! If your faith is not one-hundred percent settled in the omniscient and omnipotent power of God, then your faith will be shaken during evil times! Chances are, unless your anchor lines are drawn fast and taunt, your vessel will be loosened from its moorings during a tempest! James 4:8-9 implores us, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness." The fun and games are over, Christian!! It is time to get serious with Almighty God! It is high time that we with zeal search our lives and conversation and cleanse them from sin! We cannot walk the line between half-heartedly serving God and delving into the world's appetites! Draw your lines closer to God, remove the stumbling blocks, make fast your moorings. Storms are coming. In Psalm 46:1-3, the Psalmist puts forth a hypothetical situation to illustrate the extent of his trust in Jehovah. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah." It reminded me of earthquakes and tsunamis. He, however, describes what can only be described as events of 'biblical proportions.' Yet, he states that his faith and trust in God is so steadfast that those events would not weaken his faith. In the story of Job, we find a man who was given more evil tidings than one thinks bearable. He lost everything he owned. He lost all of his children. Yet, his faith and trust in God was so great that his proper response was: "Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly."
If you have not drawn nigh to God, you will sin and charge God foolishly
when the evil tidings come.
UPDATES I formatted the Resources page, listing the different subcategories under each main category. This will help you find subjects and articles easier. If you are looking for information on a particular item of interest, send us an email via the QuickComment link on our website. Perhaps we can help. I also added the sub-category 'End Times' to the 'Letters from the Editor' category. I know you are always itching to read the event recap whenever you get this. Do not skip the devotional at the top. The two are intertwined, and the Bible study sets the tone and perspective for the recap. As Christians, it is vital that current events be evaluated and studied in light of God's Word.
QUOTES "Resistence to tyrants is obedience to God"--Thomas Jefferson
"Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the
world that a free man,
"The strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and
bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against
"The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains
evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all
"That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people trained
to arms, is the proper, natural and safe defense of a free "Senior Military Pentagon officials have been working closely with senior officials at Wall Street to perfect several scenarios that could quickly be put into action once Wall Street crashes." U.S. Under Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Jerry MacArthur, U.S. Naval War College, 1998
CURRENT EVENT RECAP Last week, we looked at signs of increasing turmoil and also of Christ's impending return. Just this week we saw three more relevant news articles. Massive solar flares with some of the fastest observed speeds occurred around Sept. 11th. I am reminded of Luke 21:10-11, "Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven." More major earthquakes are coming. Famine, food shortages. Pestilences - while I do not know whether Avian Flu will become the pandemic, our generation is defined by the lists of abbreviations and names for diseases (mostly sexually) There will be more. "Fearful sights" - a lot can be covered in those two words. Christ calls them the "beginning of sorrows" (Matthew 24:8). They will pale in comparison to the Tribulation, but they will get worse and worse until then. Events and catastrophes that we are seeing are the bare beginnings of what is to come. Last week we saw the article, "Number of monster hurricanes doubled in past 34 years." Then, just today, the storm called 'Rita' is "the 17th tropical storm of the season, and this is the earliest named "R" storm on record." These disasters are being used to prepare the foundations for governmental control that will usher in larger global governance. Last week we looked at the precedents that New Orleans and the aftermath were creating. Some of the most serious were the imminent threats to gun ownership, illegal search and seizure, and military involvement in domestic arenas. Just in the last week alone we saw several mentions of the 'need' for increased military presence and roles is such situations. Bush called for broader powers in light of the ''overwhelming' situation. Two articles we saw 'lamented' how if the military had been involved from the get-go, lives would have been saved. Perhaps that is why they purposely delayed so long - to make people clamor faster for them next time. Then they lamented how the National Guard was spread out in Iraq, and that delayed their response... What they are hinting at is that this whole mess would have been much better off if there was no National Guard to struggle with, just let the military in general handle it all... the states' responses are not adequate for our day and time. That is what they are saying ever so subtly. One article that I am waiting for (kinda surprised they haven't broached the subject yet) is the subject of implanted microchips to identify refugees and the dead. The topic was briefly mentioned after the tsunami last year. Perhaps after the waters go down a bit more in New Orleans, it will give the reporters time to drum up stories about all the unidentified. I did find several articles where they were lauding the microchiped pets so that people can find their beloved pets that were lost. I'm sure they will also work the aspect of fraud-protection with relief aid into the spin. Speaking of hurricane aid, it seems as though someone gave the checkbook to Bush and said, "Spend it all." I'm not even going to go into whether relief aid from the government is legit. We covered that after the tsunami in the 1-2-5 RECAP. It is archived in the Printables section of our website. It is as though money is no longer an option. Most people hear numbers of what we are giving to so-and-so and for such-and-such, and they have no idea how bankrupt our nation and economy is! Conservative estimates for the Katrina efforts are easily $200 billion! Already the budget deficit for 2006 will be over $500 billion dollars! One article remarked that the deficit "is now even less of an issue in Washington than it was before Katrina." Already estimates to build new levees for New Orleans are going to be over $2.5 billion. Oh yes, on Wednesday, NASA announced they were going to be spending $100 billion to get to the moon in 2018! We had an $18.4 billion dollar budget to help rebuild vital infrastructure in Iraq (which we bombed/broke), which has suddenly dried up vastly paring down rebuilding efforts over there. Expect another request to cough up $20 billion for that soon. Washington expects another request of $50 billion for Katrina efforts soon as well. While I am not into the gravy train idea of government, we have already looked at $370 billion dollars that is not going to other areas! And we wonder why they have to cut back military bases?! Don't you know it's more important that we go to the moon and rebuild a city in a swamp that is below sea level! Gold is now near a 17-year high. The reason given in almost every news article is because "speculators continued to buy the precious metal as a hedge against further falls in the dollar due to the high US trade and budget deficits." See, everyone in the financial know (mostly foreign countries) knows that our dollar is already close to worthless, and as they see the checks coming off of the checkbook they get more and more worried. And, since the goal of an organized, deliberate economic collapse is 'order out of chaos', ie. complete governmental control and a country on-par with other global 'communities', other Draconian efforts are being made to nail the final spikes into the coffin. GATT, NAFTA, CAFTA, etc. And now, Bush is publicly calling for complete elimination of all trade tariffs and subsidies "to promote prosperity and opportunity in struggling nations." That would completely destroy any vestige of US-made industry and quality goods. Note that the trade tariffs and such are worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Also notice how the two major ways to spend money is under the guise of 'helping' - Katrina relief and foreign aid. The architects of America's financial collapse are pulling out all of the stops on how to drain America dry. Notice the last quote from the above quote section. There can be no main superpower in a global governance. America is a shell of a superpower. Just like a tree, we look green and healthy, but inside we are rotten, just waiting for the next big gust to take us down. Katrina was not the cause, it exacerbated a present condition. One or two more similar situations, and others will be rushing in to 'help.' The world governments are getting ready. Not outwardly, but behind the scenes. At the UN World Summit, and at Clinton's Global Initiative, many efforts and speeches were made to get the nations to act together on common broad and vague causes. Kofi Annan made an interesting comment in an interview during the events. He said, "I hope the U.N. will not be seen as a world government. If I give the impression we are a world government, we'll get even more critics and our critics will be emboldened." He is right. It is not a world government - it is the foundation for one that they are anticipating. They are anticipating and working for one that is to come. Revelation 17:12-13 says, "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast." Whether we are at the ten kings yet, I do not know. I do know it is not a stretch to say that the kings before them were also working for the same goal - a new world order. This brings up a good question. What is a new world order? Well, in order to define that, we have to define what the old one was. What is the current (old) order that has ruled the world for thousands of years? Granted, it is not in effect much more because it is being 'phased out' by the 'new one.' The old world order is the rule by God - the recognition of Him as Creator, us as the Creation, and, hence, the legitimacy of His laws and morals. A new world order comes from man's rebellion against the Creator, His laws, and morals. They do not want to be run by God, so they want to throw God out. That is why the UN has their own Earth Charter (ten commandments), and even their own 'Ark of the Covenant', the blasphemous 'Ark of Hope'. Any virtue or principle derived from God's Word is removed. What was intolerable has become accepted. In a new world order, every man becomes a god. Do you think it will be hard, then, for them to worship a man (Antichrist) AS God? There are many historical instances of rulers being venerated as deities. Pharaoh comes to mind. A New World Order is most dangerous to Christians because to transition to what they want will trod roughshod over true believers - the elect. There will be many mainstream 'Christians' who will go with the flow, and blend into the woodwork because they are nominal Christians. A New World Order will tell you that you cannot teach your children about Christ, or that you can teach them Scripture. A New World Order believes that Christians are intolerant of their lifestyle and rebellion against God. A New World Order is not a tyrannical, political entity that the secular, unsaved world sees it as. It is the world's manifestation and empowering in open rebellion against God. That is why during the Tribulation their rebellion against a God and His visible manifestations against their precious Mother Earth will have them beheading the Christians saved during that time. Why? They hardened their heart just like Pharaoh. Christian, as we look at the events to come, do not get trapped in the secular way of thinking that there is a political conspiracy that can be overturned by valiant patriot action, fighting off the UN from our shores. They are looking at just a very narrow slice of what this world is about to go through. As informed Christians, we need to look at events not just in their political aspects, but also in light of prophecy. That is the heartbeat of this ministry. Not to just share evil tidings about what our world is coming to, but to sound the alarm as the watchman on the wall, that the storm is coming. As Christians, we need to make sure that our moorings are made fast in Christ before it gets worse; we need to strengthen our children and our fellow believers. There will be many nominal ignorant Christians who will turn their back on God during these events because they were not close to Him and did not recognize Him! Their concept of God that is spoon-fed to them by liars such as Warren and others will clash with the reality that God is coming very soon and that He would allow these events to happen! We are not told the evil tidings in Scripture to get us worried or afraid, they are to make us cling ever tighter to Him and His Word! Get in it! Memorize it! Write it down! I recommend that you read our article "The Great Commandment: How Do Christians Love God?" It is under 'Resources' > "Letters from the Editor." There is also a graphic link on our main page. Christians, we need to prepare! Yes, we need to be prudent and guide our affairs with discretion, but of far greater importance is the state of our relationship with God! Is our heart fixed on God or on our possessions? Is our trust in our money and goods instead of the Lord? Prepare your heart, pray and plead with God to give you wisdom in the days ahead, to point out sins and hindrances that you need to tear out of your life. Time is too short to watch a movie, or to waste time on matters that really do not matter. Live for Christ, first and highest of all, in all that you do, with all of you. Or, as Matthew 22:37 commands, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment."
REMINDERS & PRAYER REQUESTS
Pray for our President that if he is not saved, he will come to the true
knowledge of Jesus Christ. Pray that he will work to the protection
of the American people, and the punishment of the wicked.
Pray for the requests in PrayerList, and also in iChurches.
May God richly bless, |