Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Why the Rapture of the Church Has To Happen Before the Seven Year Tribul...
This is Pastor JD's Sunday sermon so it's a few days old, but I decided to share it because I haven't been doing too many updates recently. Not that there haven't been things happening around the world. Hello, world economy!!! Hello, London riots!! I've been rather overwhelmed as of late to update on those things, but please note that the birth pangs are getting stronger and closer together.
If Turkey or Syria decide to attack one another, there will be a huge war in the Middle East, which will probably devolve into a world war. Famine and drought are prevalent on just about the entire continent of Africa. The heatwave in America continues. The stock markets in several countries are crashing. Volcanoes all over the world are lighting up. There's just about a 6.0 or greater earthquake somewhere in the world every single day.
Messiah is coming. Trim your lamps and make sure you have oil.
~~Becka
Monday, August 1, 2011
Israel Willing to Negotiate on Borders
Israel is willing to negotiate on borders in dramatic policy change:
JERUSALEM — In a dramatic policy shift, Israel's prime minister has agreed to negotiate the borders of a Palestinian state based on the cease-fire line that marks off the West Bank, a TV station reported Monday.
Up to now, Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to spell out his plan for negotiating the border. A senior Israeli official would not confirm outright that the prime minister was now willing to adopt the cease-fire line as a starting point, but said Israel was willing to try new formulas to restart peace talks based on a proposal made by President Barack Obama.
In a speech about the Middle East in May, Obama proposed negotiations based on the pre-1967 line with agreed swaps of territory between Israel and a Palestinian state. Netanyahu reacted angrily, insisting that Israel would not withdraw from all of the West Bank, though that was not what Obama proposed.
Now Netanyahu is basically accepting that framework, according to Channel 2 TV, offering to trade Israeli territory on its side of the line for West Bank land where its main settlements are located.
The official, who has been briefed on the talks, spoke on condition of anonymity because the contacts are still in progress. He said he would not deny the TV report, while refusing to confirm the specifics.
"We are willing in a framework of restarting the peace talks to accept a proposal that would contain elements that would be difficult for Israel and we would find very difficult to endorse," he said, answering a question about the Obama proposal.
Part of the reason, he said, was that Israel is seeking to persuade the Palestinians to drop their initiative to win U.N. recognition of their state next month, something the Palestinians are doing out of frustration with stalled peace efforts.
Palestinian officials said they had not received such a proposal from Israel.
Palestinians have demanded that Israel stop construction in its West Bank settlements and east Jerusalem before peace talks resume. Netanyahu wants talks with no preconditions where issues like settlements and borders would be discussed, along with his insistence that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
The cease-fire line that marks the West Bank dates to the 1949 end of the two-year war that followed the creation of Israel. It held until June 1967, when Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, claimed by the Palestinians.
Palestinians and most of the world consider the 1967 lines a border, while Israel has always held that it was just a temporary truce line that does not dictate the location of the border.
Previous Israeli governments have accepted the cease-fire line as the basis for talks, and the two sides came close to agreement twice in the past decade before talks broke down over other matters.
Thorny issues like sharing Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees would remain after the border issue is resolved, but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said that setting a border would defuse the explosive settlement issue by determining which of the enclaves would become part of Israel and which would not.
In the absence of an agreement to return to negotiations, the Palestinians are moving ahead with their U.N. recognition initiative. While a vote in the General Assembly would be symbolic and not legally binding, the Palestinians believe any international endorsement will isolate Israel and improve their position if negotiations resume.
Palestinian officials said Monday they plan to begin mass marches against Israel's occupation of the West Bank on Sept. 20, the eve of the U.N. vote.
Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo said leaders hope to attract millions, and the protest will be the first of a prolonged effort. He said the campaign would be called "Palestine 194," since the Palestinians hope to become the 194th member of the United Nations.
"The appeal to the U.N. is a battle for all Palestinians, and in order to succeed, it needs millions to pour into streets," he said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/01/israel-border-negotiation_n_915380.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
~*~
Wow. I never thought I'd live to see the day. The birth pangs are going to get harder and stronger now. They already have. Famine and drought is spreading like wildfire all over Africa and the earth is experiencing a 6.0 or greater earthquake every single day.
Our Lord is coming. There's no denying it now.
~~Becka
JERUSALEM — In a dramatic policy shift, Israel's prime minister has agreed to negotiate the borders of a Palestinian state based on the cease-fire line that marks off the West Bank, a TV station reported Monday.
Up to now, Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to spell out his plan for negotiating the border. A senior Israeli official would not confirm outright that the prime minister was now willing to adopt the cease-fire line as a starting point, but said Israel was willing to try new formulas to restart peace talks based on a proposal made by President Barack Obama.
In a speech about the Middle East in May, Obama proposed negotiations based on the pre-1967 line with agreed swaps of territory between Israel and a Palestinian state. Netanyahu reacted angrily, insisting that Israel would not withdraw from all of the West Bank, though that was not what Obama proposed.
Now Netanyahu is basically accepting that framework, according to Channel 2 TV, offering to trade Israeli territory on its side of the line for West Bank land where its main settlements are located.
The official, who has been briefed on the talks, spoke on condition of anonymity because the contacts are still in progress. He said he would not deny the TV report, while refusing to confirm the specifics.
"We are willing in a framework of restarting the peace talks to accept a proposal that would contain elements that would be difficult for Israel and we would find very difficult to endorse," he said, answering a question about the Obama proposal.
Part of the reason, he said, was that Israel is seeking to persuade the Palestinians to drop their initiative to win U.N. recognition of their state next month, something the Palestinians are doing out of frustration with stalled peace efforts.
Palestinian officials said they had not received such a proposal from Israel.
Palestinians have demanded that Israel stop construction in its West Bank settlements and east Jerusalem before peace talks resume. Netanyahu wants talks with no preconditions where issues like settlements and borders would be discussed, along with his insistence that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
Palestinians and most of the world consider the 1967 lines a border, while Israel has always held that it was just a temporary truce line that does not dictate the location of the border.
Previous Israeli governments have accepted the cease-fire line as the basis for talks, and the two sides came close to agreement twice in the past decade before talks broke down over other matters.
Thorny issues like sharing Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees would remain after the border issue is resolved, but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said that setting a border would defuse the explosive settlement issue by determining which of the enclaves would become part of Israel and which would not.
In the absence of an agreement to return to negotiations, the Palestinians are moving ahead with their U.N. recognition initiative. While a vote in the General Assembly would be symbolic and not legally binding, the Palestinians believe any international endorsement will isolate Israel and improve their position if negotiations resume.
Palestinian officials said Monday they plan to begin mass marches against Israel's occupation of the West Bank on Sept. 20, the eve of the U.N. vote.
Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo said leaders hope to attract millions, and the protest will be the first of a prolonged effort. He said the campaign would be called "Palestine 194," since the Palestinians hope to become the 194th member of the United Nations.
"The appeal to the U.N. is a battle for all Palestinians, and in order to succeed, it needs millions to pour into streets," he said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/01/israel-border-negotiation_n_915380.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
~*~
Wow. I never thought I'd live to see the day. The birth pangs are going to get harder and stronger now. They already have. Famine and drought is spreading like wildfire all over Africa and the earth is experiencing a 6.0 or greater earthquake every single day.
Our Lord is coming. There's no denying it now.
~~Becka
Friday, July 29, 2011
Bible Study for Pre-Trib in the Book of Romans
I felt impressed by the Lord to read a bit in Romans today during my prayer time. I've read the book many times, but like you do with Scripture, you can read a verse over and over again and not understand it until the Lord opens your eyes.
There is a verse in Romans 5:8-10 that states this (emphasis mine):
A lot of naysayers of the Rapture believe it to be a "cop-out" for Christians not to endure the hardships to come. It is an "escapist's" way of hoping God will miraculously pull them out of danger, and those who put their hope in it are deluding themselves.
No, it is not a lofty idea or a hope for something that will not happen.
Paul clearly states here that Christ died for us WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS. Meaning, we were all going to Hell until Christ stepped in. We were reconciled to Him for eternal life when we were yet enemies of God. But we are no longer enemies!! We have been reconciled!
Therefore, BECAUSE of that reconciliation, how much more will we be SAVED from God's wrath through His life (resurrection)??
Remember, God never promised to keep us out of PERSECUTION. But He has ALWAYS promised to keep us out of His WRATH. These are two different scenarios. Persecution is the evil of this world, the hatred and scorn the worldly unbelievers have for Christians. But the wrath of GOD is a punishment upon all mankind for their sins.
Since WE, being Christians and redeemed through Christ, are set apart for Heaven's Glory, God will therefore NOT send US through His wrath to come.
We were REDEEMED to Christ while we were yet enemies of God through His death on the cross.
And we are SAVED through Christ's resurrection (His life) from the wrath of God.
I think this Bible verse, more than any other that mentions keeping believers out of God's wrath, explains it clearly by using our redemption at the cross while we were still sinners. Christ's death redeemed us, and His life saves us. Amen and amen.
~~Becka
There is a verse in Romans 5:8-10 that states this (emphasis mine):
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
A lot of naysayers of the Rapture believe it to be a "cop-out" for Christians not to endure the hardships to come. It is an "escapist's" way of hoping God will miraculously pull them out of danger, and those who put their hope in it are deluding themselves.
No, it is not a lofty idea or a hope for something that will not happen.
Paul clearly states here that Christ died for us WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS. Meaning, we were all going to Hell until Christ stepped in. We were reconciled to Him for eternal life when we were yet enemies of God. But we are no longer enemies!! We have been reconciled!
Therefore, BECAUSE of that reconciliation, how much more will we be SAVED from God's wrath through His life (resurrection)??
Remember, God never promised to keep us out of PERSECUTION. But He has ALWAYS promised to keep us out of His WRATH. These are two different scenarios. Persecution is the evil of this world, the hatred and scorn the worldly unbelievers have for Christians. But the wrath of GOD is a punishment upon all mankind for their sins.
Since WE, being Christians and redeemed through Christ, are set apart for Heaven's Glory, God will therefore NOT send US through His wrath to come.
We were REDEEMED to Christ while we were yet enemies of God through His death on the cross.
And we are SAVED through Christ's resurrection (His life) from the wrath of God.
I think this Bible verse, more than any other that mentions keeping believers out of God's wrath, explains it clearly by using our redemption at the cross while we were still sinners. Christ's death redeemed us, and His life saves us. Amen and amen.
~~Becka
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Are You Receiving Rapture Flack or Is It Just Me!?
Watch this video if you have the time. It's about 15 minutes long, about a fellow Christian kind of "ranting" on other fellow Christians' attitudes toward the Rapture. What he says is spot-on to what I've experienced in my own life, as well as what I believe regarding WHY fellow Christians "poo-poo" the imminent Rapture.
~~Becka
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