RIDING OUT THE STORM
Every week, we’re hearing things that make us wonder, how much worse can it get? We must remind ourselves that what we’re seeing was prophesied to occur in the last days, and it means we’re that much closer to the appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to take us out of this world.
As the late Jack Kinsella said in his article “I Thought I Saw it Coming” which everyone should print out and post on their refrigerator for encouragement as needed: “So, what are we to do as Christians? Our job. Be witnesses. Watch and observe and give the warning. You know, the Bible says that Noah preached for one hundred and twenty years and never made a single convert. But when the rains came down, Noah still got to ride out the storm in the ark.
“It is easy to become discouraged, frustrated and even angry. It’s natural. But it is part of a plan that the God of the Universe has not only let you in on, He has included you as a necessary part.”
And now for the news stories this week that we need to pray over as the world winds down:
Natural disasters: In Ellicott City, Maryland, at least half a foot of rain fell in three hours last Sunday, resulting in a catastrophic flash flood and marking the second 1 in 1,000 chance rainstorm to deluge Ellicott City in less than two years, this one even worse than before. Former National Guardsman Sgt. Eddison Hermond lost his life in a rescue attempt.
Read Geri Ungurean’s new article on the Rapture Ready site. It’s an exposé on Ellicott City titled “God Cancels Pagan Witches Meet-up in Ellicott City.”
Thousands of acres of land are ablaze in Colorado and New Mexico.
A series of powerful dust storms this week swept across Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Winds approached hurricane-force in eastern Iran. The storms lasted a rare 12 hours in some places. As many as 100 people were injured. Only a few weeks, ago a powerful dust storm in Iran was called “apocalyptic.”
In Hawaii, the eruption of the Kilauea volcano on the Big Island is spewing more than lava and ash. It is putting out 15,000 tons of volcanic fog (vog) daily. People living 2,300 miles away are experiencing vog blanketing the sky. “Everyone is having symptoms.” More mandatory evacuations are underway as the lava keeps spreading in what has now been four weeks of eruption with no end in sight.
Extreme weather: Storm Alberto is “the longest-lived Atlantic-named storm formed in May since 1953. Alberto’s heavy rains have been widespread; mudslides were reported, also scattered flooding in several states from Alabama through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, the Carolinas, Virginia and West Virginia. Five people are dead in North Carolina, and three are missing in Virginia.
Torrential rain fell across swaths of the UK, causing flooding and travel disruption with extreme thunderstorms.
In Columbia, communities have been affected by a series of emergencies which hit Colombia’s largest hydroelectric dam project. Tens of thousands of people living downstream from the dam have been evacuated due to landslides and flash floods.
In India this week, storms and lightning killed at least 47 people, the latest deaths from freak weather that battered the country, killing over 200 people in the month of May alone.
The Arabian Peninsula has been hit by two back to back cyclones: This past week, Cyclone Mekunu dumped several years’ worth of rain in one day in Oman and Yemen, leading to widespread floods. There were dozens of fatalities, and some people are still missing. The week before that, Cyclone Sagar hit Yemen with gusty winds, dropping a year’s worth of rainfall and causing deadly flash flooding that washed away bridges, homes, and thousands of farm animals. Then it hit Somalia, the strongest tropical cyclone to ever make landfall in Somalia in recorded history.
Pestilence: Five people have died and 197 from 35 states have been sickened by E. coli. The Arizona growing season is long over and it’s unlikely any tainted lettuce is still in stores or people’s homes. But there can be a lag in reporting, and reports of illnesses continue to come in. Many of the new cases were people who became ill two to three weeks ago, when contaminated lettuce was still being sold. Some said they did not eat romaine lettuce but were in close contact with someone who got sick after eating it.
In the US, Nashville, Tennessee has joined the growing list of locations that have had Hepatitis A outbreaks over the past year. That list includes places in Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Utah and West Virginia.
In Africa, the new outbreak of Ebola that began this past month has so far caused 25 deaths and 56 reported infections.
Hatred of Christianity: At West Prairie High School in Illinois, graduating valedictorian Sam Blackledge was refused any mention of Jesus in his speech. “The most important thing in my life is Christ,” he said. “Christ is the only reason I was a valedictorian. He’s the reason I got that 4.0. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be up there. I was giving Him the credit for that.”
At Colorado Mesa University, nursing graduate Karissa Erickson was told to remove references to Jesus as well as the Bible verse from her speech because “someone might get offended.” University officials made it clear there would be repercussions if she didn’t comply. The university reconsidered after being threatened with a lawsuit by Alliance Defending Freedom.
Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Travis Barham said the university has a fundamental misunderstanding of the First Amendment. “America’s Founding Fathers regularly opened public ceremonies with prayer, and federal appeals courts have consistently ruled that universities can do the same at their graduation ceremonies,” he said.
Here are Karissa’s remarks that she was told to remove, but finally got to say: “God always has a purpose. I find comfort in Jesus’s words, and I pass them on to you. John 16:33: ‘These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.’”
A British think tank argues that an heir to the British throne should make an oath to diversity in order to better represent modern Britain rather than the traditional promises to uphold Christianity.
Terrorism: In Belgium, a Muslim man just been released from prison snuck up behind two policewomen and stabbed them several times, then grabbed one of their weapons and shot them dead. He also killed a 22-year-old man and fled to a school where he was shot dead by police. Two police officers were injured in the exchange of fire. He shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ (Allah is greater) during the exchange.
From Clarion Project: Two groups, Muslim Advocates and Democracy Forward, are trying to suppress a terrorism report released by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. The report states that 73% of (3 out of 4 persons) convicted of international terrorism-related charges in US courts between Sept. 11, 2001 and Dec. 31, 2016 were foreign-born.
Attorney General Sessions said, “This report reveals an indisputable sobering reality—our immigration system has undermined our national security and public safety, and the information in this report is only the tip of the iceberg. We currently have terrorism-related investigations against thousands of people in the US, including hundreds who came here as refugees. Our law enforcement professionals do amazing work, but it is simply not reasonable to keep asking them to risk their lives to enforce the law while we admit thousands every year without sufficient knowledge about their backgrounds.”
Depravity: I’d advise everyone to read Todd Strandberg’s Rapture Ready article in the Nearing Midnight section titled “Muppets Go Hardcore.” It’s mind-boggling!
Admitted pedophile, Nathan Larson, who is a convicted felon and who spent over a year in prison for threatening to kill President George W. Bush, is legally able to run for Congress (and is doing so) in Virginia this year due to a 2016 decision by Democrat Gov. Terry McAuliffe to restore voting rights to thousands of felons. McAuliffe’s plan was to fast-track giving 70,000 felons voting rights during that election year, but he was told he had to go case by case. Still, he managed to restore 13,000 very quickly.
We knew the floodgates would be open once the world began to officially approve of immorality. Larson wanted to have sex with his 3-year-old daughter; thinks it’s okay to kidnap a girl for sex slavery; raped his ex-wife; believes women should be property; and regards Hitler as a hero. He had disgusting websites up at one time.
In the UK, over 2,000 children were referred to the National Healthcare Service’s (NHS) gender identity clinic in the past year, prompting new concerns that more and more young people are being pushed into transsexualism. Children as young as age three are referred to its Gender Identity Development Service.
In Connecticut, prisoners can now be housed based on “gender identity.” What could wrong here? A lot!
From the liberal website The Daily Beast: In an article titled “Star Wars Lando Calrissian’s Pansexuality Means Nothing if it’s Not in the Films,” the writer of the article is angry that gay characters don’t act gay enough. He said, “Keepers of the ‘Star Wars’ universe keep teasing the possibility of established characters being queer—without ever actually depicting queerness onscreen. Enough.” Abrams (producer/writer/director) agrees and says it’s “shameful” that not enough is done to include them.
In Philadelphia, a federal appeals court upheld a school district’s policy of allowing those who choose another gender identity to use bathrooms and locker rooms of choice despite some students saying it makes them uncomfortable. Pres. Trump reversed this policy, but not all school districts are listening.
The mainstream media are complaining that President Trump didn’t acknowledge LGBT pride month; they’re saying he broke a campaign promise to LGBT’s. FYI to them: Trump promised to fight for the LGBT’s as opposed to Hillary who would have policies that would allow terrorists to get into this country that would kill them (in Islam they throw gays off of roofs to their deaths, at least once they’re adults. Before that, some groom boys to use in place of women who are to remain indoors). Trump has done everything he can to honor that promise of safety, not just for them but for us all.
California, the state so dedicated to sexual freedom that it recently decided it’s no longer a felony to knowingly expose a partner to a potentially deadly HIV infection, is finding itself confronted with a rising tide of sexually transmitted diseases. But instead of placing the blame where it belongs, it has employed the usual liberal-left “projection” – deciding to blame racism.
From Prophecy News Watch: Across the country, schools have implemented elementary and preschool programs designed to indoctrinate young children to homosexual and transgendered lifestyles. State education departments have implemented systematic LGBT acceptance curriculum programs at every level. These programs include books and activities beginning with preschool, meant to make switching genders or having same-sex parents seem both normal and commonplace. These programs are increasingly becoming mandatory with parents unable to opt-out if they are opposed to such teaching.
Planned Parenthood has sex ed programs in many schools, and the things being taught should make any parent want to remove their child from such a program. In the news this week, they’ve been caught performing abortions on 12-year-old girls without reporting the crimes against them to police. PP has a quota to meet, according to a former PP worker, and encouraging early sexual activity helps them meet that quota.
A video shows crowds in Ireland CHEERING as the abortion ban was lifted. They acted as though it was the greatest thing ever to happen.
In a Church of England diversity drive, transgenders are encouraged to become priests in a guidance titled “welcoming and honouring LGBT+ people.”
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis announced a $210 million settlement with 450 victims of clergy sexual abuse, making this the second largest payout in the scandal in Catholic Church.
A video from an article in the news this week reminds us what happened to nearly 800 children from newborns to age 3 in Tuam, Ireland who were born out of wedlock between the 1920’s and 1960’s. When the mothers gave birth, the babies were forced from their arms and taken from them. Hundreds of these children were so malnourished and so ill-treated they died at a very early age. Their bodies were located in the chambers of a sewage system on the property of the former Roman Catholic Mother and Baby home run by Bon Secours nuns. This story was reported last year by other news sources. Here’s one from the New York Times.
Apostasy: So many televangelists in these last days are corrupt. To them, a show of godliness is just a means to financial gain (1 Timothy 6:5). Following in the footsteps of Ken Copeland and Creflo Dollar, Jesse Duplantis wants donations for a new private plane (this one costs $54 million). He already has two or three. In a video, posted on May 21, he told viewers God had spoken to him and asked him to “believe” for a new Dassault Falcon 7X.
Pope Francis is under fire from conservative Catholics for his liberal ideas, while liberals claim his “progressive” policies haven’t gone far enough. He’s been described as a canny political operator and master strategist who achieves his agenda by stealth and cunning. One observer said, “It’s a numbers game – if Francis can hold on for several more years until he can rally enough cardinals, he may be able to guarantee that his legacy is not lost.” 200 cardinals last fall signed a letter calling Francis a heretic.
This week Francis is hosting executives of oil producers etc., to discuss “climate change” that he claims is caused by humans. The focus will be aligned with Francis’ “Care For Our Common Home” encyclical. Francis calls creation “Mother Earth.” There is no “Mother” Earth just as there is no “Queen of Heaven.” God condemns worshiping both (Romans 1:25 and Jeremiah 7:18).
Now even Protestant churches are being brought into this nature-worshiping fold with organizations such as the National Council of Churches and the National Religious Partnership for the Environment. All this has its origins in Babylon where false god worship began. Read about this here.
Leftist Treachery: Please continue to pray for Tommy Robinson who was immediately imprisoned in Britain for live- streaming a court case against a Muslim rape gang. A media blackout followed. We need to pray that the perpetrators will be brought to justice and that Tommy will be released. And pray for the children who are victims of these monsters. A court case in March against a Muslim rape gang in Telford, England was actually dropped! Read about that one here.
George Soros, the atheist Marxist globalist, is putting lots of money behind Democrat candidates and surely the attempt to remove President Trump. He says in this video that the Trump administration will disappear in 2020 if not sooner. You may recall, as a teen Soros hid his Jewish identity and went along with his Nazi guardian as the Nazis rounded up Jews for the death camps and confiscated their possessions and property. One might say he was only trying to save his life. Yet he recalls the year of German occupation as one of the happiest times of his life—even called it exhilarating. He also says he is here to make money and does not look at the social consequences of what he does. See the video here.
Google had the audacity to label California Republicans as Nazis. It only removed the listing one week shy of the California Primary after being exposed. How ironic since the largest backer of the Democrat Party is George Soros.
Chicago is a sanctuary city full of criminals. In a 6-day campaign, US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) visited 37 communities in the metro area, arresting 156 illegal immigrants, nearly half of them criminals with prior convictions. Over the Memorial Day weekend, eight people were killed and 39 wounded in Chicago. CNN didn’t report this because it doesn’t fit their agenda. They like to only report that the murder rate drops. Police union Vice President said Mayor Rahm Emanuel has sold out to anti-police forces.
Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam and the most racist man on the planet, called for an end to white men last Sunday morning, saying their “nature is not in harmony with the nature of God.” Farrakhan does not know the real God. His writings and speeches indicate he believes the Messiah prophesied in the Torah, Qur’an, and the Bible – the figure to whom he refers as “my redeemer” – is former Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad who died in 1975 but whom Farrakhan believes is still “physically alive.” Even the liberal Snopes admits this. Read here.
Wars and rumors of wars: Militant groups in Gaza launched well over 100 rockets towards Israel during the early morning hours on Tuesday, injuring three IDF soldiers. The weapons used were made in Iran. One of the first places hit was a kindergarten near the Gaza border just before the children came to school. Coincidentally… or not, one of the rockets hit their own power lines, leaving Gazans in the dark. Israel responded to these terrorist strikes by targeting 65 terror sites in Gaza, including rocket and munitions factories, military compounds and a terror tunnel.
An alleged ceasefire afterward only lasted two days. All day Saturday, hundreds of Gaza rioters hurled burning kites and helium balloons across the border into Israel, causing large fires to rage across thousands of dunams of cultivated fields and a large nature reserve. They threw rocks and explosive devices at the Israeli soldiers guarding the border fence. Two rockets from Gaza exploded Saturday night in Israel. In response, the Israel Air Force attacked 15 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip overnight Sunday
This week, the Syrian regime, despite countless allegations of its use of chemical weapons against Syrian citizens, began its four-week Presidency of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament. Many are calling this appointment a travesty and the darkest day of the history of this UN panel.
Iran is employing “taqiyya,” the practice of lying for the cause of Islam. Its latest claim is that Israel was dealt a “heavy blow” by Iran last month when 32 rockets were fired at the Golan Heights from Syria. The Iranian spokesman said, “This is the beginning of a great path. Israel should be aware that it is considered as a cancerous tumor and a violator of all rules in the eyes of the world’s freedom-seekers.” In reality, those rockets were unsuccessful and Iran was the loser when Israel retaliated by dealing a heavy blow to its terrorist capabilities in Syria.
NATO says it will not help Israel if it is attacked by Iran. GOD is not going to need theirs or anyone else’s help when the Russia-Iran-Turkey etc., alliance attacks Israel. They will fall on the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 39:4).
The carrier group led by China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, has reached “initial” combat readiness in another significant step in its ambitious military program. A Chinese tech company showed off the “Silent Killer” laser, able to obliterate unmanned drones from 328 yards away and jam incoming electronic attacks, making a hack attempt impossible.
Remember what Jesus said: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
“And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you… These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:20-22, 33).