"Bring It On "; Part Deux

On August 8th (see the Archive list to the right of this column) I stated that the "illegal" flight of the highest level of an Iranian Army general (who had an International War Crimes Warrant out for his arrest, and an international "No Fly" ban on his ability to travel internationally) to visit Russia's top generals in the Kremlin, in Moscow, perhaps indicated that something big was about to happen. Well it's happening now folks, so, "hold on to your hats, folks! We may be in for a bumpy ride!" (I think that was a famous line from an early Mae West "talky". Or am I confusing that with an old Bette Davis line, I can't remember which. I'm sure the context is in no way appropriate (but the caution sure is!).

Today, the news reports are that Israel fired four rockets across the Syrian border of the Golan Heights, near the Israeli/Syrian border, in retaliation for earlier rockets fired from Syria across the border into Israel. This is how it always begins, people (the Muslims fire rockets across the border with Israel and the Israelis retaliate, in measure...then the Muslim armies begin to congregate near the Israeli border, forcing Israel to pre-emptively invade their neighboring country, thereby receiving the international condemnation as the "original aggressor"), but it will not end quite the same way this time, unless I miss my guess. Ezekiel prophecied some 2000-plus years ago, in chapters 38, & 39, that there was a coming war that would be between Israel, and all of their Muslim enemies (by representation, at least), with Russia as the lead ally, when a huge confederation would enter the Middle-East, upon, "the mountains of Israel", with the diabolical intention of wiping the entire population of Israel off the face of the earth! What does it take to get through to these idiots??? How many conventional wars do they have to bitterly lose before they recognize that they are not just fighting against the Israeli Army, but they are fighting against God, Himself!!!

This time, though, I don't think it will be limited to "conventional warfare". There is plenty of evidence that both sides of the I.S.I.S./Syrian Army conflict have been guilty of using chemical weapons against each other. As unlikely as it seems, if some kind of fragile treaty is arranged between the Muslim armies on both sides, by the Russians and Iranians ( I realize how absurd this sounds, since the Sunni Muslims of I.S.I.S., and Syria hate the Shiia Muslims of Iran as much as they hate each other), they would be only too willing to violate "International laws" by using either Sarin Gas, or Mustard Gas on the Israelis, without batting an eye. However, the Israelis have been preparing for such a war for decades, by handing out free gas masks to their population, because they read descriptions in the Ezekiel prophecies that seem to indicate this type of warfare being described with ancient terminology, at a time when this type of warfare did not exist. It is even logical to expect that the Israelis might retaliate with tactical (or, Neutron) nuclear devises, of their own. Since this Muslim/Russian invasion force disregards conventional limitations of weaponry, in resorting to chemical warfare, the Israelis may feel justified in retaliating with other weapons that are "banned" by international "law". (So much for the wisdom of international diplomacy!)

Anyway, as I've written previously (ad nauseum, I know), God will somehow intervene to cause this invasion force to panic, and turn against each other, until it has killed up to nearly 85% of its troops, leaving only enough to tell the world what happened, after their desperate retreat. In Israel, God will get all the glory for saving His chosen people from certain genocidal massacre, but in the rest of the world, Israel will receive brutal condemnation for the horrible "crime" of defending their people from a murderous invasion. America may also receive worldwide condemnation, perhaps because it will be presumed that we (rightly, or wrongly, who knows?) supplied Israel with the technology to produce the Neutron Nuclear devices that started the panic that destroys the invasion force. There is prophecy that indicates (in Ezekiel 39:6, and seemingly agreed with in Revelation chapter six; verse 12) that a fiery war between Magog (thought to be Russia), and a country living peacefully on their "isles", (also translated, "coastlands") (most major American cities are located along either salt water, or fresh water "coastlands"), perhaps in retaliation for our presumed help in the "crime" of helping Israel defend themselves against their "minor misdemeanor offense" of trying to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. This account seems to use descriptive terminology that sounds like a man from 2000 years ago (the apostle John; and the Prophet Ezekiel, something like 2500 years ago) trying to describe a Nuclear conflagration in terms that the people of his day would understand, about technology that wouldn't be invented for 2000 years.

This account is followed by an account in Revelation Chapter 7 that describes an Angelic intervention, perhaps in the "twinkling of an eye", that there should be no destruction on the earth until they've sealed the foreheads of 12,000 "witnesses" from each of the 12 tribes of Israel (10 tribes of which are lost to everyone, but God). One may reason logically that God would have no need of 144,00 witnesses, if He still had His Church on earth (with hundreds of millions of "witnesses"). Therefore, is it logical to expect that this "sealing of the 144,000 'witnesses'" will coincide with some form of "disappearance" of the Lord's worldwide Church (the "Rapture" of the entire body of Christian believers, simultaneously, after the Nuclear missiles have been launched, but before they can detonate???) I wouldn't be surprised if it's so!!!

Just something for you all to contemplate, as you continue to, "...look up. For your redemption draweth nigh!"

Caught Up In The Hipe???

I must admit to liking what I hear from Donald Trump, in spite of a very cautious concern for his "Adolph-Hitler-esque" appeal to desperate voters, who are so sick of the pathetic incompetence of the Democratic candidates (and especially the Obama Administrations concept of "diplomacy") that they seem willing to believe that he will actually do what he says he will, if elected. The rest of the candidates seem so terrified by the legal quagmire of trying to ship all the 12 million illegals back to their home countries that they seem to prefer not to address the subject. (It might be necessary to call for a Constitutional Amendment to relieve the due process legalities for people whose only claim to Constitutional protections was their illegal entrance into the country.)

Now we have the rather unsurprising news that the Iran Nuclear restraint treaty comes with a side-agreement that allows Iran to inspect their own facilities for reported suspicions of violations, rather than the independent international inspectors that we all presumed would oversee inspections. This is tantamount to allowing the "lunatics to run the asylum"!!! What kind of an idiot would agree to such a condition, and honestly call this a treaty? Only a liberal Democrat could try to pass this off as a legitimate accomplishment, as Obama, and Secretary of State John Kerry are trying to do. They can't believe that this will really keep Iran from cheating on the treaty conditions, so it must be assumed that they really don't care if Iran develops a nuclear missile, and blows Israel off the globe. I guess they reason that it will take long enough for Iran to do it that they will be out of office, and safely moved to Switzerland, for retirement before Iran uses their missiles on the United States. After all, they must really hate America as we are now.

And I'm deeply concerned that we may well have 4, to 8 years of another Romper-Room Democrat elected in 2016, to complete the process of turning this country into an effective third-world country! Remember, "good" Socialists believe that it's necessary (and therefore moral) to take from the rich, that the "poor" can have better opportunity. They simply ignore that the poor don't benefit from this "Robin Hood" mentality, because the people who do the "taking" usually also do the "keeping". So what we end up with is the Socialists, who moralize their robbing of the rich, incorporating some method to ensure that the new wealth is distributed by other loyal Socialists, who quietly skim off the top for themselves, while giving a piddling little tip to the genuinely oppressed poor. And we end up with the Socialists robbing from the wealthy producers of society, in order to create their own wealthy class of Socialists, who produce nothing, but new ways to steal other peoples' money. Eventually, the businesses that once created the original wealth become unable to profit under the Socialists' regulation, and taxation, and they go bankrupt. Their failure is not replaced by new businesses because the Socialists' restrictions make it unwise for anyone to try to do business in whatever field used to be profitable, but is no longer. So what you end up with is the "third-world-status" of the nation that used to be the most prosperous in the world! It's looking like that's what we're facing, as the liberals (in both parties) continue to corrupt our economic system for the "greater good" of creating a one-world Socialist system, that will enrich the Antichrist, and his "lackies", at least for seven years, while starving the Christians to death! This system will create a new wealthy class of loyal Socialists, and a new poverty class of Christians (probably those who came to be born-again believers after the "Rapture", only to realize that they were prohibited from receiving the necessary "mark of the Beast" that would allow them to participate in the economy). Good luck to those new elitist Socialists in trying to convince God that they should be allowed into Heaven after their seven-year crime spree! This brings new meaning to the adage, "you can't take it with you!"

The Politics Of Repudiation

It is indeed a sad state of affairs in this nation when a majority of one of the two major political parties' voters is so fed up with "politics as usual" that they seem to be only interested in candidates who have never run for office before, and have not before even considered political office as a reality. But the Republican electorate seems to be so fed up with the Obama Administration, and the Republican Congress's inability to reverse the Administration's collective incompetence, and the betrayal of our "conservative" Supreme Court, that they seem to be only interested in putting forward one candidate for President: Mr., or Ms. "None Of The Above". When I was in school, we used to joke about electing Mickey Mouse, but now after nearly 8 years of his Presidency, I can see why the voters are fed up! Frankly, I think "Pluto", or "Goofey" might make a better President than Obama.

Perhaps that's why Donald Trump seems to be running away with the Republican nomination. It seems to be a three-way race between Trump, Carly Fiorina, and Ben Carson, since they're the only candidates who are running whose hands are not "tainted" by previous political experience. What's even sadder is I suspect that they will all lose to another Disney-cartoon-Democrat, in 2016.

I've already stated that I believe America must decline in geo-political importance for the prophecied one-world economic system to rise to power, with the also prophecied Antichrist as it's head. I can't see any logical reason for our voters to elect such a blatantly incompetent Administration as our present one, unless God were allowing Satan to deceive us to the point that we would elect our "own worst enemies" into office to be our leaders, so that God could show us what it's like to try and live without Him. I know this sounds cynical, but as Christians we must realize that Jesus is our King, and Heaven is our home; not the President of the U.S., or America. I believe we should support the best candidate, and vote for the candidate of our choice, but not be surprised if the majority of our blind, and deceived electorate vote in another "Obamanation" as our next president, in 2016! Let's face it...what are we praying for when we ask God to revive this nation? Are we asking that He give us a brilliant President, who will confound our enemies, restore our economic preeminence, and rebuild our military to be the most powerful in the world, so we won't have to use it? If God blessed us to restore America, how would the Antichrist be able to assume power? And, more importantly, how would your most stubborn Atheistic, and Humanistic neighbors, and relatives be shocked enough to admit that we as human beings are too corrupt to rule our planet without God as our Savior and Lord? If everything was restored to being "all right", we would simply take the credit for it all ourselves, and make God wait another thousand years to establish His Kingdom on Earth. Is that really what we want, our should we just grit our teeth, say a prayer, and "get it on", now? I'll chose the latter, thank you very much.

So, if the Democrats win in 2016 it will be horrible news for America, but remember that true revival needs a common crisis, or at least the perception of one to shock the most complacent out of their "reality" and onto their knees! And, again, that's when we should really, "look up, for (our) redemption drwaeth nigh"!

Out Of Political Chaos...Comes More Chaos

Sorry, Karl Marx, but your professed formula for the establishment of political "order" doesn't work today, any more than it did in the 1917 Russian revolution, nor the 1931 election of Adolph Hitler as the Chancellor of Germany. Sure, it may get your despotic followers to wrest political power from wishy-washy democratic officials, who run on a campaign designed to preserve their governmental jobs perpetually, without actually having to do anything positive for their constituents. But to say that true political relief for a frustrated, and overburdened national voting public can come through your divisive policies is an outright lie.

Case in point: Hillary Clinton has vowed to come to the "rescue" of our poor downtrodden academicians in all the country's Community Colleges, and Universities that are struggling to pack their lecture halls with students who are desperate to find the education they need to get descent jobs in the workforce, when they graduate. Her "solution" if elected president, would be to get Congress to fund a $350 billion bailout to the above mentioned school systems in order to provide government funding for more student loans, to pay tuitions for more students, who will be enslaved to their student debt for decades, even allowing "free" tuition for Community College students. If that doesn't sound like Welfare for college professors to you, it sure does to me. The whole problem with the U.S. colleges today is not the lack of students, but the high cost of College Education, and the relatively few students who can afford tuition, without locking themselves into decades of debt, accrued in obtaining an education that qualifies them for nothing more than participation in Marxist demonstrations to force the government to give them more bailouts, of taxpayers' money. So, what is Hillary's solution? More government bailouts, which will further weaken the value of everyone's dollars, but will guarantee that our "poor" college professors do not lose their bloated-salary jobs, teaching their students how to be good little socialists, and also guaranteeing that their colleges, and universities will not only maintain their exorbitant tuitions, but will actually raise them in the near future, to cover their "high" costs of educating our children to be able to do nothing but protest for bailouts to go back to school and earn more useless degrees. These so-called "high costs" are directly related to the projected inflation of their professors' salaries, which they will demand, once they realize that their schools are getting a "windfall" of government guaranteed student loan payments, and they want their "cut" of the "windfall". And the universities will keep paying their inflated salaries because they feel assured that the government will give them more "bailouts" of student loan guarantees, so they can enslave more of our children with more debt. What a cruel, and vicious cycle! The government pays "bailout" money to the schools, which don't teach our children how to earn a good living in a free market, leaving our children enslaved to the government to pay off their student loans, which many can't because they were not taught relevant professions, or trades. So, they default on their debts, but Hillary doesn't care, because she expects to be out of office by that time.

It's clear that the "Perpetual-Education" Lobby, in Washington, is running amok, and will continue to scream for more, and more bailouts to pay for worthless educations, until someone has the courage to tell them to "shut up!, and get a real job". Then, if they turn a deaf ear to the Education establishment's endless appeals, like Hillary apparently can not do, we will see a closure of the less relevant Colleges, across the country. Then the next level of irrelevant Colleges will wake up, and fire all the overgrown "Hippy" professors who have been living off of their government protected salaries, since they graduated in the irrelevant 70's, (and are still looking for the communist revolution they expected back then) and will pay only those professors who actually teach their students how to be productive employees, and business owners in a robust economy, that will provide more jobs for the rest of us, producing goods and services that are in high demand, because they actually work for the purchasers. That's the formula for building a robust economy; unfortunately it will necessitate the closing of many of the more irrelevant schools (except for those that have built up generations of undeserved reputations, like Harvard, which will be available to the obscenely wealthy, only). Then we'll have plenty of street protests from the Harvard-educated Constitutional law students, who can't get elected President, and are unqualified for a real job! All they're qualified for is protesting for more government bailouts!!!

Bring It On; The Invasion of the Middle-East, And Israel

No, I am not a blood thirsty warmonger, as the above title might suggest. I simply am anxious for this war to develop in a way that I am reasonably certain that I know how it will end. God has prophecied, in Ezekiel chapters 38, & 39, that He will bring the invasion, "upon the mountains of Israel", with their clear intent of committing mass genocide upon Israel, and killing every single man, woman, and child that draws breath among God's chosen people. Can you imagine the horrible slaughter that this would bring upon the Jews of Israel? How horrible to contemplate such a thing! It seems that this is (almost) the last straw with God's patience for these perverse people!   (Armageddon will be His really "last straw"!)  He has promised to turn their evil ways back on themselves until they have killed each other to the extent of nearly 85%, leaving only enough of their forces to tell those at home what happened. Then after perhaps the seven year period of the Antichrist's brief one-world rule, perhaps a new generation may try futilely to "finish the job" their predecessors started, only to have God finish the job on them, in a battle that has come to be referred to as "Armageddon".

Those of us who know the Lord, and have received Him as our Lord, and Savior will likely watch the second, and final battle from a safe distance as we will most likely have been "Raptured" home to be with Jesus some time after the conclusion of the Ezekiel prophecied invasion. Perhaps that is the source of my apparent excitement in anticipating, not the bloodshed that has been prophecied, but the "Rapture" that will follow.

The reason I am expounding (again, I know) on this now is because of the recent travel to Russia of the Iranian General in charge of their "elite guard" Army, known as the "Quds". Perhaps they should call themselves the, "think they 'Quds'", because after the Lord gets finished with them, it will be clear that they "Qud not"! (Sorry about that!) Any way, this Iranian general has an international warrant out for him as a war crimes violator, and a "no travel" ban that no other country, but the eternally arrogant Putin's Russia, would dare violate. I suspect that even Putin would not bother to bring the international condemnation upon himself that this will certainly bring, unless they were planning something really big (like perhaps an invasion of the whole Middle-East, which Putin probably feels will result in Russian conquest of the oil fields of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the other Persian Gulf emirates). Iran probably feels it will result in the capture of Kuwait's, and Iraq's oil fields, secondarily, but primarily the complete massacre of the nation of Israel and the capture of the land that God has promised shall be theirs for a "perpetual possession". That sounds like a pretty long time to me! And I don't think the Koran has any contradiction to this promise that is going to sway God from His original promise to, "the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob", or the Jews of Israel. These idiots mean to fight Israel's Army, but they will shortly find out that they are really fighting against God, himself, and His name is not "Allah". Surprise, surprise! Good luck finding your 72 virgins where you're going!

Anyway, this trip the Iranian general took to Russia may well be the first step in beginning the "Gog/Magog" invasion, as it is called, and the timing of it is appropriate for two reasons. First, both Russia is feeling the stress of the economic sanctions placed upon them by the Western powers for their invasion of the Ukraine, and Iran is feeling the stress of the likewise sanctions placed upon them, to force them to reach a non-nuclear proliferation agreement, which was recently reached by American diplomats, and the diplomats of five other major powers. This agreement is perhaps acceptable to our idiot diplomats, but it's looking increasingly like the U.S. Congress is not willing to sign off on the deal, which they must for it to become law. Therefore, both Russia and Iran can expect a continuation of their sanctions, and they may feel that an invasion of the Middle-East, conquering 3/4ths of the world's productive oil fields, and an excruciating oil embargo that follows will end the sanctions and allow both Russia and Iran to do just about "whatever the Hell (pardon the expression) they want", without interference from the Western nations. They're probably right, except for God's intervention against them, to protect His "chosen people". Secondly, this is the optimal time of year for a Middle-East war, historically, as the hot weather will facilitate the rolling of tank treads, and truck wheels across dry deserts, which will have dried out from the muddy quagmires they become every Spring.

I may well be reading too much into all this, but then, again, I may not. We'll know soon enough, one way or another, and if I'm right, as I keep quoting the Lord, "...look up, for your redemption draweth nigh"!!!

Was Trump Trumped Last Night?

In spite of the nauseating reports on Fox News today, Donald Trump did not have a good night last night. He was okay, mostly, but nothing spectacular, as one might reasonably gather by watching Fox News reports today. It's clear that what's-his-name, the owner of Fox, and their parent corporation (News Corporation), which also owns The Wall Street Journal is not above playing the William Randolph Hearst roll, in which Hearst told his California newspaper dynasty to, "Puff Graham", when he was impressed by a young, North Carolina Evangelist by the name of Billy, in the 40's, or 50's ( I forget which). But his intent to lend publicity to the early years of the Billy Graham Crusade, in Los Angeles, was clearly more God-inspired than any "Puff Job" could be touted for Donald Trump last night. He was clearly out-classed by at least three, and perhaps more of his peers, and "Milk-Toast Conservative" Jeb Bush was definitely not one of them! I personally was most impressed by Sen. Ted Cruz, who was one of the few candidates to use his final appeal minute to list his goals for what he intended to do, if elected, while most of the others simply listed their "qualifications" (which they seemed to consider time to list their previous job experiences). This gave Dr. Ben Carson the opportunity to inject a little humor into the proceedings by saying, "I'm the only one up here that has separated conjoined Siamese twins...", with no contradiction forth coming. But Sen. Cruz listed goals that would motivate his intended Administration from day one, including placing a hold on every Presidential Executive Order from the previous Administration, including "Obama Care", and that he would build a wall across our southern border, with Mexico. That's a pretty good start right there, if you ask me (which I did, since this is my blog), and I didn't hear too many like commitments from the rest of them.

Other that that I thought that Mike Huckabee came across as pretty genuine, as well as knowledgeable of current issues, as did Governor Scott Walker, and Sen. Marco Rubio, though he is reputed to be a bit soft on the immigration issue, which I guess is to be expected being a second-generation immigrant from Cuba, himself, and not wanting to alienate his Cuban immigrant constituency in South Florida. But the issue of illegal immigration has become too toxic in recent years to allow for his soft tendencies, or Jeb Bush's either. So, I personally would disqualify both of them right there. I thought that Dr. Ben Carson came across as rather cerebral, which could only be expected for the former head Neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins University, and I was pleasantly surprised by the occasionally intelligent answers given by New Jersey Gov., Chris Christy, though I remain suspicious of his ability to remain composed in a crisis, and not to take revenge upon those who resist him (like we all know that he "didn't" last year, in the turnpike scandal). I thought Carly Fiorina came across well in the "Jay-vee Debate", at 5:00, and I wouldn't be surprised to see her in the top-ten format, in future debates.

All that brings me to the point of guessing what God has in mind for this up-coming election, if I may presume that much (which I do, because remember, it's my blog!). I still have to think that America must be in the midst of a desperate decline, and that third-world status is what we have to look forward to. I feel that the international situation is setting us up for the rise of the Antichrist's one-world government (probably in the European Commonwealth) and I don't see that as possible if America is able to reverse the horrendous failure of Obama's Administration. If I am unfortunately correct, and lets all hope I'm wrong, that would mean that most of the candidates I've mentioned would have to be excluded from the possibility of winning election, as they each would probably do a good job of reversing the quagmire that Obama has put us in.

With a little imagination, one might expect a good candidate to win the Republican Primary, with a bitter Donald Trump splitting the vote in the election, as a third party candidate. That doesn't strain the credulity too much, and the idiot Democrats would love to see it happen, so that they could elect "Hillary Obama, Jr.", or some other nitwit liberal who would complete the job that Barack started. Remember God's ways are not our ways, and if He has prophecied that the Antichrist's rise to power must happen, at least for seven years, then our prayers for the restoration of this country's righteousness may not be answered, politically at least. It may be that America is so evil that He is forced to bring His judgment upon us, lest He must apologize to Sodom, and Gomorrah. If that's true, I'd expect Him to "Rapture" His church (all those who have committed their lives to Jesus, and are "born-again" believers) shortly after the degradation of America becomes obvious to all. So, I wouldn't be surprised if the "Damnocrats", (pardon the typo) win the election in 2016, but lose the eternity!!!

As for the rest of us, if we lose the election in something like I've imagined, then I'd say it's really time to "look up, for your redemption draweth nigh!", as the Lord said!!!

The Storm Before The Calm

It seems that God delights in working in ways that are opposite of what we would "naturally" expect. Or perhaps I should more accurately say that He allows Satan to work his evil temptations to lure those of us whom he can to expect the world to work in ways that are contrary to the plan of God. Either way, we tend to see things deteriorating around us (as we certainly do today) just before He brings us the victory that we are desperately praying for. Most of the wars we've fought have started out disastrously, before we won great victories sometimes over the superior forces of the enemy. Our Revolution was absurd even to contemplate that this upstart colony could take on the most powerful army, and especially their navy, and provide a reasonable challenge for them, let alone succeed in victory, guaranteeing our independence, which we succeeded in defending in 1812, after our governmental seat was virtually destroyed by the British invasion. The civil war was almost lost before we started, in the first, and second battles of "Bull Run", near Manassas, Va., and many other Confederate victories, before the Union forces final figured out that war was a dirty business and should be fought that way, rather that considering it a fun opportunity to receive prestige, and glory.

Perhaps this is the case, spiritually, as we readily see our country descending into a pit of moral depravity that is fairly nauseating to behold, all the while we are expecting to see the evidence of the great spiritual revival that the Bible assures us is to come in the last days, before Christ's return. This great awakening is reputed to be on the greatest scale the world has ever witnessed. Well, lets hope so, because we certainly do need it!

I am on record as stating that I can't see the Antichrist's rise to power to control the whole world as being possible if there is an America that stands for even a reasonable level of righteousness. We must be rendered irrelevant, if not absolutely destroyed (as I suggested a bitterly defeated Russian army might launch a nuclear first strike, before burrowing into their fall-out shelters for a thousand years; I know this sounds absurd, but the prophecies of Ezekiel 38, & 39 seem to suggest that will occur, perhaps in conjunction with the Lord's "Rapture" of His Church). I don't make this stuff up, folks, I "just calls it likes I sees it". So, the Antichrist's rise to power will seem like a great victory for him, temporarily, then (7 years later?) he is in for a big surprise, when the Lord returns to set up His Kingdom of Heaven on earth, casting the Antichrist into the Lake of Fire. So the pattern of God bringing great victory out of apparent defeat is continued,... on steroids!!!