When the Soul Bleeds

Sharon Jaynes

Today's Truth
[Jesus said] "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering" (Mark 5:31-34 NIV).

Friend to Friend

When we read the story of Jesus healing the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, it is hard for us twenty-first century women to imagine such a condition lasting for so long. Medical science has progressed far beyond the rudimentary knowledge of Jesus' day. It is simply unthinkable today.

But I suggest there are still many women with chronic bleeding of a different sort. We bleed from the heart.

From the time Sarah was six-years-old, her father crept into her bedroom in the dark of night and violated her little body. Now, as an adult, her heart bleeds.

Sling Your Stones at the Real Enemy, Not the Saints

DANIEL K. NORRIS

 

464

 

25

 

0

 

63

 

Evangelist Daniel K. Norris encourages believers to sling stones at the enemy, not the saints. (© Newphotoservice / StockFreeImages.com)

Serious giants are facing off against the American church at this moment. Abortion has claimed more than 50 million casualties and counting. Terrorism is no longer isolated to foreign fields. Secularism is advancing through society and infiltrating the sanctuary, and radical agendas no longer hide in secret—they’re written into law.

The church has the spiritual weapons within its arsenal to take these giants down, so why do they still stand? Sunday after Sunday we come together to celebrate, singing “How Great Is Our God” and “Nothing Is Impossible.” We sing and shout about it while the giants continue to defy it. Sound familiar? (See 1 Samuel 17.)

No doubt we could debate for countless hours about what needs to change. I believe there is one thing we can all agree must change: It’s time to stop slinging stones at the saints and start saving them for the enemy!

Finding True Love in a Hook-up World

Written by Sean McDowell

If you could have any wish come true, what would you wish for? When I pose this question to my students they often say things such as, “to be rich,” “to be famous,” or “to find the perfect mate.” But of all the responses I have heard, the words of Ashley, an 18-year-old high school senior, stand out most vividly in my mind. After I spoke on sexual purity at a Tuesday-night youth group, she came up to me with tears in her eyes and said, “If I could have one wish in life, it would be to go back four years ago and hear this same message. I might not have ruined my life.” Ashley simply said thanks, and then walked away.

I have often wondered what decisions Ashley made that caused such deep scars in her life. Was she struggling with guilt or depression from a seemingly “harmless” hook-up? Did she get a sexually transmitted disease? Did she have an abortion? My heart went out to Ashley because I could see the pain on her face as she so deeply regretted her past choices. Somewhere she bought a false idea about sex, acted on it, and now she is paying a heavy price. Ashley learned a painful, yet powerful lesson: ideas have consequences. What you believe about sex will affect your choices, and your choices will shape the direction of your life. Misunderstanding the purpose and nature of sex can have disastrous consequences. So, what is the purpose of sex? And how can we find true love in a hook-up world?

Difficult Bible Passages: Exodus 21:22-25

This passage is difficult in the sense that it is a contentious passage, partly because of the way different English translations render it, and how we understand certain Hebrew terms that are used. The real difficulty is the way this passage is used in modern-day debates over abortion.

The NIV rendering of the text is as follows: “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”

Disgraced Mary

By Kelly McFadden

In a loud voice she exclaimed, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
Luke 1:42-45

Teen pregnancy is one of the most difficult things a young girl can go through. Some choose abortions so they don’t have to face their parents or friends with news that they are pregnant. Others who carry the child drop out of school and face the challenge of being shunned by family and friends. Let’s face it. Pregnant unwed teens are not looked upon with a great deal of respect, even in this more “tolerant” day and age, let alone throughout history.

All the Women of the Bible : Puah

Scripture Reference—Exodus 1:15

Name Meaning — Child bearing or joy of parents

Alarmed over the rapid increase of the population of Israelites in Egypt, Pharaoh ordered two Egyptian midwives to destroy all male children as soon as they were born (Exodus 1:15-20). He would never have employed Hebrew women to destroy the males of their own nation. The answer of the two named midwives, Puah and Shiprah, to Pharaoh’s anger when he discovered that his cruel edict was not being carried out, implies that they were used to wait upon Egyptian women who only employed them in difficulty at childbirth (Exodus 1:19). Hebrew women seldom employed midwives for they were more “lively,” or had far easier births than the Egyptians.

Pastor John Hagee Warns America About Obama Re-election

JENNIFER LECLAIRE

 

3801

 

264

 

1

Reddit

1624

 

Pastor John Hagee

Pastor John Hagee is raising his voice in an urgent call for prayer over the presidential election.

Hagee, senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, sent an e-mail addressed to all Christians and people of faith in America.

“First, I want to express my profound appreciation to President Barak Obama for doing what all of the Republican candidates have not been able to do for months: he unified the Bible-believing church in America in one week over the issue of abortion.

A Secret Shame

DOUGLAS WEISS, PH.D. 

68

16

3

414

(© J0sefino/StockFreeImages.com)

Many men struggle with sex addictions. But in the United States today, a growing number of women also are falling prey to pornography and perversion.

Marsha is a 32-year-old woman who appears to have a perfect life. She is the attractive, healthy wife of a successful doctor in town and the mother of a terrific little boy. She began our first counseling session by saying, "I have everything going for me, but I have a problem I am so ashamed of that I can hardly tell you."

A Healing Journey

Written by Angie Cote

Secret -concealed from general knowledge or view, hidden. (Webster’s Dictionary)

There are different kinds of secrets. Some are things hidden from our understanding, sometimes called the mysteries of life: how they built the pyramids, miracles, unexplained events. There are military secrets – confidential military matters, the CIA and spies. There are the secrets that are methods or formulas based on successes: if you send in your hundred dollars, you can receive a secret blend of tea/cream/pills guaranteed to make your cellulite disappear. Don’t we wish. There are the secrets where others share confidences with you.

Then you have the secrets that are of the personal nature – things that we have done ourselves, or had done to us, or been involved in that we don’t want anybody to know about. Usually it is something that is not socially or morally acceptable.

Young ‘Millennials’ losing faith in record numbers

Posted on 20 April 2012

WASHINGTON (RNS)  A growing tide of young Americans is drifting away from the religions of their childhood — and most of them are ending up in no religion at all.

One in four young adults choose “unaffiliated” when asked about their religion, according to a new report from the Public Religion Research Institute and Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs.

But most within this unaffiliated group — 55 percent — identified with a religious group when they were younger.

“These younger unaffiliated adults are very nonreligious,” said Daniel Cox, PRRI’s research director. “They demonstrate much lower levels of religiosity than we see in the general population,” including participation in religious rituals or worship services.

Baby Survives Abortion and Goes on to do Wonderful Things

Abortion claims thousands of babies every single year. This is the story of one woman named Melissa Ohden who survived an abortion and has grown up to do wonderful things to help stop abortion.

http://gnli.christianpost.com/video/4355

Black Pastors Speak Out on Obama's Gay Marriage Stance

By Anugrah Kumar , Christian Post Contributor

Black pastors across the country dwelt on President Barack Obama's stance during worship services Sunday, after Obama's May 9 announcement that he supports gay marriage.

(Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and Vice President Joe Biden walk together to a ceremony honoring the 2012 National Association of Police Organizations Top Cops award winners during a ceremony in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, May 12, 2012.

The Rev. Emmett C. Burns Jr., a politically influential black minister, held an event Sunday at his Rising Sun Baptist Church in Baltimore, Md., to publicly withdraw support from Obama over his same-sex marriage support, CNN reported. "I love the president, but I cannot support what he has done," Burns was quoted as saying at the church. He also predicted that Obama's stance would lead to his defeat in November.

When Roses Do Not Come

Written by Gail Rodgers

If Mother’s Day is a challenging day for you, come talk to a mentor. 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest… rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28 & 29b)

It was Sunday morning, Mother’s Day. As the Woman’s Pastor, I was greeting women at the back of the church.

One woman took my hand and blinked back a tear, as she told me how hard this day is for her, as she had never been able to have a baby of her own. Another hugged me and thanked me for praying for those who hurt on this day. Her grown kids never call and her heart ached. Another missed her Mom who had died. Another longed for her child who was gone.

One told me she wouldn’t be there. She believes she has failed as a mother and the feelings are too hard to face, so she ignores the day. Still another gave me a long silent hug… no words. We had walked together for a piece on the road of post-abortion.

Trusting God With Your Tomorrows

Gwen Smith, www.GwenSmith.net

Editor's Note: The following article is excerpted from Trusting God: A Girlfriends in God Devotional, by Sharon Jaynes, Gwen Smith, & Mary Southerland (Multnomah Books, 2011). This selection is written by Gwen Smith. Used with permission.

On the far side of a desert, high upon the mountain of God, a voice called out to Moses from within a curious, fiery bush. He had been tending the sheep of his father-in-law’s flock, minding his own business, going about his normal day-in-day-out tasks when God spoke to him from the flames. On the day that God called Moses to a fresh and fiery mission. A mission of deliverance.

Once a noble prince of Egypt with the world at his feet, Moses had become a lowly shepherd with dust on his sandals. His crown had been traded in for a staff. The palace days were far behind Moses now. He fled them because of what he had done. Glancing to his left and his right to be sure that no one would see what he was about to do, Moses took a horrible situation into his own hands and killed a man. He had murdered an Egyptian and covered the body with sand.

Fear and shame bombarded his heart so he fled — away from his dream-filled, royal future to a desert place of humble hiding. The door to his yesterdays was closed. Moses had moved on to a new place. His past was his past and he had no intention of returning to it. His life was different now. Normal, not noble.

Then God interrupted Moses’s new normal. He made it undeniably clear that His plans for Moses were different. Bigger. God’s intentions were for freedom — the freedom of His people, the Israelites, who were captives, slaves to Egypt. God called Moses to face the pains of his past so that the Israelites could face a future of freedom. His plans of emancipation required that Moses obey Him, listen to His voice, follow His instructions, and trust Him.

Moses quivered and doubted. He made excuses about why he couldn’t do it. He felt completely unfit and unqualified for such a task. It was risky. But God met Moses at his doubts. He called him to courage and went on to use Moses as an instrument of deliverance, truth, power, and freedom. Yes, Moses made mistakes along the way, but God was powerful in, through, and in spite of each one. Through it all, God led as only God can. He led with power. He led with purpose. He led with love. And through Moses, God led His people to a new place of promise and freedom.

On the far side of Charlotte, North Carolina, high upon a mountain in a retreat center, a voice called out to me from within a curious and fiery story. I had been tending to my husband and children, to the laundry and the dishes, writing songs and leading worship at women’s events, minding my own business, and going about my normal day-in-day-out tasks on the day that God spoke to my heart through the testimony of another woman. On the day that God called me to a fresh and fiery mission. A mission of deliverance.

Once a sold-out, dream-filled God-girl, I had become a grace-embracing yet disqualified-for-anything-big-because-of-what-I-had-done God-girl. My use-me-in-a-big-way-Lord prayers had been traded in for average can’t-have-a-dream-anymore faith-living. My God-dream days were far behind me. I had fled them because of what I had done in my junior year of college. Glancing to my left and right to be sure that no one would know what I was about to do, I took a horrible situation — an unplanned pregnancy — into my own hands and killed a baby. I robbed life from my own child when I had an abortion, and I covered over the death of my precious child with sands of compartmentalization and reason.

Fear and shame bombarded my heart, so I fled — away from God, away from my dream-filled, royal future to a desert place of heart-hiding. After a season of brokenness, God brought me to a place of beauty, forgiveness, and healing. I was restored and redeemed by scandalous, merciful grace. The door to my yesterdays was closed. I moved on to a new place in Christ. My past was my past and I had no intentions of returning to it — or to the God-dreams that swelled my heart when I was a young, sold-out Jesus lover. My life was different now. Normal, not dream-worthy.

Then God interrupted my new normal. He made it undeniably clear that His plans for me were different. Bigger. God’s intentions were for freedom — the freedom of His people, the women who were captives,slaves to their life-wounds. God called me to face the pains of my past so that my Girlfriends in God might face a future of freedom when they hear my testimony. His plans of emancipation required that I obey Him, listen to His voice, follow His instructions, and trust Him.

I quivered and doubted. I made excuses about why I couldn’t do it. I felt completely unfit and unqualified for such a task. It was risky. But God met me at my doubts. He called me to courage and is using my broken-into-beautiful story as an instrument of deliverance, truth, power, and freedom. Yes, I make mistakes along the way, but God is powerful in, through, and in spite of each one. Through each surrendered day, God is leading as only He can. With power, with purpose, with love. And I pray right now that this story — my story — will bring you to a new place of promise and freedom through the grace of Jesus Christ.

What fresh and fiery mission is God calling you to trust Him with, friend? Let me encourage you to stop with the excuses. I’m living proof that God will free anyone from her shame and can use anyone for His purpose. Step up to the burning bush — into God’s presence. Listen to His voice. Obey. Follow. Take courage. Trust Him with your past and with your tomorrows. Allow His grace and love to decide what your mission should look like.

But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. (Exodus 9:16)

Let’s Pray

Dear God, with a trembling heart, I approach Your throne of grace today in reverence and humility, fully aware that You are holy and I am not. Speak, Lord. Show me the plans You have for me. Bind me to Your Word and to Your strength so I will have the courage to obey. May my brokenness be restored for the beauty of Your glory. Please help me to trust You with my today and my tomorrows. In Jesus’s name I pray, amen.

Gwen Smith is a co-founder of Girlfriends in God. She’s also a popular Christian speaker, author of Broken into Beautiful, songwriter, and worship leader. Be sure to connect with her on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/GwenSmithMusic or on her website:www.GwenSmith.net.

Adapted from Trusting God by Sharon Jaynes, Gwen Smith, & Mary Southerland by permission of Multnomah, division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Publication date: January 17, 2011

http://www.crosswalk.com/church/worship/trusting-god-with-your-tomorrows.html

Abortion Statistics

Editor’s Note: For more information on abortion, including video of the actual procedure (WARNING: Graphic Content), go to www.abortionno.org

From Bound4Life:

Abortion Worldwide

Annually, 46 million babies die from abortion worldwide. That’s approximately one baby being aborted every two seconds.

Abortion in the United States

An estimated 48 million babies have been aborted since 1973. Approximately 24% of all U.S. pregnancies end in abortion.

Characteristics of Women Having Abortions

• Over half (56%) of all women having abortions between 15-44 are in their 20’s.
• Nearly eight in 10 U.S. women obtaining an abortion report a religious affiliation.
  • 43% are Protestant
  • 27% are Catholic
  • 8% are other religions
• 41% of women having abortions are white, 32% are black, and 20% are hispanic.

 

• Black and Hispanic women have higher abortion rates than non-Hispanic white women. Black women’s abortion rates are 49 per 1,000, Hispanic women’s are 33 per 1,000 and non-Hispanic white women’s are 13 per 1,000.

• According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, the most recurrent characteristics of women having abortions over time are nonwhite, poor and unmarried.

Reasons For Abortion

• 98% Personal Choice (unwanted or inconvenient)
• 1.7% Life/Health of Mother or Child
• .3% Rape/Incest

Abortion by Gestational Age

http://voiceofrevolution.askdrbrown.org/2009/01/18/abortion-statistics/

America Celebrates 54 Million Abortions

By Ronald Graham "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren." Proverbs 6:16-19. (Emphases mine) People of the United States of America, you are on notice that your God, the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob does not simply turn a "blind eye" to abortion – there will be consequences. Murder is very offensive to your God. Make no mistake, He is your God; whether or not you recognize Him as such is inconsequential to His judgment. You can't just wish Him away. He's here to stay. His creation is admonished to live by His precepts which are perfect, permanent, and everlasting – to be exact they were etched in stone with God's own finger. God gave the commandment "Thou shalt not kill" Exodus 20:13. The Hebrew word "ratsach" is translated into English as "kill" but it actually means murder – premeditated murder, so the commandment should read "Thou shalt not murder." "I remain committed to protecting a woman's right to choose" - Barack Hussein Obama. President Obama, along with many Americans, just celebrated the murder of 54 million babies on January 22, 2012. I wonder how they celebrated. Did they pop the cork on some champagne bottles? Did they toast each other's murderous achievements? Did they put on a feast, and invite all their friends? Here's what they didn't do. They didn't visit the grave sites of the innocent murdered babies? They didn't repent for the biggest government sanctified mass murder of the ages? They didn't weep from broken hearts like God does every single time a baby is murdered in the womb? Apparently women have no remorse after this murderous deed is done, and men who encourage this murderous act know even less remorse. Men and women make decisions; one of those decisions is to participate with one another in the act of sexual intercourse. This is where the choice ends. Once that act is accomplished they've made their choice. When pregnancy ensues, there is no further choice for the women or the man to make concerning that baby, other than what color to paint the baby's room. There's a God ordained life growing which must never be terminated by man. Man has no right to terminate a life that God has intended for His purpose. Abortion is the only crime where the innocent victim receives the death penalty, and the guilty go free. God is perfect and His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. When we consider it prudent to kill babies in the womb we would do well to consider God's position on that subject first. "Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;" Isaiah 44:24. God has known every baby that's been murdered in the womb "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee;" Jeremiah 1:5. "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world," Ephesians 1:4. Before God laid the foundation of the world He knew every human being who would ever be formed in their mother's womb. Life is a gift from God, all aborted (murdered) babies are fully known by God. They are His children and He loves them – and His desire was that each of these babies would enjoy a life on earth filled with His innumerable blessings. But man made the decision to play god and took those lives away before they had a chance to see the world God had created for them. To murder the innocent is an abomination in the sight of God – to murder 54 million means that particular nation is in for some very harsh judgment. In other words, God sees the murder of the unborn as a disgusting wickedness – evidence that He needs to cleanse the land of the murderous. Let there be no mistake, judgment is coming. Abortion is the ending of a life through premeditated means. Abortion is murder in its ugliest form. These were babies not simply fetuses; they are human beings in developmental stages of life with God ordained rights. They were to live and grow, to learn and to love, to become what God wanted them to become, they were to be a meaningful part of society. Satan has his hands in every aspect of the lives of mankind. Man murders babies in the womb to cut down on unwanted pregnancies? This is of course a lie. Genocide is at the heart of abortion, the genocide of the human race. The whole concept of abortion is satanic to the core. Anyone who would celebrate 54 million murders of innocent babies while these babies were still growing in their mother's womb resides fully in Satan's camp. God knows the heart of every human being on this planet and there are many who are attempting to pull the wool over His eyes in many different aspects of life. But God cannot be fooled and those individuals who murder babies in the womb will pay for their wickedness. We might profess all day long that we are followers of Jesus Christ, but if our heart isn't in on that profession it will show by the fruit of our actions. (America celebrates 54 million abortions.) If we stand against God's precepts how then can we be following the Lord Jesus Christ? After becoming a born again believer in Christ there is always a change that followers; that change includes a repentant heart, because God doesn't just change our heart He gives us a new heart. Continuing to murder babies in the womb after claiming to be a Christian would be an indisputable sign certainly of the lack of repentance. Love one another is one of God's paramount commandments. "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15. What commandments, you might ask. "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." John 15:12. If a person is to believe the Bible, and believe in its Author, then clearly the murder of innocent babies in the womb is in direct opposition to the above two verses. If we love Jesus the Christ, our Savior and Lord, then we must keep His commandments. We are to love one another unconditionally. That would, of course, include babies still in their mother's womb. "And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech" Leviticus 18:21. Molech was the god of the Ammonites and Phoenicians. They sacrificed their children to this god and some Israelites sacrificed their infants to this very same god in the valley of Hinnom. America celebrated the murder of 54 million babies sacrificed to this very same god of sex. Molech is just one of the names of the god of this world. Most of us recognize his name as Lucifer/Satan. When we study the history of various ancient civilizations we find many were very perverse in their nature as they participated in these incredibly sick rituals while appeasing their satanic god. Those who occupied the land that God gave to the Israelites were just this sort of people. "(For all these abominations have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;) That the land spue not you out also, when ye defile it, as it spued out the nations that were before you. For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people." Leviticus 18:27-29. As America moves even further into the realm which God refers to as abominations she will soon see that as Chuck Missler likes to say, and I agree, "God says what He means and means what He says." We have defiled our land just like those people who were sacrificing their children to their god Molech. We have defiled our land by murdering 54 million innocent unborn babies, and make no mistake, in God's eyes there's no difference between abortion (murder) and sacrificing new born babies to the god Molech. Those ancient peoples were spued out of their land and God gave that land to the Israelites, while warning them not to participate in the same abominations or they too would be spued out of that land. Here's something interesting, those people who God had destroyed as He moved the Israelites in were in that land for over 400 years before the Israelites moved in. Here in America we murdered 54 million babies just since 1973. I doubt America will ever see 400 years of existence; quite frankly I have my doubts about even another year coming to pass. If we are still here a year from now, then next year on January 22nd, we, as a nation will complete 40 years of government sanctioned murders. Throughout the past forty years pro-lifers have been unsuccessful in their attempts to bring a stop to all the carnage. But from what we just read concerning those who defile the land, God knows how to put a stop to those who cause abominations. We've defiled our land and God is about to show us the door. In Hebrew the phrase "cut off" actually means to "put to death". Those that lost their homes and land to the Israelites weren't just booted out of their own country they were completely wiped out – destroyed – to the last man, woman, and child. Why? Because they had become fully corrupted; generation after generation participated in the murdering of innocent babies and committing other abominations as well, such as homosexuality and bestiality. Does anyone else see any similarities in that ancient civilization and ours today? With a clear conscience and knowing that God says what He means and means what He says, can we honestly say God won't judge America? Should Barack Obama be reelected to another term, next year in 2013 just two days after he's sworn into office, I'm sure he will be celebrating once again the murder of the unborn just as he does every year. With all the help he's given to the abortion mill America may be celebrating 60 million murders of unborn babies. Will that finally be the end of the longsuffering of our God and Savior, Jesus the Christ? Will justice prevail? Absolutely. Judgment is upon this defiled land, and a cleansing is imminent. God help us all, Ron Graham All scripture is from the KJV and God breathed raptureforums.com

50 Reasons Why we are living in the end times

by Dr. David R. Reagan The Bible says we cannot know the time of the Lord's return (Matthew 25:13). But the Scriptures make it equally clear that we can know the season of the Lord's return (1 Thessalonians 5:2-6): "You yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night... But you brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night or darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober." This passage asserts that Jesus is coming like "a thief in the night." But then it proceeds to make it clear that this will be true only for the pagan world and not for believers. His return should be no surprise to those who know Him and His Word, for they have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to give them understanding of the nature of the times. Furthermore, the Scriptures give us signs to watch for — signs that will signal that Jesus is ready to return. The writer of the Hebrew letter referred to these signs when he proclaimed that believers should encourage one another when they see the day of judgment drawing near (Hebrews 10:25-27). Jesus also referred to the end time signs in His Olivet Discourse, given during the last week of His life (Matthew 24 and Luke 21). Speaking of a whole series of signs which He had given to His disciples, He said, "When you see all these things, recognize that He [the Son of Man — that is, Jesus] is near, right at the door" (Matthew 24:33). A Personal Experience Every time I think of "Signs of the Times," I am reminded of a great man of God named Elbert Peak. I had the privilege of participating with him in a Bible prophecy conference held in Orlando, Florida in the early 1990's. Mr. Peak was about 80 years old at the time. He had been assigned the topic, "The Signs of the Times." He began his presentation by observing, "Sixty years ago when I first started preaching, you had to scratch around like a chicken to find one sign of the Lord's soon return." He paused for a moment, and then added, "But today there are so many signs I'm no longer looking for them. Instead, I'm listening for a sound — the sound of a trumpet!" The First Sign One hundred years ago in 1907 there was not one single, tangible, measurable sign that indicated we were living in the season of the Lord's return. The first to appear was the Balfour Declaration which was issued by the British government on November 2, 1917. This Declaration was prompted by the fact that during World War I the Turks sided with the Germans. Thus, when Germany lost the war, so did the Turks, and the victorious Allies decided to divide up both the German and Turkish empires. The Turkish territories, called the Ottoman Empire, contained the ancient homeland of the Jewish people — an area the Romans had named Palestine after the last Jewish revolt in 132-135 AD. In 1917 Palestine included all of modern day Israel and Jordan. In the scheme the Allies concocted for dividing up the German and Turkish territories, Britain was allotted Palestine, and this is what prompted the Balfour Declaration. In that document, Lord Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, declared that it was the intention of the British government to establish in Palestine "a national home for the Jewish people." The leading Evangelical in England at the time was F. B. Meyer. He immediately recognized the prophetic significance of the Declaration, for he was well aware that the Scriptures prophesy that the Jewish people will be regathered to their homeland in unbelief right before the return of the Messiah (Isaiah 11:11-12). Meyer sent out a letter to the Evangelical leaders of England asking them to gather in London in December to discuss the prophetic implications of the Balfour Declaration. In that letter, he stated, "The signs of the times point toward the close of the time of the Gentiles... and the return of Jesus can be expected any moment." Before Meyer's meeting could be convened, another momentous event occurred. On December 11, 1917 General Edmund Allenby liberated the city of Jerusalem from 400 years of Turkish rule. There is no doubt that these events in 1917 marked the beginning of the end times because they led to the worldwide regathering of the Jewish people to their homeland and the reestablishment of their state. Since 1917 Since the time of the Balfour Declaration, we have witnessed throughout the 20th Century the appearance of sign after sign pointing to the Lord's soon return. There are so many of these signs today, in fact, that one would have to be either biblically illiterate or spiritually blind not to realize that we are living on borrowed time. I have personally been searching the Bible for years in an effort to identify all the signs, and it has not been an easy task to get a hold on them. That's because there are so many of them, both in the Old and New Testaments. I have found that the best way to deal with them is to put them in categories, and in doing that, I have come up with six categories of end time signs. 1) The Signs of Nature "...and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven." (Luke 21:11) This category of signs has always been the least respected, even among believers. The mere mention of it usually evokes a sneer accompanied by the words, "Come on, what else is new? There have always been earthquakes and tornadoes and hurricanes." But those who have this attitude forget that Jesus said the signs would be like "birth pangs" (Matthew 24:8). That means they will increase in frequency and intensity the closer we get to the Lord's return. In other words, there will be more frequent natural disasters and more intense ones. And that is exactly what has been happening. For example, between October of 1991 and November of 2004 — a period of 13 years — the United States experienced: 9 of the 10 largest insurance natural disasters in history. 9 of the 10 greatest disasters as ranked by FEMA relief costs. 5 of its costliest hurricanes in history. 3 of its 4 largest tornado swarms in history. And keep in mind that these statistics were complied before the Hurricane Katrina disaster in August of 2005! 2) The Signs of Society "Realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God..." (2 Timothy 3:1-4) This passage sounds like a typical evening newscast today! Notice the three things it says people will love in the end times: self, money, and pleasure. The love of self is Humanism — the belief that Man can accomplish anything on his own. The love of money is Materialism. When Humanism is your religion, your god will always be money. The love of pleasure is the third love that is mentioned. This is Hedonism, the lifestyle that is always produced by Humanism and Materialism. But God cannot be mocked (Galatians 6:7). He therefore sees to it that when people chose Humanism, Materialism, and Hedonism, the payoff is always Nihilism — which is a fancy philosophical word for despair. Need I emphasize that our world is wallowing in despair today? We live in a society plagued by abortion, homosexuality, domestic violence, child molestation, blasphemy, pornography, alcoholism, drug abuse and gambling. Like the days of the Judges in the Old Testament, people are doing what is right in their own eyes, and the result is that people are calling evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20). 3) The Spiritual Signs There are more signs in this category than any other. Many are evil in nature, but there are also some very positive ones. Concerning the negative signs, a typical passage is the following one found in 2 Timothy 4:3-4: "The time will come when they [professing Christians] will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths." Some of the negative spiritual signs that are specifically prophesied include the following: false christs, cultic groups, heresies, apostasy, skepticism, deception, occultism, and persecution. The one that Jesus mentioned most frequently was false christs and their cultic groups (Matthew 24:5, 11, 24). And in fulfillment of these prophecies, we have experienced an explosion of cults since 1850. But, praise God, we are told that there will be some very positive spiritual signs in the end times. The most important one that is prophesied in many places is a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-29). This outpouring began at the dawn of the 20th Century, and proved to be one of the greatest spiritual surprises — and blessings — of the century. You see, when that century began, the prevailing viewpoint among both Catholics and Protestants regarding the Holy Spirit was Cessationism. This view held that the gifts of the Spirit ceased when the last Apostle died. In effect, it was a belief that the Holy Spirit had retired in the First Century. The 20th Century had hardly gotten started when a Holy Spirit revival broke out at a small Bible college in Topeka, Kansas in 1901. Three years later, a similar Holy Spirit revival swept Wales and began to spread worldwide. Then, in 1906, the Spirit fell with great power on a humble Black preacher in Los Angeles named William J. Seymour. The Azuza Street Revival, as it came to be called, continued for four years and gave birth to the Pentecostal Movement. The Bible prophesies two great outpourings of the Spirit and symbolically pictures them as the "early and latter rains" (Joel 2:23), based on the two rainy seasons of Israel. The early rain occurred at Pentecost in the First Century when the Church was established. The latter rain was prophesied to occur after the Jewish people had been re-established in their homeland (Joel 2:18-26). The latter rain began with the Pentecostal Movement, just as God began to regather the Jews to their homeland under the visionary leadership of Theodore Herzl. But the rain did not become a downpour until after the re-establishment of the state of Israel in May of 1948, just as prophesied by Joel. First came the anointing of Billy Graham's ministry in 1949, followed by the Charismatic Movement of the 1960's. Today, most of Christianity, whether Pentecostal, Charismatic, or Traditional, fully recognizes that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is alive and well in Spirit-led worship, the continuing validity of spiritual gifts, the reality of spiritual warfare, and the importance of a Spirit-filled life in winning that warfare. In addition to the rediscovery of the Holy Spirit, there are other positive spiritual prophecies being fulfilled today — like the preaching of the Gospel worldwide (Matthew 24:14), the revival of Davidic praise worship (Amos 9:11) and the emergence of Messianic Judaism (Romans 9:27). Another remarkable positive sign is the understanding of Bible prophecy. You see, the Hebrew prophets often did not understand the end time prophecies that the Lord gave to them. A good example can be found in Daniel 12:8-9 where the prophet complains to the Lord that he does not understand the prophecies that have been entrusted to him. The Lord's response was, "Don't worry about it. Just write the prophecies. They have been sealed up until the end times." In other words, the Bible teaches that many of the end time prophecies will not be understood until the time comes for them to be fulfilled. And that is exactly what has been happening in the past 100 years. Historical developments and scientific inventions are now making it possible for us to understand end time prophecies that have never been understood before. Take Israel for example. All of end time prophecy revolves around the nation of Israel. But how could those prophecies be understood as long as Israel did not exist and there was no prospect that the nation would ever exist again? This is the reason that Hal Lindsey's book, The Late Great Planet Earth, became such a phenomenal bestseller in the 1970's. For the first time it explained the events prophesied in the book of Revelation in natural terms that people could easily understand. 4) The Signs of World Politics "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars... for nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom..." (Matthew 24:6-7) I taught international politics for 20 years before I entered the ministry full time, so this is an area that is particularly fascinating to me. The Bible prophesies a very specific end time configuration of world politics. Israel is pictured as being re-established (Ezekiel 37:21-22) and surrounded by hostile Arab neighbors intent on its destruction (Ezekiel 35:1 - 36:7). This, of course has been the situation in the Middle East since the Israeli Declaration of Independence in May of 1948. Daniel prophesied that the Roman Empire would be revived (Daniel 2:36-41), something many men — like Charlemagne, Napoleon, and Hitler — tried to do through force. But the prophecy had to await God's timing for its fulfillment, and that came after World War II, with the formation of the European Common Market that has since morphed into the superpower called the European Union. The Bible pictures a great power located in the land of Magog in the "remote parts of the north." This nation will menace Israel in the end times and will ultimately lead an invasion of Israel together with specified allies, all of which are modern day Muslim states (Ezekiel 38:1 - 39:16). Russia with all its Muslim republics and its Muslim allies fits this description precisely. All the nations of the world are prophesied to come together against Israel in the end times over the issue of the control of Jerusalem (Zech. 12:2-3) — a prophecy being fulfilled today. The magnitude of warfare in the 20th Century is another fulfillment of end time prophecy related to world politics. The 20th Century was one of unparalleled war. Like birth pangs, the frequency and intensity of war increased exponentially. It is now estimated that more people died in wars during the 20th Century than in all the previous wars throughout all of recorded human history. 5) The Signs of Technology "Men will faint from fear over the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (Luke 21:26) The development of nuclear weapons seems to be foreshadowed by this prophecy in Luke 21 that speaks of people "fainting from fear" due to the "powers of the heavens being shaken." The incredible carnage of the Seal and Trumpet Judgments portrayed in chapters 6 and 8 in the book of Revelation indicates that the Antichrist will conquer the world through the use of nuclear weapons. We are told that one-third of the earth will be burned and that one-half of humanity will be killed. Further evidence that this is a nuclear holocaust is found in Revelation 16 where we are told that at the end of the Tribulation the survivors will be covered with sores that will not heal (Revelation 16:11). As I pointed out earlier, there are many end time prophecies that simply cannot be understood apart from modern technological developments. Consider the prophecy in Revelation 11 about the two witnesses who will call the world to repentance during the first half of the Tribulation. When they are killed by the Antichrist, we are told that their bodies will lie in the streets of Jerusalem for three and a half days, and the whole world will look upon them (Revelation 11:9). How could anyone understand such a prophecy before the development of satellite television in the 1960's? Likewise, how could the Antichrist control all buying and selling worldwide (Revelation 13) without the aid of computer technology? How could the False Prophet create the illusion of giving life to a statue (Revelation 13) without the technology of holograms, virtual reality, and robotics? How could an army of 200 million come out of the Far East (Revelation 9) before the population explosion that was produced by modern medical technology? How could the Gospel be proclaimed to all the world (Matthew 24) before the invention of motion pictures, radio, television, and the Internet? The list goes on and on. 6) The Signs of Israel "And it shall come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it." (Zechariah 12:3) The signs that relate to Israel are the most important of all because the Jews are God's prophetic time clock. What I mean by this is that the Scriptures will often tie a prophesied future event with something that will happen to the Jews. We are told to watch the Jews, and when the prophesied event concerning them occurs, we can be sure that the other prophesied event will also occur. An example can be found in Luke 21:24 where Jesus prophesied that the Jews would be dispersed from Jerusalem and be led captive among the nations. But then He added that one day they would return to re-occupy Jerusalem, and when this happens, the end time events will occur that will lead to His return. There are many prophecies concerning the Jews in the end times, many of which began to be fulfilled in the 20th Century, but there are four key ones. The first is their worldwide regathering in unbelief (Isaiah 11:11-12). In 1900 there were only 40,000 Jews in Palestine. By the end of World War II that number had risen to 800,000. Today, there are more than 5.7 million who have come from all over the world. Very soon there will be as many Jews in Israel as died in the Holocaust. The prophet Jeremiah says twice that when history is completed, the Jewish people will look back and conclude that their worldwide regathering was a greater miracle than their deliverance from Egyptian captivity (Jeremiah 16:14-15 and 23:7-8). We are truly living in momentous times! The second key prophecy concerning the Jews is a natural consequence of their regathering. It is the re-establishment of their state which occurred on May 14, 1948 (Isaiah 66:7-8). The third key prophecy is the re-occupation of Jerusalem which occurred on June 7, 1967 during the miraculous Six Day War (Zechariah 8:4-8). The fourth key prophecy is the one whose fulfillment we are witnessing today — the re-focusing of world politics upon the nation of Israel (Zechariah 12:2-3). All the nations of the world, including the United States, are coming against Israel over the issue of the control of the nation's capital — the city of Jerusalem. The Vatican wants the city put under its control. The United Nations wants it to be internationalized. The European Union is demanding it be divided between the Arabs and the Jews. The Arabs want all of it. Summary And so you have it — six different categories of signs, each category containing many prophecies concerning the end times, all of which are being fulfilled before our very eyes. Let me conclude by specifically listing 50 of those prophecies. 1) Increasing instability of nature. (Matthew 24:7 & Luke 21:11) 2) Increasing lawlessness and violence. (Matthew 24:12) 3) Increasing immorality. (Matthew 24:37) 4) Increasing materialism. (2 Timothy 3:2) 5) Increasing Hedonism. (2 Timothy 3:4) 6) Increasing influence of Humanism. (2 Timothy 3:2) 7) Depraved entertainment. (2 Timothy 3:4) 8) Calling evil good and good evil. (2 Timothy 3:3 & Isaiah 5:20) 9) Increasing use of drugs. (2 Timothy 3:3) 10) Increasing blasphemy. (2 Timothy 3:2) 11) Increasing paganism. (2 Timothy 3:1-4) 12) Increasing despair. (2 Timothy 3:1) 13) Signs in the heavens. (Luke 21:11,25) 14) Increasing knowledge. (Daniel 12:4) 15) Increasing travel. (Daniel 12:4) 16) The explosion of cults. (Matthew 24:11) 17) The proliferation of false christs. (Matthew 24:5) 18) Increasing apostasy in the Church. (2 Timothy 4:3-5) 19) Increasing attacks on Jesus. (Romans 1:18-19) 20) Increasing attacks on the Bible. (Romans 1:18-19) 21) Increasing persecution of Christians. (Matthew 24:9) 22) Increasing occultism. (1 Timothy 4:1) 23) Wars and rumors of wars. (Matthew 24:6) 24) Weapons of mass destruction. (Luke 21:26) 25) Increasing famine. (Luke 21:11) 26) Increasing pestilence. (Luke 21:11) 27) Computer technology. (Revelation 13:7) 28) Television. (Revelation 11:8-9) 29) Satellite technology. (Revelation 11:8-9) 30) Virtual reality. (Revelation 13:14-15) 31) Unification of Europe. (Daniel 2 & 7) 32) Far Eastern military powers. (Revelation 9:16 & 16:12) 33) Movement toward world government. (Daniel 7:23-26) 34) Regathering of the Jews. (Isaiah 11:10-12) 35) Re-establishment of Israel. (Isaiah 66:7-8) 36) Reclamation of the land of Israel. (Ezekiel 36:34-35) 37) Revival of Biblical Hebrew. (Zephaniah 3:9; Jeremiah 31:23) 38) Re-occupation of Jerusalem. (Luke 21:24) 39) Resurgence of the Israeli military. (Zechariah 12:6) 40) Re-focusing of world politics on Israel. (Zechariah 12:3) 41) Russian threat to Israel. (Ezekiel 38 and 39) 42) Arab threat to Israel. (Ezekiel 35 and 36) 43) Denial of the Second Coming. (2 Peter 3:3-4) 44) Denial of creation by God. (Romans 1:18-22) 45) Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. (Joel 2:28-29) 46) Translation of the Bible into many languages. (Matthew 24:14) 47) Preaching of the Gospel worldwide. (Matthew 24:14) 48) The revival of Messianic Judaism. (Romans 9:27) 49) The revival of Davidic praise worship. (Amos 9:11) 50) The understanding of Bible prophecy. (Daniel 12:8-9) This list could be greatly expanded, but the 50 examples above should be sufficient to show that we are living in the season of the Lord's return. The Bible clearly teaches that God never pours out His wrath without warning for He is a just and loving God who does not wish that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). That's why He has provided so many signs to alert us to the fact that we are living on the threshold of the Tribulation. The Message The bottom line message of the signs is that we are living on borrowed time. And the crucial question for every human being is "Are you ready?" Are you ready for the return of Jesus? Will He come as your Blessed Hope or your Holy Terror? It will be one or the other, for God is determined to deal with sin, and He does so with either grace or wrath (John 3:36). If you have put your faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you are under God's grace. Your sins have been forgiven and forgotten, and you can look forward with confidence to that glorious day when Jesus will appear in the heavens. But if you have never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are under the wrath of God, and you have nothing to look forward to except the terror of His wrath. The choice is yours. I personally cannot understand why anyone would turn their back on God's free gift of grace through faith in His Son. I have placed my faith in Jesus, and I therefore am able to look forward to His soon return with great anticipation and expectation. All that is within me cries out, "Maranatha! Come quickly Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 16:22). raptureforums.com