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War Rumors Raging

January 29, 2024 9:47 am / 8 Comments on War Rumors Raging

War begins in each individual, the Apostle James reveals:

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. (James 4:1–2)

The fallen nature, which came when sin was introduced to humanity, started a war that rages to this day and is intensifying by the minute, according to the hourly news reports that constantly bombard us.

Threats of war ebb and flow and reach, at times, the very brink of exploding into full-blown nuclear devastation. But that hasn’t happened to this point.

Those of my age remember the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 in which the US and Soviet Union faced off. I certainly remember that, as a 20-year-old, there was genuine fear, even by those of us so young at the time.

Sounder thinking prevailed, and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and US President John F. Kennedy pulled back from that fatal moment when the Doomsday Clock must have been one second from midnight.

Or did they?

Did these leaders of the enslaved and of the free world save the planet to fight instead in a thousand conventional conflicts into the future?

Or did physical salvation of everyone on the planet come from another source?

To answer His disciples’ question—“What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world (age)?”—Jesus said:

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. (Matthew 24:6)

I can’t remember when fear of world war has been more prevalent than in this present hour. The fear is being expressed not so much by average people of the world, but within the highest echelons of world diplomacy. The following somewhat puts this all into perspective.

According to media reporting on documents leaked from the German Ministry of Defense, European leaders are preparing for a “hybrid” Russian attack in Eastern Europe. The first stage, dubbed “Alliance Defense 2025,” would start this February with Russia mobilizing an additional 200,000 soldiers. Fox News reported on Tuesday that classified German documents outlined how the militaries of several European countries are planning to prepare for an offensive by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The story was first reported in the BILD newspaper based on information obtained from the German Ministry of Defense. The “Alliance Defense 2024” could start in February as Russia deploys about 200,000 soldiers in response to Western financial support for Ukraine drying up, according to the report…

Newsweek reported on Tuesday that Margarita Simony an, editor-in-chief of the Russian-state-owned broadcaster RT, predicted that World War III will “definitely” break out in the Middle East.

“And now the third world war,” Simonyan posted to Twitter on Monday evening. “Whether a world war will break out now or a little later depends on whether Washington believes that it will be useful to it now, before the elections, or vice versa. Judging by the choral silence of the American media, they are still thinking.” (Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz, “Media Warns of WWIII Starting in Mid-East after Presidential Elections,” World News, 1/19/24, https://www.israel365news.com)

Certainly it cannot be denied that armies are positioned around the world—particularly in the Middle East—for whatever reasons. They are there, and war-like tempers are in a rage.

Iran continues to develop its nuclear weapons program while threatening both Israel and America. It uses proxies to attack ships in the Red Sea and other places. Hezbollah makes noises of joining in the assaults on Israel. Lebanon threatens to join the fray for what is perceived as Israeli intrusions, even though attacks emanate from Lebanese territories. Turkey’s dictator talks in terms of war rhetoric as he observably moves Turkey into the coalition formed against the increasingly hated Jewish state.

In Asia, China is positioned to assault Taiwan, using provocative tactics to intimidate that state, which China considers its own.

Vladimir Putin is stepping up military action against Ukraine, while angered over Western—particularly US—funding of the Ukrainian military.

There is no weapon ever invented—including nuclear weapons—that hasn’t ultimately been used in war. The thermonuclear weapons developed since the atomic bombs used to end World War II are exponentially greater in power than those two bombs that killed more than one hundred thousand people.

So is World War III—a thermonuclear holocaust—about to destroy us all?

Again we look at Jesus’ words:

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. (Matthew 24:6)

Further, we are assured by Jesus Himself that the world will not end in thermonuclear cataclysm.

And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. (Matthew 24:22)

So, as Jesus Himself said, “Let not your heart be troubled”—that is, if you are a child of God. Despite the rumors of war raging from every quarter, there will be no all-out nuclear World War III this side of the Rapture. And even following the Rapture, God will prevent Satan’s attempts to destroy humankind.

You don’t want to be here when Satan’s efforts to do just that will be at their horrendous worst during the Tribulation. Here is how to become a child of God and go instead to be within the safe harbor the Lord Jesus Christ provides for all who accept God’s salvation offer.

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)

Movement into Madness

January 28, 2024 9:44 am / 21 Comments on Movement into Madness

Perhaps what we are witnessing today in the insanity going on around us can be encapsulated within two verses—a prophecy given to the Apostle Paul to warn this generation:

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:12–13)

And it is the great apostle who was given by the Holy Spirit the words to let us know the causes and effects of the evil deception:

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. (Romans 1:28–32)

The old saying, “What goes around comes around,” is certainly true, especially in terms of fallen humanity’s prophetic trek across linear time. The antediluvian evil and wickedness Paul delineates is mirrored precisely in this generation. We are enduring madness wrought by humanity turning its back to God and determining to do what is right in their own mind. Or, I should say more accurately, determining to do what is right in the eyes of their father, the devil.

For all who are not in Christ are fallen through Lucifer, their progenitor, in that sense. He introduced sin into the human bloodstream. That venom has the vast majority of humankind infected and affected by the reprobate mind—upside-down thinking that is opposite the thinking of the redeemed mind that produces righteous acts. That righteousness is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ, who takes away the sin of the world.

In thinking on the things ripping at the very fabric of civilization and their root causes, two quite timely articles came before me. The first gets more into the causes and the second into the effects. Here are excerpts of each:

Discussions on collapse often turn to signs and signals – The economy, politics and social tensions have become increasingly unstable for many years now, and much like adding more and more weight to a man standing on a frozen lake, eventually the ice is going to break.  The question is, how do we know when that moment will be?

As cultural systems begin to dissolve due to political clashes and economic decline the real evil tends to slither out of the woodwork.  It happens slowly at first, then all at once.  A sure sign of accelerating collapse is the growing prevalence of psychopaths and psychopathic behavior in the open.

The US appears to have entered the middle stages of such a collapse with many sociopaths and psychopaths beginning to feel that they might be able to act out their worst impulses without consequences.  They are beginning to test the waters to see what they can get away with. (Tyler Durden, “Increasing Psychopathic Behavior Is a Sign That Society Is on the Verge of Breaking Down,” ZeroHedge, 1/16/24)

When people have a distorted moral value system, that distortion applies to just about every issue. Just as a broken compass will almost always point in the wrong direction, a broken moral compass will do the same. However, to be more precise, people who say “men give birth” and who side with Hamas, i.e., progressives and leftists—liberals don’t believe men give birth or side with Hamas—do not merely have a broken moral compass. They have a moral compass that works in the way progressives and leftists have configured it: North always points south and east always points west.

Some examples of how the progressive compass works:

— Women who object to men who say they are women competing in women’s sports—even in weightlifting—are haters and bigots (“transphobes”). The men who compete against them are heroes.

Adults who object to schools’ sponsoring drag queen performances for 6-year-olds are haters and bigots (“transphobes”). The teachers who take children to drag queen events are progressive, compassionate and open-minded.

If a 9-year-old girl says she is a boy, the only therapists she is allowed to see are those who engage in “gender affirmation,” which is, of course, a left-wing Orwellian term. The one thing these therapists do not do is affirm the actual gender of the child.

All-black dorms on college campuses are anti-racist. Objecting to racially segregated dorms is racist.

Those who want to build walls or fences to prevent millions of people from illegally entering the country are xenophobic. Those who oppose building such barriers and declare their cities “sanctuary cities” are humanitarians.

Demanding that citizens show a voter ID before being allowed to vote—the norm in virtually every democracy in the world—constitutes “voter suppression.”

If we have fewer police officers, we will have safer cities.

Marriage is a product of patriarchal misogyny. It wasn’t created to protect and honor women, but to exploit them. Anyway, a woman needs a man as much as a fish needs a bicycle.

Scientists who express skepticism about catastrophic man-made global warming are science-deniers.

These are some of the morally and factually perverse positions of the left. Just about every individual who holds these positions also holds the morally perverse position that Israel is the villain and Hamas and its Palestinian supporters are the moral party. (Dennis Prager, “If You Say ‘Men Give Birth,’ We All Know Your Position on Hamas,” Jewish World Review, Rapture Ready News, 1/18/24)

We are witnessing the prophesied movement into madness. It is increasingly clear to those who view Bible prophecy in its stage-setting as God’s Word plainly presents it—from the pre-Trib View—that the reprobate mind as in antediluvian times reported by Paul is now manifesting as in the days of Noah. Jesus said when this point is reached–“like it was in the days of Noah”—He would again intervene catastrophically into the evil and wicked affairs of humankind.

That intervention will come instantaneously (“in the twinkling of an eye”). It will be the Rapture of all whom God considers righteous. Here is how to make sure you possess that righteousness, thus will hear Christ’s call in the Rapture, and will go to Him and to safety from God’s wrath that will be poured upon the anti-God rebels on earth.

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)

An Open Letter to Those Who Have Been Taught That the Church Has Replaced Israel

January 23, 2024 2:57 pm / 2 Comments on An Open Letter to Those Who Have Been Taught That the Church Has Replaced Israel

Dear Brother or Sister in Christ,

If you are a member of a Catholic or mainline denominational church, you have probably been taught something called replacement theology (and perhaps you don’t even know it has that name). Replacement theology leads those who have adopted it to believe that Israel is no longer God’s people and that the modern regathering of the Jews in their historical land is theologically meaningless. Please know this is an error, and I write this letter to alert you to it so you can study God’s Word and reach your own conclusion.

Replacement theology, sometimes called supersessionism or fulfillment theology, is a doctrine stating either that the Church took Israel’s place as God’s people when Israel rejected Jesus as its Messiah or that the “old” Israel was set aside in favor of a “new” Israel, the Church, upon Jesus’s first coming. No matter how it got there, the Church is now God’s people and the beneficiary of the promises God made Israel in the Old Testament. Consequently, Jacob’s blood descendants have no unique destiny, and modern Israel’s existence has no significance. Because replacement theology is often woven into otherwise sound teachings on redemptive history, many believers aren’t even aware that it is a separate doctrine with its own name. Nonetheless, replacement theology is enshrined in Catholic dogma and runs rampant in mainline denominations, even among those that otherwise take the Bible seriously.

Replacement theology raises troubling implications about God’s character, not the least of which are: if God revoked his promises to Israel, what keeps him from revoking them again, and does God really change not (as Malachi 3:6 says)? Many who have been taught replacement theology have not considered these implications. Perhaps you have, but dismissed them out-of-hand or rationalized them away, possibly because they are too dreadful to imagine. Unfortunately, ignoring the implications does not make them go away.

Rather than addressing these (and other) broader implications, this letter will instead tackle the assumption that lies at the very heart of replacement theology: did Israel really forfeit its blessings? Did God really forsake or move past Israel? Fortunately, if you read the Bible without bias, it gives a clear answer.

One point is worth making before proceeding: I don’t have the ability or the moral duty to force you to reject replacement theology. Only the Holy Spirit can convict. All I can do is call relevant scripture to your attention and invite you to check it out yourself. That is what I will now do.

To keep this letter short and clear, I will rely only on two passages: Isaiah 6 and Romans 11. (If you are a Reformed believer, you tend to read Revelation figuratively, because you have been taught that it is “apocalyptic literature.” I will therefore deliberately avoid Revelation’s many passages affirming Israel’s destiny, knowing that you will be unwilling to read Isaiah and Romans figuratively.)  I will cite the King James Version, but any good version will do.

Isaiah 6 contains the well-known “Here I am. Send me” passage in which Isaiah volunteers to convey a message God has for his people:

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. (Isaiah 6:8-10)

God informs his people not only that they are hardened (deaf, blind and without understanding) and he is the one hardening them, but also that he has hardened them to delay their repenting and being healed. Note that God does not tell them why he wants a delay.

When the disciples ask Jesus why he speaks “to them” in parables in Matthew 13, he quotes this passage of Isaiah 6:

He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:” (Matthew 13:11-14)

Paul also quotes this same passage of Isaiah 6 in Acts 28, reminding the local leaders of the Jews that they are hardened.

And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. (Acts 28:24-27)

Paul then discloses the reason why God hardened Israel, delaying its repenting and being healed:

Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. (Acts 28:28)

According to Paul, God hardened Israel so the Gospel could be taken to the Gentiles.

However, Isaiah 6 continues after the portion quoted in both Matthew 13 and Acts 28. God has more to say to Isaiah about his people. Returning to Isaiah 6, after hearing God’s decree against his people, the prophet begs God for an answer in verse 11, and God gives it to him:

Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate. And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in [the land] shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. (Isaiah 6:11-13)

God promises that he will lift Israel’s partial hardening during or just after a widespread devastation. This may be a great war, even a nuclear war given the extent and degree of damage. However, it may be a direct act of God, acting in wrath. Only he knows.

Why then did Jesus and Paul’s quotations from Isaiah 6 stop short of verses 11-13? The answer is that they were speaking in the first century AD. Isaiah 6:11-13 would be fulfilled in the future. They were only talking about Israel’s hardened condition in those days, and not about when it would someday repent. Remember, Jesus was only answering a question from his disciples as  to why he was teaching in parables, and Paul was only making the case for taking the Gospel to the Gentiles.

Now, let’s look at Romans 11, in which Paul answers the question his earlier chapters in Romans begged: if Christ is the answer and the law is not, what about the Jews, to whom God had given the law? Has God turned his back on Israel?

I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. (Romans 11:1-4)

The answer is an emphatic “God forbid!” God will save an elect remnant of Israel, and God will save them by grace, not the law. To keep the Gentiles from being feeling superior to the Jews, Paul goes on to say:

I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? (Romans 11:11-15)

Then, after describing how the holy firstfruits of lump of dough renders the whole lump holy, how a holy root can render the entire tree holy, and how branches grafted onto a holy tree become holy, even branches that had previously been cut off, Paul reveals a mystery in verse 25:

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. (Romans 11:25)

Though he does not outright quote Isaiah 6:11-13, he affirms the promise God made in those verses to end Israel’s hardening. The mystery Paul reveals is that the partial hardening of Israel’s elect will end when the “fulness of the Gentiles be (has) come in.”

It is important to note that none of these passages are talking about the Church. God has never hardened the Church. He has only hardened Israel, and only temporarily, for the express purpose of taking the Gospel to the Gentiles and building a Church that encompasses all peoples, nations, and languages. This he did at Israel’s great expense, but he will resurrect and magnify Israel because of it. Consider the supreme irony: God hardened Israel to benefit the Gentiles, and so many churches have returned their thanks to Israel by teaching replacement theology.

God’s reply in Isaiah 6 and Paul’s teaching in Romans 11 raise two questions: when will this widespread devastation occur, and when will the fulness of the Gentiles come in? The Bible gives no clear answer; God wants us to depend on him alone for the timing.

However, we can be sure of this – God will restore the elect of his people Israel. That unambiguous Biblical truth, stated explicitly both to Israel in the Old Testament and the Gentiles of the Church in the New Testament, exposes replacement theology as bad doctrine. Now it’s up to the Holy Spirit and informed believers to purge the Church of this sad error.

If replacement theology now troubles you as much as it does me, please do me a favor. Consider giving a copy of this letter to a brother or sister who has been mistaught. You will be helping them and doing a good work for God’s kingdom.

Some Things I Never Thought I Would See :: By Jan Markell

January 23, 2024 2:32 pm / 4 Comments on Some Things I Never Thought I Would See :: By Jan Markell

I’m at it again—mulling over the insanity of our day, even though such absurdities were predicted for the last days. I say a dozen times a day, “I never thought I would see the day.” Be honest. You do, too!

Here’s my current list:

I never thought I would see the day:

When churches would see our mind-numbing headlines and stories and suggest that there are perhaps a hundred or a thousand years before Jesus returns! They say we’ve always had perilous times. Nothing is new.

I never thought I would see the day:

The World Economic Forum would meet the week it was minus 40 degrees in my hometown and obsess over global warming and electric vehicles, since they don’t function well right now in Minneapolis. And all of us are cheering for global warming.

I never thought I would see the day:

When the champion of the hurting around the world, the Red Cross, would deny care and medication to Israeli hostages and instead scold the hostages for Gaza’s destruction.

I never thought I would see the day:

When the International Court of Justice would declare Israel guilty of genocide when it was Israel who experienced a genocidal attack. Imagine, portions of the free world siding with barbarians rather than a democratic ally. Did someone say “upside down world?”

I never thought I would see the day:

All of the leaders of sanctuary cities and states would be screaming bloody murder to keep illegals out of their sanctuary cities and states.

I never thought I would see the day:

When a U.S. Secretary of State would tell another country—Israel—they cannot win a war. They cannot defeat terrorists who perpetrated genocide on them.

I never thought I would see the day:

I would watch entire church denominations side with those who perpetrated the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. What Bible are they reading? They believe Jesus was a Palestinian. Really?

I never thought I would see the day:

The nation of Nigeria, with its Christian population nearly decimated by Muslims, not be put on Washington’s 2024 persecution watch list!

I never thought I would see the day:

When Democrats admit that Hamas or the Taliban or al-Qaida may be crossing our southern border and then brag about our strong national security! Reprobate minds see upside down.

I never thought I would see the day:

When the world would favor elements of society who cry “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” and glorify these thugs. When “Israel Derangement Syndrome” would overtake entire nations, and when universities would favor them, even as Jews hide in closets and secret rooms.

I never thought I would see the day:

When at the most significant time in history, believers would talk about “rapture fatigue” and “end-time burn-out” because they were tired of watching and waiting for Christ’s return. It’s just taking too long.

I never thought I would see the day:

When the tragedy of Lahaina, Maui—with all of its mystery and likely conspiracy—would so quickly be forgotten and the people so pathetically abandoned.

And yet people still trust the government!

I never thought I would see the day:

When lockdowns would become a part of normal society! First it was Covid lockdowns. Now I am learning about climate lockdowns coming. I guess the mantra is, “You will go nowhere and be happy!”

I never thought I would see the day:

That the subject of Israel—who is the primary subject of the Bible—would be the issue causing enormous church splits since October 7. Denominations don’t want to acknowledge that Jews wrote our Bible or play a prominent role today. I guess theology matters to some, and their theology erases the nation of Israel!

I could go on for endless pages with further examples, sadly. The Bible is blunt that the last days would be perilous and filled with unruly and selfish people. It says society would be “given over” (Romans 1). We just didn’t think it would be this bad. 

But God placed you and me in it for such a time as this! We are here on assignment and not by accident. We can be the salt and light needed for our times! The followers of Jesus Christ are to shine no matter what the circumstances and no matter how bad it gets.

Hang on a little longer. And it is the darkest before the dawn—the dawn being the glorious Rapture of the church when we leave this wicked planet behind! Only in Eternity will we cease being shocked by the world and by an upside-down society. Only then will everything make sense. Finally, I will be able to stop saying, “I never thought I would see the day.”

www.olivetreeviews.org

Nearing Midnight –new book by Terry James!

January 23, 2024 2:24 pm / Leave a comment

FRONT thumbnailNearing Midnight: As It Was In the Days Of Lot  is now available. Thanks for support by adding to your study this important work in  the effort to bring many to Christ as we see the moment of Rapture about to Intervene into the wicked affairs of rebellious mankind.

Some of the world’s top scientists have, since 1947, been setting the imaginary “doomsday clock” to keep up with how near we might be to atomic destruction. They believe that when the hour and minute hand reach midnight, humankind will have completely been destroyed through atomic warfare.

Movement of that symbolic indicator of the last time grows more frightening with each tick. But there is only one accurate timepiece that indicates when the midnight hour approaches for humankind: God’s prophetic Word—the Holy Bible.

In Nearing Midnight: As It Was in the Days of Lot, noted biblical prophecy expert Terry James explores, in detail and through the prism of God’s Word, long-ago prophesied matters now unfolding hourly, including:

  • The potential for nuclear war to break out at any moment.
  • Israel in its enemies’ satanically-driven crosshairs in their determination to destroy God’s chosen people.
  • America and the world facing imminent financial collapse that will bring about a dictatorial digital monetary system.
  • Demonic entities from the abyss that seemingly have been unleashed upon humanity in the form of every sort of perversion, with even very small children in the crosshairs of the purveyors of wickedness.
  • Mother Earth worship, in the form of climate-change insanity, as the anti-God religion being forced upon humanity.
  • The determination of the globalists elite, driven by the entities of Ephesians 6:12, to establish control through a New World Order.

James explores the strange wickedness and evil that are accelerating and threatening world-rending cataclysm at every level. Jesus Christ’s prophecies regarding this very time in which we live help us know precisely how near we are to the midnight hour and offer us the peace we have in the blessed hope of His soon return.

Jesus will Rescue all believers from the Judgment and Wrath that is about to fall in one stupendous, twinkling of an eye  Moment –the Glorious Rapture of His Bride, the Church!

To order Nearing Midnight: As It Was In the Days of Lot you can order from your favorite Bible prophecy ministry’s web site, or from wherever you shop for books. They can most likely order it for you.

Here’s the Amazon link. amazon

New Book by Terry James and Jonathan Brentner! –  HEREAFTER: It’s Far Better Than You Can Imagine

January 23, 2024 2:20 pm / 3 Comments on New Book by Terry James and Jonathan Brentner! –  HEREAFTER: It’s Far Better Than You Can Imagine

Untitled-201Understanding our lives in the Hereafter changes everything:

  • The joy set before us strengthens our hearts for the many trials that come our way.
  • Anticipation of the joyous reunions and jubilant celebrations in Heaven that will take place after the Rapture loosens our grip on the temporary things of this life.
  • Awareness of the rewards for our faithfulness service encourages our hearts during times when we think no one notices our service for the Lord.
  • Knowing that we will reign with Jesus in His earthly kingdom broadens our understanding of all our experiences here below.
  • The glimpses of our future glory in Scripture help us understand that our joy and fulfillment in eternity will exceed anything we can imagine.

Our book, Hereafter – It’s Far Better Than You Can Imagine, will broaden your understanding of Heaven and deepen your longing for Jesus’ appearing and the start of eternity. The glory ahead for believers strengthened the Apostle Paul during his many hardships (Romans 8:18) and a grasp of the wonders ahead for us as saints will do the same for you.

The thrilling perspective presented in Hereafter has changed everything for its authors, and we pray that the glimpse of Heaven we provide on its pages will lift your eyes heavenward in joyous anticipation of what lies ahead for you.

Get HEREAFTER: It’s Far Better Than You Can Imagine at your favorite Bible prophecy ministry web site, order from the store where you shop for books, or go to the following link. AMAZON

AI, Deception on Steroids

January 22, 2024 7:59 am / 12 Comments on AI, Deception on Steroids

Jesus Christ Himself gave the very first sign to look for in answer to His immediately present disciples’ question: “What shall be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

The Lord answered: “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you” (Matthew 24:4a).

Jesus continued by applying the deception that would mark His return and the end of the age to that involving the deceivers claiming to be Christ Himself. That has proven to be the case.  There have been within every generation those who claimed to be the Christ. However, the matter of this end-times deception goes much, much deeper, and there is great evidence that the greatly increased deception Jesus warned of is full-blown in every facet of the world today.

As a matter of fact, there is deception within deception taking place, which I hope to show as we proceed. That strange, intramural conflict amongst end-times deceivers is, I’m convicted, perhaps God’s having the evilest among us in derision, as given in Psalm 2. Perhaps it is the restraining hand of God the Holy Spirit slowing the Ephesians 6:12 cabal of demonic and human minions in their drive to establish Antichrist’s regime before its appointed time.

I wrote of this rage by the global cabal to bring in their New World Order in the introduction to our book of compilation, DECEIVERS: Exposing Evil Seducers and Their Last-Days Deception. 

Satan, the grand deceiver, continues to mesmerize much of the American populace… The reprobate mind of Romans chapter 1 is now the norm more than the aberration.

Satanic rage against anyone who opposes his global agenda to bring all into a new world order is front and center each and every hour in news headlines. His deceivers—his minions both human and demonic—are busy building upon his deadly blueprint to bring about destruction of America and the world.

The apostle Paul’s forewarning of the coming end-times deception and delusion that appear to be just ahead are ringing like alarm bells in spiritually attuned ears:

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:7-11).

These wicked antagonist-rival forces that are spawned by the same source–Satan—are fighting over, of all things, deception!

Here is information to that effect.

[Because of AI deception] the World Economic Forum has now declared “Disinformation” to be the world’s greatest threat according to their 2024 “Global Risks Report,” which will obviously require more control over free speech. —WEF founder and chairman, Klaus Schwab

As Jonathan Turley writes in a Friday note:

The report shows just how engrained this anti-free speech movement has become among the world elite from media to business to politics.

The absurd finding is consistent with the warning of other international figures and groups. We previously discussed how WHO Director-General Tudors Adhanom Ghebreyesus has supported censorship to combat what he calls the “infodemic.”…

Yet, we’ve now gone beyond simple “disinformation.” The world is now under threat from “AI-Powered” Disinformation!

According to the Financial Times, disinformation created via artificial intelligence is on the horizon. The outlet points to an incident during the September elections in Slovakia – in which a mysterious recording of the liberal opposition candidate, Michal Šimečka, could be heard plotting with a journalist to buy votes and rig the result. Yet, the recording was fake. The Slovakian police warned voters to be cautious online of nefarious actors with “vested interests.”

Šimečka lost the election to a populist “pro-Russia rival,” which, of course, the FT uses to imply Russia was behind the recording and the threat to democracy is greater than ever before!

Online disinformation has been a factor in elections for many years. But recent, rapid advances in AI technology mean that it is cheaper and easier than ever to manipulate media, thanks to a brisk new market of powerful tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, AI art start-up Midjourney, or other text, audio, and video generators. At the same time, manipulated or synthetic media is becoming increasingly hard to spot. (“Disinformation ‘Doomsday Scenario’: AI-Powered Propaganda Is the Latest Threat to Humanity (That Must Be Censored),’ ZeroHedge, Tyler Durden, 1/12/24)

What this all means–and it is hard to follow—is that Klaus Schwab and the WEF and other would-be New World Order builders can’t control the manipulation of elections and other things that go against their drive to bring in complete control under their auspices. AI (artificial intelligence), which they no doubt have been greatly influential in creating, has gotten out of their control.

AI is being used by operatives not under the globalists’ control to use the technology to create phony conversations that sound exactly like candidates, etc.—i.e., deception is being created by AI to make the New World Order builders’ candidates look evil in the eyes of voters, etc.

This group of deceivers is using AI to do the same thing to the WEF types that the WEF types intended to do to them: put deceptive information into the eyes and ears of voters and other constituent entities.

AI is indeed deception on steroids.

When the Church of Jesus Christ is called from planet Earth and God’s restraining hand, the Holy Spirit, withdraws the same degree of constraint to the wicked minions, AI will no doubt be allowed to come under Antichrist’s satanic authority for a period of time.

You don’t want to be here during that time. Here’s how to instead be with the God who loves you and gave His only begotten Son as a sacrifice so that you can be saved and be with Him throughout eternity.

“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).

The Insurmountable Jew/Arab Matter

January 21, 2024 9:50 am / 23 Comments on The Insurmountable Jew/Arab Matter

I was sitting in a hotel restaurant in Dallas where the pre-Trib Study Group founded by Dr. Tim LaHaye had its annual meetings during the 1990s. We were awaiting delivery of our breakfasts, when I watched a friend—a well known Christian-Jewish ministry television host—approach our table.

He sounded chagrined, his face, according to another friend sitting beside me, not the usual smiling countenance we all were accustomed to witnessing. He shook my hand and I said, using his name, “What’s wrong? You have a bad flight?”

He had just returned from Israel, where he had conducted services and did television programming.

He began by saying in a disgusted tone, “I just don’t know why God made Arabs.”

My reaction was, “Well (his name)…”

Before I could say anything else other than express my being unable to say anything, he said in even a more disgusted tone and with greater fervor, “Well d*** it, Terry, I mean it…”

I was both amused and somewhat amazed to hear such foul language from my great friend.

He went on to explain how one Arab Muslim contingent or the other had physically attacked in an act of terrorism while he and his crew were near the Temple Mount, as I recall. This evil activity, of course, wasn’t unusual, and continues to this day, decades later, and even increases in ferocity, as we’ve recently seen with Hamas’ brutal slaughter of Jews and others on October 7 of the year just past.

Without any doubt, my friend, now gone to be with the Lord, knew better than just about anyone on the planet the story of Abraham going to Sarah’s handmaiden Hagar, how his wife told Abraham to produce a child with Hagar because it was obvious to her that at her age she would have no more children.

My famous friend knew Abraham and Sarah got ahead of God’s great plan to bring Isaac into the world through that couple’s union. The birth indeed happened by the time Abraham’s son by Hagar, Ishmael, became a teenager.

So that, of course, was, to answer my friend’s angrily posed question, why Arabs were eventually “made,” as my friend put it. But his demeanor exemplifies to this day the Jewish-Arab raging differences that seem to have no end in sight.

An article somewhat frames the never-ending things involved in that ever more violent and expansive conflict.

[Regarding the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023 and its aftermath, the article states:] But the depth and scope of this crisis require a comprehensive cultural and spiritual rethinking of how we perceive ourselves and the enemy, focusing on the question of why the enemy fights and what we are fighting for.

Hamas and Hezbollah fight out of religious belief. By contrast, we are not clear on our reasons for uniting to fight wars beyond our desire to safeguard our existence and survival.

A.B. Yehoshua once posed an existential question: “Nation of Israel, for what purpose do you live?” Later, he clarified: “Survival is considered the most prominent aspect of the Jewish people…but it is not survival that is the prominent aspect, but rather how it is done, what its agenda is, what values it holds, and primarily, what its cost is.” (A. B. Yehoshua, Haaretz Books Supplement, 20.2.2013)

This question must be applied to clarify the central inquiry: Nation of Israel, for what purpose do you fight, and how do you fight? (“A Clear Post-War National Vision Means Returning to the Roots of Zionism,”Gershon Hacohen, Opinion Algemeiner, Rapture Ready News, January 11, 2024 )

The above piece demonstrates Israel’s blindness to what’s going on with regard to the evil perpetrated incessantly against the Jewish race—against Israel the nation. They can’t get a grasp on all the things that are driving and tugging His chosen people and nation back toward the God who loves them with all of His majestic being.

“Why the Arab versus the Jew?” is a monumental and seemingly insurmountable question, to be sure. Some believe it is the holdup to even world peace, not to mention Mideast regional peace. In fact, to those of us who believe God’s Word is absolutely true in every respect, this is the case. The Jewish/Arab problem will eventually involve the whole world and will ultimately bring all the nations into the killing field called Armageddon.

Zechariah the prophet foretells that Israel will become a “burdensome stone and a cup of trembling” to the entire world. Paul the apostle foretold that there will be a great “cry of peace and safety” that will cause “sudden destruction.”

It is obvious that the great conflict between these antagonists–the Jews and the Arabs—is what is now causing the most profound angst within the world’s diplomatic sphere.

These would-be world masters–the globalist ringmasters—constantly try to force a two-state solution to the great conflict they believe more than any other on the planet threatens the ignition of nuclear war and the end of humankind.

And it is this very matter–the tearing apart of God’s land granted to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—by the powers and principalities of the global cabal that will fulfill prophecy that brings everything to a head.

Again, Joel tells of this in the starkest of terms.

For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. (Joel 3:1–2)

Many believe the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, could be a primary catalyst for bringing Zechariah and Joel’s prophecies to fruition. Regardless, our witness of Israel now at the center of hatred practically everywhere on earth–especially hatred by the young in universities across the world—lends credence to the likelihood that pressures to force Israel to make peace from many directions could bring God’s great hand of judgment.

That judgment will begin with His calling all believers in His Son, Jesus Christ, out of this world of rebels, to safe harbor in the Rapture. Here is how to be within that safe harbor, while wrath and judgment ravage the planet.

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)

Jan Markell: Our World Is Too Evil For Pastors To Stand On The Sidelines

January 17, 2024 2:14 pm / 10 Comments on Jan Markell: Our World Is Too Evil For Pastors To Stand On The Sidelines

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The month of October brought a staggering wake-up call to many church members. Some had been in attendance for months and some for years. A few had been active for a decade. They loved their church family and felt the pulpit was sound.

Their church has salvation right, and baptism. The music is acceptable and the youth program is outstanding. It is missions-minded. And, after all, no church is perfect.

The Rude Awakening

But in October, many church attendees were going to get a rude awakening because too many hadn’t done a deep dive on all of the church’s theology.

Many had been grieved over the silence in the pulpit as it concerned Bible prophecy and current events. They accepted the flaw and got daily doses of those items online. After all, the church didn’t get involved in the cultural issues either. It is not unusual for a church to not take a stand.

Then came October 7 in Israel. What would the church response be that next day – October 8? What happened on October 7 was a game-changer! Surely, this would be front-and-center at their church!

It is true—the headlines, photos, and videos coming out of the latest Mideast conflict are not seekersensitive. They won’t make church attendees feel good. Talking about the sensitive situation won’t fit into any church-growth strategy. It won’t encourage anyone to become purpose-driven. It could even create divisiveness.

So, I should not have been so thrown when I began to get e-mails from across the country stating variations of the following:

Jan, I was very dismayed that the church we attended did not even make mention of what was going on in Israel on Sunday, October 8. Nor did the topic arise on Wednesday night—though there were several mentions of the Houston Astros game…

No One Can Say We Didn’t Know

Since then, there has been wall-towall coverage on all media outlets, day and night, for over three months. Can anybody claim they didn’t know? We have now all watched the sickening demonstrations begging the world to “gas the Jews.” Some are saying World War III is at hand. We have evil at a new level on display. The likelihood of terror cells embedded in America, Canada, Europe, and other places is a guarantee.

The Silence of the Shepherds Is Rooted in Theology

And yet, I was hearing many times a day about the silence of the shepherds! Could this silence be rooted in theology? A resounding “yes”!

I encourage all readers to do a study on modern theology. People hear terms that need to be explored: Replacement Theology, Covenant Theology, Amillennial Theology, Dominion Theology, and more. You just might not be in agreement with what all of these theologies entail! Most of these teach that the Church is the new Israel; that God has cast away His people Israel due to unbelief.

Prayer: The Only Effective Weapon

Human suffering has been on display since October 7, 2023. Media outlets that have a shred of integrity, revealed the darkened hearts and deeds of Islamic thugs. There is only one adequate weapon in our arsenal: prayer, and better yet, corporate prayer.

Prayer from the pulpit. Prayer from a radio, TV, or Internet website. Prayer for innocent hostages, although now it is likely too late. Prayer for any innocent caught in a battle crossfire. Prayer for soldiers trying to liberate and set captives free.

And pastors, your people want you to lead in this effort! People are now tired of the silence of the shepherds. Our world is too volatile, too angry, and too evil, to stand on the sidelines and be silent! You must take a stand and set theology aside.

Yes, your theology says you should minimize Israel, but then you marginalize the suffering, which Jesus would never do!

When Should I Leave a Church?

All of my radio guests have stated since October 7 that if a church will not relent on this, then it is time to leave. Period. God cannot bless this church or congregation. It is weighed in the balances and found wanting (Dan. 5:7). It is time to move on to much greener—and more spiritually fruitful—pastures.

Perhaps this is the next big church divider. Churches will either be for Israel, or against her. Which side will you be on? Israel is to become the world’s burdensome stone (Zech. 12:3), but God will destroy ALL who come against Jerusalem (Zech.12:9). You want to be on God’s side!

In the new year of 2024, I pray that all in leadership will at least take a stand against evil, for much of the world is calling evil good (Isaiah 5:20). And evil is spreading like a cancer throughout the world as we trend towards the Tribulation.

Jan Markell is an author, speaker, host of Understanding the Times radio heard on over 1,000 stations across America, and the Founder and President of Olive Tree Ministries.

Raising up Dictators

January 15, 2024 9:48 am / 6 Comments on Raising up Dictators

The great prophet Daniel was given immense prophetic foreknowledge. He saw the rise of kingdoms and their leading protagonists. He saw the end of all these world kingdoms and their kings, or hierarchy.  Yet he wasn’t allowed to know the finale of things with regard to either his beloved nation Israel or of the planet—at least not in significant detail.

He wasn’t permitted to see what I believe you and I are presently allowed to witness regarding the wrapping up of “all these things,” which Jesus told us to look for as recorded in Luke 21:28. And anyone who is biblically centered and “watching,” as we are told to do by the Lord, according to Mark 13:37, is witnessing phenomenal stage-setting for the end of the age and the beginning of Daniel’s seventieth week—the Tribulation.

Here is what the prophet was told by the angel in their exchange when Daniel desired to know what would be the end of his people:

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. (Daniel 12:4) 

Daniel responded as follows:

And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. (Daniel 12:8–9)

Many observers of the times—including yours truly—believe those words and that book are now being opened for us to discern these end-of-the-age hours leading to the triumphant return of Christ.

One of the most fascinating aspects of “watching” all of the developments, to me at least, is the rise of dictators and their being allowed by Heaven to do their wickedness. And, I include in that evil group many of the leaders within the American political power structure, both elected and appointed, or even just inserted within that structure because of the influence their wealth gives them.

We have watched them do all within their deception and conniving efforts to change this nation into one totally ruled by insane policies and would-be tyrannical enslavement. They haven’t yet reached the level of an Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, or even a Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping. But they want to bring America into their own view of what the world should look like. And that view is them at the top, with the rest of us here to serve them. This is the human minion element within the Ephesians 6:12 cabal against which we who name the name of Christ wrestle, as Paul put it.

So, in hearing the new speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaking , his words tripped my curiosity meter that maybe is a bit like the prophet Daniel felt, regarding his wanting to know the end of all this worldly wickedness.

Speaker Johnson’s words were as follows.

“I don’t believe there are any coincidences in a [matter] like this,” Johnson said during his Oct. 25 acceptance speech in the House chamber. “I believe that Scripture, the Bible, is very clear that God is the One that raises up those in authority. He raised up each of you, all of us, and I believe that God has ordained and allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment in this time. This is my belief. I believe that each one of us has a huge responsibility today to use the gifts that God has given us to serve the extraordinary people of this great country, and they deserve it, and to ensure that our republic remains standing as the great beacon of light and hope and freedom in a world that desperately needs it.”

Now, Mr. Johnson is an outspoken devout Christian, and I applaud his standing up and declaring that God’s way is the way business should be done. I’m thankful he has been placed in that important position at this critical time in our nation’s movement through history.

But the thought struck. Yes. I believe God raised up Mike Johnson for this moment. And I believe that God raises up all men who achieve powers to govern. Johnson’s belief is based upon Daniel’s words.

Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding: He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him. (Daniel 2:19–22)

Daniel, the great man of God, had it right, of course. He affirms with all his heart that God is in complete control at all times, and nothing is done without His being in control.

But the key here for purposes of our commentary title are the prophet’s inspired words: “he removeth kings, and setteth upkings.”

God does indeed raise up leaders, as Mike Johnson told those in his audience–some of whom are themselves deeply into that wicked Ephesians 6:12 cabal. And the question piques my curiosity, like it probably does yours.

Why, if God controls everything, does He permit these evil sorts to achieve power and do the dastardly things they do? Like, for example, why were the leaders of that Hamas terrorist pack of demonically-inspired horde allowed to plan and carry out such blood-drenched atrocities October 7?

The answer that comes to me isn’t one that takes away the intense fervor of the question. But it does provide comfort. I think that while our finite minds can’t understand fully such an Infinite dealing by a sovereign God with such an absolutely incomprehensible evil as wrapped up in the thing called sin, to accept that God is in control, no matter how things look otherwise, is a faith-building matter. Daniel’s story of his faith is most relevant to acceptance that God is using all the sin-saturated activities by even the most evil of world leaders to ultimately bring all things back to perfection that was lost when iniquity entered Lucifer’s mind.

So God, who knows the end from the beginning, raises dictators as well as godly people to do His bidding. Antichrist will come on the scene and will accomplish God’s great purpose. Like Daniel counted on that truth–we can count on it too!

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