The Days are at Hand

Good Morning,  And welcome to a brief edition of the "Biblical Perspectives" blog.  Our aim here is to look at current events in light of a Biblical Perspective.  Meaning, we will look at it through the filter of what I consider to be the infallible Word of the Living God.  As I was searching the FoxNews website I came across many troubling headlines, but one stuck out to me and it is what I would consider the real M.O. of the government and "world system" as a whole.

While there are millions of people across the world, and thousands across the United States of America in poverty, sick, dying of cancer, and homeless soldiers we have our government looking at the hazards of....wait for it.....wait for it....you guessed it, CHRISTMAS LIGHTS! -- The "Real Evil" of today's society.  A quote from Foxnews.com said the following - 

"The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a regulation for Christmas lights on Monday, deeming some holiday decorations a "substantial product hazard." - Foxnews.com

Now why, among all things would the CPSC care about Christmas lights?  They've been around for decades!    I'm reminded of the words of Jesus when He said, 

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.  If you were of the world, the world would love its own. - John 15.18-20 (Biblegateway.com)

This is just another way that the "world" is trying to put the light of Christ under a bushel.  And while "Real" persecution has not officially began in the United States like it has in the Middle East, this is just an example of things to come.  The CPSC states that the Christmas light hazard has caused the death of 258 Americans......since 1980!!  As a matter of fact here is the stats offered through Foxnews for those of you who are now worried about the dangers of Christmas lights -- 

"The CPSC said there have been 258 deaths associated with Christmas lights between 1980 and 2013. However, fatal incidents have been on the decline, with an average of less than one fatal (0.9) incident a year since 2008. The number of people who die of alcohol poisoning in California every year is greater than the number of Americans who have been killed by Christmas lights in the past three decades. - Foxnews.com

Ladies and Gentleman, the time is arriving when what is good is being called evil, and what is evil is being called good, and unless this nation repents then the Bible promises judgment from a Righteous God.  Isaiah 5.20 says it like this;  

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

"Woe to those"!  The word "Woe" you hear in this passage is a noise of lamentation.  It is the Hebrew equal to a deep sigh or gasp.  Basically it means that the nation or people that call, what God calls good, evil are in serious trouble and walking in God's judgment.

So Christians, its another sign that the time to step up your prayer life has arrived.  The Apostasy in the church is one of the many reasons we are seeing what we are seeing in the U.S. today.  Our elected officials that allow such ignorance are there because we put them there, so at the end of the day, we have only ourselves to blame. - But Jesus says "when you see all these things, lift up your head, your redemption is drawing near". - Luke 21.28

Now there is your Biblical Perspective!  Blessings to you all!

Here is a link to read the article in its entirety

Lunar Tetrad - 3rd of 4

I hope I have not overloaded everyone's News Feed with Biblical info.  I guess if you have an overloaded News Feed that is what it should be loaded with.  Tomorrow morning (Technically at this hour, later today) I plan to view the 3rd Blood Moon of the Lunar Tedrad of 2014/2015. (6:55 AM)  These blood moons all take place on Jewish Feast days as they are introduced to the world via Leviticus 23.  These are high and holy days, (thus where we get the term "Holiday"...it is a Holy-Day)  These feast days where days where God told His people that He would meet with them for Holy Convocations and they were to be celebrated in certain ways.  I believe they were prescribed by God in such a way that they foreshadow both the first coming and the second comings of Christ Jesus.  The fact that the Jewish people use a Lunar, Biblical Calendar makes the fact that these Lunar Tedrads occurring on Jewish feast days all the more interesting.  NASA confirms that these types of Lunar eclipses have happened in the past and as I have learned from great men of God like Pastor Mark Biltz and Pastor John Hagee, every time a lunar tetrad has occurred something very significant has taken place in and amongst the Jewish people.

• In 1493/94 - 4 blood moons showed on Jewish feast days and that was the year following the Spanish inquisition.  This lead to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and prompted a devout Jew named Christopher Columbus to set sail to the "new world" that would ultimately become the USA.

• In 1949/50 - In the wake of the Holocaust and the announcement of the biggest prophetic event in the modern era, Israel had become a state for the first time since ancient Bible times.  God said it would happen through His prophets and the year following those events, God showed great signs in the Heavens with 4 blood moons!

• In 1967/68 God lit up the Heavens with a celestial light show of 4 blood moons, it was in 1967 that the Israelites overcame all odds to win a 6 day war that saw them regain Jerusalem as their capital for the first time since ancient Bible times.

• And now in 2014/2015 we see God, again, putting 4 blood moons on Jewish feast days as what most scholars believe to be a prophetic sign to the nations and Israel that His "Appointed Times" have come again.  We are now closing in on the 3rd of 4 and look at the increased hostility toward the nation of Israel.  The bombings, the rocket attacks from Hamas, and now the Iranian nuclear energy talks.  What is the message God is telling His people? - I will tell you this much, the final celestial sign of this tetrad is set to take place on September 28, 2015.  It is the Feast of Tabernacles in Judaism, and the moon is a "Super-moon" and it is the only 1 of the tetrad visible from Israel.  It also happens just a few weeks removed from the end of a Shemitah Year (another Biblical principal worth studying).  What is God telling the world?  I don't know for sure, but I know Jesus' Biblical mandate to "watch, and pray, for when you see all these signs, lift up your head, your redemption draws near. - Luke 21:28.

If you are not right with God through His Son Jesus Christ, then it is time to get that way.  Do not be overtaken like a thief who comes in the night.  For if you are watching and waiting, then you will not be overtaken.  

With all of this said, I will now be enjoying my Passover/Resurrection Sunday weekend with family, friends, church family, and most of all...My Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. --- Peace to you!

Passion Week Devotions, Day 2

Jesus Cleanses the Temple  

Today is Tuesday, Nissan 11. – According to the Gospel of Mark, Jesus rode in triumphantly on Nissan 10 where He was inspected by the congregation of the children of Israel for 4 days ending in His crucifixion on Nissan 14, or Passover to you and me.  ON this day on the Biblical Calendar, Mark tells us that Jesus went into the Temple after spending the night in Bethany.  As He went into the Temple He found money changers and people selling animals for sacrifice.  The problem was that the Scriptures call the Temple a “House of Prayer to all Nations” (Isaiah 56.7), however, the Jewish leaders of that day had made it a “Den of Thieves”. 

Apart from the fact that the people were changing money and selling defective animals, Jesus’ anger was aroused because the selling and trading was taking place in the “Gentile Courts” of the Temple.  This was the place that God had always allowed the Gentiles to come and be a part of God’s love and what God was doing here on Earth.

The scripture tells us that Salvation is of the Jews and they are called to be a light to all nations (Isaiah 49.6).  However, they had not done what God called them to do.  It was then that Jesus removes the sinfulness of keeping all people from coming to salvation (the Hebrew word for Salvation is YESHUA, which is Jesus’ actual name)…So the Jews of that day were preventing the nations of the world from ultimately coming to Jesus, which was the Jews job in the first place.

What we ultimately see in the “Cleansing of the Temple” was Jesus coming to His Father’s house and removing the leavened from His Father’s House.  You see in Jewish homes throughout the Old Testament, the parents would send their children around the house to search for leavened as it was a Biblical command that no leavened be in the house at all during the feast of unleavened bread. – Jesus as God’s Son was removing the leavened from His Father’s house just like He was called to do as a good son, but As the Good Shepherd, He was clearing the way for a new sheep of His pasture…YOU AND ME! --- Praise God for His love that sent His only begotten Son, that whoever shall believe, shall live forever!!

Second Blood Moon

Photo Courtesy of Google Images

So as most of you know by reading my articles, hearing my sermons, and just talking to me in day to day life, I am very fascinated with the "Blood Moon Tedrad".

I remember as a young man hearing an evangelist talk about Joel 2 and Acts 2 and how they describe how the Lord is going to return and that a sign of His coming will be the moon turning to blood and the sun not giving it's light.  With that information and a vast lack of understanding, I spent a great amount of time star/moon gazing as a young person.  I was fearful of the Lord's return because to me that would spell the end of my life here on earth.  However, now, as a believer and an adult I understand that the end of my life here on earth only means the beginning of my life in Heaven, which is a joyful thing, not something to be feared or dreaded.  Maybe the Lord put that fascination me so that some 20+ years down the road I would be passionate to tell of His second advent.  Maybe I am just a science nut....maybe I'm just a nut.  Whatever the case may be, today's brief article is to share some thoughts regarding the second of four blood moons.  I would also like to share with you what they COULD mean, and what things we should be looking for as our Messiah prepares for His return to take a way His people.

A Look Back:

In the early morning hours of April 15th I was awake and moon-gazing as a reddish hue surrounded the moon.  It was an amazing sight!  I can't recall being more awe struck other than the day I watched anxiously as my bride-to-be made her way towards me on our wedding day, hoping she would not turn around and run the other way. It was a Divine Appointment that my wife and I met and got married, and it was a Divine Appointment watching the Moon turn red before my very eyes.  In my studies of the Bible (God's Perfect Word) I have learned a few things about Judaism and the practices there in.  A lot of times I fear that I have learned just enough to be dangerous, but the point is, I know this;  God has set up the Sun, Moon, and Stars to be as "Signs and Appointed Times".  Some translations may say, "Signs and Seasons" but we are not monitoring Summer, Winter, Spring, and Fall, the Hebrew word, "Season" is actually Mo'ed, which means, "A Divine Appointment"  We are living during an exciting time where God is using the bodies He created in the Heavens to show us His Appointed Times.  In addition, we see that these are not just happening on random days, they are occurring on the Lord's Feast Days.  Please see Leviticus 23 to read more about those.  To make a long article short as they say; God uses the sun and the moon to speak to us here on Earth (among other things obviously).  God specifically uses the moon to speak to the Nation of Israel (The Apple of His Eye) while the sun most of the time is a sign to the nations of the world (gentiles).  What we have here and now is a message to all the nations of the world....Let me explain!

Photo Courtesy of John Hagee Ministries and Google

What Are We Looking At?

By looking at the picture to the right you can clearly see the Blood Moons, the dates they are expected to fall on, as well as the name of the Jewish Feast that they fall on.

Two celestial events have passed and the next one to note is the Solar Eclipse on March 20, 2015.  Following that we will see two more Blood Moons happen again on the same two Jewish Feast days.  Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles or as it is known in Judaism, "Sukkot" (a reference to the huts that are built on the holiday to celebrate God's great provision for the Israelites during their 40 years of wanderings in the Old Testament.

The interesting thing about the Blood Moons are that the first three are not visible to the nations of the Middle East.  The very last Blood Moon to happen in this tetrad is a Super Blood Moon and it is visible from Israel and more specifically.....Jerusalem.

So the question is;  What are we looking at?  The short answer, I believe is; God is telling the world a message ABOUT ISRAEL.  Then He is speaking to the Gentile nations during the March Solar Eclipse.  Then He gives us another warning/message ABOUT ISRAEL before giving a warning/message DIRECTLY TO ISRAEL on the Feast a Tabernacles 2015.  A Super Blood Moon able to be seen from Israel's Capitol City, Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem's Capitol spot....The Temple Mount!!!  God is telling planet Earth something and I think it is time that we listened before it is too late.

That is our preliminary word on this.  My intention is to post many more blogs showing how Jesus and Paul preached about the second coming of Jesus and not just His second coming, but the day He raptures His church home before the great and awesome day of the Lord.  I encourage you to share this blog on your Facebook and twitter so that your friends and family can start to get their hearts prepared. ---- There are some links provided so that you can view scripture passages and some definitions of words that may not sound familiar.

IN the words of Christ -- "Pray, that you might be counted worthy to escape all these things".

Blessings my brethren,

Greg

Things Getting "REAL" in Israel/Hamas War

Ladies and Gentleman let me share with you today a link to a FoxNews video that shows exactly how serious things are getting in the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

FoxNews Video

Just 3 Months after the first of four blood moons comes a war that will show exactly what the Bible has called for for centuries.  Both sides refusing a cease fire is a sign that when the Biblically Prophesied "peace covenant" comes, it will be a false peace that will ultimately lead to the persecution of Jews and tribulation (post rapture) Christians.

Be Sober Minded and Watchful, so that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things.

Greg

War in the Middle East

View Video Courtesy of Fox News here


Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; (period of 7 years) 
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.” -- Daniel 9:27


Just a quick refresher as to how things are shaping up in the world in which we live.  We have in motion;

• 4 Blood Moons with a Solar Eclipse in the middle of them.
• A Vatican Hosted prayer summit including Israeli, Palestinian, and Catholic leaders, praying in different languages, on the Christian Holiday of Pentecost.
• And a war that is now breaking out in Israel/Gaza.

The only way a peace covenant can be signed like the one predicted in Daniel Chapter 9 is if there is a war first.  It is against both Jewish and Muslim religions to give up and settle the conflict over the land of Israel with a "two-state solution".  Therefore this can only come after a major war has broken out and both sides (particularly Israel) are war weary, and are made promises that make them feel as though the right thing is being done.

Take a look back in history and you will see that the last two lunar tetrads have brought a war and then peace to Israel.  A time of struggle and tribulation followed by a time of victory.  

In 1948 they got their state back

In 1967 they got their capitol city back....Jerusalem

and what will it be in 2015?  Some believe it to be the Temple that is predicted to be built so that the Anti-Christ can set himself up as God and cause what Daniel 9.27 calls, "The abomination that causes desolation".

I'm just a watchman.......You be the judge.

On Christ the Solid Rock

The Solid Rock of Jesus Christ

There are times in this life when you can expect trials and troubles.  In fact Jesus promised it.  33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” -- John 16.33

Jesus also tells u s that there are two types of people in this world;  those who build their life on "sand", which is easily moved by wind, water, and earthquakes.  Then there are those who build their lives on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ and the Word of God.  When a person builds their life on the solid rock that person will enjoy peace in the midst of storms because their house/life is on a firm foundation that they know will not be shaken or moved or cast into the ocean.  That is what today's message is all about.  It is about understanding that the Gospel doesn't promise a care free life.  It promises that you will have peace in the midst of trials that WILL occur in this life.  I hope you enjoy it.

Today's audio sermon was recorded at First Baptist Church Winslow on June 22, 2014.  I am still rather new at this so please excuse any background noises or rustlings that may be going on during the message.  Please let me know if you have any comments or questions.

Click here to hear the message