Feb to April Donation Drive

As 2019 ended, I was stunned to reflect on 12 months where we lost such a huge chunk of our collective sanity. Currently, every major central bank around the world is printing vast sums of money and handing it out like there is no tomorrow, a giant meteor would have to crash into Asia to distract the liberal media from attacking Trump, and the Pope said Christians should forget about mission work and accept the fact that we live in a secular world. At some point in 2020, we are going to have to bounce off the bottom. If we continue the freefall, by November the world will look like a Mad Max movie.

Another indication of how bad 2019 was is the number of Christian leaders we lost last year. I ran across a list of more than a dozen names, but I thought four names really stand out. They will leave a void that is unlikely to be filled:

Reinhard Bonnke, founder of Christ for All Nations who was known for his large-scale evangelistic events held in Africa, died at age 79.

Phillip E. Johnson, a professor and author credited with helping to found the modern Intelligent Design movement whose book Darwin on Trial became a best-seller, died at age 79.

Charlie VanderMeer, popular children’s Christian radio personality, commonly known as “Uncle Charlie,” died at age 84.

VanderMeer hosted the “Children’s Bible Hour” radio ministry for decades, adding voices to scripts, reading poems, lessons, and Scripture during a global broadcast.

Warren W. Wiersbe, a prolific author and Bible commentator credited with influencing thousands of pastors, died at age 89. A native of East Chicago, Indiana, Wiersbe was ordained in 1951 and pastored multiple churches. He also wrote around 150 books, among them the “BE” series of expositional commentaries on Bible books.

This is going to be a very important year for all end-time ministries. The fate of Rapture Ready and our nation hang in the balance over how the November election goes. If the socialist Bernie Sanders is our new President, his field organizers are talking about very scary things:

@martinthemanic: “I’ll straight up get armed… I’m ready for the [expletive] revolution”; “Guillotine the rich”; ‘send Republicans to re-education camps.’ He praises Marxism, expresses hatred of Israel, law enforcement, & more.

Another campaign staffer spoke of sending American billionaires to gulags: “Let’s force them to build roads, re-build our roads, re-build our dams, re-build our bridges. Let’s force them to do that.”

Just to be clear, Sanders’ folks are advocating for the killing and institutionalizing of American citizens. During all previous elections, it would be impossible for a campaign worker to make this type of remark and not instantly get fired. It’s equally shocking that the press has turned a blind eye to all hate speech that comes from the left. The Apostle John’s warning that tribulation saints face martyrdom is quickly becoming a reality.

“…And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4).

The last quarter was our best period for viewer traffic in the past two years. When Trump dropped a bomb on Iran’s terror mastermind General Qasem Soleimani, a huge number of people flooded into the site to check to see if the tribulation had started. I hope the next spike in traffic is the result of people trying to figure out if all the reports of missing people are related to that site on the rapture. I highly encourage anyone who is still not convinced about this crazy end-time prophecy stuff to have RR saved in your bookmarks.

In response to social media sites blocking our access in search results, we have utilized ads to be the main connection point for new viewers. We get about 40,000 hits each month. We had to increase our ad budget three times last year to keep up with the tide of anti-Christian censorship. I expect this year to be even worse. Please help us financially to reach what I hope will soon be the end of our earthly mission.

There are three ways you can contribute to Rapture Ready: You can send a financial gift via our P.O. Box address, you can make a one-time donation, or there is a frequent option that allows you to make monthly donations. If you’re interested in signing up, find the input links on the Donation page. Donations can be sent to our P.O. Box at:

Rapture Ready
P.O. Box 969
Benton, AR 72018

–Todd

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Building toward Rapture

Listening to the news as I began my morning, the host of the morning program was lauding the Trump administration’s amazing accomplishments—despite the fact that President Trump is in the middle of only the third impeachment trial in the history of the nation.

The “wins” just keep coming for this president, the show’s host was saying. —Thus while he has faced the bitterest of attacks during his first three years since his inauguration.

Always, of course, I look at news while keeping in mind Bible prophecy. That’s what being a ”watchman on the wall” is all about.

The host said, after going through the many hate-filled, angry rages Mr. Trump has endured, “Construction is at a thirteen-year high.”

The declaration punched my “prophetic-observer” button. The Scripture recording what the Lord, Himself, gave about the very day of His next catastrophic intervention into the affairs of fallen man echoed in my still-awakening brain.

Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. (Luke 17:2–-30)

The word “builded” in the KJV, combined with the host’s word “construction,” is what triggered my thinking on the title of the commentary.

As I’ve written before and continue to believe, Jesus was, in this Luke passage (as well as in the Matthew 24:36–42 account of “the days of Noah and days of Lot” prophecy), foretelling an unusually robust economy at the time of His next intervention into this fallen world. That will be the Rapture of the Church, the calling of all believers of this Church Age into His presence.

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. (Revelation 4:1)

Every economic indicator suggests that the nation is at the moment in record territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average continues to build toward 30,000, having just the past couple of weeks hit the 29,000 mark.

Construction—building—is at a thirteen-year high, as the program’s host informed. Trade deals and other phenomenal economic trends, such as a coming explosion in agricultural exports (can you say “extraordinary planting”?) is in the offing. The economic uptick is stunning in its movement toward…toward what?

The escalation in the markets and most every other stratum of fiscal indicators continues. This is happening even though the underlying structure of the tremendous uptick is fatally flawed. The undergirding simply cannot, if reality prevails, support the weight of the multiple trillions of dollars that can never be found to match what is needed to resolve the debt that’s been accumulated.

So, what is the outcome? Toward what end is this untenable rising economy building?

A number of experts in finance and economy say there will soon be a reset, an adjustment of disastrous proportion. The great, economic structure being built will collapse under its own weight, bringing on a depression worse than that of the 1930s.

However, the highest-profile economic gurus—those seen on the most noted broadcast and cable networks—see no end to the build toward…again, toward what?

The facts about economic circumstance are like so many things in today’s daily news; they are both true and false. They are based upon perception and spin in many cases. This is because we live in a world where people would rather believe a lie than face truth.

When Jesus spoke about truth to Pontius Pilate just before the crucifixion, He elicited the answer that fallen mankind prefers: “What is truth?” 

Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou safest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. (John 18:38–39, emphasis added)

The sudden return of Jesus Christ is the truth about where this building economic bubble is leading. His return is truth that even many among professing believers in Christ deny to varying extents. I refer to those who mock the pre-Trib Rapture. They say, in effect, “Where is the promise of His coming?”

Again, about the prophesied economic uptick, Jesus said:

But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. (Luke 17:29–30)

Can it be that the unprecedented boom, at least in perception, means we’re building toward that stupendous moment of Rapture?

And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:28)

—Terry

 

 

Liberals Cheerleading for Iran

The Democrats are so fixated on getting Trump, they will now ally with anyone, even if it means siding with the terrorist state of Iran. Their motto is “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” After Trump ordered the drone strike on General Qasem Soleimani, the left was suddenly having friendly thoughts about a man who had helped kill 100s of American soldiers.

CNN had quoted Iranian President Hassan Rouhani as saying the United States committed a “grave mistake” in killing Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani; and US President Donald Trump responded on Twitter, writing that if Tehran attacks American assets, the US will strike “very hard and very fast.”

Some news sources spoke of the man as being quiet and loving poetry. His face gently frosted with a close-cropped white beard, his dreamy eyes seeming to shine with the recollection of a fond memory, he bears more than a passing resemblance to a mid-career Sean Connery, circa Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He was described as a unifying leader for the Iranian people. Soleimani was the architect of Iran’s sphere of influence across the Middle East, and was considered to be the country’s second most powerful man.

New York Times journalist Farnaz Fassihi has been parroting Iranian propaganda into the Western media following Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani’s death. Retired army intelligence officer Tony Shaffer and former CIA chief of station, Daniel Hoffman said some of her tweets were directly cited from anonymous Iranian sources. Shaffer said he believes Fassihi could be getting information fed to her directly from the Iranian government.

A stampede broke out at the funeral for Soleimani; at least 56 people were killed and more than 200 were injured as thousands thronged the procession, Iranian news reports said. The stampede took place in Kerman, the hometown of Soleimani.

A clearly leftist professor is no longer on staff at Babson College in Massachusetts after what he described as a “bad attempt at humor” in a Facebook post, in which he said Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei “should tweet a list of 52 sites of beloved American cultural heritage that he would bomb.” The professor suggested those targets might include Minnesota’s Mall of America and a home of the Kardashian family, among other locations.

There was an article on the Babylon Bee that got much attention. It mocked the Democrat’s weak tone on the killing of Qasem Soleimani. It was meant to be a work of 100% satire, but it could be seen as predictive of how insane the Democrats may become someday:

At a press conference held on Capitol Hill Friday, mourning Democratic leaders called for flags to be flown half-mast to honor the death of Qasem Soleimani.

Flags were spotted flying at half-mast around the country, notably at The Washington Post, The New York Times, and in front of several celebrities’ homes. The celebrities went out and bought an American flag for the first time just to fly it at half-mast for this important time of grief.

“The grieving process is painful but necessary,” said Rep. Ilhan Omar. “As a nation, we need to stop and grieve this great, austere, revered religious scholar. He was one of the good ones.”

In a rare moment of unity with The Squad, Pelosi gave each of the girls a hug, telling them to just “let it all out” in their time of sadness.

Ocasio-Cortez didn’t seem to know what was happening but adjusted her glasses to look smart.

A teary-eyed Barack Obama was also seen solemnly lowering the flag in front of his seaside mansion. “To think, this all could have been prevented with a few pallets of cash.” He sighed and stared off into the distance, a look of pain and regret on his face. “If only Trump had targeted a U.S. citizen with a drone strike instead.”

Later, Democrats clarified they meant we should fly the Iranian flag at half-mast, not the “offensive and problematic” American flag.

https://babylonbee.com/news/democrats-call-for-flags-to-be-flown-half-mast-to-grieve-death-of-soleimani

Democrats and the media are now blaming the US and Trump for the fact that Iran shot down a passenger jet. It should be clear to all that Iran’s lack of respect for human life is the main reason why those 176 passengers are now dead. If an Iranian soldier shot himself in the foot, the left would blame Trump.

We would not have this insane behavior on the part of the liberal media if people showed their outrage. Giving aid & comfort to the enemy is treason. CNN, ABC, CBS, and PBS might as well relocate to Tehran or Moscow.

I don’t expect any type of improvement on the part of the press. I think we are too close to the tribulation hour to allow for reform. When you have the liberal media willing to become chummy with one of America’s worst enemies, the end must be very near.

“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13).

–Todd

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God Is Still Awake!

A recent article in The Washington Post inadvertently mentioned it through an attributed quotation. Evidence forthcoming from the elimination of Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, the division of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), seems to validate it. As a matter of fact, every breaking-news story seems alive with it. Yet we who “watch” the unfolding of issues and events already know it in the deepest reaches of our spiritual hearts and minds.

The Word of God says it all: “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).

The Washington Post article said in part:

But as conflict in the Middle East intensified and natural disasters struck, some voices are taking the opportunity to offer biblical interpretations. Religious teachers and authors, especially some conservative Christians, often draw on these kinds of current events as examples of how various predictions and descriptions in the Old and New Testaments could be coming true.

Many of these religious leaders view actions in Iran, a Muslim-majority country, as playing a special role in these predictions, which usually focus on the apocalypse, or the end of days.

California-based prophecy writer Bill Salus told viewers this week on the show “Prophecy Watchers” that “Iran is the elephant in the room in the Middle East … he’s the bully.” Salus suggested on the show that God is angry with the current Iranian leadership and that Christians should watch recent events as likely to fulfill biblical prophecies.

“I really do believe this is going to lead to other things,” Salus said. “This is number one on my radar.” (Sarah Bulliam Baily, “Iran tensions could fulfill apocalyptic biblical prophecies, some religious teachers say,” by Sarah Bulliam Baily, Washington Post, January 10, 2020)

Bill Salus does seem to have a point that the evidence validates—at least to us who believe Israel’s God neither sleeps nor slumbers. God is awake and looks to be angry with the leadership of Iran.

The tragic, mistaken shooting-down of the Ukrainian 737 at the time of the missiles roaring toward Iraq in the attack on American assets certainly seems more than just coincidence. Some believe God’s hand is in the tragedy.

This begs the question: Is God a capricious God?

Does He look down from His heavenly throne room and say, “This will show them I AM’s anger?” Is He a volatile, mercurial, unstable, erratic being that acts in such ways?

Absolutely not. But, does He allow acts that bring to light the evil of earthly actors? Yes, absolutely.

The Almighty performed such enlightenment, some prophecy watchers believe, by allowing the world to see the Iranian regime’s dealings with the deaths of those many people aboard the commercial passenger jet. First, they tried to portray it as a probable mechanical failure, then as pilot error, and finally as caused by the American president for his killing of their second in command.

This, incidentally, is the same thing many within the Democrat party’s presidential candidates and much of mainstream news media held—that it was President Trump’s ordering the elimination of Soleimani that caused the accidental shooting-down of the airliner, ultimately.

The lie didn’t work, just like most of the Democrat Party and mainstream news media’s lies haven’t worked.

The Iranian people arose in great numbers, showing they believe the oppressive, Iranian masters who rule over them were and are responsible for the ongoing problems they’re suffering.

It seems that Heaven is making certain truth is told through the evil being perpetrated.

Another signal that this is the case is, I think, wrapped up in Iran’s avaricious determination to develop nuclear weapons so they can have total hegemony over all the Middle East, particularly Israel. —Also so they can threaten the rest of the world, if opposed in their evil doings.

It is more than interesting that at the time the missiles were being launched toward American assets in Iraq and the airliner was mistakenly shot down, the very region of Iran’s nuclear-development facilities we’ve been mentioning was shaken by earthquakes.

An earthquake struck Iran near the Islamic Regime’s Bushehr nuclear plant on Wednesday according to reports. The event happened as missiles were launched at Iraqi bases housing US troops.

A USGS quake map published two separate graphs southest of Borzajan — one at 7.50 am IST (10 km SE, magnitude 4.9) and another at 8:49 am IST (17 km SE, magnitude 4.5).

The chart reveals the respective locations of the earthquake’s epicentre and the town of Bushehr, which is close to the site of Tehran’s nuclear power plant. (David Sidman, “ Magnitude 5 Earthquake Near Iran’s Nuclear Facility,” January 8, 2020, Rapture Ready News, January 11, 2020)

It is the second 5.0 magnitude earthquake in the area in recent months.

Nothing takes place without Heaven’s notice. God is not an existential Creator. He is awake and aware. Let us, as “watchmen on the wall,” be the same in these closing days of the Age of Grace. Let us watch and forewarn.

And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch. (Mark 13:37)

—Terry