2019 Year in Review :: By Rob Pue

The new year is upon us. So before we get into 2020, let’s take a look back at what happened in 2019 — because I’m sure there’s a lot we’ve forgotten already. On January 3rd, Nancy Pelosi regained her power as Speaker of the House after Democrats regained control.

Those mysterious “booming” sounds continued around the world this year — accompanied by unexplained flashes of light. The booms often happen in the middle of the night and seem to be coming from underground somewhere, though there has been no seismic activity recorded. No one knows the cause of this phenomenon, but it continued worldwide in 2019, shaking homes and large buildings like an explosion.

It was also a year of harsh and violent weather. On January 7, California highways were closed due to mudslides, snow and flooding. Four days later, a blizzard hit Missouri and then went on to impact 1,500 miles of the United States, from Denver to Washington.

By mid-January, more than 35 million people were under weather alerts, and more than 100 million by January 19. Then on January 27, a rare tornado hit Havana, Cuba, causing severe damage. And yet another winter storm impacted 75% of the US on January 28. By the 31st, it was colder in Minnesota than Antarctica, with temps in some areas at -56 degrees below zero.

2019 was also a year of marches, strikes and demonstrations. On January 14, more than 32,000 teachers in Los Angeles walked off the job, and on the 19th, hundreds of cities were again flooded with protesters in “Women’s Marches,” which were highly focused on removing Donald Trump in the 2020 elections.

Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for his second term as president of Venezuela on January 10th, but most countries do not see his presidency as legitimate.

Islam continued its world-wide Jihad. According to the website TheReligionOfPeace.com, there were 1,721 Islamic terror attacks around the world in 2019, in 53 countries. These attacks killed 10,100 people and wounded another 10,499. If it be any consolation, this is less than half the number of Islamic attacks that occurred during Barack Hussein Obama’s last year in the White House…

Al Shabaab stormed a Nairobi hotel on January 15, killing at least 21 people. The attackers then committed suicide for allah. And on January 27th, two terrorist bombs went off in a church in the Philippines, leaving 20 dead and 100 wounded.

Monsoon rains in Australia caused severe flooding and destroyed more than 20,000 homes in February.  On the 8th, the governor of Washington declared a state of emergency after it was predicted the state was about to get its annual amount of snowfall in just one storm. By mid-month, more than 160 million Americans were under a winter weather watch or warning of some kind. On February 22nd, Flagstaff, Arizona, received a record snowfall of 36 inches. Tennessee called for a state of emergency on February 24th due to extreme flooding. And California broke THEIR flood records on February 28th, as many towns there essentially became “islands.”

On February 11th, public school teachers in Denver began their strike, following their comrades in Los Angeles. The drug lord Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman was found guilty on all charges on February 12th, and sent to a maximum-security prison in Colorado. On the 15th, Donald Trump declared a national emergency on our southern border.

On March 3rd, over a dozen tornadoes hit Alabama and Georgia, with almost no warning. On the 6th, at least 11 states passed anti-vaccination bills, requiring doctors to disclose more information regarding the risks of vaccines. On March 10, an Ethiopian Airline flight crashed shortly after takeoff, killing 157 people. The flight was especially full because it was carrying UN officials headed to the UN environmental summit in Kenya.

Weather forecasters called the March 13 phenomenon a “Bomb Cyclone.” This storm brought with it hurricane-like winds, blizzard conditions and hail. At least 70 million Americans were impacted. This was followed by massive flooding in Iowa and Nebraska.

Leftists protested President Trump’s executive order requiring universities to allow students to have free speech on campus or lose federal funding. Trump signed the order March 21st. The next day, Robert Mueller delivered his now-famous fraudulent report regarding Trump and his alleged “collusion” with Russia.

On April 1st, Colorado proposed a “red flag” bill, which allows guns to be confiscated from people who are deemed to be a threat to themselves.

On April 7th, record rainfalls in Iran led to flooding that killed at least 70 people there. Julian Assange, the founder of “WikiLeaks,” was arrested on April 11th in London. On April 15th, the Notre Dame Cathedral caught fire in Paris, causing massive damage.

And on April 21st, Easter Sunday, nearly 300 people were killed and hundreds more injured in an explosion at churches in Sri Lanka. The Islamic State claimed responsibility. The next day, a deadly earthquake hit the Philippines. And also in April, the US implemented a law banning “transgenders” from the military. Donald Trump stated that “transgender service members would cause tremendous medical costs and disruption.”

Two students were killed and another injured May 1st when a fellow student opened fire at the University of Charlotte, North Carolina. May 3rd: North Korea began testing short-range missiles. The teacher strikes continued in May… over a thousand walked out in Nashville on May 6th. Two days later, thousands of Oregon teachers went on strike as well.

On the 8th, Denver, Colorado, voted to decriminalize the sale and use of psychotropic “Magic Mushrooms.” And Alabama passed what opponents called “the nation’s most restrictive abortion ban.”  The bill states that abortions are now a felony in Alabama, with no exceptions.

On May 17th, Taiwan voted to become the first Asian country to legalize same-sex so-called “marriage.”  Not to be “outdone,” the “thought police” in Brazil made “homophobia” and “transphobia” a crime in May, punishable by imprisonment.

On May 21st, 19 tornadoes tore through four different states, wreaking havoc throughout the Midwest.  By May 27th, a record 3.6 million people were under a flash-flood warning and over 50 million under severe weather watches.

On June 4th, Los Angeles revealed it had the highest rate of homeless people ever. Meanwhile, it was reported that more than four million people had fled Venezuela due to severe poverty, homelessness and starvation caused by that country’s socialist regime.

Things got hot as summer began. Many cities on the West Coast saw triple-digit temperatures in record-breaking heatwaves, along with wildfires. The heatwave was world-wide. ANTIFA protestors clashed with police in Portland in June. On the 17th, Iran declared it would not comply with Obama’s nuclear “deal,” and three suicide bombers blew themselves up in Nigeria, killing 30 people and injuring 40 more.  On June 30th, Donald Trump landed in North Korea for talks with Kim Jong-un, marking the first time a sitting president did so. And also in June, Ecuador became the 27th country in the world to legalize same-sex so-called “marriage.” Northern Ireland followed in July.

On July 1st, four people were injured by a shooter in a mall in San Francisco. The next day, two were injured at a mall in North Carolina. On the 4th of July, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit Southern California. The next day, a 7.1 quake struck the same area. Heavy rains and flooding continued around the world, from Washington DC to France. Heatwaves continued here in the US, causing power outages in Wisconsin and New York.

Iran seized a British oil tanker on July 19. On the 26th, the US Supreme Court ruled to give President Trump 2.5 Billion dollars to fund the border wall. The same day, four people were killed and two wounded after a man went on a shooting spree in three Los Angeles neighborhoods. Wildfires continued to ravage the Western US, from Arizona to Idaho. Then on July 28th, an Islamic attack left 65 dead in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the sodomite “Pride” month of June became “Pride YEAR” as people celebrated homosexuality worldwide, and the perversion of Drag Queen Story Hour continued to spread all year.  It’s now being embraced by public libraries in at least 43 states.

The “Religion of Peace” continued its reign of terror in August with a Taliban bombing in Kabul on August 7; a shooting at a Norwegian mosque on the 10th, where multiple weapons were found being stockpiled at the mosque; an ISIS attack in Kabul on August 18, and a knife attack near a subway station in France on the 31st.

Here in the US, there were two mass shootings the first week in August: at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and a bar in Dayton, Ohio. On August 8, an illegal immigrant and felon went on a stabbing spree in California. On August 10, Jeffrey Epstein was mysteriously found dead in his prison cell. The well-connected Epstein was awaiting federal charges on human sex trafficking.

ANTIFA protests erupted once again in Portland on August 17. And there were more shootings in August: at a football game in Alabama August 30th and in West Texas on the 31st.

Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas in early September, leaving 70,000 people homeless there. Another Taliban suicide bombing took place September 17 in Afghanistan.

On September 25th, Leftists here in the US orchestrated the latest attempt to remove Donald Trump from office, by alleging Trump was guilty of some crime by calling the president of Ukraine to discuss the illegal “pay-for-play” deal of Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.

Another Islamic terror attack took place in Paris on October 6th. Meanwhile, here in the US, California cut power off from a million people in an effort to curb wildfires there. Heavy rain collapsed a dam in Siberia in October, killing 15 people… and flash floods caused chaos in Spain and Italy.

California banned all fur products on October 14 — no more fur clothing, handbags or other items allowed there. CHICAGO teachers walked out on strike on the 17th, affecting 300,000 students for 11 days. And four people died in Bangladesh October 21st when police fired into a crowd of rioters there.  The riot was sparked by an offensive Facebook post. And on October 26th, it was announced that ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi was killed in a raid by US troops.

Protests in Hong Kong took the lives of many throughout 2019, including one protestor who was lit on fire on November 11th. They were protesting inhumane treatment of Hong Kong citizens under Chinese rule. Another school shooting November 15th – this time in Santa Clarita, California. Five killed, along with the student shooter. Flooding ravaged Somalia, France and Italy; bushfires raged in Australia, and an earthquake rocked Iran in November.

On December 7th, a Saudi Arabian military officer in flight training killed three people at the Navy base in Florida. Al-Shabaab attacked a hotel in Mogadishu December 10th. On December 18th, the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump. The following day, Trump signed a massive funding bill — another $1.4 billion dollars, in order to avoid another government shutdown.

And New Zealand was once again in the news as a volcano erupted December 9. Then, on the 21st, citizens there handed over 56,000 guns to the government during what was called “New Zealand amnesty.”

As we head into 2020 now, I believe we are on the precipice of one of the most tumultuous times in history. In just 11 months, we’ll be looking at the 2020 presidential elections. Noting how truly INSANE the Leftists have become since Donald Trump took office, I think I can safely predict that we are in for extremely rough times, no matter WHO wins the White House in 2020. If Donald Trump wins, what we’ve seen so far will look like child’s play, because the demoniacs will go stark, raving mad. And if the Socialists take the White House, we had better be prepared for our country to be COMPLETELY made over in the image of Satan himself.

I advise everyone to prepare yourselves now, while there’s still time. Prepare physically and prepare spiritually. Only those who are ready and those who prepare, and those who stand firm ‘til the end – with Jesus Christ as Lord – will be saved. Stay strong in the Lord, even as the hearts of men fail them for fear as they see what is coming upon the earth. I pray you take my warning seriously.

—————————–

Audio CDs and transcripts of this message are available when you call me at Wisconsin Christian News, (715) 486-8066.  Or email Rob@WisconsinChristianNews.com and ask for message number 275.

The Holy Spirit :: By Sean Gooding

John 14: 25-27 “All this I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid.”

John 16: 7-8 “But I tell you the truth, it is for your benefit that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes, He will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because they do not believe in Me.”

Over the past two weeks as we headed into the Christmas time, we spoke about God the Father and then about Jesus, the perfect Christmas gift. Today I want to talk about the Holy Spirit. I grew up in a very conservative church and still pastor a very conservative church. And at times, in response to the abuse of the person of the Holy Spirit in other churches, I find that we conservatives, maybe not all of us but many of us, can become so protective that we almost stop talking about the Holy Spirit. Over the years I have been able, along with the work and study of other pastors, as well as with lectures in my current course of study, to come to learn and now to lean more on the Holy Spirit than ever before.

First of all, if you are saved, if you have accepted the free gift of salvation that Jesus paid for in His own blood, then you have the Holy Spirit living in you.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.”

This is one of the great mysteries of the New Testament believer that is a genuine treasure.

In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came and went on the believers. One of the only people that He stayed with for his entire life was King David. We see this in 1 Samuel 16:13. But we have the Holy Spirit in us, sealing us and securing us in Jesus until the Rapture or death will unite us face to face with Jesus.

When we consider the two sets of verses from John’s gospel that we quoted above, we will see that there are some great benefits to having the Holy Spirit here with us all the time. Let us look at these things together. This is very important.

One of the biggest issues of the last days is deception. Jesus told us in Matthew 24 that false christs will come. He warns us over and over not to be deceived. So, what John has to say to us about the Holy Spirit is relevant to us today, and especially we that are eagerly awaiting our Lord’s return, those of us that are looking and listening for the trump and the shout. We need to have the Holy Spirit in us to temper our enthusiasm and focus us on the right things.

In John 14, Jesus is having a conversation with His disciples, sparked from a question in verse 8 by Philip, asking to see the Father. Jesus promises them a Comforter, the Holy Spirit, and He is tasked with several jobs on our behalf:

The Holy Spirit is our Advocate. In his commentary on John 14, David Guzik offers this: “He will give you another Helper. Helper translates the ancient Greek word parakletos. This means a person summoned to one’s aid, and may refer to an adviser, a legal defender, a mediator, or an intercessor.”

The Holy Spirit is One who is beside us all the time. He is God’s presence with us, helping us. And make no mistake; He is God. The word for another in Greek is allen, meaning another of the same kind. Thus, the Holy Spirit is another just like Jesus; He, like Jesus, is God. Remember one of Jesus’ names at birth was Emmanuel which is translated God with us. When Jesus was leaving to go back home to Heaven, He left us the Holy Spirit to be with us, our Helper our Advocate who never leaves us, ever.

The Holy Spirit is our Teacher. If you want to know the answer, God will show you the answer. The Holy Spirit is there to teach us the truth. Notice, He will teach us all things. There is no area of life that stumps the Holy Spirit. He is never dumbfounded nor caught off guard. Open your Bible and ask God to show you. Seek and you will find God; you will find the answers; you will find what you need to do to change and to grow in the Lord and become more like Jesus. The Holy Spirit, if you listen to Him, will help you be a better man, woman, wife, husband, sibling, church member, pastor, servant, worker, and on we can go. He is here to teach us. Since God cannot lie and the Holy Spirit is God, He will only teach us the truth; thus, we are armed to spot counterfeit teachings, armed to recognizes lies and false teachers.

The Holy Spirit is our Reminder. When our kids leave the house to go out, my wife usually sends them off with “remember whose you are.” This is exactly what the Holy Spirit does for us; He reminds us whose we are when we are down, when we are tempted, when we are doubting, and when we fail.

Remember He is our Helper. The Holy Spirit also reminds us of what we have learned. All those verses that you read but you think they don’t stick, or all the sermons that you have heard but you think they were a blur, or all the devotions that you have done but you are not sure that you got it – the Holy Spirit is there to recall these things for you, to make you understand what that verse meant and how to apply it. But, remember He helps you recall; you have to be an active participant and read, study, attend church and lessons, and you have to listen to the Holy Spirit when He is speaking.

I heard a very famous preacher talk about being in an elevator once with two attractive young ladies who began hitting on him, and how the Holy Spirit helped him to recall verses about purity, faithfulness, and whose he was in Jesus. The Holy Spirit reminded him and equipped him to make the right decision.

The Holy Spirit is our Peace. The whole world wants peace, but they don’t want Jesus. Well, He is the very author of Peace. And, in His absence, He has sent us a Peacemaker just like Him to calm us in this hectic world. Notice Jesus says to the disciples “My peace.” It is His to give, and we have it in the Person of the Holy Spirit. The first kind of peace we have is security. In Ephesians 4:30, we are told that we are sealed until the day of redemption, referring to either the Rapture if we are living or the grave if we die before the Rapture. We are sealed by God with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13-14 tells us this,

“And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.”

The Holy Spirit is the pledge, the down payment on our salvation. He is the Guarantee of our salvation. We are called God’s possession in verse 14 above. There is peace in knowing we are God’s no matter what; we are in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is in us.

John concludes in John 14:27, don’t let your hearts be troubled; be calm, don’t be anxious, be at peace; God has you. In Romans 15:13, He is not just our peace but also our joy. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is God’s Power here. In the second set of verses we highlighted at the beginning, we are told that it is the Holy Spirit that convicts the world. We are not called to convince the people around us about the Lord, about salvation, or about Heaven or Hell. We are simply told to tell the whole world about Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit that does all the other work. What a burden is taken off of us. We are simply watchmen, responsible for making the alarm and warning the people. God will make sure, via the Holy Spirit, that they know about righteousness, judgement and sin.

The Holy Spirit prays for us. He prays for us and intercedes for us before the Lord.

Romans 8:26-27 “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”

Have you ever just called out the name of the Lord but you are at a loss for words? The Holy Spirit is there praying on your behalf. He takes your mumbled thoughts and turns them into words. He takes your hurt and translates them into words. He always prays for us within God’s will for us. Oh, what a prayer warrior we have in the Holy Spirit! We have not been left to our limited minds and finite vocabularies; no, no, no. We have God the Holy Spirit in His infinite wisdom praying for us.

Jesus promised that He would not leave us alone and friendless. No; rather, He has given us the Holy Spirit, God with us, to comfort, carry, encourage and correct us when needed. The Holy Spirit preserves us, prays for us and offers us God’s peace. We are constantly in the presence of God if you are saved. The Holy Spirit never leaves you, never abandons His post, never forsakes His calling, and never gives up on us.

We/I should discipline ourselves to listen more intently, obey quicker and be in constant gratitude that God would be mindful of us. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit: all One, all God, all Powerful, all here for us all the time.

I pray that as you and I enter this New Year, 2020, we will seek the power and leadership of the Holy Spirit in our lives, that we will bask in His peace no matter what the circumstances of life, and that we will our life in Him. He will never lead us astray and always lead us to truth and obedience.

God bless you,

Pastor Sean Gooding

Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca