The Great Whore Devours the New Atheism Movement

About seven years ago, it was proclaimed by the mainstream media that we were living in the age of a “New Atheism.” The New York Times bestseller lists had about a dozen books on the subject. Atheist meetings were popping up all over the country, and major celebrities were coming out of the closet—to proudly declare their lack of faith in a deity.

The movement had strong leadership: Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett. They became known as the “Four Horsemen of the Non-Apocalypse,” an obvious mocking reference to the biblical Four Horsemen from the book of Revelation. Dawkins was the science guy, Hitchens was the debater, Harris was the politician, and Dennett was the philosopher.

The New Atheism movement reached its pinnacle on March of 2012 with a Reason Rally in Washington D.C. On that cold rainy day, around 25,000 people were in attendance. The purpose of the rally was not really clear. It was mostly driven by the idea of having the “largest secular event in world history.” Who am I to spoil this alleged milestone; but a million people watching the ball drop on New Year’s Eve seems like more of a secular event to me.

Over the past four years, I’ve been greatly amused by watching this fledgling empire of Christian disbelief collapse under its own weight. The first sign of trouble was the lack of follow-up to their core anti-God message. Books likeThe God Delusion, God Is Not Great, and The End of Faith sold well by laying out all the old standard arguments that God is a meanie.

When these same authors published follow-up books that talked about the wonders of the universe and science, the public showed very little interest.

The greatest problem with the New Atheism movement is this: When you take God out of the picture, mankind will seek to deify himself. The new atheists fail to notice that our species is doomed to be under some form of “religion.”

The first group to invade the New Atheism movement were radical feminists. They demanded that sexism awareness should become a key part of the movement. They caused numerous splits by introducing the idea that a person can only be a feminist or a chauvinist. Someone defined radical feminism this way: “It’s no longer about the legitimacy of women’s original complaints, but the inherent injustice of their proposed solutions.”

The equality flood gates were turned wide open when the LGBTQ folks added their grievances to the roster of every New Atheism meeting. As the New Atheism ideals became overrun with people who had their own special agendas, the result was a movement that had very little to do with secular humanistic values. The best example of this mess is the Code of Conduct for the 2016 Reason Rally attendees:

The Reason Rally Coalition does not tolerate harassment of or by participants in any form. Prohibited conduct may include—but is not limited to—harassment related to gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion, sexual images in public spaces (not related to convention sessions or materials), deliberate intimidation, stalking, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.

The 2016 Reason Rally took place June 4th on the Washington D.C. mall, and it only had around 2,000 people. Since 20,000 people visit the area each day, there is no telling how many tourists unrelated to the rally were counted as attendees. The cost of the event was $1 million; which comes to $500 per person.

The organizers of that Reason Rally would have suffered an even deeper embarrassment if the D.C. police hadn’t blocked efforts by Christian groups to proselytize to the atheists at the rally.

Author, Ray Comfort, had registered about 1,000 fellow Christians to join him at the Reason Rally to hand out copies of Comfort’s new book, and $25,000-worth of Subway sandwich gift cards to non-believers “as a gesture of Christian love.” Since the Rally turned out to be a huge bust, Comfort’s army of Christians would be hard pressed to give away all the gift cards.

I think there is a prophetic reason why atheism has fizzled out. Bible prophecy warns that the Tribulation hour will see the rise of the “great whore” religion that will join together all faiths. Since atheism doesn’t fit in with the diversity wave that has every “ism” group singing in one giant choir, it’s being devoured by the coming harlot church. The rapid evaporation of the New Atheism movement is a strong indication that the scarlet woman is putting on her make-up and about to make her debut.

“And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Revelation 17:1-5).

–Todd

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Rapture “Mystery” Revealed

With so much controversy involving the topic of the Rapture boiling today, I thought it good to look a little closer at that event internally. That is, it might prove interesting to examine the Rapture within the Pre-Trib view to look at a divide that exists.

Mostly, preachers don’t want to address prophecy or, in particular, the doctrine of the Rapture at all. Since the call of Christ to His Church is next on God’s calendar of events, in the view of Pre-Trib proponents, ignoring this great promise of rescue from human history’s most terrible time is something that both baffles and disturbs.

We who are familiar with that great future event know, at least cursorily, the differences within the various views of when the Rapture will occur. Whether it will happen Post-Trib, Mid-Trib, Pre-Trib, etc. is sometimes hotly expressed by the various proponents. However, the vast numbers of preachers in America’s pulpits today would tell you that the Rapture is a mystery to them, as is most of Bible prophecy.

Indeed it is a “mystery” to them, because they never have opened their Bibles with the thought toward looking into the Rapture–the very thing Paul said is a ” mystery” he was showing us–that is, showing believers. They like to use the joke: “I’m a Pan-Millennialist. I believe it will all just pan out in the end.”

Again, it isn’t the hot debate between the Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib, and Post-Trib views of the Rapture I wish to address. To me, the debate is over. The Pre-Tribulation view is the only one in total context of what the Bible says about that great promise that rings true–that makes sense. Paul’s “mystery” unveiled, from the Pre-Trib perspective, is what I hope to dissect a bit.

The Scripture, of course, that sets up this great event is as follows:

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

Paul says he is presenting a “mystery.” That is, he is dealing with an heretofore unknown matter–unknown to (not understood by) believers in Christ. And this “showing” of this “mystery” is the nuance of truth I wish to examine within the Pre-Trib view of the Rapture–the view I’m convinced is the one the Bible presents through Paul’s unveiling of this most important doctrine.

The seminaries within fundamentalist-evangelical Christianity hold mostly that the Rapture was never dealt with in anyway whatsoever until Paul “revealed” it. The most academically inclined among these will tell you that this “mystery” was never alluded to in the Old Testament. They go on to say it was never mentioned in any way by Jesus and the prophets. It is, they say, only in the Pauline epistles that the Rapture is unveiled.

I believe this is untenable, except by those who refuse to consider that Paul was “showing” the mystery–the mystery of the Rapture that had already been made manifest. He was explaining it, not just pulling it out of the hat for the first time. Paul was unveiling the Truth about what Jesus, Himself, indeed had alluded to as given in the Gospel accounts.

The first mention of this “mystery”–the Rapture–by the Lord we look at was recorded by John:

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1-3)

Jesus said that He will “receive” us to Himself, exactly like Paul reveals in 1 Corinthians 15:51 when he says we will be changed–transformed–for flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15: 50). That translation into Christ’s presence Paul further unveils in the following prophecy:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:7)

The next words of our Lord about this “mystery” Paul is “showing” us is found in the Gospel of Matthew–in what is known as the Olivet Discourse:

But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. (Matthew 24:36-41)

Jesus further gave prophecy regarding that future, catastrophic break-in on human history as recorded in Luke 17:26-30. I think it is unfortunate that the most purely academic among fundamentalist theologians within the ranks of Pre-Trib Rapture proponents can’t see Jesus’ “mysterion” mention of the Rapture in the Gospels–the “mystery” Paul is plainly unlocking for understanding for all believers.

I believe that we are very near the moment of being the generation of believers who will be beneficiaries of that twinkling-of-an-eye moment when the Lord shouts, “Come up here!” (Revelation 4:1).

–Terry

The Rapture Barrier

The granddaddy of all questions related to Bible prophecy is this: “When is Jesus coming back for the Church?” Thousands of people have wasted their lives trying to calculate the unknown date. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t receive an email from someone who claims to know the date for the Rapture.

Jesus told His disciples that they would not know the hour of His return. Because the Lord repeated himself four times in the space of a few verses and added the story about the 10 virgins to illustrate the point, there can be no doubt the Rapture will be a surprise event.

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

“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come” (Matthew 24:42).

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

“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 25:13).

As we get closer to the Tribulation, it is likely that events related to Bible prophecy will be preempted by the Rapture. We know from (2 Thessalonians 2:4-7) that some type of removal needs to take place before the Antichrist can be revealed—so we won’t see him on the world stage talking about his idea for peace between Israel and the Muslims.

If all the world’s central banks laid out a plan for an economic system that would based on microchip implantation, Christians with the most basic understanding of the mark of the beast would know it’s time to start packing their bags.

The “think not” factor is the only explanation I can come up with to explain why so many situations around the world are now locked in a holding pattern. Here are five examples:

1. The Nation Debt Crisis

Most Western nations have a huge problem with deficit spending. Because it is so easy to spend now and pay later—the world is drowning in a sea of IOU debt. Japan has a debt bubble that has no historical comparison. The debt-to-GDP ratio is a mind-blowing 330 percent. At the moment, the Bank of Japan owns 35 percent of Japan’s government debt and at the current pace of buying it will hit 63.3 percent at the end of 2020.

The pattern set by 100 other nations, should have already caused Japan to experience hyper-inflation, causing the value of the Yen to plummet on currency markets. But for years now, the opposite has happened. Just last week, Japan announced it was unable to generate inflation. This financial miracle seems to have allowed the Japanese to endlessly print money without any consequences.

2. Third world Countries in Freefall

For the past several years, Venezuela has been in a continuous economic downturn. Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does. Right now, riots have become commonplace, and government food stores are empty of basic goods. A group of army members were so hungry that they stole several goats and butchered them for food. With people starving, you would think there would be a revolution. Brazil is another nation locked in a meltdown mode.

3. The Nationalist Parties Are Spinning Their Wheels

Another festering problem in Europe is the growth of nationalist political parties. Despite having frustration with illegal immigration as a natural ally—time and time again, these right-wing parties fail to grab power. The election occurs; yet they always come up short at the ballot box. Austria just had an election where Alexander Van der Bellen of the Green party defeated the Freedom Party. Van der Bellen had previously stated that he hates Austria. On two occasions, he compared the nation and patriotic citizens to fecal matter, and yet, he still won.

4. America’s Major Hurricane Drought

One odd holding pattern involves the tropical storms of the Atlantic. For some unknown reason strong hurricanes have stopped hitting the continental United States. This month marks a record 127 months since a major hurricane has made landfall in the U.S., according to (NOAA), which keeps data on all the hurricanes that have struck the U.S. since 1851.

The last major hurricane (defined as a Category 3 or above) to hit the U.S. mainland was Hurricane Wilma, which made landfall in Florida on Oct. 24, 2005. We set this record two seasons ago. What makes this calm even more mysterious is that during the last year records for worse ever hurricanes was set in four other regions of the world.

5. The Preservation of Key Christian Leaders

You can even get the sense of this holding pattern in the longevity of our top Christian leaders. Billy Graham’s daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, recently told a gathering of pastors that her father—the 97-year-old legendary evangelist’s vital signs are great, and there must be a reason why God is keeping him alive.

Lotz, who has previously said that she believes the Rapture will occur during her lifetime, reasoned that the fact that her father is still alive might have something to do with the return of Christ. This statement may be viewed as wishful thinking until you consider that the top names in prophecy such as Hal Lindsey, Jack Van Impe, and Tim LaHaye. They are each advanced in years and have all been at death’s door at some point in the last couple of years. A pattern of preservation, it seems to me, emerges.

This log jam of world events might just turn out to be a fluke. If, however, it is related to the Rapture, a resolution—that great Harpazoevent, almost certainly must be in the near future. We are already at the point where people are starting to wonder about the strange development of individual events that they see taking place. Any longer of a delay should make folks understand that it is the hand of God at work.

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

–Todd

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Peace Quest Continues

Today’s date of posting this “Nearing Midnight” article is the 72nd anniversary of D-Day. The allied forces on June 6, 1944, wanted to accomplish two things as they steamed toward the coastline of France. They were intent on defeating and destroying the Nazis’ ability to make war. Thereby, they were determined to establish peace that had been taken from the world on a global scale–primarily by the Germans–for the second time in less than a half century.

In reality, however, planet earth has never completely escaped–that is, has never been totally free–of war in recorded history. And, that includes the earliest biblical history. Cain first went to war with his brother, Abel, over jealousy that created rage that ended in the first murder. Man has been killing man ever since, with the slaughter continuing to manifest even on our city streets on a growing scale. I give you as example the streets of south Chicago on which during weekends in particular the black-on-black killing is horrendous.

The governmental authorities, both those in the city of Chicago and the present federal government, at whose heart sits the current presidential administration, hardly even acknowledge that a problem exists in the inner cities. The news conglomerate dutifully also ignores the deadly problem.

There is a satanic cover-up on the war that is raging, taking peace from life in America. The same forces covering up our domestic conflict are dedicated to the cover-up directed at keeping the world at large from knowing about the true causes and effects of the war going on in the Middle East. And, that conflict is destined to bring all of mankind to history’s final war of this quickly fleeting age. God’s Word tells us that it is the quest for such a peace that will eventuate in the most terrible time in human history. Jesus said as recorded in the Olivet Discourse that it will be a time so terrible that it would destroy all flesh on the planet if He did not return to put an end to the warfare.

Daniel the prophet said the peace that the world will seek will be indeed produced and enforced by the “prince that shall come” (Daniel 8:25; 9:26-27). It will be, the prophet Isaiah said, a covenant made with “death and hell” (Isaiah 28:15, 18). It all involves the Middle East, and, as I said, the news media, as well as our government–and for that matter, the governments of the world–refuse to even acknowledge the true causes and effects of the conflict that makes the quest for peace necessary.

This peace is in the making this very moment while you and I consider these matters in this commentary.

This quest for peace, as I and other prophecy observers have mentioned many times, is the number-one signal of where we stand on God’s prophetic timeline. We are watching God’s prophetic Word in the process of fulfillment, as we are seeing other prophesies in process of fulfillment. The Gog-Magog forces, for example, are coalescing; the religions of the world are beginning to amalgamate, agreeing that there are many ways to Heaven; the effort to establish one world order is on the move through Agenda 21, 30, and in other ways.

But, again, it is the desire for a Middle East peace, with Israel held up as the sticking point, that the world intensely desires. The world’s diplomatic community and the global news conglomerate refuse to hear or propose any narrative other than that which declares the tiny Jewish state guilty of holding up the peace process.

The following news excerpt proves the point, in my view.

The Arab league supported on Saturday France’s Middle East peace initiative and all international efforts to create lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, AFP reported… Speaking before the ministers, [Palestinian president Mahmoud ] Abbas said that the time has come to “mobilize Arab and international wills” towards creating a Palestinian state, however said in order to do so Israel would have to make serious policy changes. Abbas called for NATO forces to replace the IDF in the West Bank as part of any peace deal that leads to the creation of a two-state solution. He also rejected the idea of recognizing Israel as a Jewish state. (“Arab League supportive of French peace initiative,” JPOST.COM ,TOVAH LAZAROFF, 05/29/2016)

The pressures are great on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government to give in to world diplomatic insistence that Israel give land for peace. That is something, of course, God says will, when it eventuates, bring total war upon the whole world (see Joel 3:2.) This will be the cause and effect of that great, fearful conflict we have come to know as Armageddon. It will be the result of seeking a false, deadly peace, rather than that lasting and perfect peace that can only be instituted by the Prince of Peace.

–Terry