Iran Protests: Writing On the Wall for The Islamic Republic

It is a 4th day of wide spread anti-government protests in Iran, which main stream media is either

ignoring or like CNN, reluctantly covering because of being shamed into it by the social media and their own President, who issued a public statement of support for the people of Iran almost as soon as the protests broke out.

This is the largest form of unrest in Iran since 2009 Green Revolution, but it is very different in many ways. This time, the people are not just opposing a single issue such as the economy or their displeasure with one politician, or one faction of their government, but with the entire current political system.

They are shouting: "Down with the Dictator," and "We don't want Islamic Republic." This time they are demanding the regime change altogether and they are literally risking their own lives by doing that. Reportedly more than 50 people were already arrested ( who will be tortured and killed in prison) and 2 were shot dead. The government is blocking cell phone communications with the Iran and limiting the Internet in hopes of keeping the reports of the protesters from getting outside the country, but they are failing.

It is Writing of the Wall for this Regime. The protests will continue to grow and even if the government manages to shut them down somehow, the people will regroup and come again with greater force.

The fall of this Islamic regime will be a blessing since it will cut off the funding to Islamic terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, and will stop fueling violence even in countries such as Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and that is the grievance that the people of Iran have with their government, that all the national wealth is going to funding of terrorism and the pockets of the clerics while the money for basic social services for Iranian people such as public schools and pensions are being shut down. Now even the generation that brought in this government in an Islamic Revolution of 1979 says that they regret doing this. They hoped for a more just society, but what they got is oppression, poverty, and corruption, so the old, young, men, and women are marching together in these protests and will not stop until this regime is gone.

We must pray that they will succeed and we must pressure our politicians to support them, and to put more pressure on the Iranian regime to resign and open the country to truly free elections and transition to a democratic system that the people of Iran want.

This coming year 2018 will mark 40 years since the beginnings of the Islamic Revolution, perhaps it will mark the end of the desert experience the people of Iran had under this government and will usher in the promises of God for them. The promises of freedom and return of those who have been exiled to all countries around the world.

'But it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring back the captivity of Elam,' says the LORD." ( Jeremiah 49:39) Amen.

The Question of Jerusalem

"Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah. On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And all the nations of the earth will gather against it."( Zechariah 12:2-3)       

As President Trump announces today that the United States officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Jerusalem is being brought once gain into the center of the international attention.

For those who might not know there is a long running contention between Palestinians and Israelis about who Jerusalem should belong to. The Palestinians claim that Jewish people have no historical roots there and that because of the Al-Aksa Masque the Temple Mount and the Eastern Jerusalem should be their capital. They also claim against the historical evidence that the Jewish Temples never stood there and forbid any archeological work there in fear that they would be proved wrong, which shows that they really know the truth, but choose to deny it.

The move by the White House today clearly favours the Israeli claim, so we could soon expect a new wave of violence against both Israeli and American targets from Islamic terrorists in the Palestinian territories and around the world. This could even lead to a new Arab-Israeli war, which clearly would fit with the prophetic scenario I quoted above and with historic events that my husband and I were predicting would happen around the time of 70-th anniversary of Israel's rebirth. This time is coming in May of 2018, hence the name of this blog "Jerusalem 2018."

In addition this announcement comes a few days after the 70-th anniversary of UN recognizing Israel as a state, how sad that now they will not even recognize the historical capital of Israel, Jerusalem, as their present day capital.

From the point of view of the Bible though, Jerusalem is the only city in the world that God claimed for Himself, so it does not belong to Palestinians or any other people except Israel to whom He decided to give it to.

"Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. But I am very angry with the nations who are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they furthered the disaster.” Therefore thus says the LORD, “I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it,” declares the LORD of hosts, “and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.”’ “Again, proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem.”( Zechariah 1: 13-17)

The God of Israel promised multiple times through His prophets that in the last days he will restore Israel and Jerusalem to be once again the possession of His people and He is not very pleased with the nations or organizations that want to stop that from happening, but there is a blessing promised to all those who line up with God's own plans and act accordingly like United States under Donald Trump just did, and pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

We will see what will actually happen, but it looks like the pattern that we noticed in Scripture back in 2008 will actually hold.  and if the war happens, the enemies of Israel will once against lose it and the nations who act to stop God's work of restoring Jerusalem will face the same things that Israel id facing in the form of even more Islamic terrorism.We are living in truly prophetic times.

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you." ( Psalm 122:6)

Rumours of Wars : Press Warns of The Looming War In the Middle East

Yesterday, I read a headline of a CBC news article that said:

Ominous signs that the next war in the Middle East is coming, and it won't be pretty

It's likely to directly or indirectly involve Israel, Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and even Russia        

                                                                    

 

So, six months before May 2018 ( the 70-th anniversary of its rebirth),  and as predicted the attention shifts back to the Middle East, Israel, her neighbours and other powers involved in their affairs. The list of nations mentioned in the article above is awfully close to the list provided us thousands of years ago by Hebrew prophet Ezekiel in his description of what is known as "Gog and Magog War."

 

Except he insinuates that it will be Israel starting it while the Scripture tells us that it will be attacked from the North by the alliance of these nations and that their true motive will be enriching themselves, and well Israel is now becoming a natural gas  exporter and behind the scenes working with Saudi Arabia whose oil is coveted by both Iran and Russia.

 

Perhaps all the signs in heavens  and on earth we have been seeing in recent few years all point to that very war.

 

It will be very interesting to see how it all will unfold. It will most likely also involve Turkey which will position itself on Iran and Russia's side of course. We must pray for God's protection over Israel and for wisdom for the leaders of our countries that they will not curse themselves by standing against His people as history is being made.

How Reformation Affected Your Life

It doesn't matter if you are Christian, atheist, or agnostic. Reformation affected your life. It is 500

years to the day since Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany, a modern equivalent of a Facebook post ( yes you can thank Martin Luther for Facebook), which began the Reformation.

And though Roman Catholic Church still mourns this historic event as a  tragedy that brought division to their Church, and a wave of violence to Europe, it also brought the Western world civil liberties, freedom of conscience, science, modern democratic values, and a sharp increase in both knowledge and the standards of living among ordinary people. All the things you enjoy everyday and take for granted.

In standing up to the papacy in matters of faith and conscience and encouraging people to know God and the Bible for themselves by translating the sacred texts into German, Luther began a spiritual and literary revolution in Germany, and the rest of Europe. People wanted to learn to read, so they could read the Bible and the writings of Luther, as well as other reformers. Soon political leaders also began to stand up to the papacy since people stopped believing in their ability to condemn them to hell for any act  of disobedience which eventually led to separation of church and state, which we so value today. The Catholic Church could not control people like they used to since the priests were no longer the only ones who could read and interpret the Scriptures, so they began to enjoy not only freedom of faith, but also became free to discover the world around them and how it worked as their expression of faith thus beginning the scientific revolution, which makes it quite ironic today for some atheist scientists to accuse Christians of being anti-science when it was them who laid the foundations for it.

There was also initially a big wave of violence against the Church and state, but it was not as much a result of Reformation ( Luther never incited anyone to violence) as the result of  spiritual, economic, and political oppression the common people endured under the Roman Catholic Church and Aristocracy controlled by it. Many people sought revenge. It was like taking the lid off od the pressure cooker, but once it ebbed away Europe was on a path to much more prosperity and advancements in every area of life.

You might even say that Luther began the first social media revolution comparable to invention of the Internet. His writing written in common German circulated all over Germany  thus unifying German language, and the same happened in other countries and their languages. Puritans took the ideals of Reformation to America, which made it into  the most powerful and prosperous country in the world. I dare say that America would never become what it is today if Reformation never happened, so whether you knew it or not Reformation affected your very life in countless ways. What changes did one man bring into the world! It is amazing when you think about it. One lowly unknown priest in a little unknown university town changed the world.

But then, so did Jesus. He also came into this world as a lowly carpenter  from very little esteemed Jewish village of Nazareth. Didn't He say that whoever believes and follows Him will do great things? Do likewise. Be the light to this world. Your words and actions have more impact on the world around you than you know.

Author's Note: Photo of the Martin Luther statue by John Rallison

State Mandated Values For Canadian Professionals?

Does it sound like something the government of North Korea would do or what? But the problem is

that it is happening and it is not happening in North Korea, but in Canada, a country that prides itself on the human rights and freedoms.

Millions of people have left their countries of origin in search for freedom from their homelands' oppressive actions, only to now wake up under oppression of different kind in Canada, a place that was supposed to be safe from such oppression.

So what happened? The lawyers in Ontario received a note that government of Ontario mandated on their profession's regulatory body basically asking them to prepare a statement of their personal values in order to continue practicing law. Their personal values now have to be in keeping with the government's vaguely defined values of diversity, openness, and inclusiveness.

it was a measure taken after reportedly a " systemic racism" was found in entire legal profession. The problem is that these findings have no credible basis in the first place, and accuse all lawyers of being racists by default. Now Ontario lawyers find themselves in a place where they have to "prove" that they are not racist just because they are lawyers. To say that it is unfair and even offensive id an understatement, and more worrying than that is where this could lead if this is not challenged and becomes a precedent.

Not too long ago an Ontario Law Society declared that they are not going to allow  the graduate of a British Columbia law school to practice because the school unlawfully mandated their students a certain code of conduct while studying there, but now the same body mandates certain values on all their lawyers and this seems to be O.K. to them.

Where this could lead if it allows to stand is in fact a secular form of inquisition where certain individuals who do not profess and do not wish to promote state mandated values cannot work in their professions despite the fact that they have professional credential and have spent  thousands of dollars for their schooling, and years out of their lives to get these credentials. This means that certain groups of people like Christians, for example, who do not wish to promote homosexuality or transgenderism would be banned from most professions thus being forced into lower classes of society.

This is  a direct violation of Canada's  Charter of Rights and freedoms, but the problem is that the judges these days are not required to simply make sure that the law is enforced, but they are free to interpret those laws as they see fit. It means that if anyone is accused of racism, or homophobia, the lawyers are required to automatically rule in favour of the offended party to "protect" their rights.

Dr. Jordan Peterson recently interviewed those in law society who decided to speak out against it and discussed the issue in more detail. I will provide the link to that discussion below. Please make other Canadians aware of this problem because if we don't stand against it now, we might not be able to recognize our own country in couple of decades...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGC3y1BPzwA

The Second Rapture Dream

Last night, I had an amazing experience. It was a dream, or rather a dream vision because it was very

detailed and felt more real than reality to me. It was a vision of the rapture of the saints, the second one I ever had in my life.

The first one I had while still an unbeliever who did not know the Bible very well and had no idea what it was. The account of the first dream that I had about 20 years ago can be found here : The Rapture Dream, so you can see that I do not have this type of dream visions often. Anyways, back then I had no idea why I was going up, it happened very fast and I wondered who or what am I going to see when I go through the clouds. This time, I knew, but I received much more detail about it. it happened as if in slow motion, so that I could absorb all the details.

I was in a some sort of a large building. I went to the bathroom. There was a window there. Suddenly I was aware of someone's very tangible presence, but I could not see anybody. Then, I began to feel something in the atmosphere rapidly changing. It became more and more electric. I looked at the power lines outside the window. They were shaking and then they became white. First I thought that it might be some sort of atmospheric discharge, a solar flare or magnetic storm. Then I began to feel it in my body too, like the power was going through me and I realised that it was the very presence and the power of God. I had felt it before during strong worship at times, but never that strong. My body began to slowly rise. By then I knew it was the rapture and I got excited.

"O my Lord, I thought. It is really happening. I am going to meet the Lord in the clouds! I am going to finally see Him face to face! But what about my family? Are they going too?" I decided that I should not worry about that though, but trust the Lord that they were in His hands Like I was. I looked around there were other people rising too, then I looked down. Huge crowds of people were gathering, watching us go. I looked up again and was filled with joy in the anticipation of the greatest family reunion the world has ever seen.

"Oh, Lord. is this really happening?" I asked and I began to wake up. It was four in the morning. The experience was so real that I still felt the wind blowing in my face and the Lord's power inside my body. I began to cry and pray, "Lord, may I be found worthy when that they comes. I want to be there more than anything in the world." Then I thought about the crowds of people who were looking at us go and I realized that those were going to be left behind. I felt grief for them. I thought about my family members, especially those who do not walk with the Lord and friends. I felt a strong desire to have them with me on that day realizing that the only thing that will matter then is who is going to go with me, nothing else.

Now, as I wrote before in my other posts, I don't know exactly when this will happen. The Bible does not give us the day, hour or year, but it does give us a season. Apostle Paul mentioned that it was shown to him that it will take place at the sound of the last trumpet. Paul was a Hebrew, he knew the feasts of the Lord, and he was talking about the feast of Trumpets (Roshashana), which is going to begin this year on September 21 and last until September 23rd. On September 21 st there is going to be a UN declared International Peace Day and the theme will be : "Together for Peace, Respect, Safety and Dignity for All."

Notice those two words and compare it to the following verse from 1 Thessalonians 5:3, "While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape." It is a very interesting coincidence, especially because on September 23 rd there will be what many call a Revelation 12 sign in heavens as well.

I am not saying that the Rapture for sure will happen this year, but it will happen at this time one of these years. It might be this year, next year or 50 years from now, but it is coming and we need to be ready for it. I am also not sure why the Lord gave me this dream precisely now, but I decided to be obedient and share it immediately anyway, just in case.

While I was deeply saddened for the people left behind, the following verse resounded loudly within my spirit : "For many are called, but few chosen.” ( Mat. 22:14) I understood it more deeply than ever before this morning, and later I did a word study on this. it is from Jesus' parable of the wedding feast. remember that the Rapture is also called a "marriage supper of the Lamb," in the Bible. Many are called. This means a great multitude had been invited. The call from God has been going out to nearly everyone over millennia now. All are invited, all are called to be there, but very few by comparison chose to accept an invitation. The choosing is not done by God. He does not pick just select few. The way it is written in Greek makes it clear that it is the ones who are invited who do the choosing. Please choose to be there. Choose today to accept Jesus' sacrifice of the cross, choose to follow Him, to walk the narrow path. Remain faithful to Him and His Word. Do not bow to the pressure from the world to deny Him by forsaking His commandments and by not standing up for what is right. It is not easy, I know. People make fun of those who walk this path. It is easier to walk the wide road, but it leads only to destruction. Now, I also understand what Jesus meant by  the outer darkness. It will become very dark in this world after the Church is gone. Life will be very hard, especially for those who will reject the mark of the Beast. They will pay with their lives for their faith. Don't wait until then. Accept God's invitation now, so that He may keep you from the hour of testing that will come upon the whole world. ( Revelation 3:10)

The Need For More Prayer As U.S. Continues to Be Hit By Powerful Storms

As I mentioned in my previous posts, we are currently on the Hebrew month of Elul. It is a month of

prayer and repentance leading up to the Day of Atonement. Following the total solar eclipse on Elul 1 ( August 21) over America, the entire continent, but especially the United States had been dealing with one natural disaster after another.

From the catastrophic forest fires in Western Canada, to mega earthquake in Mexico, to double whammy of storms in form of hurricanes Harvey and  Irma that devastated the states of Texas and Florida respectively.

As believers we must pray for the Church of America to rise up in prayer of repentance for their nation from which quite clearly God's hand of protection has been lifted as most of the nation turns away from the Gospel.

The Church must return to their first love, begin walk in holiness, and stand up in prayer for their nation and as example to the nation. Jesus is the answer. We must also continue to pray for the hedge of protection over those who are walking faithfully with Him, but are in the midst of destruction because of the sins of the nation as a whole.

These are the "last days" and the "end time" indeed. Jesus predicted that before Hos return all these things will begin to happen I greater intensity :

"And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” ( Luke 21:25-28)
Doesn't it sound just like what we are looking at right now? But the key is the last sentence. Don't be discouraged by all these things. Natural disasters, wars, rumours of wars, mega earthquakes in various places, the moral decay, the set up of global political system that one day will be taken over by the Antichrist. These are all the more reasons to draw ourselves and others more closely to The Lord. It is time to shine in the darkness and pain of this world. When the plagues were hitting Egypt, God's people where in the land of Goshen, protected and awaiting their redemption, and so are we.

And The Shofar Begins To Blow: The Great American Eclipse

Today, people all over America will be looking to the sky at the total solar eclipse. A special

astronomical event that last time happened in 1979. Solar eclipses happen often in different parts of the world, but they are rare over land. But what is even more special about this eclipse is that it falls on Elul 1 on a Hebrew calendar.


According to the research done by pastor Mark Biltz, the same thing happened in Nineveh just before God sent Jonah to preach that it would be destroyed in 40 days if people there did not repent, but of course they did repent and the city wasn't destroyed then.


There was a total solar eclipse on Elul 1 over Europe and the territory of the Ottoman Empire just before WW I began. the people there did no repent and that war destroyed the Ottoman Empire.


Could it be that God is warning America through this sign about an impending judgement and is calling them to repentance? The Hebrew month of Elul is a month of repentance and is leading up to Roshashana, the Feast of Trumpets, and culminates with the The Day of Atonement. And  33 days after Elul 1, there will be the sign of the virgin in the sky over Israel, exactly 7 days before the Day of Atonement.


Is The Lord trying to tell us something here? I think it is very likely as we are living in crucial times. America is still in danger of falling into the chaos similar to the civil war and we need to pray for American Church to wake up and continue to intercede for their country.


I believe The Lord has raised up Jewish men of God who follow Jesus as the Messiah and who understand the Hebrew calendar, such as Jonathan Cahn and Mark Biltz to sound an alarm and to help the church to be prepared for what is coming. We are after all living in the end times and just as Lord Jesus predicted we are seeing signs in the heavens and on the earth that the time of His return is drawing near. Now, we do not have to fear, but we do need to be alert.


I encourage you to watch the presentation by pastor Mark Biltz on this very subject where he shares many more fascinating details. Below is the  link:


Eclipse 2017

Why There Will Be No Doomsday On September 23, 2017

On September 23, 2017 there will be an astronomical convergence of sun, moon, stars and planets

that will exactly fit the description of the "great sign in heaven" mentioned in the beginning of chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation.

The interesting fact is that it will fall on a very special Shabbat Shuva that occurs during the 10 days of repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur according to the Jewish spiritual calendar. It is indeed very special because such  a convergence never happened before ( the closest one was about the time of Jesus' birth) and will not happen again at least for another 1000 years, so it is for sure a sign.

But many are using these facts and are adding to them their own theories of what this sign means and what they think will happen on that day. Some are even saying that the 6th seal of the Book of Revelation will be opened on that day, but  I don't think so.

I think, based on my 18 years of studying the Bible, that it might be God's call to repentance to both the world and most of all to His Church. It could be that this day and corresponding sign in the heavens signals the beginning of events and the period of time that apostle John prophesied about in the 12th Chapter of the Book of Revelation.

It begins with the description of the sign of the virgin in heaven, followed by another sign, that of the dragon. It describes how the dragon, which symbolizes Satan, tries to devour the child that the virgin is giving birth to as soon as He is born. And of course it brings us back to the time when something near to that sign occurred, the time of Jesus' birth, and how Satan induced Herod to try to kill baby Jesus, but the Book of Revelation was written around the year Ad 90, long after Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection, so the Virgin in the sign is not Mary as some interpret.

No, I believe that the Virgin stands for the nation of Israel because she was the one who gave birth to the Messiah ( Mary was a Jewish woman) and Satan was trying to destroy her ever since that time, but was unable to. Perhaps he will try to do it again in the near future and once again will fail.

John reveals that it will enrage him and he will begin to persecute " the rest of her offspring who hold the testimony of Jesus," meaning the Christians. We certainly are seeing this happening already today. Millions of Christians are being murdered in the Middle East and Africa right now while the world is mostly turning blind eye to that. As id this wasn't enough there are growing hostile attitudes towards Christians in the West, especially among those who hold on to radical leftist ideology who unfortunately hold most of political power right now and control the mainstream media. More and more people on the right as well as at the center ( classic liberals) begin to notice and are speaking out against that, but if the leftist will end-up winning the ideological battle, they will begin to viciously persecute all who disagree with them, especially the Christians.

It will reach its peak during the reign of Antichrist, but this does not happen until chapter 13. Before that, apostle John, also describes the war in heaven between Michael the Archangel and Satan and his angels after which , Satan is going to be thrown out of the second heaven to earth along with his angels. This is the spiritual war that will not be manifested physically, but nevertheless will happen and we will witness its results on earth. There will be war against Israel, which their enemies will lose, but as a result of Satan's coming to earth we will see an unprecedented increase in demonic activity, demonic possessions and false signs and wonders, including the  "alien visitations," that will result in a widespread deception  if possible even of believers.

Now, we don't know how long this period of time will be. it could be 7, 10 or more years, but we are about to enter this period soon and that is why we must be watchful and pray. We have to draw nearer to God because only under His wings and His blood we will be safe.

A Car in Niagara Draws Attention of Residents And Provokes Online Discussion

A car shown in the photo above was sighted at Costco parking lot in St. Catharines, Ontario recently. Someone just laughed and shared it online as something funny, but the discussions I saw below the post also revealed some negative attitudes that many people have towards religion and Christianity in particular and made me think a lot.

One person stated that the messages on the car are an example of very poor taste and an example unwelcome religious zeal, accusing the owner of hypocrisy for spending money on the car and those messages that would be spent better on helping the poor by donating them to the food bank.

I remarked in reply to that person that we don't even know who the owner is and suggested the possibility that this person might be spending a lot more money on helping the poor than they spent on this car, and pointed out the fact that before we begin criticizing someone else for something we should first check if we ourselves are not guilty of the very same thing.

And it is true that often people who judge others for spending money on unnecessary things instead of giving are the ones who are not very giving themselves, though it might not have been the case as I do not know the person who left that comment either.

But what I see in Canadian society in particular is a big entitlement attitude among "the poor", who think  of themselves as victims and that everyone owes them while they are poor because they refuse to take any responsibility for themselves while looking down on those who did and who experience financial success as a result of working hard and taking advantage of the opportunities that they are given.

Those people often spend many years studying or working on their business before they can even have an opportunity to have higher incomes and when they have them as much as 50% of that income is automatically taken by the government to help the "poor," but they still donate to charitable causes even on top of that while so many of the so called poor live on assistance in order to feed their destructive habits.

But there is also some legitimate resentment and criticism towards people who are well off, especially those of Christian faith because of  the financial abuse that some of the Christian leaders  engage in by living in luxury off of the donations often given by the poor members of their churches.

I remember one prosperity preaching pastor who saw an old clunker car on the road one day with "Jesus is coming soon," sticker on it. That pastor started making fun of the owner of the car whom he did not even know, saying that he should buy a fancier car and then put such sticker on it so, he/she would be a "better testimony". I could not help, but think that perhaps this person does not have a fancy car because they donate the money they could have spent on a better car to such people as that pastor! In fact I was one of such people at the time. I thought, "Here we sacrifice and drive an old beaten up car, so that we could donate to this man's ministry thinking it is for a good cause and he is making fun of me and others like me right into our faces while he himself drives a fancy car bought with those very donations. Needless to say we left that church, as did many others and it does not exist anymore.

So, I acknowledge that there is a hypocrisy in the church, but that does not mean that  all Christians are hypocrites. In our Western society we are very quick to scream at people who legitimately criticize us, "Don't judge me!" While we are all too eager to judge people whom we even don't know at all for the very things we are guilty of ourselves.

I guess it is best that we all first take the plank out of our own eyes before we try to take out the specks from the eyes of others. Whatever the motivation of the person who owns that car. He or She succeeded in making people think. God bless them.

Why I Am Not Worried About Rising Interest Rates

On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada raised lending interest rates for the very first time in 7 years, and while there is a lot of concern about that among the financial experts and a lot of fear among those who have  high debt levels, people like myself are not worried at all right now because we do not have any debt.

We did what was right in that we learned how to live below our means, but we were continually being punished for it by low interest that was paid to us for our savings, and by high real estate prices.

So, the rising interest rates are bad news for people who are irresponsible and greedy, but very good news for those who are content. That is why truly contentment is a great gain in the long term.

But if you are the one who is in debt, don't panic. There is still time for you to bring your house in order, but that time gap is rapidly growing. The rise in interest rates was very small, but it will continue in the future. Being in debt is never good for you regardless of whether the credit is cheap or not. The borrower is always a slave to the lender. Don't be a slave.

The key to your freedom is contentment, because if you are content with what you have, you will not be greedy for more, and you will not be buying the things you don't need in order to impress the people you don't like. You will be free and you will not be wicked as only the wicked borrow and do not pay back. Cut down on your expenses now and pay your debts as soon as possible.

It feels truly great when you don't owe anything to anyone except love.  You are free from any financial anxiety.  And it is especially true if you are a Christian. You were bought at the great price to be free and not to be slave of people, especially of those who run the banks and you will be more free to give to causes that advance the kingdom of God instead of making the wicked system of this world that  is ruled by the devil rich. You cannot serve both God and mammon. Serve God. Pay your debts, give, and be blessed.

Author's Note: Image the courtesy of versaday.com

Study: What Is The Great Tribulation?

The Great Tribulation is mentioned four times in the New Testament. One of these mentions

is by Jesus Himself found  in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 24 in which He linked this period to the time of  "trouble" such as never happened  since there was a nation prophesied of by Daniel ( Daniel 12:1). Both Hebrew and Greek words used in these passages for "trouble" and "tribulation" mean adversity, suffering, and persecution.

There were of course many times in history, including, even now when God's people were being persecuted and suffered greatly because of it, but it is evident from Scripture that during the time of Great Tribulation it will be worse than ever before, and that there will not be another time like this after.

Jesus placed this period after the "abomination of desolation" is set up in the Holy place. Many Bible scholars concluded that this event will be the Antichrist proclaiming himself God in the rebuilt Third Temple in Jerusalem, which is very plausible since the description of his global reign in the Book of Revelation 13:7-10 includes great persecution against both Israel and the gentile believers in Jesus:

"And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

If anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints."

 

The reason why Bible scholars think  that the reign of the Beast ( Antichrist) and the Great Tribulation are one and the same is that both last for 42 months, but the good news is that this period will be shortened by God Himself when He returns to Judge the earth and throw the Beast and his false prophet into the lake of fire before His 1000 year reign.

 

It is not clear from the Scripture exactly when in this chain of events the Rapture of The Saints will take place, whether before the Great Tribulation, during, or after it, but nowhere it these passages do we see Great Tribulation described as the wrath of God. Furthermore, Jesus told us Himself that in this world we will have tribulation, so I think it is wise that we prepare ourselves spiritually and physically for it just in case.

 

There is also a description of the great assembly of the saints who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb who according to Scripture " came out of the Great Tribulation." It is found in the Book of Revelation chapter 7:9-17:

 

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

 

So, we know for sure that there will be believers in Jesus living during this terrible time. though we don't know whether it will be the Church or the people who will come to faith in Jesus after the Rapture, one thing is certain, God will deliver them out of it in one way or another, and those who die during Great Tribulation for their faith will share  the victory of Christ over the Beast:

 

"And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

Great Tribulation therefore is the reign of the Beast ( Antichrist) and a short lived wrath of the devil, and not of God.

Author's Note: Image courtesy of pintrest.com

Millions of Children From Around The World Having Dreams and Visions of Heaven

Another spiritual sign of the times that is increasing lately is that of children, often very young ones,

sometimes even from non Christian homes having dreams and visions of Jesus and heaven. They often bring a simple message : "Jesus is coming soon!"

Jesus told us that He is coming soon over 2000 years ago, so very often when  we hear that we just smile and say,"Yes, He is," and move on with our everyday lives because we have really no idea how soon that "soon" really is.

The Bible teaches us that God is outside of space and time, so for Him 2000 years is a mere moment in eternity, but perhaps God is trying to catch our attention by speaking to little children because now, it is sooner than ever before on our time scale?

The Lord always reveals Himself to those of pure heart and you cannot find a purer heart than that of a little child. I just talked to our nephew and his wife who are missionaries and have two young sons. They told me how just recently their 2 year old woke up from a nap during a car ride  very excited saying: "Mommy! Daddy! I had a dream from God. Jesus is coming soon!"

They said that their hair stood on their bodies, because even though they are Christian missionaries and their children hear about Jesus often, they never really talked to their son about Jesus'  return to earth or the end times, thinking it is beyond the scope of understanding for  such young child.

If you put into  Google  or You Tube search words such as : "Children have dreams and visions of heaven" you will get as many as 23, 100, 000 results! All filled with stories of children of various ages and backgrounds telling about Jesus' return, of heaven, sometimes even hell, and of the end time events that they could not have known about  in the natural, but that confirm the biblical end time narrative.

I encourage you to try it yourself and read/ hear some of those stories, it is very fascinating to see so many common themes that show up in them. God is for sure doing everything He can to get our attention, and those are only the ones who are being reported and uploaded onto the Internet, so in reality the numbers are even higher.

Jewish Rabbi Expects The Messiah To Come Through Pagan Portal

One of my friends shared with me an article written by a Jewish Orthodox publication that was both

                                                                                            

interesting and very disturbing. It was about the Palmyra Arch that is traveling the world as a sign if defiance against The Islamic State, but it has really a more sinister purpose.

The Rabbi correctly noticed that the elite behind the work towards the creation of World Government is not a secular group of people, that they do venerate the old pagan deities such as Baal to whom the Arch Of Palmyra was dedicated by the Romans, as well as the Egyptian cult of Isis, and so it is no accident that this arch appears in close relations to meetings of the most powerful world leaders and is not so much as a protest against the destruction of archeological sites by the Islamic State, but an effort tom opening a spiritual gateway for their Messiah.

What was disturbing to me the most in this story is that the Rabbi correctly recognized the spiritual significance of it and yet is thinking that the real Messiah the Jewish people are waiting for could come through such portal!

Really? Does he really think that the Holy God of the Bible would use a pagan portal that is an abomination to Him to send His Messiah through?

If anyone ever comes through such portal it will be an Antichrist of the Book of Revelation, not the true Messiah, and this Rabbi is part of Jewish Orthodox leadership in Israel. This shows me that they are ready to be deceived and will accept this false messiah when he appears, just as the Bible predicted.

For those interested here is the link to the article I referred to, so you can see for yourselves.

Arch of Ba’al, With Shadowy Ties to New World Order, May Be Messiah’s End-of-Days Gateway: Rabbi

 

Author's Note: Photo The Courtesy of alamy.com

Is Great Tribulation The wrath of God?

This question is very important as it is the key to resolving a big debate among Christians today about the timing of an event predicted in the Bible called "Rapture of the Saints" or simply "The Rapture." There seems to be two or even three camps. 

The first camp claims that the period of time called in the Scripture "the great tribulation," is the time when God pours out His wrath on the earth and therefore the Church will be taken away before it begins, and everyone agrees that it will begin with the appearance of a man called "The Antichrist" on the world's stage.

The second camp believes that God's wrath will begin to be poured out in the second half of the great tribulation period and that the church will witness  appearance of the Antichrist, but will be snatched away before he shows his true face as all agree that he will be a very charismatic man, highly respected by the world community who will succeed in bringing peace to the world, especially Israel for a short time and will be even accepted as the Messiah  by Israel, but they will reject him when he desecrates the newly rebuilt third temple by proclaiming himself God, after which he will seek to destroy Israel and will be ultimately destroyed by the return of the true Messiah, Jesus Christ of Nazareth to earth.

And then there is a third camp that believes that Jesus will take up His Church to heaven very shortly before His physical return to earth at the end of the great tribulation period, and then He will judge the wicked of the earth for their wickedness, but all three positions depend on the timing of God's wrath and whether or not the great tribulation is indeed the judgement of God or not.

Personally, I take neither of those positions, but I choose to remain open to each one of these three possibilities. I would love it if the rapture happened before the great tribulation, but just in case it does not, I am preparing myself mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to endure it by the grace of God by walking close with Him and listening to His Spirit.

In the parable of the foolish and wise virgins( Matthew 25), Jesus warned us against not being ready for His coming. All of them were virgins, which symbolizes the believers and all of them woke up when the call went out that the  bridegroom ( Jesus) is coming, but it took longer than they all thought it would and half of them did not have enough oil in their lamps to last until the end. I am putting  extra oil in my lamp by being open to the idea that the end time prophetic events written in the Bible might not come to pass in the order or the timing that I expect. I think it would be wise of all of us to be more flexible in this regard, and to focus more on  filling ourselves with the Word of God and His Holy Spirit, growing  spiritually stronger, and into greater maturity,  and on preaching of the gospel to this dark world instead of fighting amongst ourselves over eschatology.

The Bible admonishes us that we must endure until the end. Jesus told us that we will have tribulation in the world, especially the closer we will get to His return. That means that we are not immune from persecution, as a matter of fact there are more Christians being persecuted and killed for their faith right now than at any other time in the history. What makes the Western Christians who at the moment enjoy relative freedom to practice our faith think that somehow we are better than our brothers and sisters who live elsewhere? Jesus said that the time will come when the whole world will hate us because it hated Him first, so let us toughen up and not get offended at God when things are not easy for us and remember in our prayers those who have it even worse.

He is with us no matter what and  He gives us the power to overcome Satan himself and his hordes of hell by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of our testimony if we stay faithful to Him and do not love our lives even unto death. ( Revelation 12:11)

One Year To Jerusalem 2018

All eyes again begin to turn towards Israel as we enter one last year to its 70th anniversary of rebirth as a nation, and as I explained exactly 9 years ago when I first published the "Countdown to Jerusalem 2018," the number 70 is very significant in Israel's history, therefore we expect something historically significant to happen in Israel between now and May-September 2018. 

Already there are news coming out that some landmark treaty is about to be signed by the Palestinians as a result of Donald Trump's efforts in mediating peace between the two nations, the holy grail of every new American administration.

But of course this game was played before by Mahmoud Abbas and Yasser Arafat before him with every new American President, only for the agreement to be broken by another wave of Palestinian violence, so everyone is wondering why this one should be any different?

I guess we will believe it when we see it, but if indeed this agreement will be successful in creating even some temporary peace and stability in the region, then it could lead to more work of restoration in Israel, perhaps even the rebuilding of the Third Temple in Jerusalem or if it falls apart it could lead to another war against Israel that the Jewish people will yet again win.

Either way, be prepared to hear more and more in the news about Israel as this year unfolds, and to see more intense upheaval in the world as the birth pangs of Messiah's Kingdom continue to intensify. Europe will continue to deal with the refugee crisis that wars in the Middle East have caused, and so  will United States and Canada as greater number of refugees from Central America and Africa continue to pour in because of the continued conflicts, famine, and economic instability there.

The British spat with European Union over its exit from it will cause in turn economic fears in the euro zone, which may lead to the fall in the value of euro, and if our late brother John Paul Jackson heard from the Lord right, this in turn will cause the crash of the U.S. dollar, which may send a shock wave through the Canadian economy and cause the long overdue housing and credit bubble to burst. And there is also a possibility of a cyber attack on U.S. financial institutions and/ or the electrical grid for which the current "ransom" cyber attacks might well be a test run.

But will all that is going on for all those of us who know the Lord there are reasons for hope and we don't have to fear these things as many of us are being prepared for theses things. The Lord has been speaking to many of us personally about this for decades now and He warned us about it through the Bible thousands of years ago. If we put our trust in Him instead of the system of this world, we will be fine, especially if we have not entangled ourselves in it, if we live content owing nothing to no one except love, but if some of you don't, if you are in financial debt then it is the last minute to get your house in order.

There is plenty of sound advice on how to do that out there, so do not delay and begin to learn to live within or even below your means. Pay off all those credit cards as fast as you can, even if it means to live on rice and beans for a year, sell the stuff that don't really need and store some non perishable foods and other essentials, even if no crush happens, you will be better off this way anyways.  "Contentment with godliness is a great gain." ( 1 Timothy 6:6)

France Decides Their Identity And Future In The Second Round Of Presidential Elections

Decades of social engineering and unregulated immigration policy are now bringing many Western countries to the point of crisis over their identity and their future as citizens of native origin of those countries finally begin to push back against gradual destruction of their distinct cultures.

France is the country with over 1000 years of history and very strong national as well as cultural identity, but it also has the biggest Muslim population of all European countries and a very large immigrant population that began to have a real impact now on French identity and culture, which shows itself in big arguments over burkinis at the beach and women wearing burkas and headscarves in public places, which is considered "not French" by majority of indigenous French citizens. This clash had been escalating to violence over the years with Muslim women physically assaulting scantily clad French woman in a public park to police removing burkini off of a Muslim woman at the beach to a series of Islamic terror attacks in France in recent years and months.

This is a backdrop to today's presidential elections, in which two candidates represent two different visions for the country. Marine Le Pen represents those who wish to control immigration better and to ensure that new comers would not only respect, but assimilate to French culture thus preserving its traditional identity and retain its sovereignty within European Union or even leave it if they must, while Emmanuel Macron represent those in France who want to stay in European Union and  try to create some sort of unity in its fractured society and those who are afraid that any change or strong stand on immigration policy would cause the already frequent riots to turn to a full blown civil war.

This is a difficult choice that French citizens must make today and it is hard to say which side will win, but regardless of who will win, the identity and culture related problems will not go away and other Western countries are going to face the same problems in the near future as France faces today, if they won't change their approach to immigration, especially in the face of the millions of refugees that are flooding them due to wars taking place in Africa and Middle East.

So far, out of all Western countries Canada had been an example of high rate of assimilation of immigrants into the main stream Canadian culture, which celebrates unity in diversity, but that was largely the result of well crafted immigration policy that controlled the number of immigrants and refugees Canada was receiving every year with strict rules regarding the necessity of them knowing either French or English well enough to get around and get jobs before they received their citizenship and them being educated on Canadian values that they will have to abide by as Canadian citizens. Now the current Liberal government is rapidly changing that approach by increasing the numbers of immigrants and refugees received, effectively opening wide its American borders to anyone who wishes to come in, and fast tracking the citizenship even for those who did nit assimilate yet, and in my opinion this will bring down the road to Canada the very same problems that France is facing today. May God give wisdom to the French voters today and may the rest of us learn from Europe's mistakes.

Why Early Churches Did Not Practice Tithing, but Joyful Giving

If you grew up in, or are part of the church who teaches tithing, it might come as a shock to you to find out that early Christian gentile church did not tithe.  For those of you who do not know, tithing was an Old Testament practice of honouring God with the first 10% of one's increase, so the rest would be blessed as well. It was to be given to the priests and used for their sustenance and for helping the poor. The earliest biblical example we have of it was when Abraham gave the tithe of the spoils of war to a priest called Melchizedek, and later it became part of the  temple system law.


It is interesting to note that Jesus never talked about tithing, but  He talked a lot about giving generously to those around us who are in need. As a matter of fact, the only time Jesus even mentioned the tithe was when he rebuked the Pharisees for paying so much attention to tithing and so little attention to more important tenets of the Law.


Perhaps many churches today are committing the same error. The leadership of way too many churches today is not bothered when their church members engage in sinful lifestyle, when they commit sins such as adultery, idolatry, fornication, or when they take financial advantage of the poor or refuse to pay back what they borrowed, as long as they tithe...


Early Christian church, on the other hand, especially the gentile one does not seem to have practiced it at all. There is not a single mention of tithing in Acts of the Apostles or in the letters of the Apostles to the churches, even in passages about giving and supporting financially the ministers of the gospel. Also the counsel of Jerusalem, when they were asked about what gentile churches should observe did not mention it either.  Have you ever wondered why?


I did wonder about that ever since a pastor in Poland whose church did not practice that either, pointed it out to me. And now I think,  I understand why.


You see, when Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead, he fulfilled the Law and restored those who accepted His gift of Salvation to the free fellowship with God. Before people get saved, they try to earn God's favour by doing as  many "good deeds" as they can in hopes of earning it, but when they get saved they do them because they are right things to do. They don't do what is right to get saved, but because they already are saved.


In the same way people in the time of Old Testament  gave tithes,  so they could get blessed, now in Jesus we are already blessed, so we give because we ARE blessed, not to get blessed. Though it is true that when we give, we get blessed even more, but it should not be the reason for giving. And the amount such as 10% is not specified in New Testament like it was in the old because we are expected to go way beyond it in our giving.


If you have conviction to give tithe, by all means give it, but understand that you are free to give any amount you like to give, according to your ability. Ten percent is a good place to start, but don't limit yourself just to that, and know that giving is not just about giving your money or things (originally tithe was never money but things), it is also about giving of your time, love, and care to others in the name of Jesus. Giving is about sharing joyfully with others what God has already blessed us with. So, don't allow people to manipulate you into giving by saying that if you will not ( give to them or their church), then God will Curse you( quoting Scriptures taken out of context of the entire Bible), or that you should give in order to receive as a some sort of get rich quick scheme. Don't give to such people, especially if you see that they are living a lavish lifestyle out of offerings. But listen to the Holy Spirit and give generously to the churches, ministries, or people in need that He wants you to give to and do it freely knowing that you are already richly blessed.


"H who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32 )

Road Side Bomb Explosion In Germany And What To Make of Donald Trump's Move Against Syria

A lot has been happening lately in world politics, but I am going to tackle two events today and what they mean in terms of biblical prophecy, and what can we expect moving forward.

The first is the roadside bomb that exploded yesterday in Germany clearly targeting one of the elite soccer teams in Germany, Borussia Dortmund. Thankfully no one was killed. We are used to seeing such attacks in Iraq or Afghanistan, but now we are seeing them in Germany. This  is coming at the heels of series of Islamist truck  and knife attacks. If it is discovered that indeed this attack too was conducted by an Islamist who gave his allegiance to ISIS or some other terror group, it will continue the heated discussion about Angela Merkel's open door policy for refugees from Islamic countries( and refugee policies of other countries) as ISIS also claimed the responsibility for a bomb attack against a Coptic church in Egypt, and after a chemical attack in Syria that Assad regime is accused of conducting based on the statements of witnesses.


But what it was the ISIS and not the Assad regime who was behind this attack? The Islamists'  openly proclaimed goal is to draw western military forces ( esp.American) into the battle with Islamic forces in Dabiq, located near the Syria-Turkey border.


Now, that they are losing ground in Iraq they might want to provoke the Americans and the rest of the Western world to a military campaign there that would unleash a long Iraq style conflict, which they could later claim as the fulfillment of the Islamic "Dabiq Prophecy."


The American President, Donald Trump, might have wanted to send a strong message to anyone using chemical weapons that he is going to respond in order to deter such attacks, but he might be unwittingly be pulled into the type of military campaign he never wanted to participate in, as well  as create a greater conflict with Russia, Iran, and possibly Turkey over it.


We must pray it will not happen, but if it does happen it might bring the fulfillment of the biblical prophecy about the destruction of Damascus , which also spells out trouble for Israel, but also a supernatural deliverance.


These are no matter how we look at it, a very prophetic times in which we are living.

God's Ancient Promise For Iran And The Ezekiel War

As I mentioned in my previous post : "Iranians Are Persians, Not Arabs," Persia  has ancient historic

ties to the Jewish people and their God. And even though few people may realize it, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob specifically mentioned the people of modern day Iran and proclaimed both future judgement and restoration for the Iranian people.


One of the ancient regions that the Persian empire arose from, now in modern day Iran, is Elam. God proclaimed through the prophet Jeremiah that because of some treacherous dealings this land will be judged one day, the monarchy will cease, and the Iranian people will be scattered around the world, very much like it happened to the Jewish people, but that eventually they will be restored to their country and that God will establish His throne there.


Now this could be confusing even to the most seasoned Bible student, because as we all know God said many times that He will be ruling  one day out of Jerusalem, so how will He establish His throne in Iran out of all places?


This seems like a contradiction until we  read it in the context of the entire Scripture. We will find out from Psalm 22: 3 that God establishes His throne upon the praises of His people, so if Iranians as a country turn to God, His throne will be established there upon their praises.


Now let us look at the prophetic Scripture passage that I mentioned above : "That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:
      “Thus says the LORD of hosts,
            ‘Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam,
            The finest of their might.      ‘I will bring upon Elam the four winds
            From the four ends of heaven,
            And will scatter them to all these winds;
            And there will be no nation
            To which the outcasts of Elam will not go.      ‘So I will shatter Elam before their enemies
            And before those who seek their lives;
            And I will bring calamity upon them,
            Even My fierce anger,’ declares the LORD,
            ‘And I will send out the sword after them
            Until I have consumed them.      ‘Then I will set My throne in Elam
            And destroy out of it king and princes,’
            Declares the LORD.     ‘But it will come about in the last days
            That I will restore the fortunes of Elam,’”
            Declares the LORD. ( Jeremiah 49: 36-39)


Judgement has come upon Elam who later became Persia, then Iran because its rulers became hostile to the Jewish people, especially during the Second World War when the Iranian Shah sided for a time with Nazi Germany and renamed Persia, Iran, "The Land of Aryans." His descendants became proud and arrogant, so the Islamic Revolution became its judgement. The monarchy was destroyed as prophesied and many Iranians for the first time in their history were scattered among the nations of the world, but it also drew many Iranians to God. Thousands of them every year both in Iran and abroad became accepting Jesus as their Messiah even at the risk of death. So, it follows that God will fulfill the promise contained in the last verse of this prophecy and restore them.


My Biblically educated guess is that it will happen during the War of Gog and Magog described in the book of Ezekiel chapters 38-39. It is said there that Persia will be one of the nations that will be part of the alliance along with other Islamic nations such as Turkey and possibly even Russia, and join the attack against Israel where their armies will be destroyed.


The destruction of their army will allow the people of Iran to take back their country and to overthrow  the Islamic Republic themselves without any foreign intervention, so the fanatic zeal and hatred of this government against Israel will bring its ultimate destruction. It is just like God to do something like that.

Most Iranians Are Persians, Not Arabs

It is a Persian New Year right now, an ancient celebration of Spring and new life that is celebrated until this day in countries that used to belong to the ancient Persian Empire and are still influenced by its culture, that is well and alive today in Iran.

Most westerners make the mistake of thinking about Iran as an Arab country, especially since the Islamist minority had taken over the power in Iran in 1978-1979 Islamic Revolution, but the culture, art, and language of Iran are distinctly Persian, predating Islam by thousands of years.

As a matter of fact, Persia under king Cyrus the Great produced the first human rights code in history.

This empire was very different from all the others in that it was multicultural and multifaith empire. Persian kings did not destroy the cultural and religious heritage of the people they conquered, but allowed them to flourish. For example, they paid for the rebuilding of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem after it was destroyed, robbed, and desecrated by the Babylonians. For that, Persia, and especially King Cyrus has a venerated place in the Hebrew history.

And what is even more amazing is that King Cyrus was mentioned by name by the Hebrew prophet Isaiah a 100 years before he( King Cyrus) was even born! ( Isaiah 45: 1-6)
I think that this alone blew his mind away and favourably disposed him towards the Hebrews and their God who had called him in those prophetic Scriptures His "anointed shepherd."

Anyway, this tolerant and multicultural mindset is still present among the people of Iran and because of its history, besides the dominant Persian majority, there are many other ethnic minorities that live in Iran and still maintain their ethnic identity and languages, though after the Islamist takeover of Iran they have much less freedom than they had for ages before.

It is a very harsh reality for the people who are modern and cosmopolitan in nature to have to live under Shariah law, which is very foreign to them. For that reason over 6 million Iranians left Iran following the Revolution even though they still dearly love their country.

But the majority of them have to suffer in silence back in Iran because they cannot  or do not want to leave. The good news though is that most Iranians ( 70 %) are under the age of 35 and do not agree with the system they were forced to live under since their birth, so once the older generation that brought it in dies, the Islamic Revolution will die with them. It is just a matter of time.

To all those interested in knowing more about what is really happening in Iran, I recommend  reading of the book written by an Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Shirin Ebadi, "Until We Are Free." In it, she describes the story of her fight for human rights in Iran under the current regime and the persecution she and others like her faced  and are still facing as a result, especially those who are unknown and have no one to stand up for them.

Despite of all this oppression, Iran is experiencing the greatest spiritual awakening in its history with thousands of people coming to know Jesus as their King of Kings, the righteous King they always longed for, which in itself is a fulfillment of another ancient prophecy, but I will write about that next time...

Author's Note: This is a new version of an article titled "Persians, Not Arabs," that I first published on Triond back in 2006, but because the site has been taken down recently, I decided to republish it again since it generated so much interest garnishing more than 20, 000 views. I hope that this one will be equally successful. Feel free to share it with others and to comment.

"...And The Love of Many Shall Grow Cold" : Is Facebook Making Your Relationships Superficial?

Facebook and other social networking platforms allow us to keep in contact with more people including family, friends, acquaintances, and people whom we never met in person.

And this is a great tool, especially if like me, you have family and friends who live very far away from you and you cannot see them face to face that often.

But I noticed a considerable downside to this. It seems that because we are almost constantly connected to Facebook via our phones, tablets, and other devices and we interact with those people daily often by liking their content, commenting on what they post, and occasionally exchanging a few words by a Facebook chat, that it gives us an illusion of continuing relationship with them and it often begins to replace other more comprehensive forms of communication with the people we care about.

It is only an illusion, because liking someone's content, commenting on their photos, and occasionally exchanging few words cannot really maintain  real relationships. Those activities DO NOT equal having a real conversation with them.

Now, I get the fact that not everyone on your friends list is your real friend and when you have several hundred people there, you really cannot maintain real relationships with them all, so it will be natural that you will have this superficial relationships with most of them, but what is most disturbing to me is the fact that Facebook can turn even those real close relationships we used to enjoy with  friends and even family to the very superficial relationships we have with acquaintances and  strangers.

Personally, I consciously try to prevent this from happening with my close relationships, but I sadly discovered that others do not always make the effort and because of that many of my close relationships became superficial soon after those friends and family joined me on Facebook.

I used to talk on the phone with them or face to face in person, or via Skype regularly, which allowed us to really share our life experiences with one another. Now with most of them it is only short Facebook messages and likes. They really don't know what is happening in my life beyond what I share on Facebook ( which is very little) , and I don't know what is really happening in their lives. But the sad thing is that when I try to find out, I get only short polite and very concise answers, and it is only me who is making the effort. If I don't write to them asking how they are doing, they will not write or talk to me for years on end. This is NOT a relationship anymore. Real relationships go both ways, not just one, and real relationships demand that we make time for real conversations.

I am very thankful for those few friends and family who do make time to talk to me, and I do anything possible to make time for them, but there were quite a few relationships that were important to me that Facebook killed.

Let's not allow this to happen, especially if we are Christians. You know, liking things on Facebook or sitting in the same Church building for an hour every Sunday is not really fellowship. The Lord Jesus warned us of this when He predicted that in the end times "the love of many will grow cold" because of the lawlessness. The greatest law binding us together is the Law of love. When we allow the relationships with people we care about to become superficial, our love for them grows cold and we begin to practice lawlessness.

Evaluate the relationships you have today and make sure that they do not become superficial. make it a point to have real conversations with people you care about, and if your relationships became superficial, do whatever in your power to change that.

An update: In 2020, I finally left Facebook for good. Before cancelling my account, I sent private messages to people I wanted to keep in touch with and told them the ways, we can stay in contact after I leave. Only a few responded. Some did not even acknowledge my message, but kept mindlessly sending me links. It really hurt, but at least now I know who my real friends are and I am happier for it. Facebook is a friendship killer. I don't miss it at all.

Revelation 12 : Mystery of The Woman, Child, and The Dragon

Revelation 12 is a very interesting chapter in Bible prophecy. In the beginning of the Book of

Revelation itself, apostle John receives the information that what is being revealed to him in this book pertains to the events of his own time and to what will happen after this all the way to Jesus' glorious return, His 1000 year reign on earth, the last Judgement, and the creation of New Heavens and the New Earth.


This chapter begins with two signs in the heavens. First of the Woman clothed with the sun, with moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of 12 stars. She appears to be in labour pains and is about to deliver a male Child whom the Dragon ( another sign in heavens) waits to devour as soon as He is born.


That reminds all of us of the story of Jesus' birth and how the enemy induced  king Herod to try to kill baby Jesus, but an Angel of God warned Joseph in a dream and Mary, Joseph, and Jesus managed to escape to Egypt. The only thing is that it is talked of as a future event and by that time Jesus was no longer on earth and it was Jesus reveling to John this very thing, so what was Jesus talking about? Who is the woman, and the Child?


We must look to the symbolism used in prophetic Scriptures of the Old Testament to find the answer. There we find out that repeatedly the nation of Israel is being called the Woman, and God the Father calls Himself her Husband, so the Woman must be Israel.


Israel as the nation gave birth to the Messiah for which the Dragon ( Devil) hates her and tried to destroy her multiple times throughout the history, now she is reborn and being restored. Along with the Messiah, Israel also gave birth to the Church ( true followers of Jesus) and we are being called His body and His representatives on earth, so could it be possible that we are the Child? As the extension of the Messiah?


With this possibility in mind, let us look at what Revelation 12 predicts will happen. It says that after she bore the Child, her Child was caught up to heaven to the throne of God. We know that this is what happened to Jesus after His death and resurrection, so if the Child of the end times is an end time Church, it would follow that the same will happen to the Church. We call the rapture of the Saints. Before Jesus ascended back to Heaven, he told His disciples that He is going to prepare a place for them, so that when the time comes, they would be where He is also. apostle Paul predicted the same thing in his letters to the churches.


Then it describes the war that happened in heaven between the archangel Michael ( who protects Israel-Daniel) and the Dragon and his fallen angels. About Jesus during His earthly ministry talked about in the past tense, could a similar war, this time in second heaven take place in the future?


As the result of this war Satan and his angels were cast to earth and the saints of God overcame him by the blood of the lamb ( Jesus), by the word of their testimony, and did not love their lives even unto death.


It also predicts that right after he has been cast down to earth, the Dragon began persecuting the Woman, sending a flood against her, but the earth helped the Woman and swallowed the flood. Could this be describing and increase of demonic power on earth, and the persecution and armed conflict against Israel in the end times?


it follows that the Dragon began to be now enraged with the Woman after failed attempt to destroy her and went after her offspring who hold the testimony of Jesus,  that would be the Church. Perhaps after failed attacks against Israel the Devil would incite people whom he uses on earth to persecute the Church for standing with Israel.


Now many speculate that the coming arrangement of stars and planets in the constellation of Virgo that will appear on September 23, of this year is the very sign in the heavens spoken of by John in  Revelation 12:1.


If they are correct, it would mean that the events described here are going to begin to be fulfilled after this. There will be a spiritual outpouring of evil on the earth, followed by the attack on Israel, then on the Church before the rapture shortly before or even at Jesus' return. We don't know how long this period of time would be, but if it is about to begin this September, then we must get spiritually ready for it.