"Pray That Their Faith Might Not Fail...": How COVID-19 Pandemic Will Change The Church

Back in 2014 one of my friends brought  a  wedding video  of Benny Hinn's daughter. It was a beautiful

ceremony held at the famous "Crystal Cathedral". While the pastor of that church was singing praises of Benny Hinn and how his daughter could have had a wedding ceremony anywhere in the world she chose, the following words clearly popped up in my mind: "Pray that their faith might not fail when all these things will be taken away from them."

I believe it was a message from the Holy Spirit regarding, not just Benny Hinn, but regarding all mega churches and mega ministries in America and around the world. While many of those churches and ministries began in sincerity, wanting to share the gospel with the world and serve the Lord; most of them if not all strayed from their original missions and became like large worldly corporations.

Their pastors began building huge church buildings and live in lavish luxury homes, buy luxury cars, and private jets for themselves from large salaries taken out of donations given by their church members and  people from  around the world.

They began offering prayers for healing and financial prosperity in exchange for financial gifts from people, some of whom did not have enough to eat properly ( I knew some of such people). Some even went so far as to sell "healing water" from a Jordan River in Israel.

Unbelievers began to mock Christian faith and the name of Jesus Himself because of their behavior that even they know is totally against Christian principles and values as taught in the Holy Bible.

I believe that God is going to use the COVID-19 crisis to change the way Church is done and to restore it to the way it was supposed to operate in the first place. Already many believers are realizing that Church does not really need physical church buildings to be effective and to continue reach people around the world as well as in their local communities.

The financial strain the pandemic has placed on individual people and families will cause many of these mega churches to shut down, while the churches and individual believers who kept their priorities right and paid off their debts when they still could, are going to thrive.

We will draw closer to one another within our families and we are going to value our friendships a lot more. There will be a greater sense of community, which will be once again attracting many unbelievers who will be looking for hope and stability during the time of chaos.

These are precisely the qualities of the early first century followers of Yeshua ( Jesus) that caused the early church community to grow by leaps and bounds. People will want to know why we are at peace when the entire world is in a state of fear and panic. We will once again be a living testimony of Jesus' work in our lives, but we must be authentic and we need to learn to be content instead of running after money.
God does want our needs to be met, but He does not want us to be greedy and to live in luxury while so many around us are suffering. 

Our church leaders need to live humbly and serve the Church, being focused on the spiritual growth of people God entrusted under their leadership, instead of  trying to get rich off of their poverty, using the gospel as the means of worldly financial gain.

As individual believers we must disassociate ourselves from false teachers and false shepherds, and find those who are faithful to the Lord and support them. Don't allow yourself to manipulated into giving based on false promises of prosperity. Instead give out of your  free will do those who faithfully serve God and those around you in need without expecting anything in return.

If you do that, you will obtain a true and greatest blessing of having God's own presence in your life. Instead of following some "christian Superstars", ask God about what he wants you to do for His kingdom and how you may serve Him. return to regular prayer, worship, and study of the Bible in your own homes and from house to house, and see how you may reach those who are seeking for God.

if we all do that, despite of all the chaos, we will  not only see, but experience the great spiritual awaking that many of us have been waiting for for decades.

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

2019: The Year of Historic Events

The Lord often works in cycles and that is why history has a tendency to repeat or at least to rhyme.

The year 2019 is the last year of this decade and therefore will be a harbinger of things to come, and as such following the historic pattern of ushering in major changes on the world stage.

We can follow this pattern by looking back on previous decades. There was a global financial crisis in  2009, and the  Yugoslavia war in response to Serbian ethnic cleansing in 1999, also Euro currency was created that year. Further back we saw the fall of communism beginning in 1989, and the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. In 1969 humanity landed on the moon, in 1959 Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba,  in 1949 Soviet Union ended the blockade of Western Germany, Israel signed peace treaties with surrounding nations, and NATO was created. The WWII began in September of 1939, the Wall Street crashed in 1929 and the Great Depression began, and in 1919 the Treaty of Versailles began, which officially ended WWI and the League of Nations was created, also Great Britain received control over Palestine. The pattern seems to hold for the last 100 years.

I am not saying of course that there were no major historic events happening in other years, but the kinds of events described above would also set a tone for the next decade, and often what began in those last years would extend to next year and beyond, so we can expect some major trend setting events to happen this year that will extend to 2020 and beyond.

Let us hope and pray that whatever happens will be positive in nature. It might be the fall of Islamic Republic of Iran, which would end the 40 years of oppression for the Iranian people and dry up the funding for global terrorism, ushering in a decade of hope and  peace?  I pray that this will be the case. But I guess we will find out as the year unfolds. I also wish that it will be the year of blessing and drawing closer to the Lord for all of us. Whatever happens, we are always safe under the shadow of His wings. ( Psalm 17:8)

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)

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.

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

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.

"...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.

The Truth About Canada That Refugees Are Never Told About

After new President of United States, Donald Trump, placed a temporary  freeze on receiving

refugees from Syria and other war torn countries where terrorist activity is high, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau is being praised all over conventional and social media including Facebook for his very welcoming attitude towards refugees.

This is a great idea to welcome all those who seek a better life, but the truth is that while life in Canada for most of those refugees is definitely more peaceful,  financially it is not really that much better than they had back home or even in Turkey, or other places they transited through before coming here.

Canada is a huge country with a very small population of only about 36 million people, 61% of whom earn less than average wage. The unemployment for unskilled workers is very high ( as high as 15% or more) and the costs of living are continually going up while government services are going down, and government debt is growing exponentially, especially under the current Prime Minister.

That is why the government support for refugees runs out after one year, when they have to make a hard living for themselves while still learning the language and jobs are very hard to find. There is no more room for refugees in big metropolitan cities such as Toronto, so most of them are being sent to smaller communities where the climate is often very harsh and society not as diverse.

Even after becoming Canadian citizens, it takes many years of hard work and education before they can achieve a more comfortable standard of living for themselves and their immediate families. It will decade more than a decade before they will be able to sponsor any other relatives to join them from back home, or before they can even invite them for a visit.

Life in Canada is not a paradise as it is, and it will become harder  for those who  will be coming in the future if the government keeps up the current rates of immigration or if they are increased further. When I see those new families coming, I am happy that they are out of harms way, but I often wonder if they even know how hard life is going to be for them here in other ways...

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 Final Blood Moon

                                                                 

Weather permitting, tonight many people around the world will be able to watch the final total eclipse of the moon of the 2014-2015 tetrad, which will be the very last of its kind ever.

While there will be more tetrads happening in the near future, the next one beginning in 2032, this one is the LAST one that has all four of its eclipses coincide with the first days of Biblical feasts and that is why, many Christians and Jewish people around the world believe this tetrad to have a special significance.

This does NOT mean as many people in the media have wrongly reported that we believe that the “apocalypse” or “the end of the world” will take place immediately after tonight, but many of us do believe that it is indeed a sign from God who is letting us know that it is indeed the beginning of the end of this present age that will actually end with Jesus’ return and not the end of the world.

It has nothing to do with astrology, superstition, or omens as even some badly informed fellow Christians have accused us of believing in, but it could be exactly what The Lord Jesus Himself predicted will signal the beginning of the very end of the end times by stating the following in the Gospel of Luke chapter 21 verses 25 through 28.

“There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. “Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory. “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Was Jesus superstitious? Obviously not and I don’t think that He was talking here about any ordinary eclipses of the moon and the sun either as so many of them do take place quite often and are really nothing extraordinary, but a tetrad of eclipses falling on the first days of The Lord’s feasts including the total eclipse of the sun that also falls on a Biblical feast day is something else entirely.

As a Christian , I believe in Jesus’ words because He is the Son of the living God and  He knew the future that is why it is foolish to dismiss such signs as “superstitious nonsense” and attack fellow Christians for believing in it.

I am also convinced that because of these and other signs that I discuss on this blog, we can expect the fulfillment of many Bible prophecies in the coming years and perhaps decades that will eventually culminate and the literal, physical return of Jesus to this earth to reign here for 1,000 years.

As you can see, “the end of the world” is still quite far off though quite turbulent times are ahead of us. That being said, those of us who belong to Jesus have nothing to fear. Yes, many of us will be persecuted, especially when the Antichrist shows up on the world’s scene and establishes his global dictatorship, but we have the promise that the gates of hell itself will not prevail against us.

We will overcome him by the blood of the lamb, and the word of our testimony even if many of us will have to and already do lay down their very lives for our faith. Still, we will have the power from on high to destroy the works of the evil one and shine ever brighter in this darkening world. There will be harvest of souls like never before with people by the billions turning to our Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit will be demonstrated even in a greater measure than in the days of Pentecost. The Lord always leaves the best wine for last.

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.