Biblical Prophecy Today

Prophecy Today Series:(5) "What is Salvation" [The Kingdom, Power & Glory] -Koinonia House

2011-07-25T13:22:00.001-07:00

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The Kingdom, Power & Glory - What Is Salvation?

by Nancy Missler

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Over the past couple of months, we have been exploring the real reason for our salvation, which is ruling and reigning with the King of Kings in the future Millennial Kingdom and, after that, for eternity. Our life here and now is simply the training ground, the proving ground and the testing ground for that next life.

Our purpose with these articles and with our book has been and will be to integrate the “sanctification process” (actually living Christ’s Life and learning to be overcomers) here on earth with the “reward of inheritance” (co-reigning with Christ) in the kingdom. In order to do this, there are three important questions we want to address: Why are we here? Where are we going? And, what do we have to do to get there?

The first question we want to explore then is: Why are we here?

Genesis tells us that man was originally called into existence to reign over the whole earth with the King of Kings. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth...And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26-28)

Man was created in the image of God so that one day he could become a “servant-king” and rule the world alongside the true king, the King of Kings.¹

There was just one problem: Lucifer. Ezekiel 28 explains: “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering...thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou was perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” (Verses 13-15)2

Lucifer was determined to thwart God’s plan in any way he could. He came up with a scheme to deceive Adam and Eve, the first Mr. and Mrs. Man. At his prompting, Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s rule (they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) and as a result, three things happened: 1) they died spiritually (i.e., they became separated from God); 2) they forfeited their right to rule and reign; and 3) Lucifer (Satan) became their own mortal enemy. (Genesis 3:23-24)

Because of their sin, all mankind has inherited those same three consequences: 1) We are all born naturally separated from God; 2) God’s future plans for us to rule and reign along-side of Him have been forfeited; and, 3) We have the same mortal enemy as Adam had, Satan.³

These consequences have been passed down through every generation. The Epistle of Romans tells us that every person since Adam is born with a “sin nature,” not a spiritual nature, and thus, has automatically “fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) In other words, without Christ’s intervention, all of us are born “guilty” of sin, the penalty of which is “death” (eternal separation from God). Consequently, not only was man’s fellowship with God broken because of Adam’s sin, we also have forfeited our future rulership in the coming kingdom.

God Inaugurated a New Program

God, however, loved man so much that He inaugurated a new program to bring his sin marred creation back into the blessings of a future glorious reign. (Psalm 8:5-6) He chose a way of deliverance from man’s inevitable destiny (death) and set about to reclaim the kingdom for us.

He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to bridge the gap and make it possible for us to once again have fellowship with Him and par¬ticipate in the future kingdom.4 Christ’s mission is to deliver us out of the authority of darkness into the kingdom of the Son’s Love. (Colossians 1:13) Jesus (who knew no sin) be-came sin on our behalf and voluntarily gave His Life as a ransom so that we could: 1) be reconciled back to the Father, 2) be trained as companions of Christ to rule and reign with Him in the future, and 3) be given the author¬ity and power to overcome the enemy.⁵

John 3:17 says, “For God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world; but that the world though Him might be saved.”

This is what “salvation” is all about.

What Is Salvation?

The word salvation actually means “to liberate, to set free or to loose.” It literally means to deliver from bonds (chains or shackles) by a payment or a ransom. (A “ransom” is something that is given in exchange for a life.) Matthew 20:28 tells us that Christ paid that ransom for us.⁶ He exchanged His Life for ours by shedding His Blood on the Cross.⁷ He freed us from our sins by His blood and “loosed us from the pangs of death.”

“Salvation” then is a free gift that Christ wants everyone in the world to have.⁸ All that’s needed is for us to believe in what Christ did on the Cross (for the redemption of all mankind) and choose to be obedient to His commandments. By believing in Him, He promises that we will not perish, but have everlasting life.⁹ Romans 10: 9 says: “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” This simple act of belief is what makes one “declared not guilty” (or justified) before God. (Romans 3:26; 4:5-6)

By accepting what Christ has done for us on the Cross, five things occur: 1) we are set free from our bonds of sin and reconciled to Him; 2) we are delivered from the penalty of death; 3) we are guaranteed an entrance to the Millennial Kingdom (and to heaven); 4) we are given the gift of a brand new spirit (which is like a “down payment,” a pledge or a seal that assures us His promises are true) (Ephesians 1:13-14); and finally, 5) we are given His eternal Life (His Love, wisdom and power) in our hearts. (Colossians 1:27; Romans 5:5)

Christ’s death on the Cross signified the end of the Old Covenant (old covenant with Israel) and the beginning of a new one, which provides regeneration and the forgiveness of sin through faith in Christ.¹⁰ Consequently, our salvation does not depend upon us, but rather upon Christ and His faithfulness. Our salvation, in fact, is actually guaranteed by the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 1:4-6, 11-12)

Justification

When we first come to Christ and are “born again,” we are declared righteous and holy just like Romans 10:9 tells us. This is called justification, which is a judicial term meaning, “to be declared not guilty before God.” The word “justification” (Strong’s #1344, dikaioo) means to be acquitted, to render just, innocent or righteous. (2 Corinthians 5:21) In other words, Christ has already paid the penalty for us and there is nothing more we can do to add to it. (Romans 3:24) It’s a free gift! (Titus 3:5) The price has already been paid. God uses the instrument of “grace” to accomplish this justification.¹¹

Being “justified” also means that we are guaranteed an entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven on the basis of what Christ has already done. He is the righteous and holy One, and He has imputed that righteousness and that holiness to us. The “down payment,” or the pledge or seal of this future redemption is the gift of His Spirit indwelling our own. (Ephesians 1:13) In other words, at our new birth, our “spirit” is saved. (Ephesians 1:13-14; 2:8)

Even though at our new birth, we are “positionally” (an approved fact) reconciled to God, justified and declared not guilty before God, “experientially” (in our life actions), our character, our disposition and our temperament really haven’t changed a bit! Mentally, emotionally and spiritually, we are still the same! Christ has simply imputed (or accredited) His righteousness to us by means of a new spirit. It’s at this point that wemust begin the long road toward true “life transformation” and this process is called “sanctification.” Therefore, being justified before God is really just the first step to¬wards our total salvation. Because the completed work of “justification” is what introduces the complimentary work of “sanctification,” and eventually, “glorification.” It works something like this:

Our spirit (which is the energy source or power source of our lives) is saved at our new birth. (Ephesians 2:8-9) This, as we said, is called “justification.”¹² Our soul (which is made up our own natural thoughts, emotions and desires) is in the process of being saved through the “sanctification process” that we are all in now. (James 1:21; 1 Peter 1:8-9)13 And our bodies will be saved in the future at the resurrection which is called “glorification.”¹⁴ In other words, “complete salvation” is really a life-long process. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

To be continued next month: “Salvation is a Life-long Process.” This article has been excerpted in part from Chuck and Nan’s new book The Kingdom, Power and Glory.

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

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Prophecy Today Series: "The Kingdom, Power & Glory”(4) -Koinonia House

2011-07-19T13:56:00.001-07:00

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The Kingdom, Power & Glory "Hope Realized"

by Nancy Missler

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Thank you for the hundreds of calls, letters and e-mails that we have received about our new book. It has been so exciting to see so many “receive the Word with openness of mind,” but then “search the Scriptures to be sure these things are so.” (Acts 17:11) Bible Studies on this material seem to be springing up all over the country! Praise God!

If we had only two words to describe what this study has meant to us personally, they would be “Hope Realized.” Through learning and applying these principles, our hope in Christ has been realized, apprehended, understood and em-braced. We now know why we have been called, where we are going and what we have to do to get there.

What exactly is “hope” and why is it so very important to possess? Strong’s Concordance defines it as: “favorable and confident expectation.” It goes on to say, “it’s anticipation with pleasure, and expectation and confidence in the future.”

Ephesians 1:18 stresses the importance of each of us possessing this kind of “hope”: Paul says “…that we may know what is the hope of His calling and what [are] the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints…” In other words, he is saying once we understand the real reason why God has called us—what His purpose is—hope, confidence and expectation will result.

Proverbs further tells us that this hope will become a “tree of Life” in our lives. (Proverbs 13:12) Validating again, that when we realize (apprehend or understand) the “real reason” why we have been called, it will put everything together for us—i.e., the whole Bible will come alive. The symbolism of the “tree of Life” in the Word of God simply represents “equipping believers with divine wisdom and understanding” in order to have levels of responsibility in the coming kingdom. (Proverbs 3:13-18) It also stands for man’s possibility of ruling and reigning with the King of Kings over all the earth.

When this hope is embraced, it becomes the most powerful motivating force in our lives. This hope is produced from understanding the purpose of our salvation, which is to be able to rule and reign with Christ in the Millennial Kingdom and after that for eternity. Our life here on earth is just the testing ground, the proving ground and the training ground for that purpose. (Proverbs 9:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10-11)

Listen to one of the hundreds of letters we have received recently about The Kingdom, Power and Gloryand how it has revived this person’s “hope of His calling”:

“I wanted to take the time to tell you both how much your new book, The Kingdom, Power and Glory has meant to my wife and I. This book, more than any other, has revolutionized our viewpoint and attitude about the importance of our Christian commitment and service to the Lord with each and every moment that we have been blessed with.

“Let me share with you one of the most important insights that we have gleaned so far. Prior to reading KPG, I never had the slightest idea of what was really at stake in terms of my eternal destiny, possible rewards, or the contribution in terms of service to the Kingdom that could be uniquely mine own. Not only that, but the concept of eternal rewards for service to the Kingdom was never a part of any teaching or theology that I had previously had.

“In fact, I was raised in the Assembly of God Church. There we were taught that it was possible to lose our salvation for virtually any infraction. Sadly, it put many of us in a state of ‘manic depressive theology’ due to the belief that a person can lose his salvation for committing any willful sin. As a result of this type of theology, it became a virtual impossibility to feel secure in my salvation and as a result, there was no attempt to really grow in the faith because I never knew whether I was really saved to begin with.

“What better ploy could Satan use? What better way to keep us from witnessing to others: After all, how can anyone feel totally comfortable in witnessing to someone else, if they are not sure they are saved themselves?

“Bottom line: I am learning each and every day as I study and ponder the messages contained in KPG. The only regret I have is that I didn’t have it forty years ago. It would have saved me years and years of stumbling around in spiritual darkness looking for the light…”

* * *

Interestingly, Proverbs 13:12 also tells us that “hope deferred makes the heart sick.” In other words, without knowing the “hope of our calling,” we die. We are unable to witness to others as the above letter so beautifully describes, because we ourselves are not sure where we are going. And, this is why the enemy is making such inroads in so many of our lives.

Having “hope” is a huge factor in being able to endure and persevere though our trials—being able to stay afloat in the heaviest of storms. Having “the hope of our calling” becomes the “anchor of our souls.” (Hebrews 6:19)

The purpose of The Kingdom, Power and Glory is to help believers understand the real reason for their salvation (their inheritance in Christ in the coming kingdom). (Titus 2:13) And, also, to help believers implement the practical application of sanctification in their lives so they may apprehend the above reward.

It’s important to understand this future hope does not re-place our temporal hopes (our hopes for marriage, careers, family, ministry etc.); it simply enhances (magnifies, amplifies and strengthens) them. In other words, when our temporal hopes fade (and they will because they are temporal), our eternal hope will always be there to carry us through. Our temporal hopes are fleeing (brief, they pass away quickly), but, the “hope realized” that we are talking about here—our inheritance in Christ—is eternal.(Romans 15:13)

It’s like God’s Agape Love. When the human loves fade away and die, which they often do because they are human, God’s Love (Agape) will always be there to carry us through. It’s the same thing with the “hope of our salvation”—it will always be there to carry us though life’s ups and downs. This is the answer to the hopelessness that so many Christians are experiencing today.

Hope that anticipates what can be ours if we hold fast our confidence firm to the end (Hebrews 3:6) does, in itself, pro-duce “fruit.”

Encouragement and Hope for the Future

Our purpose, again, with our book is to integrate “the sanctification process” (actually learning how to live Christ’s Life) here on earth with “the reward of inheritance” (co-reigning with Christ) there in the coming kingdom. Our purpose is to provoke one another “unto love and to good works.” (Hebrews 10:24)

As older Christians, who have at times blown it just like everyone else, we have learned through the grace of God how to turn around (1 John 1:9), how to give things to God (Romans 12:1-2) and how to overcome. “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors [overcomers] through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creation, shall be able to separate us from the Love of God that is in Christ Je-sus, our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)

Our intention is to give encouragement and hope for the future, to shed more light on God’s specific plan of redemption, and to answer those three important questions: Why are we here? Where are we going? And, what do we have to do to get there? Once we understand God’s answers to these questions, it should give us the incentive to live here and now, as God desires because this life truly is the training ground for the next.

The bottom line is: The way we live our lives here and now will have eternal and unchangeable consequences in the next life. In other words, what we do after we have been born-again dramatically affects our role, ourposition, our place, our status and our authority in the coming Millennial Kingdom. “He that overcomes shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be My Son.” (Revelation 21:7)

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

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Prophecy Today Series: "The Kingdom, Power & Glory”(3) -Koinonia House

2011-07-08T10:36:00.001-07:00

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The Kingdom, Power & Glory - The Challenge of This Study pt. 3

by Nancy Missler

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The Kingdom Power and Glory - The Overcomer's Handbook

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We have received so many wonderful comments about our new series, The Kingdom, Power and Glory. As William Welty mentioned in the Foreword of the book, we pray it might be “the road map through the times of trouble that are about to refine God’s children and judge all of God’s enemies.” And, that the Lord will use the series, “to help all of us become firmly entrenched overcomers.”

There is such an urgent need in the Christian body right now for a renewed recognition of our own personal accountability before the Lord. It’s absolutely essential that we develop a “kingdom perspective,” where we see our lives in the context of eternity and acknowledge the importance of becoming over-comers here on earth.

We noted last month that an overcomer is simply one who recognizes his moment- by-moment choices, confesses his sin and then, chooses to turn around and go God’s way.

He is not someone who is perfect, religious or good. David in the Old Testament, if you recall, was an overcomer. In the New Testament, he was even called a “man after God’s own heart.” He certainly wasn’t perfect or good or religious! He simply knew how to confess his own sin and turn around from following it. This is the kind of overcomer we are talking about and that God desires.

Why is becoming an overcomer so important? Scripture tells us that overcomers are the only ones who will inherit the Millennial Kingdom and possibly rule and reign there with Christ. Again, don’t misunderstand us, we believe all Christians will be “with Christ” (John 14:3) in the Millennium and in heaven, but only the overcomers––only those faithful and obedient ones who recognize their choices and allow Christ to live His Life out through them––will inherit positions of authority there.¹ Therefore, it’s imperative that we learn what makes us an overcomer; how we become an overcomer and what the future holds for overcomers?

It’s grievous that the church today seems to be relying upon the illusion that being born again and bringing others to Christ is the ultimate goal of preaching the Gospel. It’s not! This is just the beginning.Working alongside of Christ in the coming kingdom is the final and ultimate goal! Philippians 3:14 tells us that it’s the prize of the “high calling” of God.

Fear and Condemnation

Before we go any further, we want you to be aware of some-thing very important. This is something we didn’t stress enough in the first edition of The Kingdom, Power and Glory. The enemy hates this message of “overcoming.” He hates it more than any other subject because it reveals his total inability to defeat Christ. Therefore, he is going to try everything he can to put fear and condemnation upon you, in order to keep you from reading and learning this material. His goal is the destruction of all doctrine surrounding the future Kingdom of Heaven.If this occurs, we want you to recognize where these feelings are coming from and realize they are not from God. Scripture tells us that “Love casts out all fear.” (1 John 4:18) Therefore, knowing that “God loves us” needs to be the foundation upon which any new Biblical truth is built.(Jeremiah 31:3)

As far as God is concerned, it doesn’t matter how badly we’ve blown it in the past; it doesn’t matter what horrible things we’ve done; and, it doesn’t matter how many times we’ve failed. That’s what 1 John 1:9 is all about. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This is the basis of how we are able to overcome and the means by which we can be-come faithful. So, don’t let the enemy get to you and feed you lies. This material is too important!

Remember, there’s a big difference between conviction, which is from the Lord’s Love (John 16:8) and will ultimately draw us closer to Him; and condemnation (guilt, reproach, accusations), which comes from the enemy and pushes us further away from the Lord. Romans 8:1 assures us that “there is therefore, nocondemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.”

The Challenge of This Study

So, this study is in no way meant to be frightening, condemning or intimidating. In fact, we pray it will prove to be just the opposite. We pray the material will challenge each of us to become “faithful overcomers” in our personal lives, our professional lives and our spiritual lives. And, we pray that if we arenot overcomers now, these principles will challenge us to turn around and become so; if we are not obedient now, they will show us how to be in the future; and if we are not faithful now, they will convince us that it’snot too late to learn stead-fastness.

Proof of this is: We received a letter from a friend who has been in prison for many, many years. He shares in his letter that any of us can learn to become overcomers, no matter where we are in life. No matter what we’ve done, who we’ve hurt, or how far we have fallen, there’s still time.

Listen to what he says in his letter: “I feel like an overcomer when I choose the difficult over the easy. It might be loving someone unlovely (and there are many here that qualify) or it might be accomplishing the goals I’ve penned in my daily planner. My accomplishments here have been miniscule. I’ve written no books, have no substantial savings, etc. But some-how I think God sees me as an overcomer. And how He perceives me is all that truly matters anyway...I’m very thankful for prison and for my hardships, because they have clothed me with humility.”

We believe this man is one of God’s special “saints” and he’s going to have a special place in the future kingdom, because he is a faithful overcomer right where he is now. After hearing his testimony, none of us can say “I can’t do this!” “It’s too difficult! If a guy in prison (without much temporal hope) can become an overcomer, then any of us can!

So, from now on, when we talk about “overcomers” through-out this study, think of this prisoner as an example. Again, he’s not “perfect,” he’s just someone who recognizes his choices.

Encouragement and Hope for the Future

Our purpose with this study is to integrate “the sanctification process” (actually learning how to live Christ’s Life and become overcomers) here on earth with “the reward of inheritance” (co-reigning with Christ) there in the kingdom.

We will explore each of the passages that seem to hint of a Millennial disinheritance, along with the Greek and Hebrew words in each Scripture. We will also share some of the verses that absolutely revolutionized our theology when we first began to understand the full ramifications of what they really meant. We want to put all this information at your fingertips and then let you decide what you believe and how it will affect your own personal walk with the Lord. We want you to be “like the Bereans” and study these verses and see what the Holy Spirit shows you.²

Our purpose is to provoke one another “unto love and to good works.” (Hebrews 10:24)

“He that overcomes shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be My Son.” (Revelation 21:7)

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

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Prophecy Today Series: "The Kingdom, Power & Glory”(2) -Koinonia House

2011-07-04T08:04:00.001-07:00

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The Kingdom, Power & Glory - Pt. 2

by Nancy Missler

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Last month we began a new series called The Kingdom, Power and Glory. As was stated in that first article, Chuck and I are convinced that the truths contained in this series “are some of the most life-changing principles we’ve encountered since our new births.” That’s a big statement considering we both have been believers for over 50 years and in minis-try for 35!

We told the story of the famous statesman, Daniel Webster (who, by the way, was a believer), and how he felt that the greatest thought that had ever passed his mind was his own personal accountability before the Lord. And, he meant after he was saved. This, we said, is the subject we will be exploring over the next several months—the importance of our own personal accountability or responsibility before God as believers.

Again, a few of the issues that we are going to cover might go against some of your traditional viewpoints. So, we encourage you to “be open and teachable” like Acts 17:11 exhorts and then, “search the Scriptures to see if these things be so.”

We used to believe that God’s whole reason for calling us was to “be conformed into His image.” (Romans 8:29) But, we’ve come to understand that God’s calling is far more extensive than that. The real reason for our calling is to rule and reign as kings and priests with Christ in the coming Millennial Kingdom and after that for eternity. Both Genesis 1:26-28 and Revelation 5:9-10 confirm that we were created for this very purpose.

Being conformed into His image is critically important (being a living example of Christ is what will bring others to Him), but the real purpose for our calling is to have positions of authority alongside of Christ in the coming kingdom. But, here’s the catch: Our life here on earth is the training ground, the proving ground, and the testing ground for that privilege. In other words, it doesn’t happen automatically! It’s doesn’t happen without effort! The deciding factor is how we live our lives here and now!

Consequently, there is an urgent need in the Christian body for a renewed recognition of our own personal accountability before the Lord (after we have been saved). It’s essential that we have a “kingdom perspective,” where we see our lives here on earth in the context of eternity. We must understand that once we are saved, we are still responsible for what we do with the rest of our lives here and now.

Saving faith is more than just belief. It’s more than just knowing the Scriptures! And it’s more than just going to church on Sundays. Saving faith is learning how to be a partaker of Christ’s Life––which means not only receiving His Life at our new birth (being born again), but also living His Life every day (through sanctification)!

What Is an Overcomer?

The Bible calls these kinds of “sanctified” Christians (those who partake of His Life) “overcomers.” The Greek word to overcome is nikao, which means “victory over hostile powers.” Christ, of course, is the real overcomer, but as we become cleansed, open and yielded (sanctified) vessels, He can over-come the world, the flesh and the devil through us. Overcomers, then, are those faithful and obedient Christians who not only talk about doing the will of God, but who also do it.

As we begin to discuss overcomers, we want to make some-thing absolutely clear. We are not talking about someone who is perfect or religious or good. We’re talking about someone who simply recognizes his choices, confesses his sin, and then chooses to turn around and go God’s way. Remember David in the Old Testament? He was an overcomer and yet remember all the ways he blew it? The New Testament even calls him “a man after God’s own heart.” Why? It’s because David knew how to confess his sin, how to turn around from following it, and then, how to go God’s way.

This is the kind of overcomer that we are talking about. He is just a regular person who has learned to follow Christ regardless of what is going on in his own life. He could be that janitor in the school building down the street, or that laundry woman in the back room of that large downtown hotel or that widow in the country who faithfully gives her one dollar every week to the Salvation Army.

In our opinion, these believers are often more faithful over-comers than the most popular Christian television personalities. In no way is being an overcomer dependent on our socioeconomic status, our educational abilities or our years as a Christian. Being an overcomer simply depends upon our own moment-by-moment choices.

Why Is Being an Overcomer so Important?

Okay, so why is learning about being a faithful overcomer so important? Why make such a big deal about it? It’s important because the Bible teaches us that overcomers are the only ones who will inherit the Millennial Kingdom and possibly rule and reign with Christ. They are the ones who will have various levels of responsibility in the coming kingdom.

Now, don’t misunderstand me. We believe that all Christians will be a part of the Rapture. All Christians will enter the Millennial Kingdom. And, all Christians will be “with Christ.” We have that eternal security. But only the “faithful overcomers”—the ones who have fulfilled the conditions set down by God in His Word—will inherit and have positions of authority in that kingdom.

Some of those “conditions” are found in Romans 8:17; 2 Timothy 2:12; Matthew 24:45-47; Galatians 5:19-21; James 2:5 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. So, there’s a huge difference between simply entering the Millennial Kingdom (which all believers will do) and actually inheriting that kingdom (which only the faithful overcomers will do). All born-again believers will enter, but only the overcoming Christians will rule and reign. Again, the deciding factor is how we live our lives here and now. This is why learning how to become an over-comer is so very important! What we do in this present life does affect our role in the future kingdom.

Kingdom Perspective

At the beginning of the “church age,” this kingdom perspective (that we are being trained here to rule and reign with Christ there) was the central message and the prevailing thought taught throughout Christendom. Now, however, at the end of the age, this message has been essentially forgotten. Except by a few great men:

Charles Stanley (Baptist pastor, radio preacher, and author of 45 books) wrote in his book, Eternal Security: “Does our behavior matter once we are assured of our salvation? You bet it does. Are there any eternal consequences when a believer sins? Absolutely. Will eternity be the same for those who follow Christ faithfully and those who live for themselves? Not a chance. Our God is a God of justice as well as grace. His offer of grace is continually extended to even the most vile sinner. But His justice moves Him to keep a careful record of those who remain faithful and those who do not. His grace moved Him to sacrifice His only Son to provide a way for our salvation. But His justice causes Him to take special note of those believers who are willing to sacrifice for His Son.”

Donald Grey Barnhouse: (Pioneer of radio preaching, Presbyterian pastor and author of many theological books) says in his commentary on Romans: “We can be sure that at the Judgment Seat of Christ there will be a marked difference between the Christian who has lived his life before the Lord, clearly discerning what was for the glory of God...and a nominal Christian...All will be in heaven, but the difference between them will be eternal. We may be sure that the consequences of our character will survive the grave and that we shall face those consequences at the Judgment Seat of Christ.”

Erwin Lutzer (Pastor of Moody Church in Chicago, radio personality and author of 30 books, includingOne Minute after You Die) notes in his book, Your Eternal Reward: “The assumption that “rewards” are nothing more than the crowns themselves is false in my opinion. Rewards have more to do with levels of responsibility that will be given to us. When we become like Him, we will be qualified to share with Him in the inheritance, and to work with Him in important positions of high responsibility over the whole universe.”

Tim LaHaye (Pastor and the author of the Left Behind series and 50 other books) says in his book, The Popular Bible Prophecy Workbook: “Apparently Christians will be assigned to specific areas of service in the kingdom directly proportionate to the amount of ‘good works’ performed while alive on earth.”

So, the message we would like you to consider is this: All Christians will be “with Christ” in the Millennium and in heaven, but only the overcomers––only those faithful and obedient ones who recognize their choices and allow Christ to live His Life out through them––will inherit that kingdom and have positions of authority there.

It’s grievous that the church today seems to be relying upon the illusion that being born again and bringing others to Christ is the ultimate goal of preaching the gospel. It’s not! It’s just the beginning.Working alongside Christ in the coming kingdom is the final and ultimate goal! Paul even tells us in Philippians 3:14 it’s the prize of the “high calling” of God.

* * *

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

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Prophecy Today Series: "The Kingdom, Power & Glory”(1) -Koinonia House

2011-07-02T09:49:00.001-07:00

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The Kingdom, Power & Glory

by Nancy and Chuck Missler

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Did you know that Daniel Webster, the famous 1800s statesman, was a born-again Christian? He was also known as a brilliant scholar who gave the most eloquent speeches ever delivered in Congress. One evening he was invited to lecture a group of congressmen. After dinner, the small talk didn’t interest him, so he got up and went into another room. The Chairman of the group was concerned, followed him and tried to engage him in a meaningful conversation: “Mr. Webster,” he asked, “tell me what is the greatest thought that has ever passed through your mind?” Webster immediately responded, “My accountability to God” (and he meant after he was saved!)

The most important thought that Daniel Webster ever had was “the importance of his accountability before the Lord,” as a Christian! He went on to say: “God puts us here and will someday judge us for the way we have treated Him and our fellow beings. This thought should be written in bold type on the tablets of our hearts.”¹

This is really the subject of our new expanded and updated book, The Kingdom, Power and Glory, and the subject that we are going to be exploring over the next several months in our newsletter—the importance of our own accountability before God, after we are saved.

The way it all began with us is about three years ago, Chuck and I read a book called The Reign of the Servant Kings by Joseph Dillow and that experience began a series of events that totally changed the way we look at our own accountability before the Lord.

After being Christians for more than 50 years, what we learned then and what we have learned since then in our re-search for the new book has totally revolutionized our personal walks with the Lord. We consider the truths that we share in the book to be some of the most life-changing principles we’ve encountered since our new births.

We are passionate about this material because it has made the whole Bible come alive for us. Passages of Scripture that we have known for years are now taking on a new depth of understanding; passages that have stumped us are being enlightened; and passages we never saw before as millennial are now jumping off the page.

We pray that we’ll be able to adequately communicate some of what God has taught us and then you can take what you hear back to the Word of God and see if the Lord conﬁrms the same thing to your hearts.

We are going to cover some controversial issues—issues that probably will go against some of your traditional views, as they did ours—so we encourage you, first to be open and teachable like Acts 17:11 tells us, but then check out everything out in God’s Word.

If intense warfare is any indication of the importance of a spiritual message, then this message has to be one of the most important messages we have ever given! Because the warfare in preparing for this book—and the DVD & CD series that ac-companies it—has been greater than anything we’ve ever faced in preparing other studies or materials.

So, get ready for a real roller-coaster ride as we begin to explore some of these things together.

One of God’s purposes for calling us as Christians is “to be conformed to His image.” We used to believe that to be the ex-tent of our calling. But, we’ve come to understand that God’s calling is far more extensive than that.

The real reason for our calling is to rule and reign as kings and priests with Christ in the coming Millennial Kingdom and after that for eternity. Genesis 1:26-28 and Revelation 5:9-10 are two Scriptures that confirm we were created for this very purpose. Thus, everything in the universe moves toward this goal.

Being conformed into His image is critically important (being a living example of Christ is what will bring other to Him), but the real purpose for our calling is to have positions of authority alongside of Christ in the coming Millennial Kingdom, and after that, in eternity.

But, here’s the catch: Our life here on earth is the training ground, the proving ground, and the testing ground for that privilege. In other words, it’s not a shoe-in! It doesn’t happen automatically! It’s doesn’t happen with-out effort!

The Millennial Kingdom that we will be talking about is not heaven; it’s that literal, physical kingdom on earth where Jesus Christ will reign in person for a thousand years. It’s a place where we will recognize each other, where we will have intimacy with the King of kings, and where we will have a chance to rule and reign alongside of Christ. (Micah 4:1-2)

When we say “rule and reign” with Christ (which we will mention quite often) we simply mean we will hold positions of authority (or levels of responsibility) that Christ will entrust to us. It might be authority over a country, over a state, a city, a town, or simply a housing complex. It will all depend upon our faithfulness here in this life.

Most Christians acknowledge the Millennial Kingdom to some degree or another, but many have no ideaas to what is required to enjoy a significant role there. We certainly didn’t. There are many Scriptures that talk about the requirements for ruling and reigning. For example: 2 Timothy 2:12 and Romans 8:17 which both tell us that only “if we suffer, will we reign with Him.”

Suffering in this context doesn’t mean being tortured in some far off prison. This type of suffering comes from denying ourselves. It comes from baring ourselves from following what we think and feel, and choosing instead to follow Christ. And, it’s true, when we deny our “flesh,” it often ispainful and we do suffer.

These are only two of the many Scriptures that talk about God’s requirements for ruling and reigning, yet many of us just skip over these passages.

Another example: We asked one young believer recently, “Does what you do here on earth as a believer inﬂuence your position in the coming kingdom?” He immediately responded, “Oh yeah, we get rewards or something like that!” That was the extent of his understanding. To be honest, that was the extent of our own understanding until a few years ago. “Oh, yeah, at the Judgment Seat of Christ we get rewards or some-thing like that!”

Many of us don’t understand that not only our rewards, but also our place of responsibility in this future kingdom will ei-ther be won or lost according to our faithfulness in this life.

2 Corinthians 5:10 talks about the Judgment Seat of Christ and tells us that all Christians will be judged there according to what they have done, either for good or for bad. This judgment is a judicial evaluation not only of the good we have done; but also for the bad. It’s here that our position in the coming kingdom will be determined. So, this judgment seat is not just for rewards!

Erwin Lutzer, Pastor of Moody Church in Chicago and author of One Minute After You Die, said: “The assumption that rewards are nothing more than crowns is false in my opinion. Rewards have more to do with levels of responsibility that will be given to us. When we become more like Him we will be qualified to share with Him in the inheritance, and to work with Him in important positions of high responsibility over the whole universe.”

Colossians 3:24 calls it the “reward of inheritance.”

Consequently, there is an urgent need in the Christian body for a renewed recognition of our own personal accountability before the Lord (after we have been saved), just as Daniel Webster said. It’s essential that we have a “kingdom perspective” where we see our lives here on earth in the context of eternity. We must understand that once we are saved, we are still responsible for what we do with the rest of our lives here and now.

It isn’t “cheap grace”! Effective faith is more than just belief. It’s more than just knowing the Scriptures! And it’s more than just going to church on Sundays. Saving faith is learning how to be a partaker of Christ’s Life––which means not only receiving His Life at our new birth (being born again), but also living His Life every day!

The Bible calls these kind of sanctified Christians (those who partake of His Life) “overcomers.” And the Lord promises some incredible things to these overcomers: “He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.” (Revelation 21:7)

Both of us have been Christians for more than 50 years and we are only just now seeing the importance not only of becoming overcomers, but also of our own personal accountability before the Lord. We don’t want other believers to have to wait 50 years in order to see and understand these things. We want to help them know now what “the hope of their calling” is and understand now what the “riches of their inheritance” are in the coming kingdom. (Ephesians 1:17, 18) We want them to see that they are deciding today what kind of Millennium they will enjoy tomorrow.

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

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Prophecy Article Today: "The Future of Energy” -Koinonia House

2011-07-01T12:51:00.001-07:00

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The Future of Energy

by Steve Elwart, Senior Analyst Koinonia Institute

In the 1700s, most of the world got its energy from windmills, water wheels, whales and plants. Plants contributed not only the wood for generating heat but also the internal fuel to power the labor of humans and animals. Since the Industrial Revolution over 200 years ago, fossil fuels have been the engine that has driven the global economy. The world is living in the age of petroleum.

The United States came to power on a sea of oil. Every day the U.S. imports over $1 billion worth of oil. Yet, the United States has yet to develop a systematic program to lower its dependence on oil. In 1973, when President Richard Nixon said, “Our in-dependence will depend on maintaining and achieving self-sufficiency in energy,” the U.S. imported 34.8% of its oil from foreign countries.

When Jimmy Carter declared energy independence the “moral equivalent of war,” imports were up to 45% of the nation’s energy supply. Every American president since then has vowed to lessen our dependence on foreign oil and yet the nation’s dependency has grown.

Even President George W. Bush’s including energy independence with part of the War on Terror has failed to stem the tide. The United States currently imports over 58% of the oil consumed.

That is about to change. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) the total world consumption of energy will increase by 49 percent from 2007 to 2035.

The global economic recession that began in 2008 has had a profound impact on energy use and is expected to increase as the economy recovers. While there are encouraging signs that the recovery in the United States is starting to improve, recovery in Europe and Japan has lagged behind.

Historically, OECD¹ member countries have ac-counted for the largest share of current world energy consumption; however, in 2007—for the first time—energy use among non-OECD² nations exceeded that of OECD nations. Estimates show this trend will continue to grow.

The two countries leading that trend are China and India. These two countries accounted for about 10% of the world’s total energy consumption in 1990 and 20% in 2007. This demand is expected to rise to 30% in 2035. In contrast, the U.S. share of world energy consumption will fall from 21% in 2007 to about 16% during the same period. Much of that demand will be in oil.

Oil demand is expected to increase by 60% from China alone. To put this in perspective, in China only 30 out of 1000 own a car (compared to 700 per 1000 in the U.S.). In 25 years 240 people in China out of 1000 will own an automobile.

Because of China’s massive population,³ this represents an increase of over a quarter billion cars! This will call for a huge demand for oil in China, one the Chinese are trying to provide for by buying up oil reserves all over the world.

All sources of energy have their problems. The world needs to have a “bushel basket” full of energy, but this will take time. Weaning the world economy off a heavy dependence of oil will take time.

Crude Oil

All this means that the era of cheap oil is over. World crude oil and liquid fuels consumption grew to 86.7 million barrels⁴ per day (bpd) in 2010, surpassing the previous record of 86.3 million bbl/d set in 2007. EIA expects that world liquid fuels consumption will grow by 1.4 million bbl/d this year, followed by 1.6 million bbl/d growth next year, resulting in total world consumption of 89.7 million bbl/d by the end of 2012.

Adding to the squeeze on oil supplies is the fact that the major oil exporting country of Saudi Arabia was caught overestimating its reserves by up to 40% or 300 billion barrels. Saudi Aramco has stated that the country cannot maintain its oil production.⁵

U.S. government policies have systematically restricted oil exploration for new sources of oil in some of the richest fields in the country. After the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a “moratorium” was placed on exploration in the area, over the objections of the state governments of Louisiana and Mississippi, local businessmen along the Gulf who depend on the oil industry as a source of income, and even the expert panel commissioned to investigate the spill and its consequences.

In addition to the increased consumption and lowered reserve projections, major uncertainties could push oil prices above or below current forecasts. Among those are:

• Political unrest in the oil producing countries and pi-racy on the high seas at oil choke points.6 (Political unrest is a particular concern to the U.S. The four primary oil exporting countries to the U.S. are: Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Nigeria. Four of the five countries have either unstable governments or governments hostile to the U.S.);⁷

• The rate of global economic growth;

• Currency valuations (as a currency devalues, the relative price to import oil will increase, thus lowering demand); and,

• China and India’s efforts to address concerns regarding its growth and inflation rates. (China and India are becoming such large oil importers that any change in their import requirements will have a large impact on oil price and availability.)

While these issues deal with oil as a fuel, what often isn’t considered when oil demand is discussed is the other uses for petroleum.

Oil is a resource too valuable to burn. It is used in diverse industries such as plastics, pharmaceuticals, sporting goods, power distribution and tire manufacturing. There is a petrochemical behind almost everything on a store shelf, even on food shelves. The fertilizers used in food production and insecticides to protect crops against unwanted pests are derived from oil. An in-crease in oil pricing also translates to increased costs of thousands of other goods and services.

The Obama administration has removed some of the restrictions to oil exploration but it may be a case of “too little, too late.” Many of the giant rigs used for off-shore oil exploration have moved on to jobs in Brazil and Nigeria that will last up to three years. Oil is hovering around $100 per barrel and some industry experts believe that the price will increase to as much as $120 per barrel.

When the price will start to take off depends not only on how much exploration is allowed but when the world’s economy starts to improve. With the global economy in a slump, the demand for energy goes down. With an oil-based economic recovery, demand will increase with increased manufacturing, transportation and power generation.

Natural Gas

At current rates of production and reserves, there will be a natural gas surplus for years to come. If there are no surprises (political, economic, etc.), the world will experience a natural gas glut for the next ten years. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is the only way to transport large amounts of natural gas where pipelines are not available. For the foreseeable future, LNG will be readily available and it will be cheap. This is good news for consumers, but not for exporters. LNG is a direct competitor with alternative energies and low LNG prices makes it difficult to exploit renewable energy technologies without subsidies. China is also using sources such as shale gas in their energy mix, which will keep the cost of gas down as well.

LNG also is helping to drive another nail in the coffin of the “Global Warming” movement. Burning LNG has its share of environmental critics. They look at LNG as just another polluter that will add to an overall increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

However, countries that are utilizing LNG in their energy mix are losing their appetite for greenhouse gas carbon capture and storage. Countries such as China have not expressed an interest in signing any international accords on Global Warming. Their use of LNG to finance their economic development makes them and other developing countries tend to turn their backs on the entire issue.

Nuclear Energy

Even before the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear facility in Japan, the future of nuclear power was in doubt. While a few nuclear plants that were set for decommissioning already have been shut down, the rest of the plants currently in operation will stay in operation. However, licenses for new plants are in doubt. Also, regulatory requirements and long startup times, as well as the current political climate, add to the already substantial startup risks. The looming problem in the nuclear debate is what to do with the spent fuel.

The storage of spent fuel—nuclear material no longer strong enough to power a plant—has always been a problem. The nuclear material that was in the original “atomic pile” in 1942 is still being stored in “temporary storage,” waiting for final disposition. There is no approved program yet in place to a final disposition of the 50-plus years of spent fuel currently being stored across the United States.

Alternative Energy

Below is the current energy mix for the U.S.:

Fossil Fuels: 69.6%

— Coal 51.4%

— Natural Gas 5.1%

— Fuel Oil 3.1%

Nuclear: 19.8%

Hydroelectric: 8.3%

Solar / Biomass / Wind: 2.3%

Total: 100.0%

Fossil fuel and nuclear make up 90% of the U.S. energy mix. Elements of the environmental movement and the Obama Administration believe that the green technology that currently makes up 10% of the energy mix can quickly replace the 90% of the fuels we currently use. This is unrealistic. It is going to take 20-30 years for alternative energy to make up a sizable amount of our energy portfolio.

Hydroelectric energy raises objections over fish migrations and marine transportation. Wind energy raises concerns over interfering with migratory patterns of birds. Biomass raises concerns over creating an imbalance in agriculture, muscling out food crops for crops that would be used to make ethanol and synthetic fuels.

Solar energy causes concerns over efficiency and land use. If the nation’s energy needs could be supplied by solar, as some advocates believe, the entire south-western region of the United States would be covered with solar panels. For all its problems, solar holds out the best hope for replacing conventional fuel sources as the method for driving the world’s economies.

China’s Solar Energy

The country poised to lead the world in advanced solar technology is China. China is on an aggressive pro-gram to develop solar technology for the future. Many experts believe that is one of the reasons China is stocking up on rare earth minerals, as it is a component in many alternative energy devices, including the next generation of solar collectors.

As with anything, the more you do something, the better you get at it. China, in its race to increase the share of solar energy in its national energy profile, will end up with better and cheaper collectors and storage batteries due to sheer volume. It will bring down the cost of production, offsetting OPEC’s influence in world affairs. China will become the champion of alternative energy car technology. Other countries, including the U.S., will fall behind and into the second tier of technology with a large negative impact to its economy.

One source of alternative energy that holds promise is space-based solar energy. Solar energy is thought to be more easily captured in space because there is neither atmospheric nor cloud interference and it can operate twenty-four hours a day. Space-based collectors also would not take up any land area. The collectors could be tethered to earth via monocarbon filaments and the generated electricity sent down by cable.

An alternative method would be to have the collectors in geosynchronous orbit and the energy transmit-ted back to earth via microwave. Neither technology is science fiction. They are both feasible, though very ex-pensive at this time.

One utility, however, believes that this technology is closer than most people imagine. Pacific Gas and Electric hopes to draw power from space-based collectors and deliver it to customers in California.

The company has an agreement with Solaren,8 which will convert the power into RF (radio frequency) waves and transmit it back to earth to a receiving station in Fresno County. The energy would then be converted back into electricity and distributed through PG&E’s power grid. The California Public Utilities Com-mission recently approved the plan.

A Train Wreck

The world’s energy future is heading toward the proverbial train wreck. Currently, there is no geological shortage of energy; there is only a shortage predicated on political agendas that cater to special interests groups. In the future, though, this may not be the case. With oil getting scarce, nuclear power falling from favor and developing countries having a greater need for energy, more supplies are needed.

Governments are not helping the situation. They are sequestering available energy resources in the name of “Global Warming,” wildlife protection, etc. No single energy source can fill the gap, so a true energy mix is needed. There are no quick fixes to the problem.

Proverbs 24 teaches us that “A wise man has … many advisers.” Nations would be wise to seek the opinions of many people for ways to solve the coming energy crisis, rather than rely on government to provide a single solution to the problem. ♦

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

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Prophecy Article Today: 3 Article update ”-Koinonia House

2011-06-15T15:20:00.001-07:00

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**ARTICLES AND COMMENTARY**

THE GRAND CANYON FORMATION - ALTERNATE THEORIES - (Print)

The Grand Canyon is a geological wonder, a vast chasm stretching 277 miles west to east through northern Arizona. The canyon offers one of the best geological cross sections in the world, with nearly 30 distinct layers found from the bottom to the top; its mesas, buttes, colorful slopes and spires illustrate the geological story of the great American southwest. School children are fed a simple tale about how the canyon was formed, but as any honest geologist will admit, nobody knows exactly how it got there.

The true cause of the Grand Canyon is still hotly debated among geologists, and all recognize there's no solid answer. There are too many missing pieces. The basic park ranger explanation is that the Colorado Plateau - 130,000 square miles covering northern Arizona, southern and eastern Utah, western Colorado and northwestern New Mexico - began to rise up 50-70 million years ago, causing the existing Colorado River to downcut. After millions of years of steady uplift, the Colorado River carved out the Grand Canyon. The higher the plateau rose, pushed upward by magma from deep in the earth, the more powerful the erosional forces of the river proved to be.

The Colorado River was tamed a great deal when the Glen Canyon Dam was finished in 1966. The dam controls the flow of the river now. The Colorado's flashfloods once carried boulders the size of VW Buses, and it transported an estimated 160 million tons of sediment every year, scouring the canyon bottom. Still, many people consider the vast expanse of the Grand Canyon and despise the Colorado as an underfit river, one that could not have possibly hauled out all the necessary sediment.

A Few Puzzles:
The simple explanation does have serious geological issues. The Colorado River flows into the Gulf of California – the Sea of Cortez - which contains sediments from geologically young Pliocene layers - not older layers. It appears that the eastern part of the Grand Canyon is much older than the western part of the Grand Canyon, but nobody knows exactly what happened.

The western end of the canyon is fairly young. Local sediments come from the Basin and Range area to the west of the Canyon and are from Miocene layers. No river could have carved through there until after the Miocene. There's also no evidence that an older Colorado River ran through the Grand Wash Cliffs at the western end of the canyon. There is therefore an upper Colorado River system to the east that did not originally continue west of the Colorado Plateau.

Alternate Theories:
The first thought, of course, is that the deposits were carried away by a different route. Perhaps the canyon was carved by a river that flowed down through Marble Canyon through what is now the Little Colorado River, draining into the Rio Grande. According to the theory, another small but steep and vigorous river rushed westward across the Basin and Range. It moved eastward by headward erosion until it ran into the upper Colorado. It "captured" the Colorado , caveman style, and the two married and carved the Grand Canyon in 4-6 million years, dumping into the Sea of Cortez like today.

There's a problem there, though. The Continental Divide would have prevented the Little Colorado River from reaching the Rio Grande, and the sediment evidence is not there.

Some argue that the old river flowed south at Peach Springs Canyon, until the river burst through whatever blocked the way to the western part of the Grand Canyon. Some argue that the Colorado Plateau tipped one way and then the other as it rose so that the Colorado River flowed in the opposite direction. Some argue the river flowed underground, or flowed northwest, draining into lakes in Nevada and Utah.

The deposits to prove these drainage systems haven't been found. That's part of the problem; there is a lot of data that is just plain missing.

A Breached Dam:
According to one theory, two major lakes formed in the so-called Bidahochi Formation to the east of the current day Grand Canyon. The Colorado River overflowed the basins of the Colorado Rockies, filling the vast Hopi Lake and Grand Lake to the east. When the natural dam holding back the lakes broke, they gushed down, tearing out the soft limestone and sandstone layers of the Grand Canyon. With a rupture in the Kaibab Upwarp, the Colorado River changed course and followed the fissure down through what is now the western end of the canyon and south into the Gulf of California. In other words, the Colorado did not really cause the Grand Canyon at all, it merely followed the easiest path down to the Sea of Cortez after the Canyon had been formed.;

The breached dam theory has an interesting bit of support from the legends of the local tribes. More than 500 Native American sites in the Grand Canyon park indicate that significant populations lived in the vicinity throughout history. In his video Grand Canyon, part of the Great National Parks series, Dan Goldblatt refers to a Navajo legend about the formation of Grand Canyon. In the full story, it rained in the land for many days. It rained so much that waters rose high over the tops of the mountains. After the rain stopped, whatever was holding back the waters broke, and the waters rushed down and carved out the canyon.

Young Earth geologists like Steve Austin believe that these great lakes were leftover from the Flood of Noah. When the natural dam that held them broke, the waters ripped through the Kaibab Plateau with a fury. If the lakes were quite large - three times the size of Lake Michigan, by some estimates - the erosion would not have had to take the millions of years that geologists would have expected.

In the end, the scientists will keep battling it out. Only God knows exactly how that fantastic crevasse in the earth was formed, but every bit of information adds to the tremendous fun of figuring out the mystery.

TORNADOES, SOCIALISM, AND CLIMATE CHANGE - (Print)

Animal rights activists picketed the elephant rides at the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar on Sunday because they said the elephants were being mistreated. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and Animal Defenders International (ADI) point to a video of the elephants' being beaten, hooked with bull hooks and shocked. The elephants' owners responded that they themselves are animal activists, and they care about the ethical treatment of their elephants. Elephant co-owner Kari Johnson said the activists "cut the film to take everything out of context and make it look far worse." She said, "PETA doesn't know anything about the treatment of elephants. They just don't want animals in the hands of people at all."

Save the animals. Save the earth. Somewhere in the middle of it there may be somebody who wants to save the people. We'd hope.

NASA's website offers of a variety of charts showing basic indicators of climate change. We see rising carbon dioxide levels (100 parts per million since 1950), rising surface temperature levels (.9^oC since 1880), shrinking arctic sea ice levels (2 million square km since 1979), and rising sea water levels (20 cm over 130 years). Climate change aficionados trumpet the need to make new laws to clamp down on carbon dioxide emissions, and those who balk and say, "the temperature has risen one degree!" are eviscerated in the media.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently released data that shows a dip in carbon dioxide emissions about the time of the 2008 financial crisis. Since then, though, carbon dioxide levels have again risen, and the 2010 CO₂concentrations are higher than ever before. (Apparently, the global economy has improved.) The colder winters are blamed on climate change. The tornadoes are blamed on climate change. The humidity on the east coast is blamed on the Gulf of Mexico, which has experienced climate change.

Despite the haranguing of global warming zealots, climate change talks got off to a sluggish start in Bonn, Germany on June 6. The next Conference of the Parties (COP) in Durban, South Africa is this December, and the two weeks of talks in Bonn are just a precursor.

Discussions about how to deal with climate change just do not inspire great excitement. The countries that are the worst polluters don't want to do anything about it, because changing direction would mean hurting their industries. Carbon dioxide levels may be up, but that doesn't mean that anybody's economy is stable.

Saving the earth has long been the religion of certain groups of people. They approach the salvation of the planet with the relish of a Pentecostal, insisting that if something is not done about carbon dioxide emissions now, we are all going to hell in a handbasket.

Justine McGill wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald on June 10: "If the message of climate change is that we are sinners, responsible for a massive crime against humanity and the environment, then it is little wonder that some people react by rejecting climate change as fiction, and others become fervent in declaring their exemplary willingness to make personally purifying sacrifices to atone for it."

The green movement might get along faster if legislators put aside the need to use the environment as a means to gain control of the world. It is a perfect excuse for shackles. We all need to live on this planet; there aren't any other ones ready to move to. We are all culpable for the destruction that we cause. However, as President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus warned "environmentalism with its 'Earth First' arguments represents 'Leviathan Two' [and is a] menace which may become even more dangerous than old socialism."

Mr. Klaus noted that socialistic environmentalists support "an old doctrine which is based on the wrong conclusion that the more complex the world is, the more government intervention, regulation and control [is required]."

Ed Feulner writes in The Washington Times, "Indeed, 'green' has become the new red."

We all want to avoid massive state control in the name of the environment. We want to avoid the treatment of human beings as parasites who have no real business existing on the planet.

At the same time, the very first job that God gave to humankind was to take care of a Garden. God told Adam to manage things, and if God watches every sparrow that falls (Matt 10:29), it is likely He did not intend for Adam to destroy everything he touched. We do need to manage things well.

Deforestation of the rain forests really is a problem; once the trees are gone they don't grow back. The high rainfall in the Amazon region leaches all the nutrients out of the soil, quickly making the ground useless for crops and leading to desertification. That's a problem. As we noted last week, water use is a problem. We need to manage our water resources wisely, or we're going to be in trouble. It's something we can all pay attention to without having to be strong-armed by a global government system.

The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday announced that Hecla Mining Co., of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, will have to pay $263.4 million plus interest as part of the cleanup of the millions of tons of toxic mining wastes that were released into the South Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River in the Silver Valley over the years. The lawsuit has been going on since 1991. Hecla wasn't the only culprit. The EPA has been trying to clean up the Silver Valley since the 1980s, and anybody who drives through that part of Idaho understands why. The world's longest gondola climbs up to the Silver Mountain Ski Resort over Kellogg, Idaho, and the first part of the journey sweeps over what has been the most ugly, brown, dead valley you'd ever want to see. Since several of the mines and the smelter near Kellogg shut down, the air has cleared and trees have finally started to grow back on the barren mountainsides. That's good.

There needs to be some balance. We do not want the environment to become our god or an excuse for socialistic control. However, we need to be wise about our stewardship of resources; we want to have healthy forests and clean air and water to drink in a hundred years. We need to make wise management choices, caring for both humans and elephants. The needs of ravens do not supersede everything else, but God does care about them too (Luke 12:24).

"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." - Rev 4:11

ISRAEL VS. THE BULLIES - (Print)

It appears that President Barack Obama did not mean what he said in his speech at the annual meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on May 22. That is, he didn't mean any of the things he said on Israel's behalf. In that speech, for instance, Obama had declared that Israel could not be expected to negotiate with Hamas until Hamas decided to give up its goal to destroy Israel.

Basic things.

Now, the White House is pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to go to the bargaining table with Israel's enemies, as they are, to keep the UN from declaring a Palestinian state in the fall. And yes, Obama still wants Netanyahu to agree to use the 1967 borders as a starting point.

Obama's proposal in his May 19th speech had suggested that Israel and a Palestinian state should exist side by side based on the 1967 borders with mutually agreed land swaps. The issues of Jerusalem and refugees were not the immediate concern and would be addressed later.

The Palestinians have agreed to return to the peace table on the basis of Obama's proposal, according to Palestinian envoy Saeb Erekat. And why not? The US moved a lot of negotiation ground in their favor.

Netanyahu, though, flatly rejected the idea that Israel should accept the 1967 borders as a basis for negotiations, and the Obama administration and much of Europe have been miffed ever since.

According to an inside Israeli source, the US is frustrated with Netanyahu's stand. On Friday, The US National Security Council's Middle East head, Steve Simon, told American Jewish leaders that the US expected a reply from Netanyahu in one month regarding the Obama Administration's proposal to restart talks. One European diplomat sided with the US saying, "We want to hear Netanyahu say he's willing to negotiate on the basis of Obama's speech and that he'll discuss borders based on the 1967 lines with land swaps."

The whole thing is ridiculous. The Palestinians are in no position to start talks. Fatah is still in a unity government with Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist group that would like nothing better than to beat Israel to death with a fiery cosmic cricket bat. After Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006, the Quartet (the US, Russia, the European Union and the UN) gave Hamas three conditions to be allowed to be a part of the game; recognizing Israel, renouncing terrorism and accepting past peace accords. Hamas has done none of the above, and Israel therefore has no reasonable negotiating partner. With whom do Steve Simon and these European diplomats expect Israel to drink tea and chat?

According to Obama's own words less than a month ago, Israel should not be expected to enter into peace talks right now. Obama told AIPAC on May 22 that Israel could not be expected to negotiate with Hamas if Hamas did not even recognize Israel's right to exist. In his speech, Obama said, "We will continue to demand that Hamas accept the basic responsibilities of peace, including recognizing Israel's right to exist and rejecting violence and adhering to all existing agreements."

Hamas not improved in the past three weeks, and now Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah have turned their backs on the Oslo Accords. In a sudden reverse, the Obama Administration appears to be pressuring Israel to sit down with people who won't stick to past agreements and don't recognize Israel's right to exist. The President is in fact handing the Palestinians a huge gift by making the 1967 borders the beginning ground for negotiations on the weak argument that it's necessary in order to stop the UN from declaring a Palestinian state this fall.

Did the United States lose veto power in the UN? Did we miss that somehow?

Jennifer Rubin quoted a GOP advisor in The Washington Post as saying, "If the administration really wanted to, it could pressure the Quartet to formally oppose the Palestinians' unilateral move at the U.N. and nip the whole issue in the bud in a long weekend. Clearly, they would rather use this situation to box Prime Minister Netanyahu into a false choice between unilateral statehood and '67 borders. The Congress will reject this false choice and so should the PM."

In the meanwhile, Netanyahu recently returned from a visit to Rome, where Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi had already agreed to stand with Israel against any UN resolution to create a Palestinian state by fiat. At a news conference, Netanyahu spoke directly to the real issue - the UN resolution. He pointed out that such a move by the UN would be counterproductive.

"First, it would violate the agreements between the Palestinians and Israel but it would also harden the Palestinian position because if the UN General Assembly adopts the Palestinian positions in advance of negotiations why should they negotiate?" Netanyahu said.

"Peace will only come from negotiations. It will be a negotiated peace. It cannot be imposed from the outside, not by any power and certainly not by one-sided UN resolutions," he said.

Netanyahu's office said it was "unaware of any American pressure or ultimatum."

The US and Europe may be miffed, but Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing a good job of standing his ground. He has some bullies to stand up to, and he needs to continue to do so solidly and wisely. We pray that the God of Israel will continue to protect him and direct him and give him true wisdom. We pray the Holy Spirit will give the leaders of Israel direction and guidance as they navigate the dirty waters of international politics.

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Prophecy Article Today: “Cyborgs of 2011” -Chuck Missler

2011-06-02T15:06:00.001-07:00

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Cyborgs of 2011

The future is closing in. We would never have fathomed 25 years ago having need for an entire four gigabytes of memory, and now we carry around this massive byte-prowess on a flash drive hooked to our key rings. Beyond mere computer memory, the stuff of science fiction is seen with increasing frequency. Sure, Luke Skywalker lost his hand and received a life-like prosthetic 31-years-ago, but that wasn't real. Mark Hamill the actor didn't actually get a bionic hand. It was just a movie. That sci-fi dream, however, may be getting closer to coming true. Between new robotics and medical technology, people are finding machines that can return to them abilities robbed from them by severe injury. Just like Luke Skywalker's prosthesis or Iron Man's suit, humankind is making greater personal use of mechanical parts to replace lost limbs.

Bionic Hands:
While visiting his childhood home of Serbia a decade ago, "Milo" skidded off his motorcycle and slammed into a lamppost, severely injuring his shoulder. Ten years and several surgeries later, Milo finally was given some ability to move his arm, but the 26-year-old man's right hand remained paralyzed. After Viennese surgeon Professor Oskar Aszmann hooked up Milo to a hybrid bionic hand, though, giving him a "test drive", Milo decided to have his useless physical hand amputated and replaced with a prosthesis.

This particular prosthesis, however, is no normal plastic limb; it truly verges on science fiction. Manufactured by the German prosthetics company Otto Bock, Milo's bionic hand can actually pick up signals from the brain and use them to pinch and grab. The sensors which pick up the signals do not even have to be directly attached to nerves. They can pick up signals from nerves in the forearm just by being placed on the skin above. The same movements in Milo's real hand would have been sparked by the same nerve impulses that now control the prosthesis.

"The operation will change my life. I live 10 years with this hand and it cannot be (made) better. The only way is to cut this down and I get a new arm," Milo told BBC News prior to his surgery at Vienna's General Hospital.

Milo is not the first to take this bionic leap. A 24-year-old Austrian named Patrick was the very first to have Professor Aszmann amputate a useless hand and replace it with a bionic one. A year later, Patrick can tie his shoelaces and open a bottle, a joy after having had three years without the use of his hand because of a work-related injury.

"I can do functions which I did with my normal hand with the prosthetic arm," he said. "I think it was very cool - I did not do things with my hand for three years and then you put on the new hand and one moment later, you can move it. It's great."

The hands are limited in what they can do. There is so far no individual finger movement, for instance. The new hand Patrick is testing has six sensors instead of two, which the manufacturers say will give him a greater range of movement.

Graduating Cyborg:
On the other side of the world, paraplegic Austin Whitney recently used an exoskeleton to walk across the commencement stage at UC Berkeley and shake the hand of Chancellor Robert Birgeneau, to the ecstatic cheers of the crowd.

"Ask anybody in a wheelchair; ask what it would mean to once again stand and shake someone's hand while facing them at eye level," Whitney said.

Four years before, shortly after graduating from high school, Whitney had gotten into a car after having a few drinks and ended up pancaked into a tree, his spine severed above his hips. After his accident, Whitney stopped drinking and now tours high schools to tell his story.

After transferring to UC Berkeley from a community college, Whitney found a robotics team already in place busily designing exoskeletons. The research started as a Defense Department project to help soldiers carry heavy loads. The research has gone on to develop exoskeletons for people who cannot walk, and last October their company Berkeley Bionics unveiled E-Legs for use by rehabilitation centers.

The exoskeleton Whitney wore to his graduation is not up to Iron Man capabilities yet. It requires a walker or crutches, and without a miniature Tony Stark arc reactor to power it, a power pack. However, Whitney was instrumental in testing the machinery and offering suggestions for its improvement, and it gave Whitney the opportunity to walk across that stage for his diploma.

Twenty-five years ago, everyday computers were slow and klunky. Today, we can slip a computer massively more powerful than a Commodore 64 into our jacket pockets, guaranteed that it has thousands of times more memory than the 64 kilobytes of that home computer of the 1980s. The bionic efforts of today are still slow and klunky, but they offer a technology in the future – perhaps not so distant – in which paralysis need not be permanent. Whether for good or otherwise, the human mind may one day directly control machines with finesse.

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Prophecy Article Today: “(UN)NATURAL: THE ETHICS OF TRANSGENICS” -Steve Elwart

2011-06-01T12:58:00.001-07:00

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(UN)NATURAL: THE ETHICS OF TRANSGENICS

by Steve Elwart, Senior Analyst Koinonia Institute

And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:11,12 (KJV)

God is the author of all life. It was He who created every kind of thing, living and non-living. He designed every living thing, using the building blocks of DNA. This begs the question, “Is it right for Man to be modifying God’s design with Genetic Engineering (GE)?”

Some would say that using biotechnology to modify the basic components of human life is an abomination. Using Genetic Engineering (GE) to alter a species is a violation of God’s order of things. Others would say that GE is actually complementing God’s design, something Man has been doing for thousands of years.

What Is Genetic Engineering?

Genetic engineering is the collection of techniques used for different purposes: to isolate genes; to modify genes so they function better; to prepare genes to be inserted into a new species; and, to develop trans-genes.

The process of creating a transgene includes isolating a gene from the tens of thousands of other genes in the genome¹ of a species. Once that gene is isolated, it is usually altered so it can function effectively in a host organism. That gene is then combined with other genes to prepare it to be introduced into another organism, at which point it’s known as a transgene.

A transgenic organism, sometimes called a chimera,² is one that contains a transgene introduced by techno-logical methods rather than through selective breed-ing.

Transgenics

Transgenics allow scientists to develop organisms that express a novel trait not normally found in the species; for example, a type of rice known as golden rice has elevated levels of vitamin A. Scientists have also developed sunflowers that are resistant to mildew and cotton that resists insect damage. Possible transgenic combinations can be broken down generally into three categories:

1) plant-animal-human combinations;

2) animal-animal combinations; and

3) animal-human combinations.

An example of a plant-animal-human transgenic combination would be one in which the DNA of mouse and human tumor fragments is inserted into tobacco DNA. The harvested plants contain a potential vaccine against non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.³

Other transgenic plants have been used to create edible vaccines. By incorporating a human protein into bananas, potatoes, and tomatoes, researchers have been able to create prototypes of edible vaccines against hepatitis B and cholera.⁴The vaccines are proving to be successful in tests on agricultural animals and humans.

GE in the Supermarket

Recombinant DNA technology, or gene-splicing, has been used for a number of years now to supplement our diets. Most of the corn, soy and canola grown in the U.S. is genetically engineered with molecular techniques.

More than 80% of the processed food in our super-markets contains ingredients from genetically engineered crops. In North America alone, there are currently more than four dozen GE foods and crops being grown. Consumers have eaten more than three trillion servings of food that contain ingredients from genetically engineered plants.

The Chinese are investing heavily into biotechnology research to increase their crop yields. The government has focused on their internal priorities to in-crease domestic yields at lower costs to farmers.

Genetically engineered pest-resistant cotton, for ex-ample, comprises nearly half of all cotton grown in China, and the savings in pesticide and fertilizer applications have cut costs by 28 percent and raised the average small farmer’s annual income by $150, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of California at Davis and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Dangers of GE

The problem with GE is that this biotechnology can quickly run afoul of the Law of Unintended Consequences. GE foods are viewed by many as inherently unpredictable and dangerous for humans and for the future of sustainable and organic agriculture. As Dr. Michael Antoniou, a British molecular scientist points out:

...gene-splicing has already resulted in the unexpected production of toxic substances...in genetically engineered bacteria, yeast, plants, and animals, with the problem remaining undetected until a major health hazard has arisen.

Opponents fear GE foods could trigger the emergence of new diseases due to the use of viruses and bacteria to modify some GE foods. These new diseases could be resistant to antibiotics. GE foods:

• Raise the risk of developing cancer;

• Trigger food allergies as a result of a food that causes allergies in some people being placed in an-other organism;

• Harm the ecosystem by removing a pest that could be an important source of food for another animal; and

• Can be toxic to an organism and lead to its extinction.

It took a Chernobyl in the Ukraine and a Fukushima in Japan for people to understand the unrealized dangers in nuclear energy production. Is it possible that the ecological implications of genetically modified organisms will remain unaddressed for many years and that only God’s design itself—not its scientists’ perceptions—will one day reveal the true impact of GM organ-isms on the environment?

Recent experiments in the UK have shown that the GM crop plants tested for survival in the wild were no better adapted than non-GM crop plants. However, there is some concern that transgenes in GM plants may spread to other wild plants and create weeds that are more difficult to control.

This danger has been recognized. It is considered unwise to introduce herbicide tolerant genes into rice where red rice is a weed and into sorghum where Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense) is a weed. Outcrossing to these important weed species could invalidate the use of herbicides to control them.

Higher Life Forms

While there are concerns about genetically engineering crops, there are further concerns about genetically engineering higher life forms.

This year, scientists have successfully introduced human genes into 300 dairy cows. The result has been for the cows to produce milk that have the same properties as human breast milk.

Researchers believe that the milk from these cows will serve as an alternative to human breast milk and baby formula, which is seen as inferior to mother’s milk.

The genetically modified cows are not without problems. Researchers accept the fact that the technology used to genetically modify the cows can affect the development of the cloned animals. In this case, the cows suffered a 38% mortality rate within six months of their birth.

Critics of the technology are very concerned that the cause of their deaths are unknown and there are no estimates to the risks of whatever killed the cows being passed onto the humans that drink the milk. Helen Wallace, director of biotechnology monitoring group GeneWatch UK, said:

We have major concerns about this research to genetically modify cows with human genes. Ethically there are issues about mass producing animals in this way.

A Slippery Slope

Besides the obvious clinical problems with GE in plants and animals, there are ethical ones as well. Many people ask where all this will lead. A major objection to Genetic Engineering is that once you design a new genetic makeup for plants and other forms of life, there is no logical place to stop.

Even if the intent at first is to correct a genetic defect, once that is done, there is no logical reason to avoid using this technology for eugenic⁵ purposes. Few would disagree that diabetes, cancer and sickle-cell anemia are diseases worth eradicating, but what is to keep us from saying that color blindness, left-handedness, or small stature are “disorders” to be corrected by GE?⁶

Modifying God’s Creation

There is the moral question of whether man has the right to tamper with the natural order of things. God gave man dominion over “fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”⁷ The question today, though, is does that give Man the right to modify God’s creation?

One of the greatest fears raised about genetic engineering comes for the concern for those who do not “measure up” in the Brave New World. If we can modify children to avoid certain inherited traits, will those same traits become future liabilities?

Will having red hair (or no hair for that matter) make you a “second-class citizen”? Will people with be-low average IQs now be expendable? Will they be forced to undergo forced sterilization as has happened in the past? Above all, who will be given the authority to decide these things? Will we cede these choices to the government as we have so often recently? These are very disturbing and very real possibilities.

While sounding like something out of science fiction, these types of decisions are being practiced today in regard to the unborn among us.

If an unborn child has a debilitating genetic defect, the mother is strongly encouraged to abort the child. Not only can pressure to abort be applied by the doc-tor and the family and friends of the pregnant woman, but social sanctions can be imposed to do the same.

Professor Allen Verhey, who teaches Christian Ethics at Duke University, wonders if health insurance plans in the future will refuse to pay for the care of a Down syndrome child whose problems could have been predicted and prevented by abortion.

Suggestions along this line are already being made and are a real danger in socialized medicine.

In support of such policies, in January 1978, Sir Francis Crick, codiscoverer of DNA and a Nobel laureate, was quoted in the Pacific News Service as saying:

...no newborn infant should be declared human until it has passed certain tests regarding its genetic endowment and that if it fails these tests it forfeits the right to live.⁸

Another issue concerns the “dignity of persons.” GE involves experiments and procedures that can be detrimental to the health and even life of an individual. It is therefore argued that any procedures that would violate the freedom, dignity or integrity of persons are wrong.

Examples of these procedures would be the commercial use of embryos, the mixing of human and non-human genetic material, and cloning. As theologian Carl Henry says about appropriate uses of these technologies:

Whatever tends to overcome what would be deterioration in the created order and seeks to restore what God purposed in Creation is on far safer grounds than all kinds of novel and experimental enterprise.⁹

These procedures can tend to dehumanize Man by reducing him to nothing more than a complex of chemicals. Even now, unborn children are called “tissue.” They are no longer recognized as human beings.

Also, as we learn more about the architecture of man, we find that our physical makeup is governed by more than a single gene that can be turned on or off like a light switch. They are complex in and of them-selves and are dependent on a host of environmental factors.

A Call for Ethics

So where does this leave us in regard to the morality of Genetic Engineering? As in many things, some uses of GE may be moral and others immoral. The technology per se is not immoral any more than the Inter-net or television is immoral. It is Man’s use of it and his motivation that is at issue.

If we attempt to thwart God’s power for our own personal gain, then the use of genetic engineering cannot be condoned. Also, for whatever reason, if the use of the technology is for eugenic purposes or to create biological weapons, it is clearly immoral.

As Christians we must be the “Watchmen on the Wall” in regard to the use of this technology. We should question—loudly—technology and techniques that might lead to hasty or untested results. We need to provide a moral compass to assure that the results of genetic engineering do not degrade the integrity of Man nor make a mockery of God’s creation.<<<

* * *

Any questions or comments can be directed to:

Steve.Elwart@studycenter.com.

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Prophecy Article Today: “Israel's Birthday.”-Chuck Missler

2011-05-30T09:23:00.001-07:00

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The People of Destiny:

Israel's Birthday

by Chuck Missler

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Betrayal of the Chosen

Israel will celebrate her Independence Day on the Fourth of Iyar, which is May 4th on our calendar (May 1995). (The modern state of Israel was born on May 14, 1948 on our calendar, but it was the Fourth of Iyar on hers.) The celebrations this year, however, are likely to be a bit muted with an atmosphere of "sell-out," which has resulted from the so-called "Peace Negotiations."

A Decade of Deceit

Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin made the following promises before and after his election in June 1992:

He said he would never negotiate with the PLO. Yet he began secret talks with them within weeks of being elected.
He said he would never allow the creation of a Palestinian state. Yet in fact he has agreed to turn over vast portions of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza to the PLO.
He said he would protect 136,000 Jewish residents of the settlements of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, and not uproot their communities--ever. But in fact, since 1992 He has instituted a housing freeze and cut off all government funding to these communities, and he is now insisting they leave and turn their lands and homes over to the PLO.
He said he would never surrender the Golan Heights to Syria. Anyone who has been there will confirm the untenable nature of defending the area without this essential high ground. Denying Israel a conventional response when their very survival is at stake is forcing a pre-emptive nuclear response. (NATO believes it's inevitable.)
He promised he would preserve a united Jerusalem under Israel's sovereignty as Israel's capital. But in fact he has agreed to negotiations over Jerusalem (to begin in 1996). His deputy foreign minister has recently announced a willingness to turn over east Jerusalem--including the Western Wall--to the PLO.

We have a tendency to bemoan the disgraceful gap between commitments and performance in our own country. It is important to realize that a similar disillusionment is virtually global. A similar disgust is prevalent in Japan, Great Britain, France, Germany, and other countries, with a widespread despair over leadership. The gulf between promises and performance is not unique to America. We are not the only country that has disconnected character and destiny.

Terrorism Pays

One of the biggest lies of the 20th century is "Terrorism does not pay." Wrong. It does pay. Handsomely. And recent episodes in Japan and the Philippines have underscored the fact that terrorism is not confined to the Middle East.

Nelson Mandela, who for years headed a terrorist organization, is now head of state in South Africa and feted the world over. He has now received the prestigious Order of Merit from Britain's Queen Elizabeth II.

A few days earlier, Gerry Adams of Ireland's Sinn Fein/IRA was celebrated by the Clinton administration in the White House. In a 25-year terror campaign, the IRA has killed around 2,000 blameless people. Although nothing in the condition or treatment of the Roman Catholic minority in Northern Ireland justified the taking of one life, the IRA has now been rewarded with a capitulation by the government of Great Britain.

Yassar Arafat, of course, is but another example. Kill enough innocents and you might also win a peace prize. Now even the notorious Hamas are being invited to participate in the "peace negotiations."

Terrorism is not only effective, it's cheap. The entry costs are low for anyone with the ruthlessness to pursue his cause by killing innocent people.

Experts have calculated that over the past century, fewer than a dozen terrorist attacks have resulted in more than one hundred deaths. This ratio is destined to change dramatically as the chemical, biological, and nuclear armed terrorist becomes a shadow over the coming decade. With modern technology and education, and for a modest capital outlay, even the smallest group of determined people can hold for ransom any of the world's most powerful nations.

Willingness to compromise with terrorists offers the ultimate encouragement to all those fanatics with causes they deem more important than an innocent individual's life. From now on, however, it will not just be bombs and bullets these fanatics employ in their dubious causes.

A Year of Destiny?

Next year is shaping up to be a very exciting year, indeed! In 1996, there will be:

A watershed election in the United States
Major elections in the European Superstate
A very important election in Russia (see our audio book The Magog Invasion)
A major election in Israel
The negotiations over Jerusalem will also begin. This should all prove very illuminating from a prophetic viewpoint.

Struggle for Jerusalem

This is one of our Ten Strategic Trends. Architects of the Middle East "peace process," recognizing that Jerusalem was the most difficult of the issues between Islam and the Jews, postponed this issue until the final settlement negotiations, which are due to begin in 1996.

The difficulties are compounded by the fact that a building project, which could become the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, is scheduled to be completed in July of 1996. With both Israel and the U.S. having an election year, this could become very tense.

What is also ignored is that East Jerusalem, which includes the Temple Mount, is even more important to the Jews than West Jerusalem due to the religious context (and what other context is there when it comes to Jerusalem?). Isn't it interesting that Zechariah anticipated this when he noted:

"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."
Zechariah 12:3

Will Israel Survive?

The integrity of God Himself is at stake. He has openly committed Himself to Israel's preservation. Not because they deserve it (nor do they any less than others), but because He has committed Himself to do so before the nations (as He says in Ezekiel 36:22ff ):

22] Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God; I do not [this] for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for Mine Holy Name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
23] And I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I [am] the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
24] For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

This is the "second time"--the first was the regathering after Babylon--and Isaiah specifically designates it:

"And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathos, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
"And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth."
Isaiah 11:11-12

The cry of "peace" will, of course, be premature:

"For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief."
1 Thessalonians 5:3-4

There will be no real peace until the Prince of Peace arrives. But that may not be very long off; the next few years will be exciting, indeed! Be ready! Do your homework.

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

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Prophecy Article Today: “Forever our Passover Lamb.”-Koinonia House

2011-05-25T11:36:00.001-07:00

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Forever our Passover Lamb

by Dan Stolebarger, Executive Director of Koinonia Institute

This article will paint the picture of Yeshua as being the Lamb of God, which John the Baptist introduced to the multitudes on the banks of the Jordan. It will continue by unveiling Him in the two fundamental images of the Seder Service: the four cups of wine and the three separate matzos.

A glimpse back to the origins of the Passover will give context to the yesterday, today and forever claims of Christ as being our Passover Lamb.

The book of Exodus is where we first get a glimpse of what we now call the Passover. Here we discover the initial unveiling of God to deliver those who would become His people from the bondage of their Egyptian tormentors. God will take this occasion to exalt Himself above all gods and continue the scar-let thread of redemption which He prophesied in Eden, when he proclaimed the bruising of the heel and the crushing of serpent’s head. In order to avoid the plague of the death of the firstborn, the Israelites were to select a lamb, kill it, and use the blood (see Exodus 12).

And then God says the following:

For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.

Exodus 12:12,13

We then read that this feast is to be remembered indefinitely:

So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.

Exodus 12:14

As we look back, just as Paul explained that Christ was that Rock in the desert (1 Cor 10:4), so too in the same vein we see that the blood on the original walls of the dwelling of the Israelites paints the picture of the cross and is a foreshadowing of the permanent “once and for all” sacrifice that Yeshua will make over a thousand years later at Calvary.

In the Passover service today, let’s see if Yeshua is visible behind the symbols that make up the Seder service. The two most significant items on the table—which are central in the reading of the Haggadahwill be the cups of wine and the Matzoh Tosh.

But before we approach today’s modern Seder, let’s look back to the time of Jesus and call to mind what John declared concerning our Messiah:

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

John 1:29

Here we have our first glimpse of the mission and the fate of the Incarnate One. Now as we walk through the Gospels, our next stop will be on the Day of Preparation, when the Passover lambs were selected. Remember they had to be without spot or blemish, and they were to be kept for four days within the house for observation.

On this day, Yeshua chose to ride the donkey into Jerusalem with the crowds singing praises, waving palm branches and shouting HOSANNA! He comes as the selected One and will spend the next four days before the Priest and religious leaders in Jerusalem for inspection. At the end of this observation period, Pilate speaks those prophetic words:

You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.

John 19:6

Peter also includes the following in his epistle:

...but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

1 Peter 1:19

Jesus is then taken to be crucified, and it is noteworthy that none of His bones were broken and then laid in the Tomb. At the exact time of his death, tens of thousands of lambs were being slaughtered in the Temple.

Jesus, prior to all of this, had His own Passover remembrance with His disciples. It was at that time that He too broke the bread and drank from the cup. Here we learn about the deeper meaning of the third cup—the cup of redemption.

At every Passover service there will be four cups of wine served, and each cup has a specific meaning as seen in Exodus 6:6-7:

Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God.

Exodus 6:6,7

We read in the Gospel of Luke that after the dinner He took the cup—this, according to Seder service, would be the third cup: the cup of redemption. He blesses it and and again brings more clarity to His role as the eternal Passover Lamb whose blood and sacrifice would now be remembered in the taking of this third cup. Interestingly enough, He does not drink the fourth cup, but He does allude to it in Luke 22:18.

...for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.

Luke 22:18

Remember, Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us and He will not drink that fourth cup until He returns to take us with Him as His people!

Now, let’s focus on the Matzoh Tosh, which is located in the middle of the table. Here we see three pieces of matzoh that are both striped and pierced. The middle one is taken and broken, and half of it is wrapped in a white clothe and hidden. It is referred to as the afikomen, which literally means “that which will come again.” As believers, we see the Godhead rep-resented in the three matzohs with the central one being Messiah, who was broken, buried, resurrected and will one day come again! Unlike most Jews today, we also know why they are striped and pierced:

And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

Zechariah 12:10

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was op-pressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

Isaiah 53:5-7

As believers in Yeshua we can rejoice in the Passover as we worship the One who was, is, and is to come! In the Exodus we can see Him as the One who was, in the Gospels as the One who is and whose sacrifice was once for all (Hebrews 10:10) and throughout time and space. We read in the book of Revelation that He will appear throughout eternity as the Lamb looking as if it were slain! (Revelation 5:6,12).

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

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Prophecy Article Today: “The Jewish Wedding & The Christian Walk.”-Nancy Missler

2011-05-19T13:29:00.001-07:00

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The Jewish Wedding & The Christian Walk

by Nancy Missler

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For the last several months, we have concentrated on the Judgment Seat of Christ (the Bema Seat as it is often called) and learned what it is, what happens there and what some of the rewards are that will be handed out. The next event that occurs in heaven is the gathering of the “bride” to attend the Marriage Ceremony itself (Rev 19:7-8).

The Marriage Ceremony is an area that is not well trodden, so be as the Bereans—get into the Word and check out everything that is shared (Acts 17:11).

The word marriage in the Greek is gamos (Strong’s #1062), and can mean either a “wedding ceremony” or a “wedding feast.” This is where the confusion often comes in. In other words, the word gamos can be used for either the “wedding ceremony” itself or for the “wedding feast” which happens at a later date. In a moment we’ll explore the entire Jewish wedding celebration, which hopefully will help to clear up some of the confusion.

I believe the sequence of future events that will occur after the Bema Judgment Seat of Christ are:

1) The Wedding Ceremony (or the Marriage of the Lamb), which will occur in the Father’s house in heavenwith only a few in attendance (Revelation 19:7-9).

2) This event is then followed by Christ’s return to earth with His wife.

3) And finally, the Marriage Feast (or the Marriage Supper), which will be held on earth with many in attendance just as the Millennium begins. The Marriage Supper includes “the friends of the Groom” (i.e. John the Baptist and other Old Testament saints) who are not resurrected until after His Second Coming (John 3:29).

Those believers whose “works” pass the Bema Seat Judgment criteria and who are deemed ready, worthy and prepared will obviously attend both the Wedding Ceremony in heaven and the Marriage Feast on earth that follows.

It will be the highest honor possible to be a part of the “wife of Christ” (Revelation 19:7), but also an honor to be one of the King’s guests at the Marriage Feast (Matthew 22:1–14; 25:1–13).

The Jewish Wedding Ceremony

To help us understand the sequence of these future events a little more clearly, let’s describe the ancient Jewish marriage ceremony, as this is the model that Christ uses.

There are many parallels in the Bible to various events in a believer’s life, but none more visible than the similarity between the Christian life and that of aJewish marriage ceremony.

In the Old Testament, the parents normally arranged the marriage between the young Jewish couple. Romantic unions, in those days, were uncommon. This arranged “marriage” consisted of three parts:

1) The first part of the Jewish wedding ceremony was the betrothal, which was called the erusin or the kiddashin.

This is where the groom gave his bride-to-be an object of value such as a ring, money, or a deed of intention, which was symbolic of a promise providing a legal tie between the two.

The father of the groom usually paid the bridal price. This was a true legal document, having no immediate effect on their personal stake, but just a promise for the future. (Deuteronomy 20:7)

After this ceremony, the “bride” then remained in her father’s home to prepare for the day her groom would come back for her, marry her and take her to his house or some special room he had built.

Cohabitation was forbidden at this time and the bride must remain a virgin, using this time to prepare herself for her marriage. If she was found not to be a virgin, she could be rejected. (Matthew 1:19)

This in-between time was where the bride must make herself ready for her coming groom. (Revelation 19:7) This preparation meant making her own wedding gown, getting ready for her new role, transferring her allegiance from her father to her new husband, going from the familiar to the unfamiliar, from depending on family to depending upon her husband for everything, learning to love him, and setting her mind on how to please him.

During this “preparation period,” the bride is referred to as “consecrated,” or set apart (or sanctified). She always wore a veil, so it was apparent to others that she was engaged. This veil was symbolic of a pledge or a commitment.

2) The second part of the Jewish marriage was called the nissuin or the marriage ceremony itself. The groom often surprised his bride by his unexpected or early return.

All Jewish brides were said to be “stolen, caught up, or snatched up by surprise.” The bride was then led to the groom’s house by a wedding procession of women carrying lighted lamps, similar to the Parable of the Ten Virgins that we will explore in next month’s Personal Update.

Lamps were a part of the bride’s preparation in case her groom came at night. The bride was arrayed infine linen, clean and white.

The wedding ceremony itself was held at the groom’s father’s house and usually included only a few invited guests. At this time a series of benedictions are made and the couple were finally made husband and wife.

3) The wedding ceremony was then followed by seven days of celebration, great rejoicing, and finally, a marriage feast. This occasion was often held at a different place and many people were invited.

See Chart 15: The Jewish Wedding and Its Parallels

Now that we understand a little more about the Jewish marriage celebration, let’s compare this ceremony to the Christian life.

1) The salvation of our spirit (called justification) with the seal of the Holy Spirit, I believe is analogous to the betrothal of the Jewish bride with the down payment, pledge, or seal of “an object of value” (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30 ).

Hosea 2:19-20 puts it this way: “I will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in justice, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the Lord” (2 Corinthians 11:2). The process of sanctification that we are all in now as we wait for our Lord’s return, can be compared to the long wait between the time the groom leaves to prepare a place for his bride and the time he returns for her.

Note the importance placed upon the Jewish bride during this waiting period to prepare herself for her groom’s return—to make her own gown and her own wedding garment, which we see as “the righteousness of the saints” (i.e., bearing “spiritual fruit.” (Revelation 19:7) This stresses the significance of the sanctification process––our time of preparation, our time of fitting, and our time of making ourselves ready, worthy, and qualified for our Groom’s return.

Sanctification, again, is our bridal preparation! It’s getting ourselves ready for our coming new role: transferring our allegiance from earthly things to heavenly things; learning to love God rather than self; replacing our preoccupation with our friends and families to making the Lord and His will the most important thing in our lives; and finally, going from depending upon self (and our own abilities) to depending upon Christ for everything.

The bride of Christ must make herself “ready” so she can be presented to the Lord without stain or wrinkle. (Ephesians 5:27)

2) The second part of the Jewish marriage ceremony—the nissiun (or marriage ceremony itself—where the Jewish groom surprises his bride by coming back early for her, I believe could be compared to the unexpected return of our Lord at the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18).

As we said, the procession of women carrying lighted lamps to meet the groom when he returns re-minds us of the Parable of the Ten Virgins. The five wise virgins, whose lamps were still burning when the groom returned, were ready and prepared to go into the wedding ceremony; the other five virgins were not prepared and thus, were not allowed to enter.

The Jewish wedding ceremony that was held in the groom’s house is analogous to the Marriage of the Lamb in heaven, where Christ will finally be united with His bride and she will become His wife.

3) The seven days of Jewish celebration and rejoicing between the wedding ceremony itself and the marriage feast, may be analogous to the rejoicing that will occur first in heaven at the wedding and then at the Marriage Supper on earth where Christ will again drink of the “fruit of the vine” (Revelation 19:9). Many resurrected Old Testament saints and Tribulation saints will also attend this feast on earth.

In summary: As Christians, our initial commitment to the Lord and our “justification” by Him can be compared to the Jewish betrothal. Our “sanctification,” then, can be compared to a Jewish woman preparing herself for her future wedding. Our “glorification” (which happens at the Rapture) can be compared to a Jewish groom coming by surprise to carry his bride away.

The Marriage of the Lamb in heaven can be compared to the Jewish wedding ceremony itself. And the Marriage Feast at the beginning of the Millennium can be compared to the Jewish marriage supper.

Do not think for a moment that God has not already planned and designed our future destiny in minute detail. He has! Look at the above incredible example. His intentions are clear and His strategy is discernible. I believe this Jewish wedding celebration is one of the most impressive indications of what exactly we, as believers, are supposed to be doing now in this lifetime and what we can expect in the near future when He returns for us and takes us to His home in heaven.

Can you even imagine what that will be like!!!

“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 (agapao) Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)

* * *

To be continued next month: “The Parable of the Ten Virgins.” This article has been excerpted, in part, from Chuck and Nan’s new book The Kingdom, Power and Glory.

Yes! Jesus is Coming!

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