Prophe-Zine #3 Credits Statement of Faith & Other Information Editor/Publisher: Raymond B. Gano Contents: John Kinsella... The Real Conspiracy Theory Gordie_Tong@mindlink.bc.ca... Premises Of The New Age World View Dave Breese... We Shall Look Up! The Proper Vision Prophecy Club... Ark of the Covenant & The Temple Wes Peters.... The Pre-Wrath Rapture Ron Wallace.... What Is The Pre-Wrath Rapture Of The Church? Ron Wallace....The Progress Of The Church Up To The Beginning Of Daniels 70th Week Geoffrey Kragen...The Bookworm Book Review Prophe-ZIne News Bites Cool Resources Special thanks: I would like to give a special thank you to John Kensella of This Week In Bible Prophecy. I contacted him and he gave me an article dealing with the Oklahoma Bombing. I would also like to thank Dave Breese for giving me all the support that he and his ministry has gone to to help Prophe-Zine out. At this time I would like to dedicate this issue to all those who lost there lives and for the families who lost loved ones. We need to keep them in our prayers. Publication Cycle Notice: Prophe-Zine will be published (up loaded), on the 15th of each month. Prophe-Zine is freely distributed to the major on-line services, BBSs, and to the Internet. The Editor of Prophe-Zine can be reached by sending e-mail to: ray673@best.com. Please write the Editor if you are interested in receiving guidelines for submission to Prophe-Zine Statement of Faith THE PURPOSE of Prophe-Zine is to carry out the command of the Lord Christ Jesus, recorded in Matthew 28:19: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations" Prophe-Zine is a Christian publication grounded in the deity of Christ and the inerrancy of Scripture. The major intent of the editors is first, the giving out the message of the Gospel, "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures," 1 Cor. 15:3-4. The Editor of Prophe-Zine holds to a strictly literal and inerrant Bible interpretation, salvation through Christ alone, a soon pre-tribulation Rapture of all believers and the establishment of a thousand-year kingdom on earth. The evangelism of the unbelievers and the exhortation of the believers take precedence over all other activities of this ministry. Prophe-Zine may not agree with some of the authors and their beliefs, but Prophe-Zine believes that we must endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit (In other words agree to disagree), so Prophe-Zine feels that it must give equal time to other biblically based doctrines in all fairness. Eph 4:3 Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. In His service, Ray Gano The Legal Stuff About Prophe-Zine Prophe-Zine Copyright © 1995 Raymond B Gano All rights reserved. Please ask for permission before reproducing or reprinting specific articles and/or graphics, since some of the individual works appearing in Prophe-Zine are copyrighted works belonging to their respective authors or artists and are used here with their permission. Certain products, titles, and services mentioned are trademarks of their respective owners. Apple, Mac, and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Prophe-Zine is not affiliated in any way with Apple Computer, Inc. Prophe-Zine may be freely distributed under the following conditions: It may not be included in a software package without prior consent from the author. It may not be distributed or reproduced for commercial purposes. Prophe-Zine's editor uses a Quadra 840 AV Macintosh computer. Programs include: MacWrite, MacDraw Pro, Color-It, JPEGview, Popcorn, OnLine Bible KJV 2.1, plus any other freeware that I can get my hands on to fill up the hard drive and use up even MORE RAM (needs 8 more megs, those graphics are killing me) OOPS.... I Forgot The Editor is currently looking for submissions, artists, writers, fiction, reviews, columnists and other help for Prophe-Zine articles. If interested, please write the Editor to receive a guideline for submissions. Feedback and suggestions from the Prophe-Zine readers are ALWAYS WELCOME! Don't just tell me that you actually liked reading Prophe-Zine, tell me what YOU would like to see in future issues! *************************************** The Real Conspiracy Theory by John Kinsella Head Writer -- This Week in Bible Prophecy President Kennedy remarked in a speech back in 1960 that everyone from his generation remembered where they were and what they were doing when the news was announced of President Roosevelt's death. Three years later, President Kennedy was himself assassinated, becoming a generational barometer. Today, everyone over forty can remember exactly what they were doing on Nov. 22, 1963 when it was announced that the "President has been shot" while driving through Dealy Plaza in Dallas. Last week, another event burned itself into the consciousness of a nation -- the systematic destruction of hundreds of American citizens in Oklahoma City, when a 4000 pound home made bomb destroyed the 9 story Federal Office Building in the heart of the city. More than that, it was the heart of America. Oklahoma City is very nearly the geographic dead center of the United States. If there was a place on earth where Americans could feel safe from foreign attack, it was Oklahoma City. But this attack wasn't from without -- it was from within. The suspected bombers are Americans -- members -- at least ideologically -- of what is commonly called the "patriot movement." As America struggles to make sense of the senseless, the media is focusing on this movement, it's plans and objectives, while glossing over the major issues that they raise. In watching the coverage of these groups, I was amazed to see, for the first time, a major network broadcasting a segment from the video "Waco, The Big Lie" produced by the Center for American Law and Justice, a patriot organization affiliated with the 700 Club and Pat Robertson. The segment used on CNN showed a tank backing out after having crashed through the wall of the Branch Davidian compound. The video purports to show flames emanating from a flame thrower or similar object mounted on the front of the tank. We got a copy of it when it was first released. We discounted it as a 100% reliable source after its producer, Linda Thompson, admitted on a radio talk show that it was factually incorrect on several critical issues. What astonished me about the CNN story was this. They showed what appeared to be photographic evidence that supports a charge of murder by agents of the US government. But nobody batted an eye! Nobody offered an explanation to the contrary, nobody suggested it was a doctored video. In an unintended demonstration of the power of the media to the clip was broadcast as evidence of how radical the militia groups were! Lunatics Without Excuse Before the mail starts, I want to state categorically that the bombers are lunatics without excuse. I personally have no objection to the application of the death penalty -- not just for the bombers, but for those involved in the planning and preparation. And I think I can speak for everyone at TWIBP in that regard. Also, I need to point out that while we are a Canadian ministry, I spent sixteen years defending the US Constitution, on the front lines -- six years as a US Marine during the Vietnam War, and ten years as a police officer in Texas. There are people who say the government perpetrated this crime. That view is utterly without evidence, and should be discounted unless and until such charges are conclusively proved. There are others who blame civil libertarians, that is, those who are concerned about the erosion of civil rights. That is like blaming white people for producing Adolf Hitler, or black people for producing Idi Amin. But, it also creates more questions than it answers: Who is the "government" and who are the "civil libertarians" and, how can a group be held accountable for the actions of a few pyromaniacs who are obviously not the sharpest tools in the tool shed to begin with? The "Patriot Movement" The media coverage is intense. We know intimate details about the life, loves and history of the suspects in this case. Where they grew up, who their friends were, even details about their family life. In searching for the answer to the question "why" they are looking everywhere except where the problem is. The patriot movement is a grass roots response to what its participants believe is an erosion of civil liberties in America. They have some compelling arguments -- arguments we have ourselves presented. Where we differ dramatically is in the area of what would be considered an appropriate response. The patriot movement believes we are moving toward a one world government, and they oppose it. They advocate armed resistance. Many of them claim to be followers of Jesus Christ -- giving the media plenty of ammunition to support their contention that this is yet another example of what Christian fundamentalism really is -- intolerant rednecks who want to force their view on the rest of America. A Spiritual Battle We see things somewhat differently. We believe we are moving toward a one world government, because that is what God said would happen. But we reject any suggestion of armed resistance as unbiblical. Jesus told us to " Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." (Matt 21:21) When Pontius Pilate reminded Jesus of his authority as Roman procurator, Jesus rebuked Pilate, saying " Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above:" (John 19:11) The Bible not only teaches against armed resistance to the government, but Jesus makes it plain our leaders occupy their positions according to His plan. The New World Order is a spiritual issue, playing out in the carnal arena. Using a bomb to win a spiritual battle is like trying to lead somebody to Christ by hitting them in the face with a Bible. It's loud, ineffective, and invariably more useful to the other side. To try and overthrow by force that which God says He ordained is tantamount to trying to overthrow God. It's either His will, or ours. Force is NOT the answer -- prayer is! Godly living, holiness, and personal integrity -- these are the weapons the world cannot combat or condemn -- much as it would like to. Bombs just even the playing field, and bring us into an arena where the other guys have all the advantages. Resorting to violence is a denial of Christ. Colossians 3:3 teaches that "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." We are to be witnesses of the love of Christ. I saw little evidence of Christian love reflected in the maimed bodies of innocent children in Oklahoma City. The Blame Game The blame game began almost immediately. President Clinton seized the opportunity to rail against "hate mongers who keep us paranoid and at each other's throats." There is ample reason for paranoia. The drive toward global government is real, it is documented, it is coming, and it does not bode well for freedom loving people anywhere on earth. We saw our 4th Amendment rights diluted as a measure against drug dealers. Yet the provisions that allow the government to seize the assets of drug dealers is being applied against other citizens, like tax protesters, abortion protesters and other politically incorrect types. HR 666 relaxes the Constitutional guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure. The 5th Amendment provides for the right of the accused to face his accusers. The Omnibus Anti Terrorist Act of 1995 will enable the government to introduce evidence from "secret" sources -- and denies defendants the opportunity to cross examine those sources. And the 1st Amendment guarantees our right to speak out against government abuses. And that right is now in peril. The President is advocating the use of an Executive Order to gag such protests. His reasoning? People who protest influence others to take action. Well of course! That is what the Founding Fathers intended. Except, it is the government that is supposed to act. The American system is designed to make government responsive to the people, not the other way around. So who's the enemy here? Blaming the "government" for the erosion of the Constitution is like blaming the "patriot movement" for the bombing. The "government" is us -- people, both bad and good. The same applies to the patriot movement. Both are idealistic and at least theoretically draw their views from the same Constitution. In the Oklahoma bombing, a few nut bars loosely associated with a legal and Constitutionally protected protest group blew up their own countrymen in their misguided belief they were doing the right thing for people who didn't recognize the danger. Within the government, a few officials have conspired with unelected elitist groups like the Council on Foreign Relations to bring about a system of global government, probably in the belief they were doing the right thing for people who don't recognize the "benefits" involved. But all protesters are not killers, and all government officials are not globalists. The enemy here is the mastermind behind the whole conspiracy -- a conspiracy so vast it incorporates elements from both sides without either side ever being aware of it. That mastermind is Satan, the father of lies! There is a conspiracy, but it is not one that can be fought with bombs, bullets or even ballots! The conspiracy predates Adam and Eve, and the conspirators are putting into motion a plan that has existed since Lucifer first shook his fist in the face of God and shouted "I will." That is the enemy, that is the threat, and there is the battlefield! We report on the global government in waiting, not to alarm people and send them scurrying to the militia training field. Our reports on this subject are celebration of the fact that God is still on the Throne, that what He promised would happen is taking place, and that we have nothing to worry about. As Jesus told us, "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) ********************************** PREMISES OF THE NEW AGE WORLD VIEW The New Age World view is Syncretistic. In other words it blends elements of other world views. Russell Chandler, author of "Understanding the New Age", suggests the following beliefs make up some but not all of the components of this movement: - All is One (monism). The Cosmos is pure, undifferentiated, universal energy - a consiousness or "life force". Everything is one vast, interconnected process. All life is of equal value. - All is God (pantheism). God is an impersonal principal, a conciousness, lifeforce, Energy. Everything that is, is God. - Humans, nature, spirits, ET's, the earth, etc. is infused with or of the same essence as God. (polytheism). Humans have unlimited potentials being one with the One." We are God, "affirms many within this movement. Other enlighten beings, entities, etc. which share this divinity can also guide, instruct and empower those who opened the door to other side. Paranormal experiences are often sought and experienced when encountering these guides, assorted spirits, ET's and unknown entities. - All religions are essentially One. Jesus, Krishna, Buddaha, Lao-tsu, and all the mystics old and new, realized and taught this Oneness. All spiritual paths are equally valid. Dogmas and doctrines which cause separation should be de-empasized in favour of personal or communal unitive experiences of at-one-ness.There is a need say some for a New Age which will bannish intolerance and promote harmony and unity. Reincarnation is believed to expalain suffering and karma. - Humanity's problem is not sin but ignorance. We have forgotten we are one with God and we ...have infinite potential at our fingertips if we allow it to flow. Therefore we need to reject the self limitations and beliefs of the old ways of perception and embrace a "paradigm shift': a distinct new way of thinking. - How does humanity embark upon a paradigm shift? Through an "awakening experience" each individual may "actualize" his or her divine nature and achieve union with his or her divine nature with the Ultimate Unifying Prnciple by applying a plethoria of consciousness-changing techniques, or "psychotechnologies', to body mind and spirit. - Some examples of what Ferguson calls "intentional triggers of transformative experiences" are: meditation, Yoga,chanting, mood-altering music, mind expanding drugs, esoteric systems of religious mysticism and knowledge, guided imagery, balancing and aligning"energies," hypnosis, body discipines...radical seminars designed to obliterate former values etc...The pathway to godhood lies not in left-hemisphere logic but in right hemisphere's intuitive 'knowing' and creativeness.' - The sequel to expanded personal awareness is planetary tranformation, charaterized by mass enlightment and social evolution.... Many of the world's problems: overpopulation, the envoirmental crisis, war, economic problems etc. may be solved by realizing our Oneness and untapped potentials. A New Planetary Order or New World Order which calls for an emerging global civilizaton and one world government is in the agenda. When a "critical mass" is achieved through world wide New Age events like the Harmonic Convergence, or the World Peace Meditations, or Mind Body Conferences, Earth Day, etc...then we will arrive at the New Age. Millions have already participated in these events and some of them are annual and ongoing..there are countless new age communities, conferences, peoples, and publications in many countries "networking" to achieve critical mass or the "Hundreth Monkey Effect" as it often called. Although at this present time there is no one leading group or indivdual guiding this movement...it never-the-less through networking... is becoming a powerful force in society and the world. CRACKS IN THE NEW AGE WORLD VIEW - the assumption that all is One and it's implications are not true. If God is impersonal or all is One, there is no basis for absolutes in terms of truth, ethics or understanding reality. Reality, truth or right or wrong becomes whatever a New Age person perceives it to be. Only a wise and good personal transendent infinite God who is there and not silent can provide absolutes in terms of truth and ethics. Ethical relativsm is illogical and unworkable. Try it sometime in a relationship or in society and see the fruit...Nor do we need abitrary absolutes given to us by an authoritarian elite...If all is One ..there is no difference between cruety and non cruelty...Charles Manson said "if all is One then nothing is wrong"...he was more consistant with his pantheistic beliefs than most new age people you meet. - Man is not God. Human imperfection, finitude, falliblity, and fallenness are the observable human condition. Humanity may with God's grace may become more saintly..ie. God's Spirit may enable men and women to bear the fruits of peace, love, goodness and experience God's miracles of healing etc... but man will not attain Godhood. The finite will not become the infinite. We have potential not unlimited potential. Where is evidence of human perfection or compassion in Roman Ceasars or others who also claimed to be Gods..or to-day in India...or elsewhere...all you see is human folly and play acting. - There are distintions within the created order. Not all life is of equal value as taught by New age Deep Ecologists or sometime by reincarnation beleivers. Relativism-plugged into reincarnation theory-denigrates the value of human life by reducing all life to the lowest level. In India, "human babies are no more important than rats! Rats may not be killed because they are expressions of the same universal energy that characterizes man. As a result, rodents and other animals eat 20% of India's grain crop-food thatcould be available for starving people. Recently in India bubonic plaque has broken out again as it has in the Middle Ages due to rats growing out of control. Although all life is to valued as part of nature, nature and man is not perfect and can produce pestilance and harmful mutations..perhaps we are reaping the fruit of this as man tries to play God tinkering with genetic engineering...or planting new species in the wrong eco-systems. Panthesism says all life is equal...so man becomes no more valuable than the grass we trample on or burn... - Jesus did not teach that all paths lead to a pantheistic Oneness or that man will achieve Godhood. (see John 14, Matt 7:14,) His teaching has to be distored to suggest that Christ taught New Age philosophy as many within New Age circles try to prove by taking teaching out of context. Not all religions promote panthesitic monistic beliefs...as suggested by uninformed teachers within the movement... -The Altered State of conciousness reached through meditation and other psychotechnologies often negates critical thinking and reason, often dulling the individual's ability to discern between truth and deception. It also allows for the possiblitiy to contact deceptive or masquarading spirits (many within the movement acknowledge the existence of negative or evil entities) or be possessed by them as may happen in the channeling phenomena. A old proverb states "a man without self-control is like a town without defences". A person in ASC who is passive is more vulnarable to suggestiblity and outside control by whatever controllers human or non human that might happen to be around. Real spirituallity involves the mind, intellect and heart...critical thinking, not scepticism or mind-less-ness is - necessary for spiritual discernment. - Utopian notions of man and utopian New Age political goals may lead to totalitarian systems that would grow increasingly intolerant of those who would critize it. It was the belief in the fallenness and falliblity of human leadership in Europe and America during the Reformation that led to ideas of democracy and freedom, as well as, the need for checks and balances in government 7. This may be lost as New Age ideas are more and more embraced in society. Some kind of hierarchy of so called "enlighted" beings are trying to guide us into the NEW AGE. The question is how do we know that the spirit guides that are guiding New Age people are what they appear to be...there is evidence that they are not so enlightened after all, and may have some other more sinister motives in mind when providing guidance and so called " transformative" experiences. - Reincarnation and evolutionary beliefs instead of bringing real love and unity to mankind will create elitist feelings and a callowness to human suffering. Karma supposedly determines a persons caste or position in life. To try to help those who are suffering, is to interfere with their karma. Unenlightened people are already called "cancer cells"2.* in body of Gaia by some within the movement...with the implication that a "cleansing" is coming or needed..we heard that before from Adolf Hitler... who in his time wanted to usher in a New Age..(Hitler also claimed he was guided by voices from the other side) ..There are presently some prominant leaders guided by powerful entities in this movement who are presently taking on or promoting Messianic leadership...as well as the "cleanings concept"..their spirit guides are saying this is necessary...John Randolph Price, the primary moving force behind the "World Instant of Cooperation," was told by his favorite spirit guide, "Asher," that "nature will soon enter her cleansing cycle...." These individuals [the two billion human beings who do not have the 'ring of protection' around them] with their lower vibratory rates will be removedduring the next two decades...2*. " Please read some of the references listed below ...there are many people already who are unknowingly caught up in this spiritual pandora's box...wake up don't be one of them. Many persons exploring New Age beliefs are sincere and pleasant people.. and are not throwing their lot in with the more dangerous elements of the New Age...there are people being hurt by these beliefs and by cultic leaders.. as well as seductive entites...I've dialoged with many of them in several countries...so I encourage compassion for victims...we may disagree and be discerning and helpful but not be arrogant for in the eyes of God we all fall short of perfection...and it's only by God's grace we can see even dimly to avoid many of the pitfals of a fallen world..if you are following New Age beliefs ask God's Spirit to guide you in your quest for truth and reality... Also do your own research as others have below...some listed below were formally in the New Age Movement and in leadership positions...some experiencing powerful paranormal experiences until they woke up to the deception. References below: 1. The Beautiful Side of Evil - Johanna Michaelson..former assistant to psychic healer...and Sylva Mind disciple. 2. Like Lambs to the Slaughter - Johanna Michaelson. * pp 307-310 3. Understanding the New Age - Russell Chandler , Journalist and religion writer For Los Angeles Times. 4. Inside the New Age Nightmare - Randall N. Baer -former "crystal power" expert and teacher. Huntington House, 1989. 5. When the World Will Be As One -The Coming NEW WORLD ORDER in the NEW AGE by Tal Brooke - former follower of Sai Baba, presently with The Spiritual Counterfeits Research Group - Berkeley , Calif. 6. Out on a Broken Limb - Dr. F. LaGard Smith ..Professor of Law at Pepperdine University. Harvest House 1986. 7."How Should We Then Live' - The Rise and Fall of Western Civilization, by Dr. Francis Shaeffer. Fleming H Revell Co. NJ. 1976. Gordie_Tong@mindlink.bc.ca Gordie Tong at MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canad ******************************************************* We Shall Look Up! The Proper Vision by Dave Breese The following is reprinted from Dave Breese's Destiny Newsletter; Hillsboro, KS 67063-0015: Anyone who has driven an automobile or flown an airplane knows that there is a basic rule which must always be followed. That indisputable rule is possible to state very simply. It is this, "Look where you are going." All other objects of our attention may be interesting but they are never to become the preoccupation of the person driving the vehicle. However beguiling may be the scenery and however interesting the ambiance of the trip, the driver, if the trip is to be successful, must watch where he is going. Not to keep this rule in mind could well produce some very unfulfilling results. As is the case in steering a vehicle, so also it is in life. This is why life is frequently compared to a trip, a voyage, atraversement toward a destination. This being the case, the advice is, therefore, most relevant about life, "Look where you are going." This simple adage is unheeded by many people, which heedlessness causes many well-known, adverse consequences. Where then shall we look if we would be properly informed about the progress of life? The answer of many in our time is, "We shall look back." Now, this answer is rarely called by its right name, "regressive thinking," but rather it is touted as "proper appreciation of heritage." Much time, therefore, is spent by churches, denominations, organizations of many kinds and, of course, individuals, in looking back. Much of this is done in the name of "remembering our roots," "remembering the faith of our fathers," and even "learning the lessons of history." Some of these descriptions may even sound sublime. The memories undoubtedly create for many a wonderful, languid nostalgia. Therefore, to this day there are great numbers of people who walk through cemeteries, examining old gravestones so that pieces of the past may make their lives complete today. Much of this is done despite the instructions, yes, the prohibitions of the Bible. The Apostle Paul said, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13,14). Yes, the past should not unduly influence the future. Hope is better than heritage by a thousand times! Try as we will, the past cannot be changed. Conversely, with very little effort the presumed future can be dramatically altered. The ancient landmarks must be regarded but not worshipped. They are to be respected only to the extent that they are helpful in establishing a course for the future. Another answer to the direction of our vision is given by many who say, "We must look about us." Yes, the passing scene through which we are moving is a fascinating thing indeed. This is especially true in our present, amazing world. In these very days and weeks, a tidal wave of things, concepts, events, transpirings has come upon us with attendant, spectacular fascinations. What's more, interesting events are multiplied by a jillion via international radio and television and the emergent information super highway. So much is this the case that the people of our world, especially the untutored young, are wide-eyed with wonder. Looking about them they are semi-breathless with human anticipation. To be fair, we must say that an awareness of our passing world is not entirely wrong. Christ spoke to His disciples world is not entirely wrong. Christ spoke to His disciples saying, "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest" (John 4:35). So, we are enjoined by our Lord to be aware of our circumstances. Let us quickly mention, however, that that awareness is not for the purpose of being amazed, but for the purpose of discerning spiritual opportunity. The important thing about our world is not that it has fast airplanes, cellular phones and the like, but that it is white unto harvest. This being the case, it still remains to be said that expertise on earthly things is not commended in Scripture. People who mind earthly things can become "enemies of the cross of Christ" (Phil. 3:18). This is because the cross of Christ cancels the validity, the worth of most human things. Peter had an occasion in his life when he concentrated overlong on his circumstances rather than the Lord who stood above the circumstances. The Scripture says, "But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying Lord, save me" (Matt. 14:30). What Christian has not found himself in similar circumstances? Proper attention to our environment is commendable. Undue concentration is to miss the purpose of life. "No, we must look ahead" say others. This is certainly a far wiser object of our concentration because, of course, we are moving "ahead" in life. So Paul helps us by telling that he is "reaching forth to those things which are before." Again and again we need to be reminded that we are moving out of the past which we cannot change into a future which we can profoundly influence. The purposeful individual, filled with conviction and led by the Spirit of God, can greatly outdistance in success and accomplishment others who are drifting and dreaming. Planning the future and anticipating the blessing of God in that future is a valid and a most necessary course of action. But, we must also remember, that the human future is not the ultimate thing. Plan as we will, we are still subject to the principle that says, "Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth" (Prov. 27:1). Despite all of our prognostications and our best computer scenarios, we cannot know what finally the future will bring. Our faith does not cancel the uncertainties of the future, but promises that Christ will be with us in all of them. So, the human future should be regarded but it should never be given the sense of finality which is ascribed to it by so many. In contemplating the future, we must never place the sign, "The end" anywhere along the way. Yes, we are to look ahead, but only looking ahead is not the ultimate thing. What then is the ultimate outlook? It is--and, ah, this is important--to look up. Yes, looking up should be our main and constant outlook. By so doing, we will find ourselves informed and greatly inspired by contemplating a destination which is available only to the Christian. To the Christian, the Bible says, "If ye, then, be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:1-4). Yes, we are instructed, we are commanded to raise our vision above anything that can be viewed on a horizontal level. We are enjoined to perform the deliberate act of setting our affections, forcing ourselves to contemplate things above. Indeed, we are to seek those things which are above. Looking onward and upward, this is the proper object of Christian contemplation. The reason for this is simple--that's where we are going! We can never be delivered from the anxieties of time by merely looking back, around us or simply ahead. The ultimate merely looking back, around us or simply ahead. The ultimate purpose of life cannot be discovered on the horizontal plane. In the last analysis, there is no final fulfillment available within the historical process. Everything that we can see with our human eyes is a part of the tapestry of earth. That tapestry, those hangings which are the ephemeral backdrop of the human drama, must be torn down and cast away. Speaking about the things of earth and about our eternal Lord, the Scripture says, "they shall perish, but Thou remainest; and they all shall become old as doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed; but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail" (Heb. 1:11, 12). That should certainly settle it. Everything that can be seen with the eyes, the earth and even the visible heavens, will perish. The purpose then for which to live is not the acquisition of earthly pieces that perish, but to live for an eternity that is becoming increasingly near. Speaking about the signs of the dissolution of the things of time, Christ advised us, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemptiondraweth near" (Luke 21:28). So we have divine instructions, we are to look up. We Christians will do this! Whatever advice we have from the touters of the things of time, we will look up beyond the is not the acquisition of earthly pieces that perish, but to live for an eternity that is becoming increasingly near. Speaking about the signs of the dissolution of the things of time, Christ advised us, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth near" (Luke 21:28). So we have divine instructions, we are to look up. We Christians will do this! Whatever advice we have from the touters of the things of time, we will look up beyond the trinkets and tinfoil of earth. We will see this world as only relatively important and not to be compared with the realities of eternity. Yes, we've long since learned that the things that are not seen are eternal. Let us, therefore, worry no longer about the disappointments of time. This because--so soon is time gone. Our answer, therefore, to the question, "What will you do in the event that trouble will increase (which it is) and that earth finally will be destroyed (which it will be). Our answer is always and ever the expression of our glorious hope--we will look up! About Dave Breese: Dave Breese is the Bible Teacher on The King Is Coming telecast. Each week, he speaks to the nation, expounding God's plan for the future from the prophetic scriptures. World Prophetic Ministry teaches Bible Prophecy in these End-Times days.Through our outreach of books,audio and video cassettes, and our highly acclaimed telecast The King Is Coming, we proclaim the Good News: Christ died for our sins and is coming again soon. Please Write Dave and tell him that you saw his article here in Prophe-Zine. He has a free catalog of books and newsletters that you can order from him. They are an excellent resource for the study of Prophecy and World events. Write to : World Prophetic Ministry P.O Box 907 Colton, CA 92324 *********************************************** Ark of the Covenant & The Temple This article appeared in the March 95 issue of Prophecy Club Will the Ark of the Covenant be revealed prior to the millennium? Why is the Ark of the Covenant important to Bible Prophecy in 1995? It may play a major role in the last days. A time is coming when Gods' attention will turn from the gentiles, to the Jews. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. LUK 21:24 God will clean up the sins of Israel. JER 50:20 In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve. How will God remove the sins from Israel? We would like to think they receive Jesus as Messiah. We know they will toward the end of Daniels' seventieth week. All of Israel is saved. It may be the Ark of the Covenant is used. Where is the Ark of the Covenant? Some believe it is in a cave on mount Nebo just as is quoted in II Maccabees 2:5. (5. And when Jeremy came thither, he found an hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle, and the ark, and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door.) Others say it is in Ethiopia. Grant Jeffrey says he talked with a man in a position to know, that told him it was flown from Ethiopia to Israel by plane when the Ethiopian Jews returned to Israel. Which one is correct? All I can tell you is what I know. Maybe an ark was brought from Ethiopia. An ark may be in a cave somewhere. I can't say. I can tell you where it had to be on the day Jesus was sacrificed, the Bible tells me so. Jesus tells us he came to fulfill the law and the prophets. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. MAT 5:17 Jesus is telling us he must fulfil the prophecies concerning the Messiah, and the laws concerning sacrifice. In His birth, death, burial and resurrection Jesus fulfilled 109 prophecies concerning the Messiah. We can easily prove he fulfilled the prophecies of the Messiah. What about the laws concerning sacrifice? John called Jesus the "Lamb of God." And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God! JOHN 1:36 For the Jews to accept Jesus as the "Lamb of God," he would have to fulfill the scriptures concerning animal sacrifice. What are the laws concerning sacrifice to wash the sins of a nation away? The day of Atonement As we recall, on the day of Atonement two goats were brought to the High Priest. Lots were cast, one goat, called the "scapegoat" (Representative of Barabas.) was set free in the wilderness. The blood of the second goat (Representative of Jesus.) was taken in a golden bowl into the Holy of Holies, and sprinkled on the Ark of the Covenant seven times. LEV 16:14 And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. This was a sacrifice to wash the sins of the entire nation of Israel away. It was different from the other sacrifices in that it was not a sacrifice regarding one man or his family, but the entire nation. The Ark of the Covenant was so Holy that the Priest had to perform sacrifices to purify himself to approach the Ark. Tradition has it bells were tied on his garment, and a rope around his waist, or foot, in the event he was not pure enough, and was struck dead, he could be pulled out for burial.On the day Jesus was crucified the sun went dark and the ground was "rent" or "cracked." And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; MAT 27:51 The Centurion came to Jesus and ran a sword in his side and out came blood and water. But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. JOH 19:34 Where did that blood of Jesus go? If Jesus was the "Lamb of God" his blood had to drip on the Ark of the Covenant seven times. Jesus was the "Lamb of God." According to Ron Wyatt, the blood went down a crack to the left side of the center cross-hole and dropped on the Ark of the Covenant. When Ron was in our home he told my wife and I he found 3 units of blood on top of the Ark of the Covenant. All he could tell us was it was human blood, and it was the blood of only one human, but it was different from all other blood on earth. Later, he told us how it was different. THINK for a minute. How would the blood of the Son of God be different from all other blood on earth? Would you like to know? When I started typing this paragraph I had full intentions of telling you. But I think I will let that be one of the questions you can ask when you come to hear Ron speak, or you can get the video. I will just say it is more proof that Ron Wyatt found the Ark of the Covenant! Where is the Ark of the Covenant? The only place it could be, under the center cross-hole! If Jesus' blood did not drop on the Ark of the Covenant then he did not fulfill sacrificial laws, and it is going to be difficult to get any Jew to believe he was the Messiah. There may be an ark in mount Nebo, there may be an ark in Ethiopia. There may have been one brought back from Ethiopia, I can't say. I can only say that the real one had to be underneath the center cross-hole. Where is the Ark of the Covenant? I don't know. If you can show me where the center cross-hole is I can tell you where to find the Ark of the Covenant. Why is Archaeology important to Prophecy? The following tells of a time of revival coming our way in the midst of trouble. O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, [NOTE: We prophecy students recognize these words as words from Psalm 91. We also recognize these words as a date stamp. The "day of affliction" is usually referring to the "Tribulation" or "Daniels Seventieth Week." So we can probably assume this prophecy is to be fulfilled near the last seven years before the Millennium.] the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods? ["They have made unto themselves Gods that are not Gods." Such as Buddah etc.] Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD. JER 16:19-21 [Which is to say, I will prove myself and my Word. We think part of this will be the pouring out of Gods' Spirit mentioned in Joel 2:28. We also think many of these Archaeological discoveries are part of God demonstrating His power. How was the Ark found? In 1991 my wife and I accompanied Ron Wyatt, his wife Mary Nell, and 26 other people on a two week bumpy tour to see many of Rons' discoveries. My wife is a very discerning person that has not mis-judged people very often. We believe Ron is telling the truth. We had just toured Golgotha, and the tomb of Jesus. We sat down in an open bench area to hear Ron talk. When Ron talked, I taped. I taped 12 hours of the tour. I condensed it into a two hour video, and I was amazed at how good the footage came out. We offer it as V-3 Archaeology Confirms the Bible. People say it is astonishing! At that time if you had told me that one day part of this audio would be played on 17 radio stations, including shortwave and satellite I would have been startled. Yet, God had a plan. The following is a 21 minute transcription of Rons' account of his discovery of the Ark of the Covenant. One day I was walking along this escarpment with an Archaeologist friend of mine. Those of you that know me know that I am not given to salubrious soliloquies or sepulferal solicitudes. I am hard headed, hard nosed, and I want to know the facts, and that is all I want to know. As I was walking by my left arm pointed to a dump under the wall of the escarpment, and my mouth said, "That's Jeremiahs' grotto and the Ark of the Covenant is in there!" Well, I love the Israelis, but they are not overly generous, and I think our friend here will agree. (Refers to our Israeli tour guide.) But this man said that's wonderful! We will let you excavate, we will give you a place to stay, we will give you all the help you need, we will provide you food, and we will do your laundry. (Turns to Israeli guide again.) How many times does an Israeli offer that to a Goreon? (Gentile) Not often. I was flabbergasted! I had not even thought about the Ark of the Covenant, or Jeremiahs' cave, or none of that stuff. I said, "Later, maybe I will do this, but now I have got to go home. So, I went home. I dug through history books. I found out at the vanishing of the Ark of the Covenant and the other major furnishings of the first temple, when they first vanished the city was surrounded by a siege wall. ...Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. 2KI 25:1 In the Hebrew this simply means a siege wall. Titus did the same thing, part of Titus' wall has survived to the North. They were built out of range of the catapults in the city. Catapultology had not advanced since Nebuchadnezzars' time, and the Roman catapults had about the same range as the one in Nebuchadnezzars' time. So we can conclude that Nebuchadnezzars' wall was about where Titus' was. The Ark of the Covenant vanished out of this besieged city. Some people say it was taken to Mount Horeb, some people say that Solomans' son by the Queen of Sheba snookered him into making a replica and he traded. But the Shekinah Glory didn't leave until about 586 BC. This man might have snookered Soloman, and everybody else around but he couldn't snooker the Shekinah Glory. So that did not happen. The only place, short of God blinding part of the Babylonian army, and having some of His people take this out and hide it, was it had to be hidden in the city, or inside this siege wall. The city is being systematically excavated down underneath -the tunnels,the caves, and everything, with very scientific methods. I went to the Israeli Archeological authorities, including the gentleman I was speaking with when my mouth said something my brain, ...ah... shall we say, didn't go along with, or had no idea about. I explained how it had to be inside this siege wall, and I thought it was there from my research. So they gave me a permit based upon that. So we started digging, and as we dug we found cut-outs in the cliff face, where three public signs related to the crucifixion were set up when a well known criminal was to be crucified. Now this arrangement, I always thought, was just for Christ. It was not. This is how the Romans did it. They had captured Barabas who had stirred up a lot of trouble in the area -rebelled and tried to overthrow the government. He didn't have a lot of luck, but he tried. So he was sentenced to be crucified. He was to be crucified in a very public manner. Some say on a hill far away. This is a hill far away. It is a little below the crest, because they made a quarry through here. But it is still on Mount Moriah. They always crucified people right along beside a very busy road. It was meant to intimidate anybody that would be thinking about trying something. They put the name of the person and what they were accused of in thechief local languages. In Jerusalem it was Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, or Roman. And there is three cut-outs there. Now in other cities they put up what ever languages were used there. But Roman was always one of those languages. As we excavated down the escarpment we found these cut outs. The wall that was on the outside away from the cliff face got so high and tetery, we decided to sink a shaft down to see what statta we would find. We turned the samples in appropriately. We did carbon 14 dating on the charred wood we found at different levels. We turned in the mortars and pestals. When we got down to the bottom we came back up to where the ledge of the cliff had been cut down into. We went along in a horizontal shaft carefully documenting everything as we went. Any Archaeologist that doesn't do this is a criminal. Because people deserve to know what happened here and what was found. Not some made up story. Not some things that were brought in from some other dig and put here so they can say well we found this here so this proves such and such. There is a lot of that going on. In school they teach you that you do not go out and dig to see what is there. You decide what is there and then you see to it that you find it. We went along this wall at the Roman level we found Roman coins, we found Roman glass, we found Roman pottery. We turned it all in. It is in boxes in the storage area at the Rockefeller Museum. Unless somebody came along and decided it wasn't any good, and we have too much of this sort of thing anyway. As we went along we found this cut-out rock. I thought, man, that's unusual. So I picked the thing up, and there was a depression under the rock. I started digging carefully under there, it was just some debris. [EDITORS NOTE: By reading this account you miss several important gestures Ron makes that confirms this really happened. Before I came full-time in The Prophecy Club I used to teach people how to speak in public. When a story is made up, natural gestures normally associated with an action talk are missing. If you were telling an incident in which you were riding a bicycle down the side of a steep hill, hit a rock and fell. Unconsciously, you would have your hands in place as if they were on the handle bars, and move them as if you were riding a bicycle. When you described the part where you hit the rock, your hands would jerk to one side, you may even show how you began to tumble. You might even reach to lift your pant legs to show the scar. Normal gestures follow an action talk. Since they are important to the authenticity of the story I will note them. I encourage you to get the video and see this talk for yourself.] but, it was a cross-hole filled with debris. [He simulates digging in a small area. Making gestures similar to you stirring batter in a mixing bowl.] Apparently, when these cross-holes were not in use for crucifixion they had plugs they put in them so horses or people walking by wouldn't break a leg, and so they wouldn't fill up. I was told to put that in a safe place, which I did, and it is still in a safe place. It dawned upon me. This had to be where Christ was crucified, because this was twelve feet below these cut-outs in this cliff face, and it was at the Roman level. [My wife and I prayed that God would lay on the hearts of people he wanted to see these amazing discoveries to call us. We agreed that if we were called, we would go and show as much as they had time to see, without regard to distance, or number of people. We would ask no money. If a love offering was given, fine. We showed our video and parts of Ron's video to over 35 different Christian groups and Churches. On one occasion, in Manhattan Kansas, a man came to me before the meeting and said, "I don't mean to be offensive brother, but I just want to tell you, I don't believe a word of this. I hope you have some evidence." Once we showed the people our video and told them our story, including this man, we never had a person tell us they did not believe us. It was a test of our faith to see if we really wanted to serve God. Would we be faithful to tell the truth in the face of opposition or unpopularity. Once passed, the greater opportunity to serve via The Prophecy Club would be given. Secondly, the video that Ron shows when he speaks is the truth, and people see it for themselves. Ron will show far more than what we have to show!] We found coins of Tiberius, and some others. We know that this was open to the public for several years, including the point in time when Christ was Crucified. As we were working there we noticed a crack in the cliff right by the left side of where this cross-hole was. That didn't mean a lot. This area has been fractured considerably. If you will look along this escarpment you will see there is a lot of cracks in there. The Bible says ...the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; [MAT 27:51] Today I know that crack occurred at that moment in time. Then, I didn't know that. What was I excavating for? What was I looking for? What was my permit about? It was to see if the Ark of the Covenant had been hidden in this escarpment. I had people that I had to report to periodically. I was running out of money, and it was time to go home. I prayed, "Lord, what shall I do?" I was impressed to break right through the cliff face. That seemed very ignorant to me. So I kept looking around, and I found some very old buildings, old foundations, old altar stones, which I left in place as any good Archaeologist will do. When we got ready to go, my oldest son, it was his turn down in the hole, we were passing the tools out to store them. He said, "Dad, you always pray about things, why haven't you prayed so you will know where to dig?" I said, "I have," and he said, "What happened?" I said, "I was impressed to break through this cliff wall!" Like that settles that. My son says, "Well, why don't you do it... You've done dumber things than that before!" So, I said, "OK." I had him holler up at my youngest son to pass the tools back down. Here this crack was in the cliff face that went right by the left side of the wall. I decided if I made my chisel crack over here [He makes a motion showing where the crack was, and where he chiseled, and how a large triangle shaped chunk of rock would fall out.] that I could just pop this out. I would have a nice piece I could put back, and I wouldn't damage anything. We popped this out, and way back in the dark end of this crack was a dark hole about like this. [Holds fingers together in the "OK" sign indicating a circle about 2 to 3 inches across.] Well, I said, "Give me the flashlight." I shined it back in there, and here was this cave chamber! [His hands pull apart as if to indicate a large room.] I thought the Ark of the Covenant has got to be setting right back there! I went off into never-never land, goose bumps, swimmy head, and the whole bit! [He moves his hands in reverse directions on both sides of his head to indicate having a swimmy head of euphoria.] We quickly enlarged the hole, and got in. Well, the Ark of the Covenant wasn't setting there. So I worked and worked. I poked around in this little hole and that little hole, and followed this erosion path through the limestone. Finally, the 6th of January, 1982, at 2:00pm in the afternoon. That's something else an Archaeologist always does. When you enter a chamber where you think something might be, you look at your watch. [He looks at his watch, touches the face of it, and lays his finger to the side of his head, as if to make a mental note.] You make a note of that. It may be important. If you don't find anything in there you can forget about it, but you should look in case. So, I did that, I went in there -nothing but rocks! Ordinarily, I would have crawled right back out of that place, but, my sons had gotten double pneumonia, walking pneumonia. They were running fevers of about 104, and so was I! So, I sent them home. I decided I was either going to find that this trip, or die in the hole! I really did. That's not very bright, but when you are sick enough it seemed very logical to me.I got this little Arab guy. He was about so big. [Indicates about 4 to 4´ foot tall.] He was marvelous at getting into places and shining the light around so I could see if they were empty, or if they had anything in there. We came to a hole where the water had eroded a bit through there. There was a stalactite hanging over the hole. [Indicates a stalactite of about 4 inches at the top tapering down to a point. Gestures indicate it is about 12 to 14 inches in height.] So I took my hammer and I carefully tapped it at the base and laid it aside so we would have that for future reference if necessary. Then I made the hole big enough for him to get in. This is the way we had been working. So he crawls in there. I start to hand the light back in there to him, and here he came out terrified! Absolutely terrified! If I hadn't got out of his way I honestly believe he would have taken me apart! ...getting out! He was mindless terror! [He moves his hands back and forth in a circular manner over each side of his head indicating total mindless terror.] That made me suspect there was something special in there. He said, "What's in there, what's in there!!!! I am not going back in there!!!" That was fine by me, but, I made the hole big enough so I could get in there. That is the only reason I looked in that cave, because it looked very unpromising. I crawled around on these rocks. The place was full of them. There was about eighteen inches of clearance to the ceiling. I shined my light down through the openings down through the rocks. [Holds his hands as if he has a flashlight in it. Makes gestures as if he is shining it down between rocks. With the other hand makes a circle as if he sees the spot of gold.] I saw a little spot of gold here, and I saw a spot of gold there, and I saw a spot of gold there. My heart started pounding like you wouldn't believe!! [He makes a fist and strikes his chest to indicate his heart is pounding hard!] I started taking these rocks, and started sticking them here, there and everywhere. [Makes gestures of moving rocks about one foot square.] I actually ended up with rocks behind my shoulders here. [Makes gesture of putting a rock behind him.] Here was a gold veneered table! I thought, that's the table of shewbread! Later I found out that by reading the book of Sammuel a little more carefully that Soloman made ten more of them besides the one Moses had Basalil make out in the wilderness. So now I don't know if that was a copy, or the real thing. At that point in time we didn't know that. I happened to notice this stone box right in front of me, and the lid cracked right here. Well, I thought there has got to be something special in this box. I looked up to see what I could do to get rid of some more rock. I saw some brown... dark brown stuff. I looked on up the wall, and here it had come through a crack, and down the wall and landed on that broken area of that lid. [Points up and his finger seems to trace down the side of the wall.] Suddenly, it all came together. The cut-outs! The cross-hole! The crack! The Ark of the Covenant! Christs' blood on the mercy seat!45 minutes later I came to enough that I carefully put everything back, crawled out of there, and sealed up the hole. [He was able to convince the authorities at the department of antiquities that he did find the Ark of the Covenant when he presented a gold covered pomegranate from the cave. He later came back and cut a large shaft down to within a foot of breaking into the chamber. He told a group in Omaha, "when the decision is made to bring the Ark out, it can be on display in one day!" Come and hear Ron tell the story in person, or get V-3 Archaeology Confirms the Bible to see him give this particular talk, or order the video of his talk to The Prophecy Club when he speaks in March. The Prophecy Club's BBS telephone # is 913-271-8048 *********************************************** The Pre-Wrath Rapture By Wes Peters wes@ionet.net When talking about end times prophecy in general and the rapture in particular, a distinction needs to be made between the tribulation period and the time of God's judgment. As Christians, we are not the object of God's wrath yet in this world we will have tribulation. "For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thess. 5:9 "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." John 16:33 Concerning the last days, the end of the tribulation will be followed by cosmic signs and the Son of Man appearing in the clouds of the sky. "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory." Matt. 24:29-30 This is almost an identical account of what will happen at the opening of the sixth seal. "And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. And the sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand?' " Rev. 6:12-17 The tribulation period of the days prior to these events will be over when the sixth seal is opened. What follows the sixth seal is the seventh seal which sets in motion the seven trumpet judgments of God. But something must take place first. Since Christians are not the object of God's judgment, they must be removed from the earth. The account in Matthew continues by saying . . . "And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other." Matt. 24:31 Yes, the rapture of the church does not occur until after the sixth seal is opened which is after the church undergoes the persecution associated with the rise of the Antichrist. Multitudes of believers, possibly you and I, will give their lives rather than worship the Antichrist or the image of the beast. Are you ready? I have set up a web page that looks at current events and how they might relate to end times prophecy. Recognizing the trend toward the end can help us be alert and ready. The URL is: http://ionet.net/~wes E-mail copies of the current events are available for those who want them. I am always looking for events that might pertain to end times prophecy. If you know of any, I would appreciate it if you would bring them to my attention. I have also put together a booklet on end times prophecy. This booklet is available for download from the above URL. I also have copies that I can e-mail or snail-mail, free of charge, for those interested. Wes Peters wes@ionet.net http://ionet.net/~wes *************************************************** WHAT IS THE PRE-WRATH RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH? By Ron Wallace ronw@netcom.com The pre-wrath rapture position, based on a more literally defined terminology, places the rapture of the church at the Day of the LORD which occurs after the man of lawlessness is revealed (2 Thes. 2:3) and after the tribulation of those days is inter-rupted and cut short by that Day of the LORD return of Jesus. (Mt. 24:29) The primary adjustments in terminology are as follows: 1. The tribulation is never defined in scripture as being 7 years long. Jesus defines it at Mt. 24:9-29 as a period of time, beginning at the mid-point of Daniel's 70th week, when man will oppress man. He further indicates that the time period will be cut short at some unknown day and hour before the end of the 70th week by His return in the clouds. 2. The tribulation is man's wrath and Satan's wrath poured out on the world. It is not God's wrath. God's wrath is poured out after the Day of the LORD arrives. 3. The seals are chronological except that numbers 3, 4 and 5 are concurrent during the oppression from the man of lawlessness. 4. The first seal corresponds with the little horn of Daniel 7:24, when he conguers the 10 nation European (Roman) confederacy by taking control of 3 of them. 5. The 7 year covenant of Dan. 9:27 will take place shortly after that and officially begin the 70th week of Daniel. 6. The second seal corresponds with the revelation of the man of lawlessness as he breaks the covenant and takes THE peace from the earth. This begins the tribulation of Mt. 24:9-29. 7. The third, fourth and fifth seals are concurrent during the great tribulation & are the results of man's oppression on man. 8. The sixth seal is the return of Jesus at the Day of the LORD and parallels Mt. 24:29-31 and Joel 2:30-31. It is the announcement of God's wrath which will come upon the world and is represented by the 7th seal from where come both the trumpets and bowls. 9. Rev. 7:9-17 sees the raptured church in heaven having been taken out of the great tribulation just as Jesus taught would happen at Mt. 24:22, 29-31. 10.The seventh trumpet occurs 3 1/2 days after the end of the 70th week of Daniel and announces the final outpouring of God's wrath via the seven bowls. Rev. 11:1-19 11.The seven bowls of God's final wrath will take place during the 30 days after the end of the 70th week culminating with the final battle at Armageddon. Dan. 12:11 with Rev. 11 & 16. 12.There will then be 45 days of preparation for the Messiah to begin His formal 1000 year reign upon the earth. Dan. 12:12. 13.Comments on the interpretive system applied to the book of the Revelation. Although there may be slight differences even among others who hold to a pre-wrath position, the operative factor will be the Golden Rule of Interpretation, for knowledge of which I am indebted to D.L. Cooper. When the plain sense of scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise. Accordingly, I view the book of the Revelation to be chronological except in those places where it is clearly indicated to be retrospect. The seals produce the trumpets and the trumpets the bowls. These do not overlap in the least but are chronological, beginning with the start of the 70th week (or slightly before it) and progressing through the 70th week and to the end of the 30 day period which follows the 70th week. The book itself obviously begins with the church on the earth prior to the start of the 70th week and progresses through Messiah's 1000 year physical reign on the earth, to the last judgment and into the eternal state. Throughout, there are chapters that give a retrospect for amplification and it is imperitive to recognize these as retrospects in order to retain the true focus and intent of the vision. The pre-wrath rapture position, though recently so titled, was indeed the view of the early church and the Ante-Nicene Fathers (those Christian leaders from John until the Council of Nicea in 325 AD) who clearly believed in a "post-tribulation" rapture of the church. That is, a deliverance of the church which would follow the persecutions from the beast against the church. Although citations from these ancient witnesses will show us a few different theological viewpoints, yet they are in certain agreement that the church would experience the great tribulation. What has been missed throughout history, is the precise definition of that tribulation period and the Day of the LORD. And it is that precision that the pre-wrath position seeks to restore. In grace, Ron ronw@netcom.com ********************************************** THE PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH UP TO THE BEGINNING OF DANIELS 70TH WEEK By Ron Wallace Matt. 24:4 And Jesus answered and said to them, See to it that no one misleads you. Mankind has always been preoccupied with the future, and of course, the disciples of Jesus were no exception. During the week prior to the crucifixion in 30 AD, Jesus frequented the temple in Jerusalem every day. And it was on one of these days, the 12th of the month Nisan, that it appears as though He actually baited the curiosity of the disciples by emphasizing a future destruction of the temple with very strong language. The occasion, according to Mt. 24:1 and Luke 21:5, was the disciple's enamorment with the temple structure. The bait then, appears to be recorded at Mt. 24:2 and Luke 21:6. Mt 24:2, - - Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down. This of course, elicited from them the obvious question of - When? But in actuality, they asked Him four specific questions. 1. When will these things be? Mt. 24:3; Mk. 13:4; Lk. 21:7 2. What will be the sign of these things? Lk. 21:7; Mk. 13:4 3. What will be the sign of your coming? Mt. 24:3 4. And the sign of the end of the age? Mt. 24:3 The answers of Jesus, recorded for us in Mt. 24 and Luke 21, give us an outline for the history of the church up until the gathering of the elect (church age believers) out from this world at the arrival of the Day of the LORD. Matthew 24:4 - the possibility of deception requires specific information so that the church might be oriented to the progress of history and not be distracted from her evangelistic purpose. If the church, or more specifically, individual believers, get too distracted and discouraged at the progress of evil in the world, they will lose sight of the true objective for their continued sojourn here on the earth. 1 Peter 2:9 At 1 Peter 4.12, we are told that we should not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing, as though SOME STRANGE THING were happening to you; Thus, we have the Olivet Discourse, wherein Jesus orients us to the historical trends that will occur during the church age, leading up to His return at the Day of the LORD. As this is studied, it is imperative to properly harmonize the three accounts that we have in the synoptic gospels. And as they unfold it will be clear that the progress is viewed from 30 AD as an uninterrupted history of the church until Mt. 24:29-31 when Jesus returns in association with the Day of the LORD signs and gathers His elect from the world. Jesus breaks down the historical trends into three periods. 1. Those before 70 AD. 2. Those between 70 AD and the great tribulation. 3. And those during the great tribulation. CHURCH AGE TRENDS - General trends both before and after 70 AD: Mt. 24.5, For many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, (Lk. 21.8, I am {He,} and, The time is at hand) and will mislead many. (do not go after them. LK) (For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work - 2 Th.2.7) v.6 And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for it must take place, but {that} is not yet the end. (Lk. 21:9 And when you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end {does} not {follow} immediately.) All of these things have been occurring since 30 AD, and are to be viewed as general trends without placin any specific significance upon them. But then at Mat. 24:7 and Luke 21:10-11, Jesus describe trends that take place on a much larger scale than the ones just mentioned - - For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom - - -. There are two things in this passage which tell us that these *larger scale* trends are those which will occur after AD 70. 1. The idea of *kingdom against kingdom* conflicts does not describe the conflicts that took place within the Roman Empire prior to 70 AD. 2. Luke 21:12 - *but before all these things* - Here Jesus backs up in His discourse in order to describe the events leading up to and culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. By saying, *before all these things*, Jesus is placing the following information before the ~larger scale~ trends just described.And so, chronologically, these events should be viewed first. As we approach this study, there is an important point that needs to be recognized in order to properly correlate the language Jesus uses as He tells of the events that will take place. Jesus taught about two different times of persecution and two different times of crisis for Jerusalem. He uses similarity of language to describe both, and we must be careful to make the separation between the two situations or else our perspective will become a bit confused. When Jesus talks about the persecution between 30-70 AD, he uses language that is very similar to what He uses to describe the persecution of the great tribulation. But by careful analysis, the distinction between the two periods can be preserved. The same principle applies to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the oppression by the beast in the great tribulation. SPECIFIC PERSECUTION BETWEEN 30-70 AD (based on Luke 21.12, But before all these things) V.12-19, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My names sake. It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. But you will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put {some} of you to death, and you will be hated by all on account of My name. Yet not a hair of your will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives. Mark also records this information at Mark 13:9-13 and it is best to take that passage as paralleling Luke 21:12-19. It should further be recognized that Matthew records this same teaching much earlier than the Olivet discourse. Mat. 10.16-23 But at Mat. 10.23, Jesus takes the persecution and the gospel proclamation beyond the immediate time frame of the apostolic era and applies it to the church age in general - You shall not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes. This simply confirms the idea that there is no *interruption* of the historical progress of the church until Jesus returns at the Day of the LORD. Mk 13:9-13 But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to courts, and you will be flogged in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. The world-wide proclamation of the gospel was fulfilled by the apostles prior to 70 AD according to language that we find at Col. 1.6, 23. But it also has great significance for the period of time prior to the Day of the LORD. For there shall be, indeed, needs to be a blanket of gospel truth announced to Israel both locally, in Palestine, as well as world-wide, in order to sow the seed that will sprout in the 144,000 Jews who are converted just after the Day of the LORD arrives. (Rev. 7:1-8) Matthew 24:14, And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then shall the end come. DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM - 70 AD Having recognized the 30-70 AD time context of Luke 21:12-19, it should be clear that Jesus picks up at v. 20-24 with the siege of Jerusalem by the armies of Rome. This event actually becomes the point of contact and overlap between AD 70 and the future oppression of the beast during the great tribulation. And once again, we must be very careful in recognizing the precision in the words of Jesus to distinguish between these two events, and at the same time realize that He used similarity of language to describe both. Luke 21.20-22, But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled. All things fulfilled does not refer to the *entire* plan of God for Jerusalem, but specifically, that which involves a world-wide dispersion. A world-wide dispersion is not what happens in the yet future oppression by the beast, nor what happens when the nations surround Jerusalem during the Armageddon campaign.This prophecy of Jesus specifically fulfills OT passages that deal with the destruction of the city and the dispersion of the people. Lev. 26.27; Deut. 28.49-68 It deals with the national discipline that God will administer upon the Jewish people because of the rejection of their Messiah. Mt. 21:33-46; 23:37-39 That is why the term *days of vengeance* is used at Lk. 21:22. Luke 21:23-24, Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to THIS people, and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Dan. 9.26, (And after the 62 weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing,) And the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; and to the end there will be war, a decree of desolations. (my translation) The Roman army under Titus besieged the city in 70 AD on the 14th of the month Nisan until its fall, 134 days later on the 8th of Elul. This was prophesied by Daniel as taking place after the cutting off of Messiah. The cutting off of Messiah must be understood from the context of Isaiah 53.8 - He was cut off from the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due. (There is a different Hebrew word for cut off at Is. 53:8, but that does not change the parallel). The prince who is to come is the little horn of Daniel and refers to the future dictator of a Revived Roman Empire who makes a 7 year covenant with Israel and then breaks it 3 1/2 years later. But the people of that *end times* prince refers to the Romans, who in AD 70 destroyed the city and the sanctuary. And after 70 AD, until the end (end times) there will be war, just as Jesus said at Mat. 24:6, and a decree of desolations which includes the famines and earthquakes of Mt. 24:7. And the plagues mentioned at Luke 21:11. Additional OT references concerning the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Zechariah 13:8 And it will come about in all the land, declares the Lord, That 2 parts in it will be cut off and perish; but the third will be left in it. Here, Zechariah tells us that 2 parts - by far the greater majority of the people - will perish in a future judgment on Israel. Josephus gives the number as 1 million and 100 thousand, and although most authorities believe that to be an exaggeration, there is no way of knowing for sure. The third part that is left in it includes those who remain alive.This group includes not only the 97,000 who were taken captive from Judea, but the over-all population of the Jews throughout the Roman Empire. These remain alive and make up the world-wide dispersion which exists to this very day. Hosea 5:14-15 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, and like a young lion to the house of Judah, I, even I, will tear to pieces and go away, I will CARRY AWAY and return to my place until they acknowledge their guilt and seek my face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek me. In this passage, Yahweh tells us that He will *judge* Judah -and carry away. Carry away is the world wide dispersion that began in AD 70 and remains in effect even to this very day. He also said that He would return to His place. This refers to the fact that Yahweh (Jesus the Messiah) would leave the earth after accomplishing His judgment on the nation. The judgment has 2 stages: 1. The indictment stage which took place during the ministry of Jesus and at the cross in AD 30. 2. The physical stage which took place 40 years later in AD 70, is the destruction of the city and the temple. 3. Jesus actually left in AD 30 at his ascension to the right hand of the Father, but it is this very ascension through resurrection that confirmed the indictment He placed on the nation during His ministry. Mt. 21:43-44; 23:37-39 And Jesus will stay away until the nation acknowledges their guilt. Notice the comparison with Mt. 23:39, until you say - - Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! Back in Hosea, Yahweh then tells us exactly when it will be that they will seek Him. *in their affliction* - the time of Jacobs trouble, the great tribulation. This will be discussed later but it is evidenced by the fact that *faithful* or orthodox Israel does not accept the beast worship and instead flees into the wilderness when the beast sets up his image in the temple. Mt. 24:15-16; Rev.12.13-14 Zechariah describes for us the history of the nation of Israel subsequent to 70 AD as a history of refinement and testing which will culminate with them *calling on my name* - Zech. 13.9, And I will bring the third part through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. they will call on My name and I will answer them; I will say, They are my people, and they will say, The Lord is my God. In view of this scenario Daniel provides very interesting details. At Dan. 11:21-32, we have the history of Antiochus and the Maccabean revival which took place between 171-165 BC. And then at Dan. 11:33, we jump to a ti me of revival just prior to the destruction and captivity of Jerusalem in AD 70. Daniel 11.33 And those who have insight among the people - - (Messiah believers -the church- between AD 30-70) will give understanding to the many; (Israel) and they (Israel) will fall by sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder, for {many} days. (As Jesus taught at Luke 21:24 - - And Jerusalem shall be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles is fulfilled). An important point for proper interpretation here, is to determine whether the *destruction* language at v. 33 can properly refer to the condition of Israel during and/or after the Maccabean revival, or must look to a more complete destruction by the Romans in 70 AD. And if, as is best, the language at v. 33 refers to 70 AD, then - v. 34-35 must refer to events after 70 AD and which culminate in the purification of Israel at the time of the end. Ie, during the great tribulation and just prior to the Day of the LORD. And so, according to a very common practice in the OT prophets, the writer jumps the history after 70 AD and picks up with the 70th week. Daniel 11.34-35 *Now when they (Israel) fall (world-wide dispersion) they will be granted a little help,* Israel remains *fallen* until the end of the great tribulation when the period of time known as the Day of the LORD arrives. It is during this time that she shall look on Him whom she pierced, acknowledge her national guilt and proclaim, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD. In her fallen condition, since the Roman dispersion, Israel has come under much and varied attacks without much reprieve if any. But there will come a time when she shall be granted a little help. This is best defined as the covenant that is made by the dictator of Revived Rome which will give Israel the religious freedom she needs to build a temple and reinstitute its sacrificial system. It is called *a little help* because it is a false covenant that will be broken just 3 1/2 years after its confirmation. ~and many will join with them in hypocrisy.~ (Israel's apostacy - the covenant with the beast) Once the covenant is broken and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the hypocrisy of the covenant will be exposed. But still, many Jews will continue and join in the hypocrisy of beast worship. ~And some of those who have insight (the church) will fall, (martyrdom) in order to refine, purge, and make them pure, (evangelistic outreach to Israel) until the time of the end; (Day of the LORD) because {it is} still {to come} at the appointed time.~ It is primarily the testimony of the true Messiah worshipers (the church), even in the midst of extreme persecution, (the 5th seal of Rev. 6:9-11) that will produce a purification so that when the Day of the LORD arrives, there will be a large group of Jews who trust in Jesus the Messiah. (Rev. 7.1-8) But all this is to be amplified later. Right now we must return to our chronology. CHURCH AGE TRENDS - after 70 AD MT. 24:7-8 (and) nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes, (and plagues, and great signs from heaven; LK. 21:11) But all these things are {merely} the beginning of birth pangs. All this continues from 70 AD as the beginning of birth pangs. Birth pangs for what? For the end of course. And that *end* is identified here in Matthew, as the return of Jesus (V. 32-35) and elsewhere as the Day of the LORD. The advanced stage of birth pangs begins with Mt. 24:9 - the events of the great tribulation. It is during this time frame (v.9-28) that the gospel will be proclaimed throughout the whole world - *and then shall the end come*. The result of that gospel proclamation will be additions to the church which will be raptured at the Day of the LORD, and at least the 144,000 Jewish converts after the rapture. Thus, the natural flow of Matthew 24 is to record the progress of the church from AD 70 into and to the end of the great tribulation. The message of Jesus bypasses the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel and simply picks up at the mid-point of the week when the man of lawlessness begins his oppressive reign as the beast out of the sea. In fact, everywhere the emphasis is not on the 1st half of the week, but always on the 2nd half. There is a conspicuous absence of information about the 1st half, but an abundance of information about the middle of the week, the oppressive reign of the beast and all that follows. The reason of course, is because the 1st half is a time of peace for probably all the world, as a result of the covenant that is signed by the dictator of Revived Rome and the peoples of Palestine. And the history of the church progresses smoothly up into that first half and into the great tribulation to be delivered, as that tribulation is cut short, by the one and only visible return of Jesus at the Day of the LORD. So prior to the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel, the church will progress in a world environment of *beginning birth pangs.* But the environment of the church itself will be one of false teaching and compromise. This is represented both by the letters of Paul and Peter, and by the letters to the 7 churches recorded in Revelation 2-3, all which describe conditions prior to the breaking of the first seal and actually extending up to the 6th seal. 2 Thes. 2:1-3 Now we request you brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a leter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive yoiu, for (it will not come) unless the apostacy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruc- tion, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Any discussion is indeed welcome on this subject. I can be reached E-mail: ronw@netcom.com In love and grace, Ron Wallace ********************************************** This month I thought I'd offer a potpourri, three reviews from three sources. These are very different books and will appeal to a diverse readership. The first two are by guest critics, K. David Kragen, and Janette Kragen. (Don't ever say we practice nepotism around here.) The Third is by yours truly, the Bookworm. The first book reviewed is by Christian author Annie Dillard. With the great lack of adequate Christian literature, we felt that this book deserved some attention. THE LIVING by Annie Dillard New York, 1992. Reviewed by K. D. Kragen. Annie Dillard won the Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction for PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK in 1975. Now she has written her first novel. The Living follows the lives of three families settling the Bellingham Bay region of Western Washington between 1855 and 1893. Throughout this sweeping chronicle, Ada Gleason Fishburn Tawes and a host of other very real characters work and die, suffer and struggle and celebrate and die in a world where one is constantly life-stung and death-stung, growing and loving. Dillard, in speaking of death, speaks of the living. Like Melville's Moby Dick, The Living will be one of the great, lasting epics of American Literature. Like Moby Dick, underneath the every-day--so well described you can smell it! -- are those ever-present metaphysical currents of eternity: swirling eddies of spiritual sight, myriad portraits of love and marriage, youth and age, scenes which illumine the streets of 1893 Seattle and 1855 Whatcom, and the ever-present gargantuan rain forests stretching north. But, unlike Moby Dick, Dillard's book neither goes on forever, nor requires a degree inphilosophical theology to dredge out its myriad visions and truths. For example, at one place the hulking, strangely brutal Beal Obenchain announces to Clare Fishburn, quite philosophically, he's going to kill him. From that point on things changed for Clare: "There was a wagging patch of light on the wall above the sink; the bushes outside the dining room wagged, too. The planet wagged on; the man who planted those bushes was dead. And time, for Clare, had sprung a leak ... "Clare could see the dark at the edge of the plain. He felt a hole in the wall behind him; things rushed out that hole. He was running low on air. Yesterday, talking with John Ireland in front of the high school, he had imagined and seen the long horizon of bay water and beach begin to tilt and upend. On the low side a gap appeared, and water and houses and schools and all the world's contents slid into the gap and blew away" (p. 197). Dillard's style is a finely crafted fugue of concrete reality and its infinite underpinning, the little things tentatively moored to a space-time universe, the mooring lines illumined in startling flashes of the writer's art. "Mabel and her cousin Nesta, and flat-nosed Cyrus Sharp, and his youngest brother, Horace, were tying each other to a tree. They had found a length of line and were tying each other to the cottonwood tree. Clare watched from the kitchen. He had forgotten this piece of information: children tie one another to trees. Children find wild eggs, treasure, and corpses; they make trails, huts, and fires; they hit one another, hold hands, and tie one another to trees. They tied Horace Sharp to the tree; he cried. They tied Mabel to the tree; her flat beret fell off, and she could not break away. "Clare had looked out past the pie safe. Here is a solid planet, he thought, stocked with mountains and cliffs, where stone banks jut and deeply rooted trees hang on. Among these fixed and enduring features wander the flimsy people. The earth rolls down and the people die; their survivors derive solace from clinging, not to the rocks, not to the cliffs, not to the trees, but to each other. It was singular. Loose people clung in families, holding on for dear life. Grasping at straws! One would think people would beg to be tied to trees" (p. 350-51). This is so typical of Annie Dillard! It is so characteristic of her aesthetic and delightfully human view of life, of all of us -- the living. Elegant and refined prose, mature and seemingly effortless descriptions flow seamlessly between dialogue and narrative, resounding with the ring of truth and a great and glorious depth of humanity. The Living is a work of astounding eloquence, a work of sweet, unforgettable aesthetic fire. ******************** One of the ongoing battles facing the Christian Community is the death of the Pre-born. It is a battle that must be fought for the sake of the defenseless victim. Here is a book by a victim who did not die. GIANNA by Jessica Shaver A Focus on the Family Book, Colorado Springs, CO, 1994 reviewed by Janette Kragen Gianna by Jessica Shaver is one of the most powerful pro-life testimonials I have ever read. The subject, Gianna Jessen, a 17 year-old singer, was the survivor of a saline abortion. In the last two years, she has become an outspoken advocate for life in the public arena. She testifies against abortion in churches, at youth conferences, pro-life rallies, in legislative committee hearings and on national radio and television. This book, published by Focus on the Family, is written in a basic conversational style. It is primarily aimed at a broad market of younger non-readers. I recommend using this book as a family reading and discussion project. It can also be used in the church for youth group meetings. ******************** From time-to-time, as the new millennium approaches, I will review books that deal with Millennial Madness. This is an excellent work of sanity in the midst of a lot of insanity. 99 REASONS WHY NO ONE KNOWS WHEN CHRIST WILL RETURN by B. J. Oropeza InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 1994. As we continue to hear how Christ is returning "this week" or "next month," or "next year," this book will be an invaluable reference to refute the mushy thinking that underlies the demand that we know exactly when Christ is coming. B. J. Oropeza is a Fuller Theological Seminary graduate and is a research associate with the Christian Research Institute. His research skills have served him well in writing this book. I do, however, have one significant criticism. Those who hold a Pre-Tribulational, Pre-Millennial view will find disagreement with some of Oropeza's positions. These disagreements shouldn't be with his general position about date-setting, but will be with some of his positions on Israel. Also, he sometimes fails to recognize that holding a Dispensationalist position is not synonymous with date setting. Having expressed my concerns, I can never-the-less recommend the book without reservation. Its strengths far out way its drawbacks. The book is broken down into 14 sections. The first is introductory, with sections two through thirteen grouping reasons by categories. Let me list a few of the sections to give you a flavor of the approach. Section 2 - "Reasons Why No One Knows the Date Through Scriptures. Section 6 - "Reasons Why No One Knows the Date Through the Signs of the Times Section 7 - Reasons Why No One Knows the Date Through Current World Affairs. One of my favorites is "Why No One Knows the Date Through Rumors. This includes some of my favorite contemporary myths: 1. The increase in the number of vultures in Israel, 2. Hell is enlarging itself to make room for the damned, 3. The New Age Movement is a world-wide conspiracy and my personal choice: 4. The Illuminati is behind everything. Oropeza provides excellent material in a clear and concise way to show that to set dates for the return of Christ is, in the final analysis, direct disobedience to the teaching of Scripture. Christ can and may return at any time, but we are to tarry until he does, living in obedience and advancing the kingdom. Let us be found at work in the Father's fields when Christ comes. Let's leave the date setting to someone else. This book will give you a ready answer when your neighbor tells you "Be prepared, the Lord is coming this weekend." So, until next time, good reading! Your friend, The Bookworm *********************************************** Prophe-Zine News Bites Electronic Global Cash********** With its 20m inhabitants, the Internet is more populous than most countries. Now the net is developing an economy as businesses open "virtual storefronts". All that is missing is a global on-line currency to match its borderless reach: hence the search for digital cash. A quaint academic project? Not entirely. Whoever can win acceptance for a currency for multimedia commerce could become the banker for the digital age. One company in the hunt is DigiCash, an Amsterdam-based firm that makes "smart cards" for electronic transactions. In the DigiCash scheme, customers would use local currency to buy an equivalent amount of digital cash--"Internet dollars", say--from a bank. The bank's computer would then instruct special software on the user's own PC to issue that amount of money. The instructions would be coded strings of numbers included, like regular text, in electronic mail messages. Users would spend their Internet dollars by sending these strings to sellers (who would be able to check with the bank to ensure that the buyer had enough money to pay). This seems close to writing a normal cheque. But David Chaum, DigiCash's founder, points out that its cash--like real cash--offers anonymity. The string is untraceable. The bank can say only if the number is valid, not to whom it was issued. As more marketers begin to track and sell purchasing information, Mr. Chaum predicts, consumers will soon demand the ability to buy things anonymously, simply as a way to protect their privacy. Meanwhile the Information Networking Institute of Carnegie Mellon University is sponsoring "NetBill"--a scheme which would broker transactions through a third-party financial institution, much like the debit cards that exist today. Both customer and merchant would maintain accounts with the third party. When the customer wants to buy something, his software will notify the third party to transfer the amount to the merchant's account. The Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California is developing both a cash/cheque model and a debit card model. Clifford Neuman, who heads the project, expects both models to be used, depending on whether the user wants anonymity or not. ISI is working with a team of banks including Bank of America and Citibank; its two rivals are both working with credit-card companies. The first global currency may turn out to be nothing more than an abstract electronic string, but financial institutions want to ensure that even in a wired world a bank is still a bank. Meanwhile the Information Networking Institute of Carnegie Mellon University is sponsoring "NetBill"--a scheme which would broker transactions through a third-party financial institution, much like the debit cards that exist today. Both customer and merchant would maintain accounts with the third party. When the customer wants to buy something, his software will notify the third party to transfer the amount to the merchant's account. The Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California is developing both a cash/cheque model and a debit card model. Clifford Neuman, who heads the project, expects both models to be used, depending on whether the user wants anonymity or not. ISI is working with a team of banks including Bank of America and Citibank; its two rivals are both working with credit-card companies. The first global currency may turn out to be nothing more than an abstract electronic string, but financial institutions want to ensure that even in a wired world a bank is still a bank. -The Economist; Sept. 10, 1994 FBI NABS NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR FINGERPRINT ID SYSTEM****** * CRIME: Agency is automating its database to replace cumbersome system. New process locates suspects faster. By Ronald J. Ostrow Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON -- Police, clueless and frustrated over the respected professor's slaying, come up with a single fingerprint at the murder scene. They rush it to the FBI, and within hours the killer is identified. If this sounds too good to be true, it is--for now. It would take weeks,even months, to get the fingerprint through the FBI's cumbersome system.And at the end of the process, the chances that a fingerprint examiner could match a single print with that of one of the 32 million individuals whose prints are on file with the FBI would be virtually nil. But by 1998, the FBI plans to be using a computerized system that will slash the turnaround time to practically nothing: as little as two hours for a suspect in custody and 48 hours for more routine cases in which no one is being held. All this will be possible thanks to a marriage of two technologies: laser scanners that can read fingerprints much as supermarket scanners now read bar codes, and computers that canmatch fingerprints far faster than the human eye. The fingerprint scanners were developed for law enforcement but are already spawning an array of applications as substitutes for such everday items as door keys and credit cards. Some state and city law enforcement authorities, including California and Los Angeles, already are operating their own automated fingerprint systems and there the FBI will be just catching up. But nationally, the so-called integrated automated fingerprint identification system, projected to cost $520 million, will be an enormous advance. If the automated sytem had been operating when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in 1968, for example, assassin James Earl Ray could have been identified within hours from a thumbprint on the rifle, binoculars anda map that he left behind, FBI officials calculate. As it was, the FBI identified Ray 15 days after the killing by running a print from the crime scene against a file of fugitives' prints. During those 15 days, investigators looked fruitlessly for the killer under two aliases across the country while riots scarred many of the nation's cities. Already the FBI has in place a computerized repository of the names and fingerprints of more than 20 million individuals, from arrested persons to convicted felons. Some 200 employees work full time to transfer the millions of remaining 10-print cards--augmented by 20,000 to 30,000 cards that roll in every day from law enforcement agencies across the country--onto computer tape at FBI headquarters in Washington. Some law enforcement agencies and members of Congress have criticized the FBI's pace of automation as too slow. "The FBI is playing catch-up to an extent," said Wally Briefs, the ident- ification unit coordinator at the Sunnyvale (Calif.) Department of Public Safety. "There are systems all over the United States that are ahead of the FBI." But as soon as next year, the FBI's system is scheduled to allow police anywhere in the country to tap into a central data bank of the fingerprints of 300,000 to 400,000 wanted persons. Using Computers in their patrol cars, police will be able to run a suspect's right index fingerprint against the FBI's file of fugitives' prints. A match will provide sufficient legal cause to take the suspect to the station for a 10-finger check. The cost to equip each patrol car with the equipmentwill be about $500. Even this is only a small step along the way to the far more sophisticated system that the FBI intends to have in place by 1998. That system, using all 10 fingerprints instead of just one, will provide law enforcement authorities with positive identifications in as little as two hours. Still more important in some situations, it will enable computerized matches of "latent" fingerprints--those left behind at the scene of a crime--with prints on file at the FBI. The new fingerprint system constitutes the largest single technology investment the FBI ever made. The FBI's fingerprint activity is split about equally between criminal and civil applications, with the civil ranging from applicants for federal jobs to licensing required for certain industries and child-care providers in some states. The FBI's identification division has blossomed into the Criminal Justice Information Services, which is in the process of relocating to West Virginia. "This division is the single largest in the FBI, and it overwhelmingly serves the criminal justice community outside the FBI," said assistant FBI Director Steven Pomerantz, who is in charge of the CJIS. Even when the automated system begoms operating, there will be a substanial number of police departments that lack the technology to fully use it. "We'll still be taking fingerprint cards from them and entering them in the system," pomerantz said. "For a number of years, we'll work a dual system." THe new system will be entirely paperless, with images of each finger recorded and entered into a computerized database and transmitted electronically to the FBI. No human has to touch a finger-print card in the process, but a certified fingerprint examiner must still certify each match. The system will be able to handle 635 latent print searches a day, split about evenly between federal investigators and state and local police. This will limit its use to homicides and sex crimes. "The problem is that in a crime of violence, it's not unusual to develop 25 to 30 latent prints," noted Danny W. Greathouse, chief of the FBI's latent fingerprint section. "Six hundred and thirty-five is a significant number, but it is not many when you think of how many murdres or rapes or armed robberies there are every day." California's entire daily allocation would be just 34 latent searches. "If you have a triple murder in Los Angeles, that could take up all the 34 searches," Greathouse said. "Then you put on hold that double murder in Sacramento and that rape in San Francisco." But thanks to systems already in place at the state level and in Los Angeles, California enjoys a substantial head start and will need to use the national system only sparingly. The Los Angeles Police Department ran 10,000 latent prints through its system in 1993 and, as a result, identified 2,670 people, said Wendell Clements, chief of the latent fingerprint section. Prints of everyone arrested for a violent crime are run against the department's database of latent prints from unsolved crimes. About 95% of the matches are with the local databases, not the state's or the FBI's Clements noted--a reflection of criminals' habit of sticking close to home. "I can't think of the last time I had a burglar fly up from L.A. rent a car and drive to Sunnyvale to steal a microwave oven," said Briefs, the official in Sunnyvale, which was involved in a pilot program for an advanced automated fingerprint identification system. "The vast majority of criminals stay local." Latent prints are usually far less distinct than inked prints taken at a police station, and they typically carry only a tiny fraction of the details that examiners need to match them against prints on file. Experts worry that computers will have an even harder time dealing with latent prints than humans do. After substantial controversy within law enforcement circles, the FBI settle on a system that will provide a medium level of clarity--better than many metropolitan police departments have in their automated finger-print systems but less than the nation's top finger-print sleuths wanted. As a significant as these developments appear, it took some fancy budget footwork by the master of Capitol Hill manipulation, Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va), to win congressional approval of the funding. One year he resorted to a "dire emergency supplemental appropriations bill" to raise $185 million of the project's $520 million cost. Pomerantz, assistant director of CJIS, acknowledged that finger-print processing "is not one of the big, glamorous items in law enforcement. So money is tough to get." The move to West Virginia, with two satellite facilities already operating there, may be a boon for Byrd's constituents, but it is proving a major headache for FBI Director Louis J. Freeh. Freeh has been unable to deliver on a promise made by predecessor William S. Sessions that no jobs would be lost during the move. Only 418 of 1,718 division employees still in Washington are willing to move to West Virginia, and finding FBI jobs in Washington for the other 1,3000 is proving impossible at a time when the entire federal bureaucracy is shrinking. The division's staff is largely black and female, and Freeh has ordered that those who won't move be given preferences for openings in FBI jobs here and elsewhere. He is notifying employees six months in advance that their jobs are being transferred and guaranteeing them that they can keep working until Sept. 30, 1996. MONDAY, APRIL 3, 1995 LOS ANGELES TIMES 666 Trial Run ********************* According to a KNBR radio report this morning, the city of Novato is considering a municipal ordinance that would involve implanting a microchip (about the size of a grain of rice) between the shoulder blades of every cat in town. That way, when a cat is picked up by animal control, they can wave a reader over it and the bar code will indicate who the owner is and where the animal lives. CASHLESS CURRENCY************ AT&T NEWS page 2 Feb 1995 AT&T Smart Cards and GiroVend Holdings Ltd. have signed a joint agreement to promote new smart-card applications and technology for smaller cashless consumer transactions. AT&T Smart Cards are credit-card-sized devices that contain a microprocessor and memory chip that store and process personalized user information.The two companies plan to focus initially on the U.S. educational market [The younger uninformed will accept their changes easier. ] for smart-card payments as an alternative to cash-handling systems. That initiative will be extended to global markets in health care, banking, retail, entertainment, governinent, travel and universities in the future. "Our society is clearly moving towards an era when cash is no longer the most common form of payment. Smart cards will become standard currency of this cashless society." said John Bermingham, president, AT&T Smart Cards. "Just as credit cards have replaced cash for large-value transactions the last 30 years, smart cards are likely to replace cash for many smaller transactions. [More proof we are heading toward the Mark of the Beast. For the ultimate video on Mark of the Beast information, order, M-16, Approaching the Mark of the Beast.] GORBACHEV,BUSH LEAD THE CHARGE************* By Mike Blair Just as San Francisco was the birthplace of the United Nations, now the "city by the bay" will host a meeting to establish ground rules for governing for a united world. Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has been named the "convening chair" and host of a world forum on the "first global civilization" planned for San Francisco from September 27 to October 1. Elitists at the conference are scheduled to consider how the so-called "new world order" will be governed. The last dictator of the fallen Soviet Union, Gorbachev has ensconced his Gorbachev Foundation USA in the former Coast Guard commandant's residence at the closed U.S. Military base, the Presidio, in San Francisco. The SPOTLIGHT has learned has learned former President George Bush and ex-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher have agreed, among others, to serve as co-chairs of the forum slated San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel. Others to co-chair the meeting on the so-called new world order include: Ted Turner, U.S. teleivision mogul; George Shultz, a former secretary of state;Askar Akaev, president of the Soviet break-away republic of Kyrgystan;Tansu Ciller, prime minster of Turkey;Vaclav Havel, prime minster of the Czech Republic; Bilderberger Rund Lubbers, ex-prime minister of the Netherlands; Rigoberta Menchu, Guatemala, like Gorbachev a receipent of the Nobel Peace Prize; Yasuhiro Nakasone, former prime of Japan; Julius Nyerere, ex-president of Tanzania; and Desmond Tutu Episcopal archbishop of South Africa. In explaining the purpose of the forum, former U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif), chairman of the Gorbachev Foundation USA, said he hopes for a new world order following the cold war have dimmed. "There appears to be a great cynicism everywhere with government," Cranston said, "And there is a yearning for a new directions." About 8,000 business leaders from 75 countries have beeninvited to attend as paying participants at a cost of $8,000 each, which will bring the tax-exempt Gorbachev Foundation USA a total of $64 Million, if all attend. Other invited guests include Vice President Al Gore, President Nelson Mandela of South Africa, ABC newsman Ted Koppel, novelist Isabel Allende, Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser in the Carter adminstration, Jessica Tuchman Mathews, senior fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) who writes a column on the WASHINGTON POST, and Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. President Bill Clinton does not appear either on the list of co-chairs or invited guests, which is unusal since he has received high praise from Gorbachev. According to the CAPE COD (Massachusetts)TIMES of January 23, 1993, Gorbachev stated: "The future needs....international institutions acting on behalf of all. A higher institution that operates on a consensus, such a choice would narrow the independence many believe the United States now enjoys...President Clinton will be a success if he uses American influence to accomplish this transformation of international responsibility and increase significantly the role of the United Nations. He will be a great president if he can make Americathe creator of a new world order based on consensus." The "mission" of the world forum,accoirding to literature released by the Gorbachev Foundation USA, "will focus on the fundamental challenges and opportunities confronting humanity as we enter the next century and a new millennium. It is being held in the belief that at this momentous juncture in history, we are giving birth to the first global civilization. "In this spirit, the intent of the Forum is to articulate a clear vision of new international priorities. Its task will be the generation of innovative approaches to the fundamental challenges facing human society through a process which emphasizes global awareness, individual empowerment and a sense of home.....Inherent within the forum is the potential for the establishement of a global brain trust to continue into the next century." The dictatorial nature of the "global civilization" becomes clear with the descriptive literature stating that in "new ways ... our political leaders are challenged to provide the framework for stability and REGULATED [SPOTLIGHT emphasis] human interactions; our moral leaders to give expression to the eternal values which have always guided humanity; the business community to assume responsibility for the investment and management necessary for prosperity; scientists to continue technological development to serve human needs; artists to give metaphorical expression to our dreams and our tragedies; our youth to demand that the future be better than in the past; and intellectuals to offer penetrating insight concerning humanity's progress toward shared golas.Only the creative interaction of these groups, rather than the supremacy of one group over others, will allow the answers we all seek to emerge and guide us as we shape the next phase of human development ..." It's worth noting that Gorbachev, as the last leader of the Soviet Union, has never renounced his Marxist ideology. For subscribtion information call the Spotlight at 1-800-522-6292 or snail mail: The Spotlight 300 Independence Avenue SE Washington, DC 20003 THE UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD********** January 1995 REPUBLICAN WOMEN'S CLUB OF SAN MARINO Senate Resolution 70 has been signed by a large number of senators. This resolution would be a sense of the Senate debate on the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. If this treaty is ratified, it would carry the same weight as constitutional law; nullifying any state laws which are against the provisions in the treaty. Since 1989 one hundred countries have signed the Convention. Mr. Bush did not sign or send it to the Senate for consideration; however, Mr. Clinton has done so. Mrs. Feinstein is a co-sponsor of the treaty. Like former President Bush, many thinking Americans are approaching elements of this treaty with a great deal of concern. Mainly, it is seen as positioning children's rights against parent's rights. The document enumerates many so called "rights" of the child, but the language is unclear on rights of parents. Some troubling parts of the convention include; [Ed Note: Notice every "right" is against the laws of God. The New World Order is a world without God based on Lucifers laws.] (Article 12) right of the child to express his own views freely in all circumstances. [I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. PSA 39:1] (Article 13) right of the child to receive any kind of information through the media of his choice. [Indoctrination for the New World Order? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. ISA 33:15&16] (Article 14) right of the child to freedom of religion. [They don't mean to allow all children to be Christians they mean the child has the RIGHT NOT to attend Church.[Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. MAT 4:10] (Article 16) right of the child to privacy in his correspondence. [They want to remove the wall of protection parents have to protect the child from the evil of the state. [Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. EXO 20:12] (Article 17) right of the child to receive information from national and international media. [They want to train our children to be good little socialists so they will be good adult sinners. Once again, against Gods law. [My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: PRO 1:8 Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. PSA 37:34 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever. PSA 111:10] (Article 30) right of the child to his own language. [If Isaiah said he was a man of unclean lips, left alone, what would the child be? Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. ISA 6:5] (Article 31) right of the child to rest and leisure. [Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. PRO 6:10&11]It does not take a stretch of the imagination to see the potential problems this presents. Carried to the extreme, this would allow children to rear themselves with the aid of the United Nations. We wonder how it would be enforced. Would our government hire lawyers to represent children in law suits against their parents? It is interesting-to-note that the United States Constitution lists rights that can be enforced againstgovernment, but the United Nations treaty lists rights that could be enforced against parents, institutions or countries. What would be the impact in an international court as suits were brought against the United States by the United Nations? What would be the impact of suits brought against parents? When considering this treaty further, we can't forget the international bureaucracy that would be formed. A committee would be created to implement the treaty with no assurance that any Americans would be included. People would be appointed to monitor and report on each country's adherence to the treaty. Congressman Thomas I. Bliley Jr. is quoted as saying that the treaty represents a potential threat to our form of government. The good news is that it probably will he necessary to hold it over to the next session of Congress. Let's hope that the new Republican Congress will show the same interest in the Convention that the Bush Administation did - NONE! Patricia English, Political Education USA Today newspaper chain pushes new world religion (6/94)****** The following is from Christian Crusade Newspaper, P.O. Box 977, Tulsa, OK 74102, in its 42nd year of publication. We can be E-mailed on America On Line as Christcrew, on Compuserve at 72204,541, and via the Internet as Christcrew@aol.com . by Keith Wilkerson, editor What some fear is emerging as the new, pagan, world religion received an unexpected endorsement from the Gannett Corporation, acording to Media Monitor. Gannett is America's largest newspaper chain and owns such newspapers as USA Today, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Des Moines Register-Tribune, the Reno Evening Gazette, Florida Today, the Knoxville Journal, the El Paso Times, Tuscon Citizen, the Pacific Daily News, the Idaho Statesman, and the Oakland Tribune -- as well as more than 100 others and a number of TV stations "Gannett is much bigger than USA Today," wriote Reed Irvine and Cliff Kincaid of the press watchdog group Accuracy in the Media. "It runs scores of papers around the country and its USA Weekend magazine appears in hundreds of newspapers around the country. "This magazine appears to have gone off the deep end Š" USA Today has invited readers to send away to the Gannett headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, for a free copy of the final declaration of unity issued by the Parliament of the World's Religions held in Chicago last September. Only the most theologically liberal Catholics, such as the controversial Hans Kung, were represented at the event, which was shunned by evangelicals. The Southern Baptist Convention and the Assemblies of God Churches declined their invitations. In the middle of the week, the official Greek Orthodox delegation withdrew and several Jewish delegations walked out, in part because of the prominence given to a number of obscure groups of witches, pagans and occultists. "But none of that bothered Gannett," wrote Irvine and Kincaid, "which seemed eager to get copies of the final conference document into the hands of the gullible. All that was required was a stamped, self-addressed envelope. "USA Weekend reporter Cathryn Creno tried to justify her focus on this nonsense by noting that other more important papers had covered this material in a positive manner. She said, 'In the past few years, serious articles about Wicca have appeared in Newsweek, New York Newsday, and the New York Times. The Times even praised Wicca in an editorial, saying it promotes values "as profoundly humane as motherhood itself."' It doesn't seem to matter that this is at variance with traditional religion. Pope John Paul II, for instance, has publicly attacked Wicca and goddess worship, saying they undermine Christianity. "You would never catch the New York Times or Gannett hawking the writings of the Pope or any other traditional religious figure," noted Media Monitor. "But when a New Age gathering produces a spiritual-sounding but counterfeit document, Gannett uses its clout in an effort to distribute copies nationally." WHAT IS CHRISTIAN CRUSADE NEWSPAPER? Christian Crusade Newspaper is in its 42nd year, has a worldwide circulation and is published by Christian Crusade, P.O. Box 977, Tulsa, OK 74102. It is mailed to subscribers without charge as a result of the conviction of its founder not to put a price-tag on the gospel. For a free subscription, just ask. Although Dr. Hargis no longer travels, editor-in-chief Keith Wilkerson accepts speaking invitations. Both can be E-mailed on America On Line as Christcrew, on GEnie as K.Wilkerson3, via the Internet as Christcrew@aol.com, and on Compuserve at 72204,541. END TIMES PROPHECY WEB SITE********* A new prophecy related web site has gone online. This site, titled "Current Events and End Times Prophecy", looks at certain current events and how theymight relate to biblical prophecy, just as the name implies. The current events that are posted are grouped according to "trends". There are three general trend categories. They are the political trend, the economic trend, and the moral trend. On this web site there is also an online book, "In Light of Biblical Prophecy". This book, also available for downloading, contains thescriptural basis for the trends presented. It also challanges some of the conventional interpretations. For example: why is the beast with seven heads and ten horns always referred to as the Antichrist when he clearly comes up out of the abyss? (Rev.17:8, 11:7) He is not the Antichrist, but rather, a demon. The Antichrist is the false prophet of Rev.13:11 and is the mouth that is given to the beast with seven heads and ten horns. And will there be a ten nation federation? The Bible says that the ten horns are ten kings which have not yet received a kingdom but receive power as kings for one hour. (Rev.17:12) A world kingdom is already in place when the ten kings receive power because they destroy the world's capital. (Rev.17:16-18) They rise up from out of the final world kingdom. So what is the final world kingdom like? According to Daniel 2:41-43, it is a multi-national kingdom. Also on this web site are links to other end times related material. Visitors are encouraged to recommend any end times related articles they know of for posting. This way we can keep informed of what is going on from a biblical perspective. The URL for this web site is: http://ionet.net/~wes TEN TIPS ON HOW TO LIVE IN THE NEW WORLD ORDER******** By No. 405-33-1231 1. WATCH LOTS OF TELEVISION. Television pleasantly sublimates the primitive human defense mechanism that can get you in trouble. 2 AVOID TALKING ABOUT RELIGION OR POLITICS. No matter how innocuous your speech may be, it could be misinterpreted and recorded in your Government Personal Thought Dossier. 3. IDENTIFY YOURSELF BY SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER. Use of one's Christian or Family name may be perceived as prideful individualism.......a Class B Felony. 4. PUBLICLY DISOWN FAMILY MEMBERS AND FRIENDS WHO HAVE BEEN COERCIVELY ENROLLED IN RE-EDUCATION CENTERS. NWO Rules of Justice provide for expeditious prosecution and conviction of Guilt by Association. 5. VOTE CORRECTLY. The new FAX, PHONE, and MAIL BALLOTING SYSTEM is carefully monitored by Elections Security Police (ESP) to identify potential dissidents and enemies of the World. Avoid voting for mavericks----most of whom are sponsored and financed by the World Government Opportunities Agency (WGOA) to bring malcontents out into the open. To assure minimal risk when voting, cast your ballot for incumbents having an A-1 rating by the ADL. 6. ATTEND ALL POLITICALLY-CORRECT RALLIES AND PATRIOTIC FUNCTIONS IN YOUR AREA. To obtain additional merit points, carry a sign which derides viewpoints held by Constitutionalists, Patriot Groups, Fundamentalist Christians and other bigots. 7. MEMORIZE THE OPINIONS OF THE NWO LEADERS AND TELEVISION ANCHOR PERSONS. Reiterate them as if they were your own during all social and busines conversations. 8. ATHEISM IS THE SAFEST POLICY. But affiliations with State-Approved religious organizations are permitted, and may be rich fields for business contacts. 9. BE AMONG THE FIRST IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD TO TURN IN YOUR SPORTING RIFLES when the UNIVERSAL PLOWSHARES ACT goes into effect. You will be well-fed under the terms of THE SOCIAL PAN-AGRICULTURE AND WILDLIFE PROTECTION PROGRAM, hunting will be unnecessary, and possession of firearms of any description after the effective date of UPA will constitute the capitol offense of Aggravated Intent to Commit Homicide. 10.WILLINGLY AND HAPPILY SURRENDER YOUR PARENTAL RIGHTS, participate enthusiastically in the new OBE school program and realize the honor associated with being a breeder and care taker of the first generation to SERVE THE MASTERS in THE NEW WORLD ORDER. Subject: Soylent baby************ Another Commercial Use for Human Fetuses: Health Food For those of a utilitarian mind and a strong stomach, Shenzhen, PRC seems to be the place to go for an abortion. Shenzhen hospitals carried out 7,000 abortions last year, but that is not their only claim to infamy. Hong Kong women sometimes go there seeking cheap abortions, but some of the abortionists' remuneration comes from an unlikely source: the health-food industry. The bodies of the fetuses are eaten as a soup, together with pork and ginger. Reportedly, private clinics sell aborted fetuses for between $1.60 and $2.00. But at the publicly-minded state-run Shenzhen Health Centre for Women and Children, obtaining fetuses is free. "We are a state hospital and don't charge," commented a female doctor. A day after being asked, she handed the reporter a glass bottle filled with thumb-sized fetuses. The doctor was quoted as saying: "There are 10 fetuses here, all aborted this morning. You can take them. Normally we doctors take them home to eat -- all free. Since you don't look well, you can take them." From a western perspective, it is not hard to imagine what the reporter may have blanched at. Zou Qin, a doctor working at the Luo Hu clinic in Shenzhen, said the fetuses were "nutritious" and claimed to have eaten 100 herself in the past six months. She said the "best" were first-born males from young women. "We don't carry out abortions just to eat the fetuses," she remonstrated, but added that fetuses would be "wasted if not eaten." According to the Hong Kong _Eastern Express_, the story originated when journalists from its sister publication, _Eastweek_, had gone across the border from Hong Kong, to see if fetuses were being sold. The story ran in the 12 April edition of the _The Eastern Express_, and the 13th April edition of _The London Daily Telegraph_, and was reportedly carried by UPI, the _Japanese Economic Newswire_ and the _Agence French Press_. The report was ignored by the mainstream U.S. media. This report largely taken from the 13 April edition of _The London Daily Telegraph_, page 14: "Chinese trade in human foetuses for consumption is uncovered," By Yojana Sharma in Hong Kong and Graham Hutchins in Beijing. Many thanks to readers Phil Sevilla and Christopher Coope. Cool Quotes*********** It can't be repeated too often that, in the Declaration of Independence, our Founding Fathers asserted the revolution ary and "self evident" truth that "men...are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." The Founders went on to assert, "to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men." Note the logical sequence: 1) God exists; 2) God creates man and endows him with rights; and 3) Man creates government to protect those rights. The individual precedes and is superior to government. Our Constitution is not a body of law to govern the people; it was formulated to govern the government, to make government the servant and not the master of the people. Source: Global Tyranny...Step By Step: The United Nations and the Emerging New World Order By William F. Jasper (c)1992 p.147 "They that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin, 1759 "A lot of people say there's too much personal freedom. When personal freedom's being abused, you have to move to limit it." President Clinton as quoted on MTV, April 19, 1994 "To believe in Bible prophesy is unforgivable, not only is this idea heretical, it is an appallingly, self fulfilling prophesy of doom."--- Al Gore CULTIST DEFINITION: " A cultist is one who has strong belief in the Bible and the Second Coming of Christ; who frequently attends Bible studies; Who has a high level of financial giving to a Christian cause; who home schools his children; who has accumulated survival foods and has a strong belief in the 2nd amendment, and who distrusts big government" Attorney General Janet Reno after the Waco invasion "War to the hilt between capitalism and communism is inevitable. Today, of course, we are not strong enough to attack. Our time will come in 20 or 30years. In order to win, we shall need the element of surprise. The bourgeoisie will have to be put to sleep, so we shall begin by launching the most spectacular peace movement on record. There will be electrifying overtures and unheard of concessions. The capitalist countries, stupid and decadent, will rejoice to cooperate in their own destruction. They will leap at another chance to be friends. As soon as their guard is down, we shall smash them with our clenched fist." -Quoted by Dmitri Z. Manuisky, Lenin School of Political Warfare (1931). Sarah Brady (president of Handgun Control, Inc., and wife of James Brady, after whom the Brady Bill is named) on civil disarmament: "Our task of creating a Socialist America can only succeed when those who would resist us have been totally disarmed." Machine Gun News, June 1991, Volume 5, Number 1, Page 6, "RAFFICA" by Dan Shea, Column 2, paragraph 2. Machine Gun News, PO Box 761, Hot Springs, AR 71902-0761 Phone (501) 623-4951 "This Year Will Go Down In History. For The First Time, A Civilized Nation Has Full Gun Registration! Our Streets Will Be Safer, Our Police More Efficient, And The World Will Follow Our Lead Into The Future!" Adolph Hitler 1935 ****************************** Cool Resources CHRISTIAN BOOK DISTRIBUTORS P.O. Box 6000 Peabody MA. 01961-6000 Customer Service: (508) 977-4550 Membership and monthly catalog subscription; $3 per year CHRISTIAN COMMUNICATIONS Prison & Ministry Outreach - Online Bible Studies Jeannine Robinson P.O. Box 45094, 81 Lakeshore Road East Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5G4S7 Phone/Fax (905) 271-7371 BBS (905) 271-3617 CHRISTIAN DISTRIBUTION NETWORK (Electronic bulletin board systems) Ray Waldo, Project Manager Route 1, Box 175W Loranger, LA 70446-9720 Voice: (504) 878-2956 BBS (504) 878-3023 FIDONET 1:394/1 CDN Headquarters 8:200/0 The CHRISTIAN GENERAL STORE (Quality Christian Materials on Issues Related to HIV/AIDS) 2130 Fourth Street San Rafael, CA 94901 (415) 457-9489 CHRISTIAN LAW ASSOCIATION (Publishers of "The Briefcase") Subscription: P.O. 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