Sound The Midnight Cry

“Connecting The Dots”

When I was a child, I loved it when our teacher would give us a Connect the Dots paper. Before we could start, she would ask us if anyone could tell her what the picture was in the dots. Of course, at first it just looked like a bunch of random dots on a page. But as we drew lines from each numbered dot to the next one, a picture would begin to emerge. What at first seemed like unconnected and completely random dots formed into a very clear picture right before our eyes.

When it comes to Bible prophecy, most people would rather have everything spelled out already for them. If the outline is already drawn, then it doesn’t require us having to study or think too deeply about what we believe and why we believe it. 

Yes, I am aware that the Bible calls for child-like faith; it begins with one’s belief in Christ and continues in our walk with Him. However, a follower of Jesus Christ is called to mature—to grow up into the faith. Why? Ephesians 4:14 says, “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” 

Growing in the knowledge of God’s Word not only helps us to be grounded more deeply in our relationship with God, it helps us better understand the times in which we live.

As Bible prophecy students, we must take the Connect-the-Dots approach to the study of God’s Word. This means seeking to understand all of Scripture—particularly the Old Testament prophets, the Olivet Discourse, The Epistles such as 1^st and 2^nd Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians 15, and the Book of Revelations.

It is only after doing so, that we must apply that to what we see today. That means we need to view the daily news cycle in light of Scripture—not the other way around. Too many people have a “newspaper or internet news” mentality. They read about one event and then try to make it fit into a verse or two in the Bible, and then declare this as being foretold.

One thing that I have learned over the years is this: If God is sovereign, nothing is random. Nothing! He sees all of history simultaneously. For us, our present intersects with eternity one moment at a time. He knows the end from the beginning as if it has already happened.

It is for this reason that He has placed every dot of prophecy in the order that He has, so that we can have a very clear picture of what the end-times will look like.

When I connect the dots I see today, I am convinced that a very clear picture is emerging before our eyes. The fulfillment of prophecy is happening almost daily as we see all the dots connecting together. And the picture reveals this truth: Jesus Christ is coming back again—and sooner than we think!

“The Tribulation of Revival”

Revival. The very word brings conjures up different things in the minds of people. For some, they think of art, music and other cultural events. For those with certain Christian backgrounds, it speaks of passionate a series of evangelistic meetings or renewed religious interest.

The dictionary defines revival as, “an act or instance of reviving: the state of being revived.” By definition, a ‘revival’ requires a state of death, neglect or loss. I’ve often said, before you can revive someone, they have to have been “vived” at one time.

Revivals usually occur after a prolonged spiritual and moral decline. This has always been true historically. The church becomes apathetic to its master, its morals and its mission. It loses its zeal and becomes ineffective. Its worship becomes dull and uneventful and its membership declines. It needs to be 'revived' occasionally, for its own sake.

Jonathan Edwards, in his book “History of Redemption” stated, “Though there be a more constant influence of God's Spirit always, in some degree, attending His ordinances; yet the way in which the greatest things have been done towards carrying on this work, always has been by remarkable effusions of the Spirit at special seasons of mercy...”

The Church in America today is in desperate need of spiritual revival. As a whole, it has lost its way when it should be the light in the darkness that is ever increasing around us.

When I thought of a title, the word “tribulation” came to mind. Why? As a teacher of bible prophecy, I know that one of the main reasons The Tribulation events spelled out in the Book of Revelations, is to bring about a world-wide revival before the end of the age. This is clearly spelled out in chapter 7 of Revelations.

The dire events and the preaching of the 144,000 who are anointed to proclaim the coming of the Lord, ushers in a great harvest of souls to the Kingdom of God (vs 9-10).

This has caused me many times to ponder will it take tribulation (distress, trouble, hardship, misery, pain) to open the door to a spiritual renewal in America?

The other aspect of this concerns those people who are crying out to God to send revival to our land. Frank Bartleman’s statement in 1905 at the Azusa Street Revival comes to mind: “The DEPTH of REVIVAL will be determined exactly by the DEPTH of the spirit of REPENTANCE.”

In America today and even in the realm of the Church of Jesus Christ, we want or expect things with little to no effort on our part. We have turned the tables and see God as one to serve us and our desires.

If we desire a heaven-sent revival to sweep across our land, then it’s going to take some “tribulation” on our part. The old-timers used to call it “travailing in prayer”, which means exertion and effort on our part.

Second Chronicles 7:14 spells it out for us who believe: recognize our need and our inability to change things, repent and call upon Him. His promise? To send revival!

The question simply is whether or not we are willing to travail or wait for tribulation to see revival?

“Storm Clouds Gathering”

It appears that China believes that we are on the verge of a major global crisis. “Why” you might ask?  The communist Chinese government has always been very big into planning, and it appears that they have decided that now is the time to hoard food, gold and other commodities.  

In recent days, the fact that China is completely cutting off U.S. agricultural imports has made headlines all over the globe. However, at the same time China is dramatically increasing the amount of food that it is importing from the rest of the world, resulting in a substantial surge in Chinese imports. The news reported yesterday that Chinese soybean imports in July were up 8 percent compared to last year.

China announcement off cutting off U.S. agricultural imports completely is going to be a "devastating blow" for U.S. farmers. The ripple effect will probably be felt by companies such as Deere, whose business is directly tied to farming in the Heartland.

China has also turned to other sources to supply their needs with substantial increase of wheat and soybean imports from Russia. This is yet another sign that Russia and China are drawing closer, which I have been watching closely.

Meanwhile, China is also hoarding gold.  In fact, July was the eighth month in a row in which the Chinese increased their reserves buying nearly 10 tons of gold in July. Why is this significant?

The purchase is another signal from China that it's gearing up for a prolonged trade conflict with the US. Gold serves as a historic safe-haven investment, and its price typically rises when markets and other currencies see increased volatility or prolonged weakness.

Bloomberg also reported that Chinese commodity purchases of all types were very strong in July. Commodity purchases by China from soy to coal and crude oil gained significantly.

So why are the Chinese suddenly stocking up on everything?

The trade war between the United States and China is rapidly escalating and becoming a currency war. Events in the Middle East could erupt at any time, the global economy has been steadily slowing down, crops are failing all over the planet, and everywhere we look we seem to see rising political instability…even in China's own backyard. 

The New York Post reports, “After eight weeks of huge Hong Kong street protests against Beijing's rule, the People's Republic is massing police and soldiers just across the border. Message: If the protesters don't quit, a bloodbath is coming.”

U.S. relations with China have already reached critical mass. Things appear to be headed down a difficult road that will impact all of us if there is no resolution.

The Bible clearly speaks of wars and rumors of wars as the prelude to what is known as The Last Days. Jesus clearly taught His disciples that those days would be turbulent ones.

Now is the time to examine your life and your relationship with Jesus Christ. He is the anchor in the middle of the storm and with the storm clouds I see on the horizon, I wouldn’t want to face it without Christ in my life.

So, I would suggest putting on your “spiritual” seat-belt as it could get rough in the near term. But then again, they simply remind me to be looking for the return of Jesus. How about you?

“The Call To Rebuild The Temple”

A lot of news came out of Israel this week in regard to the call for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple.

The Ninth of the month of Av, is an annual fast day in Judaism. Millions of Jews worldwide will fast on that day (observed this year on August 11^th of the Gregorian calendar) and strictly adhere to the other special requirements of mourning.

The reason for the mourning is tied to a number of disasters in Jewish history: primarily the destruction of both Solomon's Temple by the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Second Temple by the Roman Empire in Jerusalem; both which occurred on the Ninth of Av.

The Temple Institute is dedicated to every aspect of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem, and the central role it fulfilled, and will once again fulfill, in the spiritual well-being of both Israel and all the nations of the world. It has been working for years preparing the necessary items needed for temple practices once a new Temple is rebuilt.

This year, it has released a powerful new video to awaken world Jewry and change the traditional period of mourning into one of preparation for the rebuilding of the Third Holy Temple. Although, for too many the concept of rebuilding the Temple is like a far-away dream. These are the people the Temple Institute wishes to awaken from their slumber.

The video presents a dramatic twist from the usual Tisha B’Av messages of mourning. The Institute’s goal is to emotionally shake up Orthodox Jewish communities worldwide by reframing the holiday, focusing away from the past and towards the future.

Of note was also the news that this week, the Temple Institute practiced the burning the Red Heifer. For those that do no know the significance of the Red Heifer, The preparation and purpose of the Red Heifer as described in Numbers 19 indicates that the entire Temple service depends on the presence of water mixed with Red Heifer ash, the one and only means of purifying one who has come in contact with a corpse.

Since ascending the Temple Mount required purity, and it is assumed that everybody has either knowingly or unknowingly been made impure by coming in contact with death, no one can enter the Temple court until a Red Heifer is found and properly prepared. The process includes burning a dead cow on a kind of a wooden altar. Into the burning fire were also thrown cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet-dyed wool.

The experiment was designed to check the amount of ash produced, and whether it would be enough to purify every Israelite living today.

This means that without a Red Heifer, the Temple can’t be rebuilt. The absence of the Temple, in turn, means that the full redemption of Israel is impossible according to Jewish teachings.

All of this if from a Jewish perspective as Christians know that Jesus Christ is the only means for purification and right standing before God. However, the call to rebuild The Temple and the practice of burning a red heifer are of interest to those that follow bible prophecy. For the time is coming during The Tribulation Period that The Temple is seen operating when the Anti-Christ enters it and defiles it.

So, the call to rebuild it only shows that the prophecies will one day come to pass. This is then a reminder of the overall truth—Jesus Christ is coming back to earth again; not as a baby, but as King of kings and Lord of lords!

 

“The Re-Defining of Hate”

We are hearing a lot over the past few years using the word “hate”. It has become almost impossible in this country to have a conversation where two or more people disagree without someone accusing another of being hateful.

Sometimes, I wonder if people really know what the word “hate” actually means. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as, “intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury; extreme dislike or disgust.”

So, how does a verbal disagreement on policy or position equal hate?

When I was in high school, we had a debate team. Two groups of people debating different aspects of a topic, position or action. The meaning of debate is defined as, “a discussion, examination, comparison, deliberating, questioning”—and the list goes on. Note, that all of these words that define it are with words—not actions.

Today, the word “hate” is being applied in many ways different than defined in the dictionary. Nowadays, a person or organization that holds to a specific view, may now be categorized as hateful and accused of espousing hate.

In recent weeks, we have seen online social media giants who have taken to banning organizations that disagree with their left-leaning policies. Now, we are seeing credit card services, banks and other financial services under pressure to do the same. 

Case in point: Online payments platform Patreon says that in 2018, MasterCard asked it to withdraw service from Robert Spencer, founder of JihadWatch.org, an author, speaker and critic of Islamic practices. 

Or imagine, waking up one day to find your PayPal account shut down for doing business with organizations that they have determined by their definition to be “extremist” in nature. “Ridiculous” you say? Recent articles reveal that the CEO of PayPal has revealed that the multi-billion-dollar service has joined with the leftist organization Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) to decide who should be blacklisted from their company. Using “company corporate values” as their criteria, PayPal has taken intentional steps to deny access to conservatives.

The problem with this stems from the fact that SPLC has taken an anti-Christian slant in recent years, targeting groups like the Family Research Council and other groups because they hold Biblical views about sexuality and life. 

A close look and you will see with respect to world religions, only Christianity is being challenged legally. Only Christians and their belief in the One True God and His Son, Jesus Christ, are being ostracized and being accused of “hate”.

The present-day culture in our nation is not only redefining “hate” but also the words “love” and “tolerance”. Love and tolerance have come to mean agreement with their position, or you are hateful.

In a way, this should not be surprising to those that believe the Bible to be truth. The Bible in the Book of Revelations clearly speaks of a time coming when there will be a merging of commerce, religion and politics. It is happening already; slowly and subtly and it has begun with the re-defining of hate.

Maybe it’s for that reason that Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) He also spoke of “turning the other cheek” and other responses when ostracized. (Matthew 5:38-40)

The early Church was persecuted and ostracized by the mainstream religious and secular culture. As it was in the beginning, so shall it be in the end.