Today, things taking place around the world are thought by many observers to indicate we are at the very end of the age. I am one of those observers.

The Middle East is overheating, with the Russians coming together with Iran to exert strong-arm influence over that prophetic region. All of the activity seems almost certainly to be stage setting for things to come—rearrangement for the great Gog-Magog war predicted by the prophet Ezekiel.

Powerful dynamics within the world’s economy, religion, and geopolitics are at boiling temperature. Potent monetary forces are coalescing to create a central economic system of electronic currency control. The specious theme of climate change is apparently the rallying point around which these one-world fiscal masters intend to concentrate power.

Islam is raging and invading the West, upsetting societies and cultures from Africa to the United States. Fear is building from the ravages of unbridled terrorism running amok. At the same time, Pope Francis is moving throughout the world with his own unique message of encouraging  Christendom to amalgamate with all religions for the cause of peace and love.

Geopolitically, Europe is in flux, buffeted about by destructive societal and economic winds generated by years of  embracing socialistic humanism. Greece, the cradle of Western civilization, as the historians would have it, is at the heart of Europe’s suffering.

It seems more than coincidental, to this observer at least, that  an especially intriguing leader from that very philosophical heart of where Western civilization sprung forth has stepped on the stage of history.

We have looked at him before in this column. I have mentioned that he seems to me an archetype of the one who will be Antichrist. I believe that his rise to power serves as example of how the beast of Revelation chapter 13 might emerge from a reviving Roman Empire.

Alexis Tzipras, member of the left wing pro-Palestinian Syriza party, when elected prime minister of Greece, was thought to be a leader who would all but destroy relations between his nation and Israel. One of the most stunning surprises to come from the new Greek leader’s time in power has been his desire to embrace Israel as a future partner in mutually  beneficial economic interaction.

The following news item excerpt frames Tzipras’ friendly foray into Jerusalem.

Meeting with the Israeli leadership, opening a two day tour in Jerusalem and Ramallah, Tzipras praised the importance of the relations between Israel and Greece and showed that the partnership has survived the political change.

While in Jerusalem for a meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Tsipras took an opportunity to sign the President’s guestbook, writing, ” With great honor to be in your historic capital and to meet your excellencies.”

(Source: In unprecedented move Greek PM calls Jerusalem Israel’s ‘historical capital’,  By Tal Shalev, Shalev/ i24news,  Published: 11/26/2015)

This reaching out to Israel with such profound inscription upon the guest book shocked the world of diplomacy and Israeli leadership, I think. No other national entity of any degree of stature within the international community dares call Jerusalem the capital of Israel. Tzipras has no such qualms. His signing the guest book as he did is a flattery that gripped even the heart of the always wary Benjamin Netanyahu.

Following meetings with Tzipras Wednesday, November 25, during which the leaders discussed how to cooperate in making deals on getting gas from the newly discovered underwater natural gas fields in Israeli and Cypriot waters, Netanyahu commented on the meeting:

We have a growing and enduring partnership between Greece and Israel.

We are two countries with ancient roots…– Although we are ancient peoples, we embrace the future, we embrace modernity… We’re the two democracies in the eastern Mediterranean and we are obviously aware that we have a world of opportunities – of technology, of development, of progress – to seize and we can seize it better through cooperation.

The Israeli prime minister turned to a smiling Tzipras then, and said, “There is, as you said, a natural affinity between the Israelis and the Greeks. It’s very obvious when you go to either country.”

Tzipras expressed the need for all to work together to rid the region and world of terrorism and to deal with ISIS in particular. He was scheduled to meet with Palestinian Authority leaders in an effort to bring understanding between the Israelis and Palestinians.

What’s wrong with the Greek prime minister doing these peace-oriented things?  Absolutely nothing–so far as it goes. All  that this commentary is meant to do is to point to the unusual nature of this “unprecedented move” by a European leader, as one Israeli official called it.

In this time of ultra-political correctness, when Israel is seen as the roadblock to the Roadmap to Peace, because of their opposition to being forced to give in to giving up land, to have one leader, with words flattering to the Jewish state, break from the pack of anti-Israeli diplomatic wolves and call Jerusalem its capital is possibly of prophetic significance. That that leader is one of unusual charismatic personality and from the very heart of the reviving Roman Empire, makes things even more intriguing.

Daniel the prophet was given a prophecy to share with those who would be on scene at the very end of the world governmental system. It is most interesting to consider as we enter uncharted geopolitical, socioeconomic, and religious waters.

And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. (Daniel 11:21-22)

What is your religious persuasion? The question is a standard one in the census polling process.

America’s population was 318.9 million as of 2014, according to Census Bureau statistics. Polling numbers that year showed that 70.6 percent of Americans identified themselves as Christians. This was a significant decline from polling done in 1990, in which 86 percent of Americans said they were Christians. Wikipedia has it that America has nearly 247 million Christians, the highest number of Christians of any nation, although there are other nations with percentages of Christians that are higher.

So, when asking people what is their religion the response will most often be, “Christian.” Or, they will answer by giving the particular denomination within Christianity with which they identify.

Such is the natural response in this land that was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. But, it is not the natural response that the Grand Poll Taker is seeking, but the supernatural. Based upon God’s analysis of His polling statistics hangs the fate of cultures, societies, and nations.

We can get a sense of Heaven’s polling methodology, I think, by looking at a specific case in which such census taking was employed—to an extent, at least. It is a most fascinating exercise considering planet earth’s apex nation, so far as super-power status, in human terms, is concerned.

The twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah—if we might think of them in that sense, such as we think of Minneapolis/St. Paul as “twin cities”—were powerful commercial societies of their time. These, of course, are infamous as cities whose fate is the stuff made of legend.

During the course of most any week, I come across one TV documentary or the other on one of my favorite such channels that goes into great detail about these cultures. Most often, the documentarians spend their time debunking the true biblical account, choosing instead to give every conceivable reason why these great commercial centers no longer exist. The film-makers tell the biblical story—in their own usually warped versions—but then give natural reasons why Sodom and Gomorrah were obliterated.

Until relatively recent times, the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah and their destruction was most often scoffed at by historians. The cities were considered but mere legends. But digs at the southern end of the Dead Sea that continue to bring that civilization to the salty surface makes it crystal clear. These were real places that were devastated by fire and brimstone—just like God’s Word proclaims in the Genesis account.

Now, what does all of this have to do with America and statistics on the number of Christians in the nation? We remember the statement by Billy Graham’s wife, Ruth Graham. We’ve all heard the statement many times. The perspicacious Mrs. Graham famously said: “If the Lord doesn’t judge America [for its wickedness] He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”

Many of us are in total agreement with her assessment. The reason for that quite harsh assessment is that America, it can be argued, has in some aspects gone even beyond the sinfulness of those two ancient cities. We could examine any number of ways this is true, but for brevity’s sake, I’ll mention only two. We’ve looked at these in great detail a number of times in these commentaries.

First, the most glaring similarity, with regard to Sodom and Gomorrah as compared to the United States today, is the matter of homosexuality. That was the great sin emphasized in the Genesis account of God’s dealing with that culture in judgment. I don’t have to go too deeply into the similarity, because we are all familiar—totally—with things going on just in the past couple of years in this country. The God-ordained union between a man and a woman has been changed by the courts of this land to pervert the God-given institution called marriage. Sexual activity that the Creator calls “abomination” the lawless, God-defying of America call “gay.” And, this is not to diminish the equally abominable sexual activity within the heterosexual world—fornication and adultery.

Secondly, the matter of abortion comes front and center in the comparison. Babies in the womb and small children in that ancient society undoubtedly cramped the style of the deviants of the time. The products of the unbridled sexual activity made it easy to sacrifice those babies upon the altar of convenience. The deeper that people went into debauchery, the more self-absorbed and willing to go to any lengths to make their next thrill more exhilarating.

In Sodom and Gomorrah we are talking about cities of thousands; in America we are talking about an entire nation of more than 300 million. They could have aborted only thousands; we—it is fully documented—abort more than one million per year. Recent undercover video evidence flashes proof in our faces for all to see. Planned Parenthood and its like gives irrefutable evidence that we have gone beyond that ancient people in the degree of unrighteousness perpetrated. And, it is the term “unrighteousness” that is the heart of the matter in the polling question with which we began this essay. The question: What is your religious persuasion?

The nation is, according to the answers given the pollsters, overwhelmingly Christian, even considering the drop in the numbers from 1990 until 2014. We are supposed to believe that 70.6 percent of America’s 318.9 million people are Christians. Again, that’s more than 247 million claiming to be Christians.

Now we come to the title of our commentary this week, Almighty’s Analysis of America.

People can say they are anything. The human pollsters must take down what they are given. The term “Christian” is accepted at face value and marked on the polling sheet. The Lord of Heaven, however, the Creator of all things—including the human being—goes infinitely more deeply into His polling process. To Him, the precise definition of the term “Christian” is of eternal importance.

The term “Christianity,” in Heaven’s economy, is tied to “righteousness.” To be a Christian, one must be righteous. But, the Bible says the following: “As it is written, There is none righteous no not one” (Romans 3:10). How, then, can anyone be a Christian—that is, how can anyone be considered righteous?

God’s grace gift provides the answer. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

God sees as righteous only those who have believed in His Son, Jesus Christ for salvation from their sins. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23); “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

When one is “saved,” he or she is “righteous” because God sees righteousness only in His beloved Son, who died as sacrifice for all of mankind.

Now we will get back to this matter of America and the percentage of those who say they are Christians. These figures don’t compute—don’t add up. Mrs. Graham was right. America’s degree of depravity, by any stretch, doesn’t come under God’s definition of righteousness. Revisiting our thoughts on Sodom and Gomorrah, God spoke with His servant, Abraham. He informed Abraham that he was going to have to destroy those wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of the great sins of those people. The account is found in Genesis 18:23-33.

Abraham was terribly grieved and pleaded with the Lord. He asked if God could find fifty people who were righteous would He spare the cities. God agreed, but could not. Abraham then pleaded for God to search for forty-five, then forty, then thirty, then twenty, then ten righteous people in order to justify not destroying those places. In each case, the Lord tried but couldn’t find even ten. Among the many thousands in Sodom and Gomorrah, the Almighty’s Heavenly Census Bureau couldn’t find ten people who believed in Him in order to be considered righteous.

As I said, the documentarians are still reporting the findings of the archaeologists who are digging up the destruction of those doomed cities.

More and more I’m wondering—like Ruth Graham must surely have wondered—about the possibility of America’s ultimate fate being, if not in fact, in very like manner to that suffered by the city prophesied in Revelation chapter 18. A most encouraging truth in thinking on these things is that God found the man named Lot, a citizen of Sodom, to be “righteous” in His holy eyes. A few of Lot’s family were obviously considered likewise, because the Lord removed them from Sodom before the fire and brimstone fell. God said to Lot about that removal to safety: “Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither” (Genesis 19:22a).

The Lord told Lot that His judgment couldn’t fall with its total devastation until the righteous Lot was first taken out of harm’s way, and that meant until Lot and his family were completely removed—taken out of—that wicked city. Be encouraged, those of you who are righteous—who believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. Jesus, Himself, in His ascended position at the right hand of His Father, makes a promise to a future generation. He uses the Greek verb “ek,” meaning “out of” in His promise. I believe that promise is made to the generation alive today. “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from [out of] the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth“(Revelation 3:10).

The Lord counts you among those who will, perhaps very soon, hear the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, “Come up here!” (Revelation 4: 1).

Middle East maliciousness is literally exploding, igniting fires of death and fear across the world. Europe feels the heat of the Islamist rage as ISIS (or ISIL, as Mr. Obama terms it) turns up the rheostat of hatred in France and other places.

Europeans, particularly the Scandinavian countries, the favorites for Muslims who set their sights on migration, are becoming desperate for ways to close borders forced open by European Union dictates.

Polling statistics show that Americans are increasingly concerned that soon that incendiary, religious fanaticism will infect this nation. “Lone wolf” actions by ISIS wannabees are, in fact, bringing the more fanatic brand of Islam to this continent, which was more or less insulated from that religious fervor prior to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Towers.

ISIS propagandists, through social media and other methods, are making it known beyond any doubt that they view America as the place they most wish to spread their special brand of terror.

All of this is going on simultaneously across the world. All the while, governments and military authorities are nearly at a complete loss for how to deal with the Islamic beast. At the same time, there is an almost complete lack of mention of the one entity that most of the world considers the prime reason that there is all of this voracious activity by the likes of militant Islam.

It is downright eerie.

That entity, itself, is inexplicably silent for the most part about the rage to its north. I’m talking, of course, about Israel, the tiny Jewish state that is claimed by practically every diplomat in the world to be, in one way or another, at the heart of the ever more dangerous situation in the Middle East.

Israel has for decades been at the center of most every action and reaction to Muslim terrorism in the region. From the time of the murders of the Israeli athletes in the 1972 Munich Olympics, to the downing of the World trade Towers and damage to the Pentagon during the 9-11 attacks, and until just recently, Israel has continuously been at the reportorial center of things. Not so now.

Israel is silent; the world seems to not be noticing that tiny nation for the moment. A legitimate question to ask is: Why is this so? Why, after decades in modern times—after thousands of years in the battle of Israel versus its enemies, is the modern Jewish state seemingly off the radar screen of the on-going conflict?

This, I realize, could change instantly—at any moment. Israel could be thrust in the middle of dire crisis before this column appears. It is an almost unnatural situation, if I may use that phraseology. The almost “natural” state is for Israel to be constantly and consistently blasted by its enemy, Islamist-antagonists and by the world community at large.

There have been, of course, occasional reports of Temple Mount turmoil of late on which we and others have commented. But, about the larger involvement of the entire Arab-Islamist world, and even Iran in the conflict with hated Israel, I find scant mention these days.

While Israel remains basically mute, and everyone else’s attention is turned to ISIS and the turbulence it is kicking up in Syria and around the world through its proxy “migrants,” Vladimir Putin and the Iranian mullahs are cooking up plans, the intentions of which only the Lord knows at this point. But, be sure of one thing, all of this means that the stage is being rapidly set for the final act of this pre-tribulation program that is about to begin.

To me, it almost seems like there is a circling around the intended prey by predators. The prey is being temporarily ignored while the pecking order is arranged for who will get the first spoils of the intended victim. This, I mean from a prophetic perspective.

There seems to be in the nebulous background of all this a power juxtapositioning of the apex predators and the scavenger types to determine what comes next with regard to the end times assault against the nation God chose long ago to remain standing when all others are vanquished. It’s as if Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s government are flummoxed as to what it all means—this violence that is on display to Israel’s north and, increasingly, around the globe. But, one thing sure, the Israeli prime minister and other Jews of good, common sense and a sense of history, know that it somehow all means that they—the Jews, Israel—are the intended prey. Somehow it will all come down to them having to consider invoking the Samson Option, in geopolitical terms of “them versus us.”

Israel is silent, but is not asleep. Netanyahu and the Israelis that have that sense of foreboding know that soon the hungry eyes of the predators will turn back to them just like they always do. Their deeply committed vow is “Never Again!”

Always the blame for the problems of the Middle East is directed at them. A news story this past week clearly indicates satanically-directed attitudes against God’s chosen people are as deluding as ever. Sweden is under attack by the so-called “migrants” from Syria and other areas that ISIS seeks to dominate in its determination to establish a world-wide caliphate. Swedish women and even young girls are being raped by the invading horde, it is reported. Despite this, one top Swedish government official manages to point a finger of blame at the strangely silent Jewish state.

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström linked Palestinian grievances with Israel to the Islamist terror attacks that killed 129 people in Paris:

“Obviously, we have reason to be worried, not just in Sweden but across the world—because there are so many that are being radicalized. Here, once again, we are brought back to situations like the one in the Middle East, where not least, the Palestinians see that there is not a future. We must either accept a desperate situation or resort to violence,” Wallström said in a television interview. (How Original: Sweden Blames Paris Attacks on Israel – Israel News, November 17, 2015).

That Israel is responsible for the Islamist rage is the message. Zechariah’s forewarning can be heard thundering, even if present day Israel is for the most part silent.

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.” (Zech 12:2-3)

Hatred for America that pervades today’s discontented liberal culture is a matter that to my generation is for the most part mind-boggling. How an almost completely unknown, societal agitator with an ideological make-up that would champion such hatred could ever be elected president of the United States—twice—is even more mind-boggling.

That a congress that represents the electorate could sit by while such a president gives Middle East madmen, vowed to wipe out America, the wherewithal to produce nuclear weapons to do just that is…well…I can’t even give definition to my generation’s frame of mind in that regard.

America’s many contributions to the progress in improvement of the human condition throughout the world only seems to bring increased hatred to our nation. The United States has in modern times been in every instance the first with the most assistance anywhere in the world that disasters strike. Whether it’s an earthquake in Guatemala, a Tsunami in Indonesia, a famine in Ethiopia, or whatsoever the catastrophe, the U.S. has been there, never asking repayment for the help. The only exception of this generosity was in the case of some degree of repayment for expenditures to rebuild war-torn countries when economies improved there. These payments were, in most every case, eventually forgiven for the most part.

Let’s face it, if America had not gotten involved in World Wars I and II, the world would be under the control of the likes of Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin. It was America’s might and willingness to shed American blood of its youth that has given the world even the—admittedly—diminishing bit of freedom’s light that remains on the planet. Europe would still be clearing the rubble of World War II, if not for America’s vast contributions to the restoration of that devastated region.

Now, we face our own form of devastation. The American taxpayer has—without much push-back—allowed out-of-control government to spend trillions upon trillions of dollars on economy-crippling social programs—bankrupting the country. It has been an addled-brain act of politically-motivated largesse that has produced a welfare system filled with many non-job seekers who, because of anger over perceived cultural wrongs, readily join in the hate-filled rants against America.

The fallen human mind is full of envies and jealousies. It is no wonder, then, that the apex nation of world history so far as concerns material blessings should be hated. But, the animus goes far beyond mere human envies and jealousies.

And, this reality is why America, although not mentioned by name in the Bible, is a factor that plays heavily into God’s plan for His creation called man. That America was brought on the scene late in history in order to fulfill God’s purposes, there can be little doubt.

Because the Lord’s plan for humanity is opposed at every point by His greatest enemy, America’s role is, by association with that plan, a target—a major target. We can see God’s most hate-filled enemy firing his supernatural ordinance at this nation on an almost hourly basis.

Satan’s dark, spiritual firepower is directed at destroying America’s moral fiber. The national fabric is literally unraveling as each volley slams against our most basic institutions and against the Constitution God gave our founding fathers the wisdom and discernment to form.

The family is torn apart, with unwanted babies murdered in their mother’s wombs by the millions. Marriage is redefined as same-sex couplings being equal to—even superior to—heterosexual unions. Mention of Jesus Christ is becoming the equivalent of hate-speech. At the same time, Islam, whose holy book says it is acceptable, even incumbent upon Muslim men, to rape non-Muslim women—and even children—is protected and shielded by a governing system gone mad with sin-sickened, reprobate thinking.

America, I believe a study of this nation’s founding and subsequent comportment throughout most of its history will attest, has served two basic purposes in God’s great plan for humanity. First, it has served as the primary vehicle to get the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world. Second, it has served as the mid-wife to bring the nation Israel into modernity, in preparation for the wind-up of human history.

For this, Satan wages an increasingly virulent war against the United States. That war will continue to intensify by the minute, I have no doubt, until Christ calls His church into Heaven. This means to the Christian that we are to stand against this great assault as directed in God’s Word.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph 6: 10-17)

During this soul-trying, end-times darkness, trepidation crushes in from every side, quenching the remaining, lingering rays of hope. This is the picture troubling issues and events force us to commit to the electronic page each week in these commentaries. But there is about to burst forth a dazzling spectacle of a future world brilliant beyond all imagination. It is this spectacular prospect I wish to present before you in this week’s commentary.

You and I, of all generations of all of human history, are hereat this moment in time–put here by the Creator of all that is. No other people of any previous generation have been so near to attaining the things the God of Heaven has prepared for those who love Him. Those who have chosen to accept God’s offer to be part of His family have at the forefront of their spiritual understanding,a spectacular panorama of what is to come.

We get this truth from the words of the apostle Paul:

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. (1 Corinthians 2: 9-12)

God’s love letter to mankind–the Bible–makes it clear that this world system will come to an end and a new era will begin in which planet earth will be restored to a perfect geophysical environment like that of the Garden of Eden. All hunger will be replaced by abundance far beyond any known since Eden was in full bloom. Human government, with its murderous, tyrannical, self-serving rulers, will be forever done away with, replaced by the absolute perfect reign of King Jesus.

All citizens of the millennial kingdom will prosper in every way. Although sin will still exist, Christ’s perfect rule with a “rod of iron” will assure that all sin will be kept beneath the surface of the society and culture of that marvelous era. Crime will be instantly dealt with, as nothing can be hidden from His Majesty’s omnipotent law enforcement.

Who knows? If you are a child of God now, in this pre-Tribulation dispensation, you might be one of the King’s millennial, perfect law enforcement agents during Christ’s one-thousand-year reign.

All of God’s children who have lived and died during this Church Age or Age of Grace will, at the moment Christ calls “Come up here,” be instantly changed into immortal beings –supernatural citizens of God’s Kingdom.

As Christ’s Bride, Church Age saints will Reign with the Lord,  judging even the angels of Heaven. Having the perfect, sinless mind of Christ, each of His beloved family members will bless the millennial earth with contributions commensurate with the heavenly administration rewards received at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Each raptured saint will be fellow possessor of all of God the Father’s heavenly riches.  When you accept Christ while in this present dispensation, you become joint heirs with  the Lord Jesus Christ. All of God’s treasury will then be yours when you find yourself in the presence of the Lord Jesus at the moment of Rapture.

That instantaneous movement into the heavenlies at the time of death or Rapture is without even a microsecond of hesitation. I can testify to that Truth whether I am believed or not by those who I no doubt keep boring with my own Good Friday experience of April 22, 2011. Regardless of that risk, I cannot help but proclaim yet again that, as Paul the apostle said: “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord!”

The instant my heart was stopped three separate times by a “widow-maker” heart attack on three occasions that day and the doctors declared me dead on arrival, I was instantaneously staring at the cloud of witnesses of Hebrews 12: 1-3. I didn’t see Jesus, but then, again, I wasn’t kept in that eternal realm, but was sent back to, for one thing, write today’s column!

I’ve been shown in my spirit that they were cheering the very things we are considering in this commentary in thinking on the promises of God’s prophetic Word regarding Christ’s any-moment call to His Bride, the Church, and the glorious post-Rapture things to come.

I am of the strongest conviction that all believers are about to instantaneously find ourselves looking directly into the soul-piercing gaze of the Creator of all things –into the eyes of Jesus, Himself. Everything points to the certainty that this Age of Grace is on the cusp of completion. The very next event that is prophetically scheduled is, from what I believe the Bible foretells, the change from mortal to immortality–the Rapture.

What a glorious prospect! As our Lord escorts Heaven’s newest citizens into the Father’s house, the effulgence of the glimmering, shimmering spectrum of colors, sights, and sounds never seen or heard this side of eternity will drench our supernaturally enhanced senses while we proceed. This is not pie in the sky, as mockers often taunt in scoffing at those who have faith that God’s Word presents the Pre-Trib Rapture view of prophecy. This is really about to occur!

The ultimate fulfillment of prophetic promise for believers in Jesus Christ, securing their future life that will never end, rather will only increase in pleasure and power beyond the ability to fathom, is at hand.

We too easily forget Jesus’ promise to come for us and take us to His Father’s House:

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14: 1-3)

While we involve ourselves in the daily pursuits of life, thinking on jobs, our children, our friends and social obligations and functions, our pleasures and our problems, we must, as believers in our Lord’s Promises, look around us at the prophetic signs and discern these strange times. We must understand that Jesus could at any moment stand from his seat at His Father’s right hand and come to gather and take all of those who are but strangers upon this fallen planet into the Father’s house–into Heaven.

All the signals point to our going Home!

With stage-setting for fulfillment of Bible prophecy during this Church Age winding up for the final throes of satanic hatred against Jews, turbulence surrounding Mount Moriah shouldn’t surprise. It comes right on schedule with things shaping up for the Gog-Magog assault foretold to come against Israel. The winds of conflict into which the seeds of Islamist rage have been sewn, nurtured by the likes of the United Nations and the international community, will soon cause the whirlwind of man’s final war to be reaped.

The great military hero, Israel’s General Moshe Dyan, following the June 1967 Six Day War, it is sad to say, prepared the way for seeding the disastrous storm to come. He turned over the Temple Mount to the Jordanian waqf, or Islamic trust, that continues to administer the site. He did so after a thorough victory had been won over a much-greater-in-number combined Arab world army determined then, and determined still, to wipe Israel off the Middle East map. Dyan’s action has given a sense of possession to the Islamist world that should not, in my opinion, have been allowed.

Increased violence in Israel, in east Jerusalem, and in the West Bank has marked recent days. So-called lone-wolf attacks have apparently been ordered on Jews by militant factions within the Palestinian Authority (PA) and other organized terrorist commands. The proclaimed reason for the attacks is the lying charge of Jewish encroachment upon the Temple Mount compound.

The “lone” assassins use knives, screwdrivers, or anything they can get their hands on to stab Jewish people whenever opportunity arises. Israeli authorities have taken subsequent action to deal with the attacks. Not surprisingly, it is the Israeli authorities’ actions to stop the assaults that draw the ire of the world press–not the heinous, unprovoked attacks by the Islamist militants against innocent individuals simply trying to go about their daily lives in peace.

At least 52 Palestinians, half of whom Israel says were assailants, have been shot dead by Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza since Oct. 1. Nine Israelis have been stabbed or shot dead by Palestinians.

In the latest incident, a Palestinian was shot dead on Saturday after he tried to stab an Israeli security guard at a crossing between the West Bank and Israel, Israeli police said. (Reuters, “Kerry lays out steps to ease Israeli-Palestinian strife,” by Arshad Mohammed and Ori Lewis, October 25, 2015) 

Palestinians were prohibited for a time by Israeli police, who have law enforcement authority, from worshiping on the Temple Mount, something Jews are not allowed to do at any time. The temporary prohibiting of worship due to the stepped-up attacks against Jewish civilians brought stone-throwing and other acts of violence by the Arabs.

American Secretary of State John Kerry entered the fray surrounding the rage over al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam, which Jews call the Temple Mount, and the Islamist world calls the Noble Sanctuary, or Haram al-Sharif.

Kerry, after talking with PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah in Amman, Jordan, said the Israeli government had agreed to the “excellent suggestion” of King Abdullah that the Temple Mount compound be monitored twenty-four hours a day by intensive video surveillance. He said that Israel had assured that there will be no change in the status quo. I interpret that to mean that things will continue as agreed to by Dyan in 1967 for the most part. If so, the “settlement” assures only another brief lull–possibly–in a conflict that is destined to grow to be earth’s final conflagration.

As examined a number of times before in these commentaries, the Temple Mount matter is the most  contentious on the planet. The reasons for the unsolvable tensions are rooted in the very creation of the creature called man.

When man fell victim to the serpent’s lie in Eden that he would become like God if he disobeyed  the Creator’s prohibition against eating of the forbidden fruit, Mount Moriah–the Temple Mount- became paramount in man’s redemption. Satan (the serpent of the Garden of Eden) knows it is the one place on earth that is truly God’s touchstone to humanity. That is where redemption–Salvation–was to come into play. That is where, in fact, God’s redemption plan was completed when His Son, Jesus Christ, lay down His life as the sacrificial Lamb that takes away the sin of the world.

Lucifer the fallen–Satan–desires beyond all else to take charge of that Temple Mount where sat the Holy of Holies and the Ark of the Covenant. Upon Christ’s death, the veil was torn from top to bottom, ripping apart the curtain between God and mankind. We now have access directly to God’s throne through belief in God’s only begotten Son.

Satan will one day, according to Bible prophecy, have his man called the “prince that shall come”–Antichrist–stand exactly where that Ark once sat on Moriah. He will indwell that man–whom I believe might be a nephilim–and have the beast declare himself to be God.

The turbulence atop Moriah has just begun.

My “Nearing Midnight” column commentary of October 12 dealt with “Despisers of Good.” It pointed to the fact that recent history of school shootings at Columbine, at the mostly African-American church in South Carolina, and at the college in Oregon were directly aimed at Christians–the only people God sees as “good.”

This designation is not because the believer in Christ for salvation is, within himself or herself, better than any other person on the planet. It means that Jesus is the only person (God who came to earth in the flesh to live among mankind) who had no sin. He is the only “good” to be found. Jesus was perfect in His walk with His Heavenly Father. He, in fact, was and is God, the second Person of the Godhead–the Trinity.

Every person who accepts Jesus Christ–that is, believes that Christ died for them to take away their sins–is seen by the Heavenly Father as “good” because they are under the saving umbrella of His Only Begotten Son. God, in other words, sees the believer through Jesus, whose blood was shed as the sacrificial Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8).

That commentary pointed out that the apostle Paul’s “perilous-times” prophecy that there will come in the last time “despisers of those that are good” is now upon this generation, as made manifest with the murders that are routinely aimed at Christians. Further evidence continues to accumulate that hatred for Christians is growing, thus proving Paul’s prophecy as accurate and identifying these as the very last days of the Church Age (Age of Grace).

A recent “Bible in the News” commentary broadcast by my longtime friend, Dr. Larry Spargimino, who is pastor of Southwest Radio Church Ministries, brought to the surface of these troubling days the virulence of the animus that boils for those who name the name of Christ. I thank Dr. Spargimino for helping spark this week’s commentary. Facts and threats surrounding what is going on must not be missed by discerning believers. There is an anti-Christian crusade underway, and we face perilous times, indeed.

Larry’s commentary largely reflected findings by Christian commentator and social analyst Michael Brown, whose gathering of quite troubling data should concern all Americans–but Christians in particular. Michael Brown, in his article, “When Committed Christians Are Compared to ISIS,” pointed to the many immoral, ungodly upheavals taking place at this moment in society and culture. His analysis is hard-hitting and he comes under attacks from organized opposition such as that within Human Rights Campaign.

The organization claimed that Brown is exporting hate because of his opposition to the radical agenda it pursues.

According to Dr. Spargimino, writing on matters reported within the Brown article, the invective is raging in answer to Brown’s exposure of the agenda:

One reader [of Brown’s article] claimed that Kim Davis is a terrorist. “Kim Davis, by virtue of defying the Constitution and the Supreme Court is NO BETTER than those men who conceived, executed and plotted those attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11.”

Another wrote to Brown: “You are just as brutal as ISIS.”

Already in May, 2005, John McCandlish Phillips, formerly a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter, pointed out how some of the major newspapers told their readers that evangelicals and traditional Catholics were engaging in a “jihad” against America.

Not surprisingly, Christians have been called the “American Taliban,” a label that reflected the sentiments of some Californians who opposed Proposition 8, the pro-marriage bill, and who carried signs reading: “Don’t Silence the Christians, Feed Them 2 the lions.”

In his Charisma blog Brown quotes Shephard Smith on Fox News who calls pro-traditional family Christians “haters,” and hypocrites for resisting Sharia Law while we hold to our conservative Christian values.

The caustic vitriol from the “tolerant left” is bitter. Just because Christians don’t want to participate in their ceremonies, Christians are now bigots.

Brown commented: “People don’t just hate you. They see you as downright dangerous, and that in itself is dangerous. And it’s not just some isolated wacko making an extreme internet comment or a crowd of protesters carrying signs.”

What does this hatred sound like? “I want them all to die in a fire,” said one man. Another said, “I would be in favor of establishing a state for them…If not then sterilize them so they can’t breed more.” A man with a doctorate said, “The only good Christian is a dead Christian.” A college educated man referenced evangelical Christians and said “A torturous death would be too good for them.” An elderly woman with a master’s degree chimed in and said: “They should be eradicated without hesitation or remorse.” (Dr. Larry Spargimino, commenting on article, “Townhall.com,When Committed Christians Are Compared to ISIS,” by Michael Brown,

September 13, 2015, http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbrown/2015/09/13/when-committed-christians-are-compared-to-isis-n2051359/page/full )

It is beyond obvious that those who respond in such a vicious way to Christian concerns about the raging ungodliness have a diminution of rationality in their thinking. Michael Brown questioned one woman who apparently had lost all reasoning ability and had launched a verbal attack that boiled with hatred. He asked the reasoning behind her outrage.

[Is your anger]…because we want to protect innocent babies in the womb? Because we care about marriage and family? Because we feed the poor and needy around the world? Because we want the whole world to know how wonderful Jesus is? Please be kind enough to explain your views.

Brown wrote that he received no response to his inquiry.

While Christians in America don’t yet face life-threatening persecution as do Christians who are being beheaded by ISIS, the Anti-Christian crusade is underway. It will one day–during the Tribulation, for certain–bring martyrdom to believers everywhere in the world. In 1 Peter 4:12, the apostle Peter wrote:

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

All of this is not meant to instill fear, but to exhort the believer to look for the Blessed Hope–the Lord Jesus Christ, who will call true believers out of this God-hating world before Satan and his minions can bring his anti-Christian crusade to fruition.

Meantime, the believer is to stand against the fiery darts of the opposition to godliness. Christians, in the final analysis, are invincible, according to their Lord.

Jesus promised believers of this Age of Grace: “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18b).

Observers of news and trends at present are watching, particularly, the Middle East and Russia’s entrance into Syria. Russia has had an interest in the region, of course, for as long as the Soviet Union and now the Russian Federation have been around. However, recent developments have ushered in a new and most fascinating era. Things happening in this regard are, to those who look at those developments through the prism of Bible prophecy, nothing short of phenomenal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has inserted his influence into that volatile region and is having profound impact on the unfolding of events. We have written in these commentaries a number of times, and others have written that Mr. Putin certainly appears to fit the archetype description of the “Gog” character of the Gog-Magog assault into the Middle East as prophesied by Ezekiel, presented in Ezekiel chapters 38-39.

The Gog-Magog attack is described as being like a “storm to cover the land.” Vladimir Putin has been doing what might be described as “taking like a storm” everywhere he asserts his influence.

An interesting news excerpt describes his rambunctious escapades and the way he is perceived in many quarters as follows:

Posters of Putin are popping up on cars and billboards elsewhere in parts of Syria and Iraq, praising the Russian military intervention in Syria as one that will redress the balance of power in the region.

The Russian leader is winning accolades from many in Iraq and Syria, who see Russian airstrikes in Syria as a turning point after more than a year of largely ineffectual efforts by the U.S.-led coalition to dislodge the Islamic State militants who have occupied significant parts of the two countries. (“Amid Russian airstrikes, a Putin craze takes hold in Mideast,” Yahoo News, Oct. 12, 2015)

There are even many in the U.S. who now see Putin and the Russians as doing God’s work-literally! I have read a number of accounts of clergy and others who say that Putin is showing “Christian leadership” in doing what President Obama is unable to do or is unwilling to do-that is, take it to the ISIS or, as Mr. Obama insists on calling the horde, ISIL.

Imagine! A hard-liner Soviet communist—once head of, or at least near the top of the old KGB, seen as a true Christian who is out to eliminate the threat to the Christian world and the world at large!

Of course, the reality to anyone with the sense the Lord gave a gopher is that the head Russian is still a KGB guy in every sense. He is playing to his mesmerized audience by destroying some ISIS forces, but is 100 percent committed to destroying the American-supported rebels who want to dislodge Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad from power.

The reason, or reasons, he is so committed include the fact that he now has his voracious, bear-like eyes focused on the riches to the south. He has already achieved much of his goal. He has his navy docked now in warm waters, free to move about any time of the year to further his reestablishment of Soviet-style domination. He is increasing his insertion of Russian ground forces by the day. If this isn’t near-fulfillment of the Ezekiel prophecy that Gog will put hooks in Gog’s jaws and turn him southward toward the mountains of Israel, then I’ve misunderstood the meanings of that prophecy. I’m of the opinion that this is a part of that hooks in the jaws process that will likely play out over a period of time yet. There are many things that need to come into prophetic place before the Gog-Magog attack as described will be launched. Key to that preparation is the question: What is meant by the description of how Israel will be “at rest” and “without walls”?

At present, Israel is suffering attacks by “lone wolf” assaults, apparently ordered by ISIS and other terrorist organizations. Israel’s citizenry is being terrorized by stabbings conducted by individuals—actions that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will no doubt react to by instituting quite harsh measures at some point soon. This will bring more blame to Israel and sympathy to the Islamist murderers who are killed in the process of their obedience to their Islamist masters.

Into this mixture of satanic hatred now comes further arrangements of significance, in my view. To me, this matter involves further confirmation that proves the veracity of God’s prophetic Word. It just might prove to be part of the reason Damascus will one day receive the foretold blow from which it will never recover.  (Read Isaiah 17: 1).

It is the first inklings that the Gog-Magog forces’ top three diabolists are reportedly getting their heads together in thinking on the whole Middle Eastern region dilemma. To me it is more than merely coincidental these are beginning to coalesce.

ISTANBUL – Turkey would hold talks with Russia and Iran to work towards a political solution in Syria but would not take a foreign policy stance which “legitimizes the Syrian regime.” Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Monday.

Davutoglu said in an interview on NTV that Russian air strikes in Idlib and Aleppo in Syria could cause a further influx of refugees into Turkey. (“PM: Turkey would talk with Russia and Iran on political solution in Syria,” Breaking News, Jerusalem Post, Oct 12, 2015)

Many Bible prophecy students, including top scholars, believe Turkey occupies the ancient area described as Togarmah in the Ezekiel 38-39 prophecy. Iran, of course, occupies most of the ancient area known as Persia, with the Gog-Magog area being seen as the lands surrounding the southern Caucasus region and Black Sea area.

The fact that these key prophetic players are getting their heads together, apparently, in the biblically doomed city of Damascus, begs the question that should be directed to this triumvirate: Do your cogitations include how to eliminate Israel as part of any conquest ambition you might harbor?

Watching these developments, in concert with everything else taking shape at such a fast pace, makes the question a legitimate one—seems to me.

There is something going on that I believe can no longer be considered anomaly. It smacks ominously of forewarning found within the apostle Paul’s perilous times prophecy of 2 Timothy 3: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be…despisers of those that are good” (2Timothy 3:1-2a, 6f)

Although the signs have been on the cultural and societal horizon for years, the manifestation of Paul’s forewarning became clearer during the school shooting in Littleton, Colorado, April 20, 1999. It was the first time in such a nationwide way that hatred for Jesus Christ raised its monstrous head, producing martyrdom for the cause of Christ in America.

On Rachel Scott, 17-year-old Columbine student:

Three weeks before the shooting she had witnessed to the shooters Eric and Dylan. Eric and Dylan were the odd pair out and students mostly stayed away from them. But Rachel tried to talk to them and encouraged them to leave their hateful feelings and turn to Jesus. But they hated her the more and even made homemade videotapes mocking her Christian faith.

On the day of the shooting, Rachel was outside the school building having her lunch. Eric and Dylan entered the school campus and first shot Rachel. They shot her in the leg twice and shot her again in the back. They left but returned seconds later. On noticing that she was still alive, Eric walked over to Rachel and grabbed her by the hair, lifted up her head and asked her “Do you still believe in your God?” Her response was unflinching and unwavering “You know I Do”, and that provoked Eric and he responded “Then go be with Him,” and shot her in the head. (FreeHeartDay.com. RACHEL JOY SCOTT – HER STORY MUST BE TOLD. By Sachin. April 20, 2013. http://www.freeheartday.com/rachel-joy-scott-her-story-must-be-told)

That singular, direct act of murder because a Christian wouldn’t deny her Lord might be considered no more than an aberration. The slaughter of Christians within the church of mostly black congregants in South Carolina a couple of months ago could, perhaps, be chalked up as merely an insane man coincidentally choosing a group of believers in Christ in his rage to kill. But, the deadly attack on the college in Oregon this past week should take all growing hatred for those who claim Christ as Lord out of the realm of anomaly and coincidence.

With this most recent shooting, it should, in my view, be considered undeniable that we have witnessed a key prophetic indicator. It is as if God’s finger is pointing directly to the fact that these are the perilous times to which Paul’s foretelling referred.

A gunman singled out Christians, telling them they would see God in “one second,” during a rampage at an Oregon college Thursday that left at least nine innocent people dead and several more wounded, survivors and authorities said.

“[He started] asking people one by one what their religion was. ‘Are you a Christian?’ he would ask them, and if you’re a Christian, stand up. And they would stand up and he said, ‘Good, because you’re a Christian, you are going to see God in just about one second.’ And then he shot and killed them,” Stacy Boylen, whose daughter was wounded at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., told CNN. (NYPost.com. Oregon gunman singled out Christians during rampage, By Chris Perez, Danika Fears and Natalie Musumeci. October 1, 2015. http://nypost.com/2015/10/01/oregon-gunman-singled-out-christians-during-rampage/ )

The term “despisers of those that are good” is more than obvious in its application to this news story in thinking on the apostle Paul’s perilous-times prophecy. This young, demented man despised Christians by his own admission through his words and actions. But, the word “despiser” takes on a much more condemning meaning for the evil day in which we live when considering the treatment of the horrendous event.

In almost all mainstream accounts of this story, the reports never mention that the shooter asked the specific question “Are you Christian?” and never do they include the statement that because they are Christians they will die in one minute. In nearly every case, the reports only indicate that the shooter asked what religion the victims were.

This is blatant bias in trying to keep the public from recognizing that Christians were specifically chosen to be murdered. This is, in my opinion, the mainstream press showing its own collective disdain for Jesus Christ–for Christians. They, by omission, demonstrate they are despisers of those who are good.

Why do I say that those who were murdered in cold blood were “good”? Let’s examine the declaration.

Jesus, when called by a man “good master,” asked the man why he had called Him “good.” Jesus told the man there was only one that was good, and that was God. (Read Matthew 19:17.) Jesus wasn’t scolding the man; rather, He was pointing out that all of man is fallen, but that God was without sin. God was the only good. Jesus was and is God. He said as recorded in another passage, “Before Abraham was, I Am.” Jesus was saying that He is God. He is the only good there is.

To further dissect the perilous-times prophecy in question, we next consider why we can legitimately point out that the shooter in the Oregon massacre of Christians in particular was a “despiser of those that are good.” Why the media’s deliberate refusal to mention that Christians were deliberately targeted seems to indicate that they, too, are “despisers of those that are good.”

Jesus, time and time again, declared that those who believe in Him for salvation because of His death on the cross for them are “in” Him–that is, in Jesus Christ. The believer is one with Jesus just as Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, is one with the Heavenly Father. (Read John chapter 17, and this becomes absolutely clear.)

This all means that the true believer in Jesus Christ is in God’s family for eternity. They will be in Heaven forever after this life. The only reason God the Father sees any human being as “good” is through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. When the shooter murdered the Christians, he showed that he “despised” those who were good in the holy eyes of God.

Not only the American news conglomerate, but many in the stratosphere of this nation’s political domain have demonstrated beyond much doubt that they are “despisers of those that are good.” The attitude of Mr. Obama and the tenor of the president’s time in that office demonstrate disdain for Christianity, as far as I’m concerned.

At the National Prayer Breakfast, President Obama reminded attendees that violence rooted in religion isn’t exclusive to Islam, but has been carried out by Christians as well…

“Unless we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ,” Obama said. “In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ.” (Breitbart.com. OBAMA AT NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST: “PEOPLE COMMITTED TERRIBLE DEEDS IN THE NAME OF CHRIST,” By: Charlie Spiering. Feb 5, 2015. http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/02/05/obama-at-national-prayer-breakfast-people-committed-terrible-deeds-in-the-name-of-christ/)

This has been his consistent treatment of the subject of Christianity. He continually praises the godly attributes of Islam, but hasn’t lifted a presidential finger to help stop the genocide against Christians in the places where ISIS (ISIL, as he puts it) are butchering even women and children, including infants. I remember vividly the National Democratic Convention leading up to the 2012 presidential elections. In three separate voice votes, delegates were asked whether they supported the inclusion of God and the recognition of Jerusalem in their party’s guiding policy document. Three separate times, loud shouts of “no” all but drowned out the chairman’s gavel. Chairman Villaraigosa ultimately just declared that the “ayes” had it. –This, despite the fact that there was nowhere near the two-thirds “ayes” voice vote sounded in the hall. As God and Jerusalem were inserted back into the Democratic platform, the hall erupted in boos. Absolute proof that despisers of good were there in abundance.

Recent Supreme Court decisions and other court actions against principles from God’s Word, even going so far as to put Christians in jail and strap others with fines that cause loss of livelihoods, makes it clear that we are in perilous times. We are in the satanic process of being surrounded by despisers of those who are good.

Pope Francis might not be a wolf in sheep’s clothing, as some conspiracy-minded prophecy pundits might have it. That this pope is a climate -change cop in papal paraphernalia, however, is less easy to deny, if the pontiff’s barnstorming through our nation last week is examined in light of his preaching to us on the evils of America’s world-endangering carbon footprint.

I think there should be little doubt that this was a primary purpose of his coming here. Climate change is so low on the worry-meter of the vast majority of Americans–and of citizens of other nations as well–that something had to be done to rev up interest in global warming (or “climate change,” as it is now termed), because people are sick of hearing the specious term “global warming.” Additionally, with the hoaxers claiming  that global warming is a threat to the world now disgraced by revelation of their cooked-up, false data, another tact must be taken to gen up fear that the planet will soon be destroyed without action by what I term the global-warming Gestapo.

What better way to gen-up the numbers of climate-change believers than to have the “Vicar of Christ” conducting secular-type masses all over America–the wealthiest nation that global gulagists have pronounced the most guilty on the Big Blue Marble (now the dingy, greenhouse gas-colored ball of haze)?

And pronounce our guilt this pope has done, even while maintaining the gentle, papal smile and soft-spoken homiletic voice. The United Nations used the pope’s visit to America to kick off its Sustainable Development Summit as keynote speaker. He spent much of that secular mass pointing out that the U.S. is the guiltiest of all nations of polluting the planet, thus must lead the way in making amends.

While preaching to the U.N., America, and Israel-hating choir about America’s culpability in the damage to earth’s environment, the pope reflected on statements he has made as chief climate-change cop. Statements like the following:

• “God will judge you whether you cared for Earth.”
• “It is man who has slapped nature in the face.”
• “People occasionally forgive, but nature never does.”
• “The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all.”
• “Doomsday predictions can no longer be met with irony or disdain.”
• “Climate change is a global problem with grave implications. It represents one of the principle challenges facing humanity in our day.”
• “Leaving an inhabitable planet to future generations is first and foremost up to us.”
• “Never have we so hurt and mistreat our common home as we have in the last 200 years.”
• “If we destroy creation, it will destroy us.”
• “The earth is protesting the wrong that we are doing to her.”
• “An international climate change treaty is a grave, ethical and moral responsibility.”
• “Human rights are not only violated by terrorism, repression or assassination, but also by unfair economic structures that creates huge inequalities.”
• “Money has to serve, not to rule.” (My thanks to Geri Ungurean for finding these quotes.)

On the surface, as with most all deception, the sophistry sounds common-sensible and the right course of action. However, there is harbored within the high-sounding phraseology deeply evil, prophetic stage-setting.

With the current pope seemingly totally co-opted by the global-warming Gestapo, it is interesting to consider the mounting Mother Earth worship system beginning to bring forth condemnation of unbelievers in the climate change diatribe. Just as in most leftist causes, the mainstream media takes the side diametrically opposed to the wishes of the people the leftists wish to force into their socialistic construct. And, that structure will bring the entire world of earth-dwellers under the Antichrist system at some future point, according to God’s prophetic Word.

The False Prophet–the second beast of Revelation chapter 13–will be in charge of bringing this global religious system of enslavement to fruition.

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

Mother Earth worship, I’m convinced, is the rallying cry around which the one-world-order builders wish us all to gather–thus chose this pope to begin changing our minds about global warming. We must be made to fear our world is being destroyed–which it is–by unrepented-of sin of the human population, not by some mythical carbon footprint caused by so-called greenhouse gases.

We get a sense of this mind-changing effort in considering what the global Gestapo’s propagandists are up to. The Associated Press (AP) has become one of the first of the mainstream media to begin the marginalization of those who speak against global warming or climate change as a scientifically established fact. The things they are doing in the area of becoming thought police for the global warming Gestapo are truly mind-boggling.

The AP will no longer use “skeptics” to describe people who don’t believe in climate change

Those who refuse to acknowledge that climate change is caused by human activity will no longer be called “skeptics” by the Associated Press, after the newswire service decided the term was too scientifically rigorous.

The AP explained their decision in a blog post:

Scientists who consider themselves real skeptics—who debunk mysticism, ESP and other pseudoscience, such as those who are part of the Center for Skeptical Inquiry—complain that non-scientists who reject mainstream climate science have usurped the phrase skeptic. They say they aren’t skeptics because “proper skepticism promotes scientific inquiry, critical investigation and the use of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims.” That group prefers the phrase “climate change deniers” for those who reject accepted global warming data and theory. But those who reject climate science say the phrase denier has the pejorative ring of Holocaust denier so The Associated Press prefers climate change doubter or someone who rejects mainstream science…

But some environmentalists were displeased with the AP’s decision to opt for the term “climate change doubter” instead of outright “denier”.

Ronald Lindsay, president and CEO of the Center for Inquiry, said in a statement:

Referring to deniers as “doubters” still imbues those who reject scientific fact with an intellectual legitimacy they have not earned. The general public, we fear, will still not get a clear picture of which public figures are basing their positions on reality, and which are not.

The Huffington Post’s Ryan Grim asked his Twitter followers for alternative suggestions to “doubters” and was offered the following: Armageddon advocates, Canadian land speculators, climate itsallrightists, death cult members, drought enthusiasts, and grandchildren haters. (Http://qz.com/511723/the-ap-will-no-longer-use-skeptics-to-)

Should we be concerned about the environment–and should we desire to keep it as clean as possible, within reason? Of course. We are instructed by God Himself to be good stewards of the earth. However, we are not to make the planet out to be a goddess that demands our worship. Paul the apostle clearly points out the folly of those who have done so in the past (Read Romans chapter 1).

I prefer to remain among the “deniers” rather than follow the dictates of the global-warming Gestapo. I believe I’m in the best of company in so doing. The Architect of the Universe promises the following: “While the earth remained, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8: 22).