Too Much, Too Little, Too Late
Creation Groaning
A massive winter storm swept the US from the West Coast to the East Coast. Historic amounts of snow fell in the Southeast, leaving four people dead and one missing.
The UK is experiencing blizzards, freezing rain and black ice this weekend as temperatures plummeted. An amber weather warning – the second highest – is in place for the Midlands, the north of England and Scotland.
In Australia: Category 3 Cyclone Owen is now downgraded to a tropical low after it unleashed 17cm (6.6in) of rain in two hours across the north of the state. Authorities warn that Cyclone Owen could still reform offshore on Monday. Severe weather and flood warnings are in place.
In the US: There have been multiple earthquakes across Eastern Tennessee in recent weeks. A 4.4 earthquake was felt across East Tennessee and parts of Georgia and North Carolina on Wednesday. It was the strongest earthquake to hit Tennessee in 45 years. It was followed by a 3.3 earthquake and two other aftershocks. Two smaller quakes were reported on Thursday.
In Yellowstone National Park, the Steamboat Geyser broke a 54-year-old record when it erupted for the 30th time in 2018 last Saturday. The old record was 29 in 1964.
Satellite images revealed that Tehran, capital of Iran, is sinking at a rate of 10 inches per year.
Pestilence/Diseases
In Romania, the number of newborns diagnosed with a drug-resistant Staph superbug at a maternity hospital has risen to 39, triple the number from last month. It’s not clear how this outbreak began but poor hygiene standards are suspected. The government-run healthcare system in Romania is awful.
The much-feared spread of the highly contagious Ebola virus from rural regions of the Congo to larger cities and across the border into neighboring countries may be coming to pass. The CDC reports that the current Ebola outbreak is occurring in the worst of locations: provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, which are heavily populated, trade heavily across the border with Rwanda and Uganda, and are experiencing a “deteriorating security situation” due to a violent and chaotic insurrection. Todd Strandberg reports on concerns regarding this virus in his Nearing Midnight update on the Rapture Ready site.
Apostasy
There are a number of scriptures in God’s Word that warn against: covetousness (Luke 12:15), the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10; Hebrews 13:5), storing up treasures on earth instead of storing up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21), false prophets who exploit you in their greed (2 Peter 2:3), and those who put on a show of godliness as a means to financial gain (1 Timothy 6:5). “Prosperity preaching” is absolutely rampant these days. You cannot serve God and money (Matthew 6:24). Leaders in the church are not to be lovers of money (1 Timothy 3:3). Two of many examples of such are below:
Joel Osteen gave a sermon this week in which he encouraged people to break ties with people that aren’t advancing to the next level. He said God wants you to attach yourself to someone who is higher up than you so you can benefit from their blessings. He’s certainly benefitted from the people who donate to his “ministry” with his lavish lifestyle, including a 10.5 million dollar mansion.
A former pastor at Osteen’s Lakewood church, John Gray, who now has his own “ministry,” just bought his wife a 200,000 dollar Lamborghini.
The Church of England is encouraging its clergy to create baptism-style ceremonies for transgenders to welcome them into the Anglican faith and advises them to refer to transgenders by their new name and present them with gifts such as a Bible inscribed in their chosen name, or a certificate. (It’s one thing to witness to them; it’s quite another to teach them that their lifestyle is acceptable to God. That’s not helping them at all—far from it, and it speaks volumes about the state of this church).
Vatican villainy: expose us and we’ll expose you? In Australia, a court has reportedly convicted the Vatican’s finance chief, Cardinal Pell, of sexually abusing two choir boys in the 1990s while archbishop of Melbourne. He’ll face a 2nd trial on charges that he sexually offended two boys while playing games in a swimming pool in the 1970s when he was a priest in the area. He was originally charged with multiple historical sexual offenses but most were thrown out. When tapped in 2014 to conduct a reform of Vatican finances, he met with much resistance but still managed to uncover vast sums of money not recorded in Vatican financial statements.
Dozens of local and federal law enforcement officers conducted a surprise search of the offices of the Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston looking for evidence in a clergy sexual abuse case. Fr. LaRosa-Lopez worked for the archdiocese for decades. The local archbishop, Cardinal DiNardo, who also serves as president of the US Catholic bishops’ conference, assigned him to work in a parish and appointed him as vicar for Hispanics despite knowing LaRosa-Lopez had been accused in 2001 of molesting a teenage girl. The priest was arrested after a second alleged victim came forward to the archdiocese and to police this year. While searching, multiple files alleging details of child abuse by priests were located by investigators.
The Pope proudly says the Qur’an is a book of peace because Islam is not a violent religion. Even a cursory reading of the Qur’an proves his statement to be false.
In India: Anyone who has researched Islam and has seen what goes on knows it’s a sinister ideology. But what about Hinduism where they worship multiple strange gods? As in Islam, women are held in very low esteem in India. “Bride burning” has been going on for hundreds of years but keeps increasing. The figure of 2,500 bride-burning deaths quoted in the linked article is too low. The figure is likely at least twice that amount. And the ones who do survive are horribly disfigured.
Before marriage, the families agree upon a dowry that the bride’s family generally will pay to the groom’s family. After marriage, the groom’s family threatens the girl and her family for more money. This leads to beatings, starvings, bride burnings, acid attacks, and leads some women to take their own lives. A woman’s caste or education level makes no difference regarding this practice.
Women in India also suffer from a widespread rape epidemic. Members of the so-called “untouchables” lowest caste class in India are also subject to discrimination, especially those who convert from Hinduism to Christianity. This also goes on in Pakistan in the Hindu culture. It occasionally happens with Hindus that migrate to other parts of the world, including the US.
Professing To Be Wise, They Became Fools
The NASA spacecraft Osiris-Rex has arrived at the Bennu asteroid, deemed a potential earth threat they say 150 years from now, but scientists believe it’s the bringer of life. They believe samples from the asteroid will allow them to test their theories that asteroids transport the necessary elements for life from planet to planet. As usual they choose names of false gods. Bennu is the ancient Egyptian deity linked with the sun, creation and rebirth. Osiris is the ancient Egyptian god of the dead and judge of the underworld. The word “rex” means “reigning king.” Guess they haven’t read Revelation which speaks of God’s judgment in the Tribulation:
“…a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood… and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters… many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter” (Rev. 8:8-11).
Nation (Ethnic) Shall Rise Against Nation (Ethnic)
South African political party leader, Andile Mngxitama, urged his followers at a rally to kill white people, saying, “We’ll kill their children, we’ll kill their women, we’ll kill their dogs, we’ll kill their cats, we’ll kill anything.” This inciting division is part of the Marxist ideology everywhere (though extreme in this case), in order to tear down nations and then rebuild them according to their plan. Marxists do this in a number of other ways besides this as well. The end goal of both Marxism and Socialism is Communism.
Ye Shall Hear of Wars and Rumors of Wars
Russia is allowing fighters from Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian Shiite groups operating in Syria to carry Russian flags in order to protect them from Israeli airstrikes.
Russia sent the corrupt government of Venezuela two bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons. US Secretary of State Pompeo said it amounted to “two corrupt governments squandering public funds.” Meanwhile, citizens of Socialist Venezuela are starving. The bombers flew over the Caribbean Sea during a training mission. The Russian Defense Ministry said they were escorted by Venezuelan fighter jets to practice interaction. Russia has decided to develop a long-term military presence in the Caribbean in conjunction with the Socialist nation of Venezuela, on one of its islands in the Caribbean Sea.
Two weeks after Russia fired on and seized three Ukrainian vessels in contested waters, satellite images show that Russia is consolidating its military forces in Crimea, which it took from Ukraine in 2014. As I said last week, Russia needs warmer waters to be able to constantly maneuver its ships for its intended purposes. And Bible prophecy tells us what those are.
A key meeting took place last Saturday between Iranian President Rouhani and officials from China, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey and Afghanistan. Rouhani used the meeting to attack the US, the West and Israel, accusing these countries of supporting terrorists (ridiculous). He used what was supposed to be a ‘counterterror’ meeting into a push for a new global order. Russia’s President Putin said the world is in a state of transformation, and he urged Russia not to lag behind. The growing relationship between Russia, Iran, Turkey, and China, etc., is concerning. But it does align with endtimes Bible prophecy.
Israel’s PM Netanyahu said Israel does not rule out military action inside Iran if necessary for its security.
A senior member of the Chinese military, Dai Xu, made remarks indicating that the Chinese navy should carry out violent responses to US ships in the disputed South China Sea waters.
The Lebanese army has begun mobilizing troops to the country’s border with Israel, claiming the Israeli military is operating on its side of the border. The IDF launched an operation to expose and neutralize cross-border terror tunnels dug by Hezbollah under the Israel-Lebanon border. The Israeli military issued a statement warning Lebanese soldiers and Hezbollah operatives against approaching the security fence or the tunnel grid. PM Netanyahu said, “If Hezbollah makes a big mistake and decides to hurt us or disrupt our efforts, it will receive a blow that it cannot even imagine.”
Days of Noah and Lot Returned
The Star-Telegram discovered at least 412 allegations of sexual misconduct in 187 independent fundamental Baptist churches and their affiliated institutions, spanning 40 states and Canada. And that’s just the Baptists. No doubt it’s in all of them in these last of the last days before Christ’s return.
In California, a group of Santa Barbara parents and teachers filed a complaint in US District court over a biased school curriculum that indoctrinates rather than educates students from Kindergarten and up to be anti-Caucasian, anti-male, and anti-Christian. They’re also teaching children that there are many genders. Similar indoctrination is rampant in the liberal-left education system for all ages all over.
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) released a statement condemning attempts to define gender as biologically determined at birth, insisting that the traditional position regarding gender has been “thoroughly discredited by over fifty years of feminist, trans, queer, and critical race research and by lived experience.”
Germany’s parliament voted to recognize a third gender for government documents. Its citizens can now be recognized as male, female, or diverse.
A new law in Australia could make it illegal in Tasmania to use the wrong pronouns for transgenders. The bill would also allow parents to choose whether or not their baby’s gender is included on their birth certificate and make it possible for citizens to change their gender on their birth certificate from the age of 16. The reforms will be considered by the upper house in March.
The Democrat Party has introduced a bill that would require the US State Dept. to make abortion “a basic human right.” Sponsors of the bill believe the US should recognize abortion as a universal human right, and push for it to be accepted around the world. President Trump has said that a child’s human dignity begins at conception. “We must always remember that all children are blessings from our Creator,” he said. “They are endowed from conception with value, purpose, and human dignity.”
All the insanity waged by the left against the appointment of Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court because they feared he wouldn’t support abortion was for naught. He and John Roberts voted with the liberals in deciding not to hear the case for Medicaid to defund Planned Parenthood over reports that they sell babies’ body parts.
The poster for the movie, “Once Upon a Deadpool,” makes a parody of a painting of Jesus’ Second Coming.
Hatred of God’s Covenant People, the Jews
Pro-“Palestinian” groups are claiming victory after their public backlash caused the Vermont State Police and the Northampton, Massachusetts, Police Department to pull out of a training seminar in Israel that teaches how to prevent or thwart terrorism.
Israel Unwired posted an article/video about the increasing terror attacks in Israel and what should be done about them, plus a video from a year or more ago showing Muslims in Germany chanting “Adolph Hitler” and giving the Nazi salute.
In the US where Jews have previously been safe, anti-Semitic acts soared last year by 37%, according to FBI statistics.
Anti-Semitism is getting worse according to a major survey of 12 EU countries. Hundreds of Jews questioned by the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency said they’d experienced a physical, anti-Semitic attack in the past year, while 28% said they’d been harassed. 40% of European Jews have considered leaving their countries over the past five years with 90% of Jews saying anti-Semitism has increased.
France is considered the biggest abuser of Jews. On Tuesday, 37 gravestones and a monument to Holocaust victims at a Jewish cemetery were sprayed with anti-Semitic graffiti, including swastikas.
Hatred of Christianity
United States: A Nativity scene that had been on display for the past 40 years has been removed from a public park in Woodland, Washington, after several complaints.
Chinese authorities are now targeting Christians more than they have in decades. 100 Christians who come from a church that bravely openly evangelizes were arrested this week in overnight raids.
In Italy, a 10-year-old girl launched a petition and won to get Jesus’s name put into a school’s Christmas song after it was left out so as not to offend others. However, they might as well admit that it was left out so as not to offend Muslims (who deny Jesus’ deity). They’ve never worried about offending Jews during the holiday, who’ve been in Italy for centuries, nor have Jews complained. It’s the Muslims who complain. Statistics show that once a Muslim population reaches a certain percentage, the trouble starts. And that percentage is low. Read this report from a book written by Islam expert Peter Hammond. Since the book was written in 2010, be aware that the percentages given are higher now.
Last Days Traitors
Former FBI director James Comey admitted under oath that the FBI never validated the (bogus) Russian Dossier that it used as an excuse to wiretap the Trump campaign. And they still hadn’t validated it when Trump fired Comey months later. Read the story from The Hill which is centrist but is said to lean more toward the left. However, leftism didn’t seem to rear its ugly head in this report.
New York Times bestselling author Jerome Corsi brought a lawsuit against special counsel Robert Mueller. Corsi alleges Mueller and his investigating team tried to coerce him to commit perjury in their unending attempt to destroy President Trump. A federal judge will hear the case after the holidays.
In Kentucky: The Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper partners with ProPublica, an investigative journalism outlet whose backers include George Soros. Kentucky’s Republican Gov. Matt Bevin said, “This is the same Courier-Journal, mind you, which, while it’s dying, continues to maintain that they are unbiased, that they are good journalists and that they are interested in transparency, and holding government accountable. Who’s holding the Courier-Journal accountable?”
Surveillance Society
Google is accused of having “programmed” bias against conservative views into its algorithms. Apple’s CEO who says he’s proud to be gay says the company will ban speech or news content it doesn’t like.
Islamic Terrorism has really ramped up in Israel.
A group of Israeli IDF reservists will file a complaint with the International Criminal Court in The Hague against Hamas and the “Palestinian” Authority for their use of human shields during their attacks. Hamas cares nothing for its own people; just their hatred of Israel.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist group’s deputy sec. general said the entirety of Israel is within range of Hezbollah missiles.
Israel’s IDF fired warning shots across its border with Lebanon to stop an infiltration. It has now uncovered a third Hezbollah attack tunnel. This was the first instance of gunfire along the border since the IDF began Operation Northern Shield last week to destroy Hezbollah tunnels.
Israel: Last Sunday, a car with “Palestinian” license plates drove up to a bus stop in Ofra, and the occupants opened fire at a crowd. A pregnant 21-year-old woman was left in critical condition, and six others also suffered injuries. Her baby had to be delivered (10 weeks early) but has since died due to multiple injuries from the attack. Hamas cheered the terrorist attack as they do all of them.
Wednesday night, Israeli security forces conducted a series of raids in Ramallah to find terrorists responsible for last Sunday’s shooting. At least four suspects were arrested, including those from previous terror attacks. Ofra shooting suspect Salih Omar Barghouti was shot dead after troops said he tried to attack them and escape. Hamas later claimed Barghouti as a member. Asraf Naalweh was also killed while trying to escape. Naalweh had been on the run after killing two Israelis and wounding another in October.
A gang of men took to the streets on Wednesday night, trying to attack the IDF in Ramallah as they were hunting down the terrorists; they were driven back with tear gas and rubber bullets. The Israeli military is still on a manhunt since they say that some terrorists may still be at large from the Ofra shooting.
From Israel Unwired: There were four more terrorist attacks in Israel on Thursday. A “Palestinian” gunman opened fire at a bus stop along the same Route 60 highway, killing two Israeli soldiers before fleeing. Two others were wounded: a 16-year old girl and another soldier who is in critical condition in a coma.
A Muslim terrorist ran through the Old City of Jerusalem and stabbed a Jewish civilian. The terrorist then ran to stab two Israeli border policemen who shot and killed the terrorist. Both of the border policemen were lightly injured.
Later that day, there were two car-ramming attacks that thankfully only lightly injured the Jews who were attacked. Jews across Judea and Samaria mainly, as well as in Jerusalem, took to the streets to protest, claiming too little is being done, saying that the Israeli legal establishment stops all the laws necessary for the State to properly stop terrorists and make them truly pay for their terror.
On Friday, a “Palestinian” man stabbed an Israeli soldier and bashed his head with a rock, critically injuring him. He appears to be improving, and the terrorist is now in custody.
Iran’s president is threatening the US, saying that it will be flooded with “a deluge of drugs, asylum seekers, bombs and terrorism” due to its sanctions against Iran.
The terrorist attack in France is discussed in the upcoming Global Agendas section.
Do Not Divide God’s Land
Mohammed Dahlan, considered one of the candidates to succeed the ailing Mahmoud Abbas, is strongly committed to Fatah and believes (PLO/PA terrorist) Yasser Arafat was a great leader. He proposes a one-state solution, establishing a joint state for Israelis and “Palestinians” with Jerusalem as its capital, “belonging to both nations.” “Our bigger dream is, of course, an Independent Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza,” he said.
The Australian government expects to announce that it recognizes West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel on Saturday, but it also will be dedicated to recognizing a future state of Palestine with its capital in East Jerusalem.
The Trump administration’s peace proposal may be delayed until March or April as it trains new staff on a team dedicated to the coming diplomatic effort. Good. Let it keep being delayed till the rapture. We don’t want the US involved in dividing God’s land.
Global Agendas and Their Consequences
United States: New Jersey: Four individuals in the US illegally who have Interpol warrants based on crimes they committed in their home countries were among 105 foreign nationals taken into custody during a five-day operation that targeted at-large criminal aliens, illegal re-entrants and other immigration violators. Of those arrested, 80% had prior criminal convictions and/or pending criminal charges.
A migrant group from Central America is demanding Trump either let them in or pay them each 50 thousand dollars each to turn back. They’re also demanding they be processed through the asylum system more quickly and in greater numbers, as well as for deportations be halted.
Approximately 280 migrants from Central America have been arrested by police in Mexico’s border city of Tijuana in recent weeks. The arrests are connected to drug possession, public drunkenness, and now “breaking and entering” into homes.
President Trump said if Democrats don’t approve the $5 billion he wants to build the border wall, he’ll have the military do it.
Think sex trafficking by migrant gangs is just in Europe? Think again. In North Carolina, a man with a Muslim name, Rahim Nader-Fayez Olabi, who has tried to groom young teens in Raleigh, was caught in a routine traffic stop trying to transport a 13-year-old girl across state lines after talking to her on social media. Last year Raleigh parents had complained that he was contacting their children to join a youth club without parental permission. He’s been charged with kidnapping and statutory rape. The policeman is thankful to God that he made that traffic stop after Olabi acted suspicious and made an illegal lane change.
Finland: We heard about the Muslim gangs in the UK (some of whom were recently convicted) grooming and raping girls as young as eleven. They were often picked up in their school uniforms. Now a gang has shown up in Oulu, Finland, raping girls as young as ten.
The UN Global Migration Pact passed this week to a several minutes long applause. There has been strong criticism of this pact over the past few weeks, and several countries withdrew. But criticism came too late. The agreement promotes more migration and restricts the national sovereignty of states. It makes no distinction between refugees and illegal migrants, and migration is made a human right.
In Ottawa and Alberta, Canada, people turned out to protest against the UN Open-Borders Migration Pact. In Ottawa, dozens of violent Antifa leftists also turned out to attack them; Antifa also attacked police.
France: The globalist Emmanuel Macron is out of touch with the people with his Jupiterian rule, and his high carbon taxes to “save the planet” (a global government ruse) are further impoverishing France’s citizens. Yet he recently donated 8 million euros (20 million dollars) to the so-called “Palestinian” government’s 2018 general budget, which is nothing but a terrorist organization bent on destruction of Israel. Macron backed down a bit this week, but citizens believe it’s too little too late. The yellow vests are out in the streets protesting again this weekend, the fifth one in a row.
Eleven generals, an admiral and colonel, and former French Minister of Defense Charles Millon warn that Macron’s signing the UN Global Migration Pact strips France of even more sovereignty, providing an additional reason for “an already battered people” to “revolt.” They’re accusing Macron of treason for signing the migration pact without putting it to the people.
Belgium and Netherlands: Yellow vest protests have now spread here. Police used pepper spray on a group of protesters who tried to break through a barricade blocking access to the European Parliament and the European Union’s other main institutions. Unlike France, there are no higher fuel taxes there. The people say they’re unhappy with government policies.
Sweden: Swedes are now beginning to unite in protest for the same reason as Belgium and the Netherlands (although peacefully so far). One said, “The government is not there for the people. It is there to protect its own interests.”
France: Islamist terrorist Chérif Chekatt (who has 27 convictions in his criminal record, mostly in France but also in Switzerland and Germany) shouted “Allahu Akbar” (means “Allah is greater” not God is great as the media constantly claims) as he fired at Christmas shoppers, killing three and wounding 13 more in Strasbourg, half of them seriously. He’s since been killed in a shootout. French police say he was one of 12,000 ‘gangster-jihadists’ who existed under the radar. Of the 20,000 currently on a watch list, only a dozen are believed to be under constant surveillance. Chekatt had been watched in a “relatively serious manner.” Apparently not seriously enough.
From Israel Unwired, speaking of the terror attack in Strasbourg and the thousands of jihadists: “This is the result of open immigration policies in France over the last few decades. It is not only about Muslim terror. Any policy which allows a free flow of people into a country will deal with the negative ramifications for generations. So, how does one keep the problematic elements out? A fence. A wall, or whatever works. But, it is crystal clear today that nearly all of Europe is now a danger zone for the worldwide terror that has spread from other parts of the world.”
People have finally begun to wake up to the sinister policies of the globalist agendas, but too many allowed it to happen and get this far; now it’s too little too late. Global governance will take over; that we know. And it won’t end up to be the global peace and safety utopia that is promised. Let us pray that it won’t progress any further toward its inevitable conclusion until after the rapture.
“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. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness… For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:3-9).
“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6).