What Would Happen If World Politicians Listened to Greta Thunberg's Demand

This article is not an attack on Greta Thunberg. She is a very brave young woman that I admire and

respect for her resolve and commitment to the cause of combating climate change. I am not going to challenge her, but the ideas behind the movement she is part of.   I agree with Greta that this is a conversation that we all need to have, and should have had  very long time ago, and that we do need to act.
I also agree that the world does need to get off of its dependency on fossil fuels as soon as possible, but I am also a realist. I know that  we cannot  do it unless there are alternative sources of energy developed to replace fossil fuels, and here is why.

Suppose that the politicians did listen to Greta's plea and banned the use of fossil fuels today. What this would mean for all of us tomorrow? First, it would mean no air travel because jet fuel is made of fossil fuels, which means that Greta will not travel from Sweden to speak in New York, Montreal or anywhere else for that matter. It also would mean that she nor anyone else would be able to travel by plane or boat anywhere either,nor transport anything. So, we would not be able to transport any goods around the world and we could only use what we can produce in our local areas, which includes basic life necessities such as food. That means no food export, import or aid from countries that produce extra food to the countries that don't produce enough. This in turn would mean death by starvation to millions of people simply due to lack of food. Would that be justice? The same thing with medical aid. No global medication transport either. How would we help victims of environmental disasters?

Millions of people, especially, those in developed countries with diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and many others would die without their medications. What will people do when they are hungry and doomed to die because they cannot get food nor medication? They would riot, so we might add to our scenario social unrest and violence. This is the reality. Fossil fuels helped to create comfort and prosperity that we all benefit from now. It also helped to lift billions of people out of poverty. It is not only the "rich" who benefited, but more so the poor. It is easy to talk only about negative consequences of Industrial Revolution, but are we prepared to go back to  the lifestyle of the 1800's?

The Climate Change movement, if it wants to succeed, must demand things that can be done now and the activists must understand what it takes to  create the world independent of fossil fuels. It would take drastic changes in lifestyle of nearly everyone on the planet. The politicians cannot do much of themselves without cooperation from their citizens, unless they become dictators, and we know that dictatorships are not great for the environment. China is the greatest example of that fact. It is really up to each one of us to change. I hope that Greta's generation would make those changes instead of just shouting slogans. I hope the brightest of them would get an education that will allow them to develop alternative fuels.I hope that they will stop buying and driving gasoline cars and walk, bike, or take public transit unless they can afford an electric vehicle. This is what I am doing by the way.

I hope that  some of them would begin to construct affordable and green housing, begin producing local organic foods, and stop buying things that they don't really need. I hope that each one of them would begin to live in environmentally friendly way and teach it to their children instead of pledging to have none. This is something that I have done as well. Our family has only one fuel efficient car. I take bus to school most days of the week, and walk anywhere I can.We buy mostly local foods.  As a general rule, we buy what we need and use reusable materials. Our electricity comes from hydro power and solar sources. Many people made many of these changes. Our emissions are going down, but it does cost us more.

The environmental activists complain that it is the greed of corporations that drive the pollution, but they would not be able to do that if we did not buy their products, so again the ball is in our own court. Also the environmentalists need to stop ignoring the science and acknowledge that human activity is not the only cause of climate change, and that besides lowering the emissions, we have to adapt to climate changes as well because there are forces impacting our climate that we cannot control such as changes on the Sun, changes in the earth's magnetic field, and changes of the very axis of the earth, which are all being presently ignored. That  means that we have to relocate threatened communities, stop building too close to the ocean, build bigger barriers to withstand higher storm surges, and we cannot do that if we destroy our economy by getting off of the fossil fuels now before alternatives are ready.

It is possible to marry economic growth with environmental responsibility, and we will have to do that to deal with consequences of the damage we have already done. Getting off of fossil fuels now is a nice sounding slogan, but as I argued above it would mean adding more salt to the wounds of people who struggle with the impact of climate change by taking away the ability to help them in any way and that is not justice at all.

The world will not end in 8 years even if the world temperature rises to 1.5 degrees. But if we set realistic goals and will all make needed changes, we can deal with the consequences of that. The environment has a great way of bouncing back if we treat it responsibly.  Responsibility and adaptation is what is needed.The Bible teaches us that the earth is waiting and longing for mankind to begin walking with God. Walking with God means taking responsibility for our environment.

Author's Note: Image the courtesy of Wikipedia

The Antidote to Racism

Today, I watched a very interesting film made in 1989 about the problem of racism in America. The

moral of the film was that racism exists in ALL people groups, but not all people in those groups are racist, now having shown this truth, them movie did not really offer any solutions to the problem.

Sadly, nearly 30 years later nothing has changed, in fact, things might be getting even worse because instead of acknowledging that racism exists in all groups, and condemning it no matter which group engages in it, predominantly leftist politicians and media, are blaming only one group for racism, the white people, so according to them it is o.k. to be racist against white person, but not against a person of any other ethnic group.

Don't believe me? Then pay more attention. Recently on Twitter someone posted a racist rant against "white people",  nothing happened. Then a person of Afro-American heritage posted the same thing, but  replaced the word "white" with "black." The post was promptly removed.

My point is not to say that ethnic minorities did not suffer more as a result of racism in America than the white people, but that we cannot fight racism by being racist. We all have to stop thinking of ourselves as part of racial group first. Placing group identity above any other type of identity leads to hate, racism, and violence that never stops.

The antidote to racism is thinking of ourselves as human first and treat all other people as such. We need to begin to listen to one another, and to respect one another's heritage. The Bible gave us a path to follow nearly 2000 years ago, when Jesus came to this earth to die for us all. God made all of us in His own image and because of that, we have to treat one another as equals.

It is time to stop playing the identity politics once and for all. Canadian psychologist, Jordan B Peterson, got it right, and we better all clean up our room. Next time you get to any heated debate about anything with anyone, remember that this person is human and worthy of the same respect as you are. Stop generalizing. Stop playing victim. Life is unfair, we all have our share of troubles, but Love does conquer all in the end. Focus on what matters. Let us work one person at a time to end racism. Racism is evil, no matter who engages in it, and evil can only be overcome by good. That is the end of my own rant for today. God bless Everyone.

Why God Will Not Solve All Your Problems

Recently, I came across a very well meaning person trying to encourage others by telling them that God will solve all their problems. While it is true that God enables us to first see that we have  problems and gives us grace to face them, it is untrue that He solves them for us.

In my nearly 20 years of relationship with God through the faith in His Son Jesus, I found that He did just the opposite. He never solved any problems for me, but He always had given me wisdom to solve them myself.

But that does not mean that I do not depend on Him at all. As I mentioned above, it is He who is giving me the wisdom and grace to do it. Some Christians go into the extreme of trying to do everything in their own power alone and that leads to legalism, pride,  and failure. Others go into another extreme of waiting for God to solve all their problems and their lives are a mess as a result because they never get solved.

The best way is a narrow straight balanced way of trusting in God to help us, but at the same time using the wisdom He has given us to do all we can do ourselves and taking responsibility for our decisions. This is how we grow and mature.

Teaching people to expect God to solve all their problems is very harmful even though it is well meaning because it will keep them immature and always struggling with the same problems. It can even lead some to abandon their faith in God altogether when they see that God is not solving their problems for them as they were taught to expect.

If you are in the situation where you have the same types of problems over and over again, instead of asking God to solve them for you, ask Him to give you wisdom and ability to solve them yourself and your life, and the life of those around you will improve dramatically as you begin to face and solve them.

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.

Discerning Between True and False Apostles and Prophets

There is no doubt that we are living in the end times. The Lord Jesus warned us that during this time period, especially the closer we get to His glorious return, we will see the emergence of false

prophets, and His apostles warned us on the pages of The New Testament against false apostles and teachers as well.

So, how do we know if someone is a false apostle, teacher, or prophet? Well, we just need to carefully study the Bible as it spells out very clear criteria for those individuals, though we have to be also careful not to give anyone a label of  a false prophet, teacher, or apostle rashly. Too often people these days call someone a false prophet just because they do not agree with their message or do not believe in the operation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit in modern day Church. The Bible teaches us that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so His Words and works do not change from one era to another. The New Testament encourages us to receive and to operate in the  gifts of The Holy Spirit, so calling people whom we do not know without biblical basis for it a "false prophet" is slander and it is very dangerous to denounce men and women who truly serve God as such because it can bring you under judgement. We are to discern and judge  teachings, dreams, or visions that we come to contact with, but unless we know someone very well and clearly see that their fruit is bad, we should not give anyone such label.

That is why I am not going to give any particular names or people as examples here, but  I am going to share with you instead biblical principles that will help you to discern between true servants of God and impostors, so that you can stay away from the latter.

God is in the process of restoring to the Church the true apostolic and prophetic ministries and it is a great blessing to all of us. Apostle Paul taught us in his first letter to Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 20, not to despise prophetic utterances and Apostle John in the Book of Revelation states that, "...the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." ( Rev.19:10)

But whenever there is a fresh move of the Holy Spirit on the earth, there is also a counterfeit from the enemy, so we must judge and discern prophecies without rejecting the prophetic altogether. I encourage all of you to read the Bible from cover to cover ( you could do it by reading 3-4 chapters a day in one year) paying special attention to the way in which God communicated through the ages with humanity. You will notice that He often spoke to people  and revealed things to them through dreams and various visions. Studying those biblical dreams and visions will teach you the symbols God uses to communicate with us as well as His heart.

Right now I am studying the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, which clearly states what is the difference between true and false prophets. It boils down to one major difference. True prophets call people to repentance when people of God go astray, while false prophets prophesy only what the people would like to hear. God's heart is to bless His people, but when they begin to walk away from Him and engage in sinful activities, He will call them to repentance and if they refuse, He will discipline them, by removing His hedge of protection from them in hope that they will repent and return with their hearts to Him.

Moreover false prophets and apostles promote and elevate themselves  instead of being humble and seeking to give glory to God. They use their God given spiritual gifts for selfish gain. The Bible teaches that gifts and calling of God are irrevocable, so it is possible for someone to operate in them while living in sin. That is why accuracy of prophecies,  healings, deliverances, or miracles themselves are not a sign that someone is truly serving God those these are still the works of the Holy Spirit, because He will always honor the name of Jesus. This explains why Jesus said that in the future some will come to Him and say that they did all these things in His name, but He will still call them the "workers of iniquity" and reject them saying that He never knew them. (Gospel of Matthew 7:23)

It means that it is possible to operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and not have a personal relationship with Jesus anymore. That is why we should not fellowship or sit under the ministry of those who claim to His followers, but live in sin such as greed, adultery, fornication, or idolatry and not wanting to repent of it. it can sometimes happen to people of God to fall into a time of backsliding for a time, or to commit a sin because of temporarily walking in the flesh, and they can be restored if they truly repent, but if you see that someone is just sorry that they have been caught or begin to excuse their sins because they are "under grace and not the law." Keep away from such people. True servants of God have repentant hearts, they are also not stuck au on titles.

You know an apple tree or banana tree does not need to proclaim that they are an "Apple Tree" or "Banana Tree" because everyone can see that they bear apples and bananas. In the same way and apostle or prophet do not need to use their offices as titles and demand that people call them that, people will simply know them by their fruits.

So, if you are called to prophetic ministry refrain from calling yourself a prophet, especially during your training. Do not say "The Lord told me" if you did not actually hear His voice telling you that because it is a presumption. That is why I never call myself a prophetess even though I do operate in prophetic gifts. I also avoid saying , "The Lord told me" or "Thus says The Lord" unless I clearly heard Him say that. Instead, I just share my dreams, visions, and what I see in the spiritual realm and let you judge it. Judge it against the Bible and also ask the Holy Spirit to show you if something is true or not, He always confirms that which truly comes from Him.

Two Years To Jerusalem 2018

Back in May 2008, I published an article titled "The Countdown To Jerusalem 2018," in which I

shared the pattern that my husband and I noticed in Scriptures. That pattern links number 70 to very important events in the history of the Jewish people culminating in the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in A.D. 70 , which fulfilled the prophecy given by Jesus Christ nearly 30 years earlier.

In the same prophecy recorded in the New Testament Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke; Jesus predicted that the destruction of the temple will not be the end of this age, but only the "beginning of sorrows." We reasoned that if that pattern holds, then something very significant for Israel should take place in the year 2018 because it will be the year in which Israel will celebrate 70th anniversary of its rebirth, which itself was part of Jesus' prophecy about the end times in which we are now living.

"But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." ( Mark 13: 24-31)

The fig tree always symbolises the nation of Israel. When Jesus cursed a fig tree that did not bring its fruit when He was hungry, He was showing that God the Father in like manner will judge the nation for not repenting at the preaching and ministry of His Son, but He was also saying in the above passage that after judgement has passed there will come the time of mercy and rebirth, which is signified by the budding of the fig tree.

From the context of this passage we also inferred that this rebirth was the sign that the Second Coming of the Son of God was nearing, and just like in A.D. 70 came judgement, so 70 years from the time of rebirth will come the redemption or the beginning of the season of redemption in Israel.

We predicted that as the time of 2018 will come closer other signs that Jesus spoke of will be intensifying. There will be more wars, revolutions, more social unrest,  more epidemics, natural disasters including more mega earthquakes, and economic shaking or even a collapse.

All of these we are witnessing year after year, since 2008, the year of the so called "Great Recession," from which global economy hasn't really recovered. Then came the "Arab Spring", out of which a barbaric blood thirsty group called ISIS emerged wreaking havoc not only in Middle East, but all over the world. There were couple of pandemics, several mega earthquakes such as in Japan ( 2011) or more recently in Nepal (2015). It is a quite a decade to say the least.

Then there were also "signs in the heavens" such as the four blood moons each one of them falling on a Jewish holiday, and following that  is the year of Jubilee, which many are saying begins the last 70th Jubilee cycle during which the Messiah is believed to return.

Orthodox Jewish groups in Israel are preparing to rebuild the temple, which will be The Third Temple, they even revived the practice of the sacrifice of the Passover lamb on the replica of the altar as a sign of their faith that soon the temple will be in fact rebuilt, and perhaps in 2018 something will happen that will bring it closer to reality. I guess we will still have to wait and see for couple of more years. One thing is certain, whether they will rebuild the temple or not, Jesus will return just as He said he would and we might have anywhere from 2 -50 years until that Day if our biblically educated guesses are correct. No one can know the exact Day and hour, but we sure can know the season and are commanded by God to watch the signs and to be ready.

The Hour of Darkness : Paris Attacks Open New Chapter In War With ISIS

We were all rocked to our core by the recent terror attacks that killed more than 100 people in Paris last week. The question on most people's minds is, "Where will they hit next?"

Others are wondering why God is allowing this madness and how can people do such things in the name of God. Those were the very questions on the minds of Jesus' disciples when they witnessed Him being arrested like some criminal in the garden of Gethsemane over 2000 years ago.

He explained this by saying to those who were arresting Him, "When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched not forth your hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness."(Luke 22:53)

It looked like the evil was having an upper hand when Jesus was arrested, brought to false trials, tortured, and executed. And so it does today when we see people, most of them innocent civilians including women and children being tortured, raped, and killed in the name of Islam by ISIS fighters.

Even though it is easier for us to identify with the victims of Paris attacks, we still realize that much greater carnage is going on everyday in Middle East with no end in sight.

The conflict is intensifying with more world powers being drawn into it and more fanatics, as many as 30, 000 fighters recently, are being recruited by ISIS militants from around the world. It is the hour  and  power of darkness.

But we know the end from the beginning already. We know from the Bible that this hour will not last. There will be those who will resist and who are already resisting and overcoming this evil by the blood of the lamb ( Jesus), by the word of their testimony, and by laying down their lives  for their faith if they have to.

It is midnight on the prophetic clock. It is dark, but there is a call going out for all the virgins ( Christians) to wake up because the bridegroom is coming. So, it is time for us to trim our lamps, fill them with oil and shine in the midst of this darkness.

It is not right to hate or worse to attack the Muslims now because majority of them are not fanatics at all. We have the opportunity now to reach them with the Gospel, which now contrasts more than ever with the hate of the fanatics.

We are to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. While we condemn the violence of ISIS and expose Islam for what it really is, we must still share the love of God with Muslims, we must reach them with the Gospel before the fanatics reach them with their message of violence and hate. And we must pray against more of those attacks and pray for our political leaders to be wise, vigilant, and not to underestimate the enemy.

After Paris attacks, we know that the new chapter in war with ISIS had just opened. It is no more  a far away Middle East problem. It could happen anywhere, but we cannot give in to fear. It is time to shine  our light forth brighter than ever before.

Dreams of The Future

 

Because God is outside of time and space, He is as much in what we call past, as in the present as well as the future. That is why sometimes He lifts the curtain of time and shows us glimpses of the future in our dreams. These dreams of the future are also called prophetic dreams.

 I received several such dreams in past 14 years and I am going to share with you a couple of them. They came to me before the turn of the millennium in December, 2000. They were two separate dreams, but they had a similar message of what is to come in this new century.

 In one of them I saw a rough see with dark deep blue water and high waves and people being thrown into this sea. Most of them were acting on their survival instincts, thrashing about in the water and trying to fight the waves. All who did that, died. Then it was my turn to be thrown in, there were people shouting that I had no chance and that I would die, but as I felt the cold water enveloping me I had a strong conviction not to fight the waves even though my mind was telling me that I am going to die if I do that. I kept doing nothing and began sinking. I sank deeper and deeper until I reached the bottom, which then suddenly changed into a clean dry room with an open gate.

 I was shocked to find myself there and not only being alive, but free to go out. I felt sad about all those people who believed the angry voices and fought for their lives, which was the very thing that made them lose it and glad that I have listened to my conviction.

 In the other dream I stood outside of some town, by the fence and looked at the sky. I saw a very dark cloud approaching and a huge tornado forming. My mind told me to seek shelter, but an inner small voice told me to trust and hold on to that fence. But it is impossible, I reasoned. This tornado will kill me, but I listened to the voice nevertheless. I saw the tornado approaching and felt the wind. I closed my eyes, preparing myself to die, but the storm passed over me without doing any harm to me.

 I was shocked, but I saw other people by that same fence who likewise survived against all odds. We began gathering together and went into the town looking for any other survivors.

 In both dreams there was the external life threat to me and others and in both of them I had a conviction to act against my survival instinct and trust in other means of salvation, which came despite me not having much hope. The sea always symbolizes the nations and/or international type of events. Its darkness symbolized the danger as were the waves. The tornado was more local, but also dark, violent, and dangerous.

The biblical term for a tornado is “whirlwind" and it appears often in the Bible in connection to God's judgement or the world trials facing us. The Lord was warning me here of the difficulties facing me and other Christians in the future as the world becomes more hostile towards us and we can certainly see it happening today.

From the killings of Christians done publically by ISIS, to the bashing by the western media of anyone who as a Christian opposes promotion of homosexuality. Those whirlwinds are already here and they are going to increase, but our God is greater than any storm and always present to give the strength to face any trial thrown at us by this world.