signs of the times

The tagline of the real deal states: ‘To know where you are going, you must first know where you are.’

Today’s post will be the first in an occasional series that will periodically examine where we are in relation to the signs of the times as revealed by Jesus himself in Matthew 24.

There are two great eschatological narratives in the Bible- in the books of Daniel and Revelation. I lack the vision and understanding to properly- as do most who undertake such an attempt- interpret the meaning of the symbolism and descriptions. They are very detailed revelations, describing physical events, people, and things. They are open to rampant interpretation and speculation.

Matthew 24 is a spiritual overview, with highlights on important touchstone spiritual events. Anyone with ‘eyes to see and ears to hear’ and is seeking Truth, can understand Matthew 24:

the Osteen parsonage

⁵ For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. ¹¹ And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

Jesse and his jets

Without going into too much detail- as literally hundreds of examples could be given- survey the spiritual landscape today: It is littered with pedophile scandals, private jets, palatial homes and “churches”, prosperity gospel, mysticism, and all manner of concessions to wordly customs and popular beliefs. The new morality is the old immorality and preaching has become a sitcom. There are a lot of con artists saying “Lo here”.

Status: Being fulfilled

 

 

⁶ And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: ⁷ For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:…

As of 9-30-18:

Africa: 253 wars in 29 countries

Asia: 176 wars in 16 countries

Europe: 82 wars in 10 countries

Middle East: 259 wars in 7 countries

Americas: 30 wars in 7 countries

Total: 807 wars in 68 countries. Did you have any idea?

Status: Being fulfilled

 

…and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

8 million are dependent on aid in Yemen

Famines: Currently, famines are being experienced in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Unity State, and Yemen. There are 50,000 known children deaths. It is not known how many adults have died. Several areas are suspected of experiencing current famine or at-risk including North Korea, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, and several smaller regions of Africa and Asia.

Pestilences: This is a topic that could be written on extensively. For the purposes of this post, a brief summary should include Lassa fever, the opioid epidemic, influenza, and various regional outbreaks. Today’s worldwide travel networks have exponentially increased the probability of a global pandemic/epidemic occurring at any time with rapid transmission rates. It is beginning to be revealed by healthcare scientists that anti-biotics are experiencing a drastic loss in effectiveness. Male fertility is declining rapidly, particularly in the West.

earthquake activity west Pacific- Indonesia

Earthquakes: A couple of interesting quotes from the research- “Large earthquakes greater than 8.0 in magnitude have struck the Earth at a record high rate since 2004 but scientists have analyzed the historical record and found that the increase in seismic activity was likely due to mere chance.” and “In the past 44 years, from 1973 through 2017, our records show that we have exceeded the long-term average number of major earthquakes only 11 times, in 1976, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2016.”

Notice a trend?

Status: Being fulfilled

 

⁹ Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

All across the globe, a silent war on Christians is underway. From outright slaughter, as in China, the Middle East, and Indonesia- to more subtle persecutions in various stages. In Europe, Christianity is being purged. The values and beliefs of Christians are being attacked, belittled, and marginalized in the US, Canada, and Australia. Every possible belief, doctrine, and theory that is at variance with Christianity is promoted as progressive, enlightened, and tolerant while obeying God is ignorant, backwards, and bigoted.

Status: Being fulfilled

 

¹⁰ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

America is in the throes of this right now. So is everybody else. This one is well underway.

Status: Being fulfilled

 

¹² And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Look around. You can also read this article I wrote on the topic.

 Status: Being fulfilled

 

¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

There’s several countries that have banned Christianity, mostly in the Muslim world and China, but a little invention called the internet has opened a lot of doors. This one is definitely coming to pass.

Status: Nearly fulfilled

 

Estimated time left: <18 years*

Still to come: the Abomination of Desolation stands in the holy place (15); the day of flight (16-20); Great tribulation (21-22); powerful and charismatic deceivers and sophisticated frauds (23-27); vigilance is required (32-51).

*estimate is based upon geopolitical and current events, natural science, Biblical prophecy, and personal opinion. No man knows the day or hour.

References:

http://earthsky.org/earth/are-large-earthquakes-increasing-in-frequency

https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/why-are-we-having-so-many-earthquakes-has-naturally-occurring-earthquake-activity-been?qt-news_science_products=0#qt-news_science_products

https://www.warsintheworld.com/?page=static1258254223

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/19/yemen-famine-million-more-children-at-risk-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_famines

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=current+crop+failures+2018&atb=v100-3_f&t=h_&ia=web

https://bondo77.wordpress.com/2018/08/23/love-waxes-cold/

ufo

Have you ever seen one of them UFO’s? Through the years I’ve had lots of people tell me about seeing one. It’s usually a good story and the person telling it is usually excited and eager to relate the experience. Although they don’t know what it is they saw, they know what they saw.

I don’t know how people feel about the UFO’s. It’s one of those subjects that are closed. People believe or they don’t and they will steadfastly reject any evidence to the contrary.

I am very skeptical of visitations from aliens, in fact, I don’t believe we have been visited like that.

But, I have seen UFO’s. I prefer to call them Unexplainable Flying Objects.

I have had several encounters with strange “lights”. They were points of light of various colors that did strange maneuvers. But to be honest, these were inconclusive and just hard to know what is actually being seen. Weird and cool, but not real impressive.

But, I’ve twice seen those that were ‘real’. I don’t know what I saw, but I know what I saw.

One night in February six or seven years ago, I noticed an unusual- although not the only time I have seen it- cloud formation. About half of the sky was clear, and the other half was covered by a thin cloud bank, with gaps and cracks throughout, like a jagged, cracked ice flow.

What caught my attention was the separation between the two skies was a perfectly straight line. As I was staring at the straight line- as if a giant squee-gee had pushed the cloud patch across the sky- I noticed a light in the distance coming my way. At first I just assumed it was a plane, but soon realized it was approaching faster than a plane normally would.

I watched and the object moved into the cloud bank and passed nearly directly overhead. Through a break in the clouds, I could see a teardrop shaped object zipping through the sky. It was shaped kind of like a helicopter, but without the rotors or any wings. There weren’t any flashing lights.

As it passed through the cloud bank, a light like a search beam on a cop car, moved all around shining down into the clouds, as if searching for something in the clouds.

It never made a sound.

The other experience I had was creepy. I was working patrol one night four years ago. I would take a break on the back road, basically a field. I would do paperwork, maybe have a snack, look at the sky. It was here that I often saw “lights”.

One night, I noticed off in the distance, several lights moving around close to the ground. As I focused on them, I realized there were several white lights- six or seven- moving around in a very strange fashion. It was kind of like when you see insects hovering over something. They floated around back and forth, up and down, to and fro, as if hovering over something, wanting to land- but overridden with nervous caution.

It is hard to say how far away they were from me- at least a couple of miles. But as I sat there completely perplexed at what this could possibly be, a feeling of dread came over me. I became very concerned that they would notice me. I wanted to drive away, or at least turn off my headlights- but was terrified to do so- lest they notice.

As I sat and watched, a couple of them may have landed- I don’t know they disappeared below the distant tree line- but the rest, over the course of the next several minutes- simply disappeared. The light dimmed, kind of like they had ‘turned away’, before simply going out.

Once they were all gone, I took off and kept looking back, making sure some UFO dragonfly wasn’t coming after me.

I think there are a lot of experimental aircraft we don’t know anything about. There is an Air Force Base about an hour away. And Johnson Space Center. That would certainly be a rational possibility.

One of the hallmarks of our post-modern technocratic world, is the acceptance of aliens, UFO’s, and all sorts of quantum multi-dimensional wormhole vortex Stargates. Intergalactic planetary.

Hollywood, scientists, and scholars and experts of every sort have theories, explanations, and knowledge about the UFO’s. There is a reason for this:

Think Ancient Aliens or Chariots of the Gods. It is part of the coming deception.

Ronald Reagan once famously stated that if there was ever an alien invasion, all the countries of the world would forget their differences and would unite together to fight this common extra-terrestrial threat. It is like that, but instead of an alien threat, it will be our ET savior.

As society deteriorates, civil unrest and international conflicts will proliferate. Natural disasters, weather extremes, and environmental problems. Financial collapse and corruption will all increase until things begin to look worse than anyone can remember. Just when despair sets in- why, what’s that up in the sky?

It’s a bird- it’s a plane- it’s…its a spaceship!

And then, out steps a wonderful ‘alien’ who says “I am god. I am here to save you all”.

Will you believe? Don’t do it. It is the great deception. Many will be fooled. Even the very elect will be deceived, if it is possible. When the Lord comes, he will come in the clouds with his angels.

Watch and pray. The little green men- they not your friend.