Saturday, January 9, 2010

The WeekEnder: Bible Prophecy Today Highlights D

The WeekEnder

for Bible Prophecy Today

January 4-9 2010

D

Creating Crisis to Reduce Freedom ~ Bible Prophecy Today

By Bill Wilson

The Muslim Christmas underwear bomber incident has prompted a US government crackdown on airport security, but many wonder if the action is the result of creating crisis to reduce liberties. Last year, sources within the US security system said that because of the current Administration's relaxing of security measures and the prohibition of certain security procedures established by the Bush Administration that terrorist attacks against Americans were going to increase in a matter of time. They said that Muslim terrorists were emboldened by the White House's kinder approach toward Islam and that many methods of collecting information on would-be terrorists had been banned.

The US government has now requested that people flying from 14 countries receive extra security checks at the airports. This is a reasonable request that doesn't go far enough, but it has caused a worldwide ruckus. Nigeria, where the Muslim Christmas underwear bomber originated, says that the US is discriminating against its country. Nigeria's information officer says that Nigeria doesn't have a history of terrorism, so it should not be discriminated against. She says "It is unfair to discriminate against over 150 million people because of the behavior of one person." Anybody that has traveled to Nigeria knows that it is one of the most unsafe places in all of Africa. Her comments are laughable.

The list of 14 countries that the US government wants to keep an eye on are: Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen. Cuba is officially denouncing the policy as "anti-terrorist paranoia." Associated Press reports that airports in many of these countries are ignoring the US request and even some of America's allies in the European countries of Germany, France and Spain are reticent to comply with the request. The US government, however, has the upper hand as it can fine airlines or bar them from flying in the US if they do not comply. Meanwhile, Americans are subjected to even stronger security at airports.

AP reports that government officials are finally transferring dozens of names onto its "terrorist watch" list and dozens from the "terrorist watch" list to the "no fly" list. If not for the current Administration's relaxing of security standards, these actions would have been ongoing, but now law abiding citizens are subject to even more restrictions. WorldNetDaily asks if it is possible that this "administration is intentionally creating crisis for the purpose of converting America into a full-fledged socialist state?" Americans should strongly question this government. Ecclesiastes 7:7 says, "Surely oppression makes a wise man mad." When will the wise rise up in righteous anger?

The 2012 Mayan Prophecy ~ Bible Prophecy Today

By Ed Hindson

Is there any truth to the claim that the Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world on December 21, 2012?

The belief that the ancient Mayans held that would mark the end of the world or some other catastrophic event stems from their roots as an agricultural society. As such, they paid much attention to tracking star patterns. They also paid much attention to the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, which occurs on December 21st of each year in the Northern Hemisphere. After that day, the days would grow longer and more amenable to the planting of crops.

The ancient Mayans were also pagans. They relied upon the sun as a god and the Milky Way galaxy as a “sacred tree” to the afterlife. Eventually, they formulated a calendar based upon a combination of their astronomical observations and their pagan belief system. This calendar determined that the stars’ patterns moved in a cycle of 5,125 years. It also determined that once during this cycle, the dark center of the Milky Way intersected with the sun’s movement across the sky.

The last time this occurred, according to the ancient Mayans, was in what we call 3114 BC, which they claim to be the date of creation, though most theologians place it much earlier. The completion of the 5,125-year cycle from that date would bring us to 2012, remembering that there is no “year zero.” While the Mayans did not use our BC/AD calendar, they deduced, then, that what we call 2012 would mark another ending of one cycle and beginning of a new one.

The flaws in such thinking are obvious. First, they are relying on creation rather than the Creator Himself. God warned ancient Israel against undertaking the pagan practices of the surrounding nations, and such advice is still pertinent today:

“There shall not be found among you anyone who maketh his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or who useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter of mediums, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD; and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee,” Deuteronomy 18:10-12.

Additionally, this Mayan prophecy establishes “date-setting,” a practice which Jesus Himself warned about in His Olivet Discourse:

“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only,” Matthew 24:36.

Since the Mayans were pagans, their prophecy did not establish the return of Christ as the cataclysmic event of the year 2012. Ironically, many anti-Christian New Agers have accepted this Mayan “prophecy” as a valid prediction of either: 1) the end of the world, or 2) the dawn of a new age. By doing so, they may have automatically excluded 2012 from being of any prophetic significance at all, because Jesus said:

“Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh,” Matthew 24:44.

So our advice for the Mayan prophecy involving 2012 would be to consider the source and note its deviation from Scripture, and dismiss it accordingly.

It Ain't Just Cold in Fargo ~ Bible Prophecy Today

By Chuck Missler

The weather outside has certainly been frightful around the world. With snow falling in record amounts from New England to the Korean peninsula and icy cold threatening Florida's orange crops, the winter is off to a chilling start. And while Britain may be facing its coldest winter in 100 years, hundreds of people in Tajikistan face the bitter cold having recently lost their homes in an earthquake.

The UK: Natural gas prices leaped in Britain as temperatures dropped into the teens, with temperatures as low as 14 F (-10 C) in Scotland and northern England. Hundreds of schools have closed and train lines have shut down due to the cold and snow, and major arteries are clogged with slow-moving cars and accidents. Forecasters are predicting the worst winter in 100 years for Britain.

The United Kingdom is at a fairly high northern latitude (London 51°30'N, Glasgow 55°51'N), but as the Gulf Stream sweeps up from the Gulf of Mexico toward Norway, it keeps the British Isles relatively warm and temperate. The average January temperature in Glasgow is 38°F (3°C), much different than the frigid 2°F (-16.4°C) average in Labrador across the North Atlantic to the west. This year, the ice and snow from a cold arctic front promise to continue to bottle up highways and keep people in their thermal underwear.

The US: Of course, 14°F is nothing in North Dakota. Fargo's Hector International Airport (46°52'N) took a record temperature reading of -33°F (-36°C) on January 3, beating the previous record of -32°F set back in 1885, before North Dakota was a state.

Even Houston, Texas (29°45'N) is watching the temperature drop into the 20s and upper teens.

Florida orange growers have gone to work overtime to save their citrus crops (which ripen in December and January). Crops typically get damaged if exposed to temperatures below 28°F for more than 4 hours. If the temperatures do not drop below the critical point, though, the cool weather could be good for fruit quality.

SE ASIA: Seoul (37°34′08″N) received more than 11 inches of snow on Monday, the worst snowfall since Korea started measuring those sorts of things in 1937. When northern Idaho receives a simple 11 inch snowfall, the snowplows bust out and clear the roads. For a city like Seoul which rarely sees snow, 11 inches can be absolutely paralyzing. Hundreds of flights from Seoul were cancelled Monday as were flights from Beijing and the main airport on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido. Not everybody is complaining about the snow, though. "It's something unique in Seoul," Kang Kyung-hye, a 58-year-old housewife, said while she took pictures.

TAJIKISTAN: When a 5.3 earthquake hit Tajikistan on Saturday, the situation became far more serious for hundreds of people. Nearly 100 homes were destroyed and another 900 were damaged in the quake which hit this poor mountainous nation. Nearly 600 people have been forced to hunt for shelter with neighbors or relatives or find some other way to survive in the freezing cold. Tajikistan's Rapid Emergency Assessment and Coordination Team (REACT) is taking charge of getting winter tents, blankets and hygiene kits to the affected area, which is well over 100 miles through the mountains from the capital of Dushanbe.

The cold weather is an inconvenience for most people. It means higher heating costs and having to leave a trickle of water running in the sinks so that the pipes don't freeze. It's a time when homeless shelters fill up and when folks pull out an extra quilt or two for the bed. It can be a time of roaring fires and movies in the den.

As we snuggle up with slippers and hot cocoa, though, we need to remember our brothers and sisters who are suffering with inadequate heat for their homes, and perhaps no homes at all. Even if we aren't sure how else to help the people in Tajikistan, we can always pray for them and the ministries that are reaching out to them. We can also support our local Salvation Army or other homeless ministry, whether through prayer or donations. We might help buy propane for the lady with the five children who lives next door. Whatever we choose to do, let's not forget our neighbors around the world during this icy cold January.

How About the "Israelification" of All Airports? ~ Bible Prophecy Today

By Jan Markell

I'm tired of the word "luck." I think it is a shame that even the conservative media thinks that the "briefs' bomber" didn't blow the plane out of the sky on Christmas Day "because we were lucky." While America may be under judgment, God has thus far remained our Homeland Security Director. That is not to say He couldn't remove His hand at any time. Evil did have its way at Fort Hood.

We are now learning that prayer may have stopped the carnage on that plane heading toward Detroit. A Christian family prayed during the ordeal and sang "Jesus Loves Me" to newly-adopted children from Ethiopia. We have spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12) as well as those who carry out their dirty deeds on earth. They make quite a combo! But God and His angels are far greater!

It would be helpful if we didn't make the climate more hospitable to the evil ones, but make no mistake, radical Islam is our enemy. We are in a war, and they want to destroy us and implement Sharia Law.

Brigitte Gabriel and her Act for America speak for all of us:

"Contrary to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, we're not fighting 'man-caused disasters.'

"Contrary to President Obama, Christmas Day bomber Umar Abdulmutallab was not an 'isolated extremist' and Ft. Hood shooter Nidal Hasan was a jihadist.

"One year after Obama launched his 'outreach' to the Muslim world that was promised to make us safer, we are anything but - just as we predicted. Obama's campaign of apology, accommodation, and appeasement has emboldened and empowered our enemies - just as we predicted."

Gabriel concludes,

"It is time Americans band together and say 'enough'! It's past time for a serious course correction by this administration. It's time the administration jettisoned political correctness and defined the enemy - Islamic jihad. It's time the administration stopped treating jihadists like thugs who hold up a convenience store and started treating them like the enemy combatants they are."

Today, because our elites fear politically incorrect honesty, they believe that it is better to harass the innocent, delay the harmless, and risk the lives of every American rather than do the obvious, the effective, and the necessary.

It's time to follow Israel's El Al Airlines and profile, interrogate, and treat everyone with polite suspicion. I have been through their routine more times than I'd like to remember. It's an enormous inconvenience but the procedure works. Getting up at 3 AM to prepare for a two-hour cross-examination isn't a joyride, but there are no El Al plane parts floating in an ocean or embedded in the ground.

According to Global Traveler magazine, El Al is the world's most secure airline. This is both despite and because her planes are assuredly the highest value terrorist targets in the air.

The El Al security experience is comfortingly intimate, as opposed to humiliating.

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