When God Will Judge

Two men owned farms side by side. One was a bitter atheist, the other a devout Christian. Constantly annoyed at the Christian for his trust in God, the atheist said to him one winter, “Let’s plant our crops as usual this spring, each the same number of acres. You pray to your God and I’ll curse him. Then come October, let’s just see who has the bigger crop.”

When October came, the atheist was delighted because his crop was larger. “See, you fool,” he taunted. “What do you have to say for your God now?”

“My God,” replied the other farmer, “doesn’t settle all his accounts in October.”

God’s compensation for both believers and unbelievers is usually deferred. But a day is coming upon all men, when the announcement from heaven will ring out, “The time has come for judging … and for rewarding” (Revelation 11:18). This will be the “appointed time” of judgment (l Corinthians 4:5). “At the proper time,” Paul says elsewhere, “we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” So he encourages us, “Let us not become weary in doing good” (Galatians 6:9).

From In Light of Eternity by Randy Alcorn, page 129

Joel Rosenberg interview on CNN

Joel Rosenberg was interviewed for one hour on CNN recently in light of his most recent book release, Dead Heat. The interview is broken into five segments. The video here on this post is segment one. Click here to find all five videos. Look for parts 1 to 5 under related videos in the sidebar. (For instance, PT.3-5 Glenn Beck, Joel Rosenberg…)

Joel is knowledgeable about Biblical prophecies and the political scene, particularly in the Middle East. His first two fiction books spent many weeks on the New York Times bestseller list partly because his books seemed to foreshadow the September 11th attacks, the War in Iraq over weapons of mass destruction, and other events.

This CNN interview talks about the rise of Babylon and Italy, an alliance between Russia and Iraq, the building of the third temple in Jerusalem, and more. You can read another post about Joel’s books on The Sovereign.

Joel grew up in a Jewish home and became a follower of Jesus, his Messiah. Joel was involved with Campus Crusade as a university student and was actually a friend of a friend of ours.

You might also be interested in Joel’s blog or his official website for more insights on political developments and how they relate to Bible prophecy.

Muslims converting in record numbers

Over the years, we have heard reports of Muslims having visions and turning to Christ.

In a prophecy of the Last Days, God tells us in Joel 2:28 “. . . I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.”

Recently, we were especially encouraged to read that hundreds of thousands of Muslims are converting to Christianity. We highly recommend you read a report about seven Middle Eastern countries. The article is on one of Joel Rosenberg’s blogs, The Joshua Fund. Click on the sidebar, Archives, for March 2008 and look for the March 23, 2008 post entitled THE BIG (UNTOLD) STORY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

We know you will be encouraged by this exciting report, so to encourage you to read the full report, here is an excerpt:

“More than 1 million Egyptians have trusted Christ over the past decade or so, report Egyptian church leaders. The Egyptian Bible Society told me they used to sell about 3,000 copies of the “Jesus” film a year in the early 1990s. But in 2005 they sold 600,000 copies, plus 750,000 copies of the Bible on tape (in Arabic) and about a half million copies of the Arabic New Testament.”

(Also see this post on how God is moving in the hearts of the people of Iran.)

Thoughts on the Rapture

As Christians know, the Bible prophesizes that we will be “caught up” to be with Christ.

I thought it was interesting today that National Geographic is going to air a television special on March 9th visualizing what could happen if ALL human life disappeared.

In thinking about what may occur during the Rapture, you might be interested in watching the video on the Aftermath web site. Click on the trailer, World Abandoned.

Some of the scenes in this video could possibly occur, but not on the global scale as pictured. Air and traffic accidents could occur during the Rapture. Dairy cattle could die if a farmer and his family were raptured. Et cetera.

We really don’t know. God could supernaturally prevent any and all of these things.

Political thriller books by Joel C. Rosenberg

If you know someone who likes to read political thrillers or is curious about Bible prophecy, I recommend a series of books by Joel C. Rosenberg. The books can get violent, so you may prefer to read them first before you decide if you want to recommend them. As the reader goes further into the series, the author presents more and more of the Gospel and explains how to become a Christian.

Joel Rosenberg is knowledgeable about Biblical prophecies and current events. His first two books spent many weeks on the New York Times bestseller list partly because his books seemed to foreshadow the September 11th attacks, the War in Iraq over weapons of mass destruction, and other events.

We have read the first four books. The fifth book will be released March 2008.

• The Last Jihad
• The Last Days
• The Ezekiel Option,
• The Copper Scroll
• Dead Heat

We have recommended these books to non-Christians and also given them as gifts.

These books are an easy way to learn Biblical prophecy, too. The Ezekiel Option gives the reader insight into prophecies about Iran and Russia and a possible scenario for Ezekiel 38 - 39. The Copper Scroll covers the Dead Sea Scrolls, The Third Temple in Jerusalem, and the possible recovery of the Temple treasures, including the Ark of the Covenant.

The first chapter excerpt of Joel Rosenberg forthcoming book “Dead Heat” is now available online, if you want a sneak peek. After we read the book, I will update this post.

Water as a Major Energy Source

I remember years ago that some Bible prophecy experts felt Israel would use the Dead Sea as an alternative energy source. As you know, the Dead Sea has a high concentration of minerals. This new wealth from the Dead Sea would make them a target for oil-starved and greedy nations, leading to events prophesied in the Last Days.

So, this news report from Erie, Pennsylvania, is very interesting in light of what could happen. A man has discovered a way to make fuel from an abundant source, salt water! See this video report: Salt Water as an alternative energy source

(Also as a side note and in light of tensions over oil prices,another man has discovered a way to run a car for 100 miles using four ounces of fresh water as well.)

Modern Slavery

In reading Revelation, I noticed the existence of slavery in the Last Days. (see Rev. 6:15, 13:16, 18:13, 19:1

Slavery is a huge problem today on EVERY continent. If you want to learn more about the world’s 27 million slaves, I recommend
Free the Slaves
and
Loose Change to Loosen Chains.

Iranians Coming to Christ

Since 1976, Christian satellite television. SAT-7, has been broadcasting in North African and Middle Eastern countries.

I just read this exciting report that after only one year in the Farsi language, the television broadcasts are very popular in Iran. Of people who call in to SAT-7, 2 of 3 are making decisions for Christ!

You can visit them on the web at Sat-7USA or SAT-7.

(Also see this post on Muslims coming to Christ)

Russia, Iran, and China

Just last week, I saw on the news that Russia and China were conducting war games. The news reporter commented that the U.S. military did not express any concern about this.

Within 24 hours of that newscast, I received an e-mail from my friend, Duane. The rest of this entry is an abridged version of his e-mail:

The current Russian and Iranian alliance, including several Middle Eastern countries, united together against Israel, appears to be fulfilling the 2500-year-old prophecy from Ezekiel 38 – 39. Some may wonder where the 200 million strong army of the Far East, crossing the “great river Euphrates”, fits into this picture. (See Revelation 9:13-18)

I found information about the Shanghi Cooperation Organization (SCO) which may illuminate these two prophecies. This information was in a lengthy article “The Revolution in Transatlantic Affairs” By Tony Corn (who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Paris and is a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College).

Mr. Corn’s article is a lengthy analysis of the current world situation commenting on the possibility of America and Europe attempting to jointly be a world power coming out of the current Mid-east wars. He also points out that China has created a coalition including Russia and Central Asia.

Here are two paragraph excerpts from the article, declaring that China and India are more closely allied with Russia and Iran than we might have thought - - -

“The year 2001 could have been an eye-opener but the West, too traumatized by the Islamist attack on America, failed to notice an equally important, if less spectacular, development: the creation by China of a coalition, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, including Russia and Central Asia as members, Iran as a silent partner, and India and Pakistan as observers. It took another five years for Western foreign policy experts to realize that this emerging SCO was, for all practical purposes, an OPEC with nukes, which had the potential to develop, over time, into a full-fledged ‘NATO of the East.’

“. . . While the pivotal states of this strategy appear to be Pakistan, Iran, and (more recently) Saudi Arabia, the geopolitical situation of Iran puts it in a class by itself, as the most precious proxy in China’s ‘indirect approach’ against American primacy. It is therefore no surprise to learn that China is using Iran as a conduit for the delivery of arms to both Iraqi and Afghan insurgents, and providing Iran itself the kind of small boats needed to conduct attacks against commercial shipping or the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf.”

While China and India do not appear in Ezekiel 38 - 39, they may be sideline supporters, expecting Israel’s defeat. Then, they may join with what is left of Russia and Iran, and the other countries, later at the end of the Tribulation, hoping to overcome their failure which was prophesied in Ezekiel. [end of Duane’s e-mail]

Babylon Today

In Revelation, Babylon is described as a prosperous city, which God will destroy in one day (See Revelation 18 and other passages.)

According to an email I received, the ancient site of Babylon looks like this right now:

You can see a satellite image of this area south of Baghdad and just north of Al Hillah on the Euphrates with just a little bit of googling.

Some of what you see in this photo was restored by archaeologists, but Saddam Hussein just built on top of historical sites. Hussein likened himself to Nebuchaddnezzar and was rebuilding Bablylon.

How could this place become a major, bustling city as prophesied in Revelation 18? The recent growth of Dubai gives us insight into this question. See the tremendous growth and luxury of Dubai at this Slide show of Dubai. You can also see related slide shows about Dubai on the right-hand side of these web site.

The idea here is that it would not necessarily take very long for Babylon to become a major urban center.

Also check out the photo gallery for Ski Dubai or the Burj Al Arab hotel.)