Sound The Midnight Cry

“Unheeded Warnings”

This past week, Jews marked the day of Tisha B'Av. It is an annual fast day in Judaism that falls in July or August. The day has been called the “saddest day in Jewish history”. The fast commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples. Those two events occurred about 656 years apart, but on the same date.

One Jewish writer states, “Tisha B'Av marks the day when God walked out on us, and took His house with Him…We were convinced that His love for us would keep Him with us forever. We continued to indulge in destructive actions, heedless of their effect on us and on our union with the Almighty…He permitted our enemies to destroy the Holy Temple, which had been the resting place for the Divine Presence in this physical world…”

The Jews of ancient Judea had never known life without God in their midst. Life without the Temple and its representation of God’s presence was as unimaginable as the New York skyline without the World Trade Center. Yet as terrible as the destruction of the Temple was, the prevailing emotion more than horror or grief, was disbelief.

In the universe of law and physics that God created, a principle came into being that simply states that actions produce consequences…both good and bad. Yet the human capacity to ignore consequences is astounding. An example of that is the person who pays his hard-earned money to buy a packet of cigarettes inscribed with a warning in bold letters: SMOKING KILLS.

Now most smokers are not people living with a secret death wish. If you ask them, “Aren't you afraid of getting lung cancer?” they will answer: “Smoking won't kill me. Why, I know a guy who smoked a pack a day and lived to be ninety.” The same denial of consequences applies when we:

• Eat a third helping of cake, not believing that we won't be able to button our clothes tomorrow.
• Flirt with a member of the opposite sex, not believing that it will negatively impact our marriage.
• Hit or yell at our children, not believing that it will undermine the relationship a decade later.

God sent a stream of prophets to ancient Israel to warn them that the consequences of their sins would be defeat, destruction, and exile. Why didn't they listen? Because for every true prophet there are many false prophets. While Jeremiah was warning the people that if they did not change their ways, Jerusalem and the Temple would be destroyed, the false prophets were reassuring the people that everything would be okay. It sounds a lot like today.

While the politicians, market makers and leaders of the world tell us that the future is looking up, remember that the Bible tells us “For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them…”

The Spirit of God is speaking clearly to the Church to get ready for a shaking of all that can be shaken [Hebrews 12:26-27]. The signs of the times are revealing a season of change on the horizon. Meanwhile, the Church slumbers and is lethargic in responsibility to declare the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ. When God begins the shaking, I have no doubt that He will begin with His Church.

I will say one thing about those that predict that the future is looking up…they are right...Jesus is coming again!

“Connecting the Dots”

Most of us will remember as children playing a game of connecting the dots. Eventually, if one follows the dots correctly, it will reveal a hidden picture.

Now this was not one of my favorite things to do as a child; I preferred to have a little more action in my games. However, it did teach me good instincts when it comes to connecting the dots in bible prophecy. And recently, the picture is becoming clearer each day. The following are just a few of the dots connected this past week.

On July 5, 2007, the Iranian news agency IRNA reported that Syrian authorities had instructed all Syrian citizens residing in Lebanon to return to their country by July 15, 2007. Also on July 5, the Lebanese daily Al-Liwa reported rumors that Syrian workers were leaving Lebanon at the request of the Syrian authorities. A woman in Lebanon posted on a website forum: “I looked around Beirut, and the situation was the same everywhere. The Syrians have indeed fled Lebanon. What do they know that we don't?”

A report on another site: An Israeli reported that his son, a reserve soldier, has been called back on active duty on July 22. He said that his son and his soldier buddies are a very special unit and when they are called up it is important. [July 22 is the day before the 9th of Av – noted below].

The president of Iran is in Damascus on a special agenda mission at this moment. He met Thursday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. I believe this was a war council. After the meeting, Ahmadinejad stated, “This summer will see Muslim victories in the region and the defeat of our enemies!” Intel experts say to expect war with Israel to commence at any time from Saturday thru September.

Private intelligence reported this week that Hezbollah attacks into Israel proper being initiated in the specific vicinity of Shebaa Farms in Northern Israel is anticipated.

The U.S. has urgently mobilized transportation brokers to acquire all the empty transport trucks and railroad cars or flatbed shipping containers they can muster from all points in North America. They are to stage the empty containers at two or more large US ammunition production facilities in the mid and upper Midwest ASAP. [U.S. is urgently preparing a massive re-supply of ammo, explosives and weapons for Israel]

UNIFIL troops in Lebanon are on highest level alert through July 24th.

All of this is happening before the 9th of Av [July 23rd] which is the exact day both temples in Jerusalem were destroyed 656 years apart. Could the connecting of these dots point to the coming fulfillment of the destruction of Damascus in Isaiah 17? Only time will tell what is taking place, but the command to “watch and pray” should be the action of Christians everywhere.

The signs are pointing in increasing numbers that Jesus Christ is coming back again…and soon!

“Get the REAL Cheerios!”

Store brand toasted oat ring cereals aren’t really Cheerios. They are made from oats, by the same processes, often times in the same factories by the same employees, but they come in a different box, and therefore, they cost about a third the price.

When you pour them in your bowl at breakfast time, they look like Cheerios. They taste like Cheerios. But stores can’t call them Cheerios, so they aren’t Cheerios. If they called them Cheerios, they’d have to charge the higher price for them to help General Mills pay that cute little bee’s salary for buzzing around the box.

General Mills tells you their brand of Cheerios are superior to the store brand. That’s why they cost so much more. Exactly how they are superior isn’t clear, but millions of people walk by the store brand and buy the more expensive box. But when you think about it, nobody eats the box. The nutritional value isn’t in the packaging, it is in the product. Is it the contents you are paying for or is it the box they come in?

According to a recent document signed by Pope Benedict XVI, God is like General Mills. Why? Because according to the Vatican it isn’t the message that Jesus Christ was crucified because of our sins, rose again on the third day, and extends an offer of pardon to all who repent of their sins and trust Him for their salvation that is important…it’s the messenger.

The Pope explicitly stated in the document that “non-Catholic Christians aren’t true Christians and that non-Catholic churches are not true churches. Christ ‘established here on earth’ only one church.” The Vatican statement said that non-Catholic denominations, since they can’t really be churches, “do not have the means of salvation.”

So what is this statement really saying? In a nutshell, it is saying that the “means of salvation” is a church, not faith in Christ. It can’t be understood to mean anything else. If the ‘means to salvation’ is restricted to the Catholic Church, then it is church membership, not Jesus that matters. So this is a good place for the chicken and the egg question. Which came first…Salvation or the Church?

In case there is any doubt in your mind, it was Paul the Apostle that said in Romans, chapter 10, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart...that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Was he mistaken? I don’t think so!

So it comes down to whether I’m going to believe that it’s the “box” that counts or the “substance” that is the final proof. The commercial says, “It’s the ‘O’ in Cheerios that makes it so” [not the box]. So I say, “O-O-O-O-O-Oh taste and see that the Lord He is good!” Psalm 34:8 [ emphasis mine :) ]

“Look Out Santa…The Russians Are Coming!”

Last week, headlines in Europe and Asia read, “Russia lays claim to the North Pole - and all its gas, oil, and diamonds.” What significance if any does this hold?

Russian scientists returned from a six-week mission in the Artic to claim that the 1,220-mile long underwater Lomonosov Ridge is geologically linked to the Siberian continental platform - and similar in structure. This claim allows the Russians to refute U.N. convention that says no nation can claim jurisdiction over the Arctic seabed because the geological structure does not match the surrounding continental shelves. Currently, Russia, Canada, the U.S., Norway and Denmark are limited to a 200-mile economic zone around their coasts.

The reason Russia is going public with its claim is that geologists believe the arctic ridge has ten billion tons of gas and oil deposits and significant sources of diamonds, gold, tin, manganese, nickel, lead and platinum. The newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda - a cheerleader for Putin - printed a map of the North Pole showing a “new addition” to Russia; a triangle five times the size of Britain with twice as much oil as Saudi Arabia.

Russia’s deliberate move to expand its borders through the Arctic is indicative of a quest for worldwide power. Russia’s alliances with oil producing Arab and Islamist states indicate that the strategy is to control the world’s natural resources in order to control the world’s political environment. Russia has been busy signing gas and oil exploration and development agreements with Middle East nations, and its relationship with Iran hinges on arms and nuclear technology in exchange for oil and gas.

Ezekiel 38:9 speaks of Gog, modern day Russia attacking Israel, “you will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.” The list of Russian allies in the attack against Israel includes Iran and the nations of Northern Africa. Russia believes that Israel should not exist, and it is siding with terrorist groups whose mission is to destroy Israel. For Russia to be so bold as to openly attack Israel, Russia must believe it can do so without reprisal. One way to ensure its path is to have leverage over all the nations. Part of Russia’s current plan is to leverage all the energy resources in the world against those who would support Israel. This is how bible prophecy is unfolding before your eyes!