Jan Markell

A Lamp Shining in a Dark Place By Jan Markell

Published on: by RR7
We are just off our 23rd conference we call “Understanding the Times.” I began these in the spring of 2002. I had no idea what to expect! I had introduced some interesting people on my weekly radio program that began in 2001, but back then it did not have the reach it does today. Would people turn out to hear about current events and end-time issues spoken of by men like Chuck Missler and Bill Koenig, who I featured in 2002?
The short answer is yes!

The first year, 1,500 people showed up and they were eager to learn! I could not believe I was looking out at an overly-packed church sanctuary. That began a new emphasis in my life and ministry servicing what I call today “remnant believers.”
On Saturday, September 21 of this year, our “Understanding the Times” conference event drew almost 4,000 onsite attendees, over 12,000 live streamers, and a YouTube audience that in two separate postings will soon hit 300,000 viewers. We had attendees from 45 states, six Canadian Provinces, and foreign countries including Austria, the UK, Guatemala, New Zealand, and more.
Here are my take-away thoughts with which I think you will identify:
  • Because many remnant believers feel alone, they will travel across the country and across oceans to be with the like-minded.  They sense that what they believe isn’t odd as suggested by friends, family, and their church. In fact, what they believe is biblical.
  • They have not left traditional, mainstream theology and a biblical, eschatological perspective on the world. The church has left the building. They have not.
  • Too many today are focusing on their best life now! Remnant believers, and particularly those who attend these events, are looking to their Heavenly home, to reunions with loved ones, and to leaving earthly cares and heartaches behind. For this they are put down.
  • Meeting others who have an eternal perspective reassures people that they are not off-base as many have suggested. In fact, being Rapture-ready is the wise thing to do, not a foolish endeavor! Being with like-minded reinforces that.
  • Meeting the like-minded assures people that they are not the only ones who are are shut down, put down, scolded and ostracized, even by loved ones, just for believing the truth.
  • All are comforted when they realize that others are also put down, even though they have the truth and the naysayers are clueless! Others are dealing with hostility to the truth — even from fellow believers.
  • Frustrations can be shared: Tuned-in people have the truth, know we are in critical times, know time is running out, yet few will listen. They are not alone.
  • Most realize that as recently as a decade ago, their church was solid, talked about important issues of the day, and considered end-time issues relevant.  Now, few will listen, and response is even hostile. What a comfort to find out at such events that they are not alone. Friendships for life are formed.
  • It is NOT just your church that is focusing on seekers, believing that making people Rapture-ready will result in fear, division, and members fleeing. The church right BEFORE the Rapture will be Laodicean. This is an around-the-world phenomenon.
  • There are others who believe this is our only hope in hopeless times! We have the ultimate victory and are not destined for wrath.
2019 Understanding The Times Conference - Olive Tree Ministries
View 2019 Understanding The Times Conference 2019 on YouTube
One post-conference e-mailer wrote, “It is so wonderful to know that I am not alone in awaiting the blessed hope. Yet I have not one believing friend with whom I can rejoice and wait. Were it not for YouTube, I would not have access to all the like-minded truth teachers. Thanks for all you do, Jan.”
 

The Bible says Bible prophecy is a lamp shining in a dark place (II Peter 1:19). That light should not be extinguished! It gives hope, encouragement, and helps us fight the good fight. It reminds us God is in control, that He has a special plan, and that He keeps His promises. It helps us live holy in an unholy age.

This is hardly controversial. In fact, it is our hope in hopeless times. We have the ultimate victory. We are not destined for wrath!

We are living in the most significant time in history and the most prophecy fulfilling days — with the least amount of interest in them. Our assignment is to be “watchmen” (Ezekiel 33). We’re to be sounding an alarm whether anyone listens or not.

Trouble is ahead. Time is short.

The nations of the world seem to be moving by a hidden hand into exactly the right positions on a global chess board. Amazing things are happening right before our eyes.

Because of that, we must not be silent.

And don’t be discouraged. In Jesus’ day, a remnant changed the world.

Under a Spell: Part 2 :: By Jan Markell

Published on: by RR7

A few years ago I wrote an article about the loyalty the Jewish people show to the Democrat Party. I titled it “Under a Spell” because they truly are. I watched this spell among my own Jewish family members who all came from Minnesota’s Iron Range west of Duluth, MN.

At one time there was a substantial Jewish population in northern Minnesota as they escaped all the anti-Semitism in the bigger cities, particularly Minneapolis/St. Paul where Jews were persecuted and marginalized until more recent decades.

The History

In the 1940s, the Jews overwhelmingly supported a President who was their enemy – Franklin Roosevelt. Over 90% of Jews voted for him in 1944. He looked the other way to the evils of the Holocaust. He could have saved hundreds of thousands if American troops just would have bombed the railroad tracks going to the camps.

Roosevelt had no interest in intervening.

God removed him from the presidency before 1948, as he would not have voted for the independent State of Israel.

Many Jews voted for two anti-Semites – Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama. No two U.S. Presidents did more damage to Israel than these men – yet they got the Jewish vote by and large, though the Jews grudgingly voted for Carter!

Today’s Insanity

Today, we have two Muslim Congresswomen, Ilhan Omar from Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib from Michigan. Ilhan Omar is a shady character at best and would delight in the destruction of Israel, but many Minnesota Jews voted for her! I know because I live here! It makes no sense. Isn’t it time to move on to someone who does care for the Jews and Israel??

Many Jews in Congress were outraged that Representatives Omar and Tlaib were banned from Israel recently. Some, such as Sen. Chuck Schumer, Jerold Nadler, Elliot Engel, and others, were vocal about this. Liberal values came before the cause of Israel and her safety and prosperity.

Prominent Jewish organizations also scolded Israel for this decision, including The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), The Jewish Federation of North America, the Anti-Defamation League, and the American Jewish Committee.

I was present a few years ago at a local AIPAC meeting that featured another Muslim, Keith Ellison. What is a Muslim doing at ANY Jewish gathering?? He was celebrated that night with cheers. Ellison wants Sharia Law in Minnesota and other states! Yet Minnesota Jews were among those who voted Ellison in as Minnesota’s Attorney General.

Over 70% of American Jews voted for Hillary Clinton rather than Israel’s greatest Presidential friend, Donald Trump. They overwhelmingly voted for Bill Clinton in the 1990s.

So How Do We Make Sense of This?

  • Just as Evangelicals are taught to embrace candidates with more biblical principles and worldviews, Jews are taught to value the underdog in life – the persecuted, the minority, the downtrodden, the helpless. They have been told that only the Democrat Party can do that effectively. Since THEY are a minority, they must stand with other minorities who might be misunderstood, persecuted and marginalized. They haven’t learned that government only makes things worse.
  • Many Jews just lack a loyalty to Judaism and Israel. They actually have MORE loyalty to liberalism than to the Jewish State or their heritage. These are inconveniences.
  • Most often their grandparents fled from Socialist nations that were oppressive, yet leftist politics seems to remain in their DNA.
  • Israel was founded on Socialist principles. That is why President Eisenhower was not a friend of Israel, as his focus was defeating Socialism and Communism. He felt that Israel’s Socialism would end up in Communism eventually.
  • The Jews remain in spiritual blindness. Does this blindness bleed over into other areas? Perhaps. They cannot even see the Messiah in Isaiah 53. But Paul wouldn’t give up on the Jews, and neither should we!
  • Today, many Jews are secular and not religious. Secularists have no loyalty to traditional marriage, pro-life causes, religious freedom, etc. The result is their affinity for the Democrat Party and liberal values.
  • There is the perceived mistreatment by the Jews of the Palestinians, which drives some Jews away from conservatism and any identity with the “religious right.”
  • More religious Jews and Orthodox Jews have voted Republican consistently.

It Is Not Just the Jews Who Are Blind

The blindness of the Jews has already been referenced here, but it is not just Jews who are blind today. Much of the world cannot see truth. Even church members are blind to the signs of the times breaking all around us! Most Christians are focused on earthly interests, lacking the eternal view.

Those who see the truth and love the truth are few in number, be they Jew or Gentile! I call the real truth-seekers today “remnant believers.” 

And, I continue to pray that their numbers increase!