TURKEY PROPHECY

Uniformitarians look at the Earth and employ the most basic scientific method (observation) to assume the sun will come up tomorrow.

Shouldn't we consider what God has said?

"For I AM God, and there is no other.  I am God, and there is NONE like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done..."  (Isaiah 46:9,10)

God has declared the end (Revelation) from the beginning (Genesis).  It would serve us well to consider what He has said.

The "things not yet done" are end times things...prophecies about a day when God will "roll up the sky like a scroll" and the sun and all the stars will fall from the sky.

We do not want to learn such things through powers of observation.  We want to learn by observing God's declarations.

The Faithful God already has spoken through the prophet Daniel to give a panoramic sweep of the kingdoms of Earth.  Each of those kingdoms has come to pass.

This map is helpful because it includes the ancient names
 of modern nations with which we are familiar. 

Then in Daniel's twelfth chapter, God explains that at the end of time, the archangel Michael (who looks after Israel) will arise because of a time of distress.

We know from passages in Ezekiel that the distress is because an alliance of nations will come against Israel.  Ezekiel 38:4 says they come because the Almighty has put a hook in their jaw to bring them out.

In that day, God says "I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat.  There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up My land."  (Joel 3:2)  

And..."On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem."  (Zechariah 12:9)

Would you be interested in reading more about this time?  This LINK has a pretty concise explanation of things.  And it is helpful to note the ancient names of the nations that today have different names.

The LORD will return in a time of God's choosing; not even God the Son knows the day.  But people who read Scripture and watch Turkey rise at the same time Russia, Turkey, and Iran join forces...see Ezekiel 38 and 39 lift off the page.  

You know what the auctioneer says..."fair warning!"

AFLAME

A cry of alarm is going out in the land.

THE WHO: AOC and Bernie and the others...are urgently forecasting doom because we only have 12 years to live on earth!

A Swedish sophomore in pigtails named Greta says people are dying and ecosystems are collapsing and we are in the beginning of mass extinction!

THE WHY: The climate is out of control.

What is wrong with that gloom and doom?

God says His Son was "before all things" (meaning He was present before Creation) and He will be also present at the end of time.  Jesus created all we see by the breath of His mouth, He sustains the world by that same power, and all things are held together 'in Him'.  Jesus is called Lord because His sovereignty directs everything from the smallest atom to the spinning planets...and even the climate.

God will never manhandle His way into a belief system so men are left to believe what they will.  But why would anyone shut God out?  PEOPLE WITHOUT GOD ARE FULL OF FEARS.

Lately it doesn't seem enough that men choose such foolishness.  Now emotional hysteria is beginning to be taught in schools.  It is unconscionable to subject children to adult-sized fears which cause them angst and hopelessness, particularly when the warnings are unproven.

The next time someone's neck jugular bulges because you won't get aboard the Apocalyptical Express, show them THIS.

Good stewardship of our home is a given.  You and I have been given temporary guardianship of this garden called Earth and the Lord expects us to mind it wisely.  But does man have ownership?  "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it."

God knew we would need an anchor in troubled times so He provided His Word to explain things.  He wanted us to know how to come to Him...how to please Him...and to give us assurance by seeing how His promises have proven true.  In His kindness, He also wanted us to know how things will 'turn out' so we won't have unnecessary fears in the Latter Days.

Then on that day when the Earth will be consumed by fire...there will be NOTHING man can do about it.  We will want to be on God's side in that day.  Fears are relieved in Him.

Once when Lucy told Charlie Brown that she was worrying, he relieved her fears by reminding her God keeps His promises.

Then Charlie Brown said "SOUND THEOLOGY HAS A WAY OF DOING THAT!"

Amen,

FOUL ODOR

As Europe swells with the influx of people of differing worldviews, the rise of anti-Semitism has grown and made the air putrid.

According to an FBI report, hate crimes against Jews in America have also risen by 37% and they account for 58% of all religion-based crimes.  Last year in NYC, 183 of the 352 religious hate crimes recorded were anti-Semitic.

Jews sustain the majority of religious hate crimes.  But then, being "against" Semitic people is nothing new.  Hate has plagued the Jews since ancient days.

Should we worry about the rise of anti-Semitism?   Yes!  It rides the back of evil's rise.

Many make a case for diversity as though it were the "be-all and end-all".  If that were the case, Europe and America would have no cause for trouble.

There is much to learn from diversity, but it is not a substitute for qualification.  Diversity only serves us if it helps us understand differing worldviews...and shows how some worldviews are less user-friendly.

Enter our freshman Congresswoman whose anti-Semitic remarks have  made news.  They are nothing new for Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.  In 2012 she tweeted and deleted and apologized for this little bomb:

"Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel."

This week in a Congressional hearing, she smiled through a diatribe with Elliott Abrams and her contempt for him was palatable.  Then her tweet pattern followed:  comment. apologize. comment. apologize.

People who are truly sorry don't keep repeating offensive behavior.

There should have been an uproar about her comments but the brouhaha blew up and over.  Congress wanted a censure resolution against the Congresswoman, but when the resolution came out, it had been diluted into a kindergarten "don't hate anyone" statement.  BUT THE BROUHAHA WASN'T ABOUT EVERYONE.  It was about Congresswoman Omar.

What did her leadership say?  Surely they held her to account for her ugly remarks.  No.

Nancy Pelosi said Omar wasn't intentionally anti-Semitic. "I think she has a different experience in the use of words, and doesn't understand that some of them are fraught with meaning".

What exactly is a "different experience in the use of words"?

Political doublespeak is what makes Americans crazy.  Madam Speaker says it was not about "her" (Omar) but was about all forms of hatred.  No Ma'am!  You should say Ilhan Omar was wrong and take her off the Foreign Relations Committee.  How can she lead foreign relations with her worldview?

Considering Bernie is Jewish, his reply was bizarre.  "We must not equate anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism of the right-wing, Netanyahu government in Israel."  Wow, Mr. Sanders.  Way to answer a question that wasn't asked.  Congresswoman Omar was not speaking about Israeli policy when she defamed Jewish people.

The foul-mouthed Rashida Tlaib, Congresswoman from Michigan, threw in her two cents.  She observed that Omar was targeted because she is a Muslim of color.  "Of course there is a double standard for women of color.  All of us women of color can see that."

This video shows not all Muslim women ascribe to that philosophy.   MAY BRAVE ASRA NOMANI'S TRIBE INCREASE!

Now what is the bottom line?  The party will not remove the Congresswoman from her committee OR take a stronger stance on her comments.  She "got away" with it.  Surely the crack left in the door will invite other comments.

America and Israel are historic friends who work together along common values and goals.  Wonder what values that Ms. Omar holds that are shared by her constituency?  Here in an old video of her joking about Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah.

Israel is the only democratic state in the Middle East.  One spotlight of Israel's mettle is the way they treat their Arab citizens, giving them posts in Israel's government.  Could the same be said for other Arab countries?

These "exotics" (our new Congressional representatives who showed up and protested on their first day at work) are dealing with a steep learning curve.  They are a JV team with uber exuberance coupled with an uber simplistic view of the world that they've been taught.

Some of these newbies think that Israel does not have a right to exist.

We get what we ask for in our representation.  We act like all candidates are qualified and we vote without looking past the pretty face or the self-importance derived from having voted for someone "diverse".  Five minutes ago one newbie was a bartender and now she barks that she's the boss of us and we need to question having children and the world will come to an end in twelve years.

The inmates seem to be running the asylum over at their place.

Truth is an anchor for times such as these.  We should STAND WITH ISRAEL...look over the heads of this temporary leadership to Divine leadership...and follow God.

The LORD says Israel is a nation of His covenant people and WHOEVER TOUCHES ISRAEL TOUCHES HIS PRIZED POSSESSION.

That should throw cold water on any anti-Semitism.

WEAK AND STRONG

Here is the story of what God was doing right after WW2 on an island off the west coast of Scotland.

God's Spirit was moving and using two unmarried sisters in their 80's, a 15-year-old boy, and an evangelist.  "God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." 1Corinthians 1:27

The revival was beginning in the years 1949-1952 with the two unmarried sisters, Peggy and Christine Smith, pictured above with Reverend Duncan Campbell.

Lewis (in gold) is the northernmost island of Outer Hebrides.
Pinks are the inner Hebrides and green is Scotland.

Peggy (84) was blind and Christine (82) was bent with arthritis, making them unable to go worship publicly.  Their "church" was in their little cottage.  Both sisters felt burdened because not a single young person came to church on their windswept little island.

They began to pray.  When Peggy had a vision in the night, the sisters sent for the local minister.

Rev. James Murray MacKay was told that in Peggy's vision, their church was crowded with young people and a strange minister was in the pulpit.  A verse was impressed on Peggy's mind from Isaiah: "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring."  Isaiah 44:3

The pastor asked what they wanted him to do.  The sister's reply?  "Do?  Petition Heaven so that rivers of blessings will come!"

The pastor convened his elders and the plan was made for the church to pray on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10pm.  The sisters said they also would go to prayer at 10 and would remain on their knees until 4.

The pastor that Peggy "saw" in her vision was a famous Scottish evangelist, Duncan Campbell.  Reverend Campbell had turned down preaching the circuit; the custom was for successful preachers to go to London.  But God spoke clearly and Campbell chose obedience.  He told God that he was willing to go anywhere to preach revival.

Duncan Campbell was sitting in the front row of a conference, waiting his turn to speak when the Spirit of God came upon him.  He turned to the moderator and said "You'll have to excuse me.  God has another appointment for me."

Reverend Campbell got up, walked away, and got on a boat for the Isle of Lewis.  He got off the boat at 4:00 in the afternoon and a mailman was waiting for him.  The mailman said "We knew you would come.  You have just enough time for high tea before the meeting."  "What meeting?" said Campbell.  The islanders had posted notices for a meeting that afternoon to talk about what God was doing on the Isle of Lewis.

It is FASCINATING to read how God touched one heart after another as He brought revival.  What of the young boy?  God was working in a teen's life in the nearby village.  This LINK takes you to his back story.  The young man was Donald Smith, another relative of the Smith sisters.  He was an amazing 15-year-old prayer warrior.

Fifteenth-century church on the Isle of Lewis

You may wonder what fruit came from the Revival?  The bars on the island were put out of existence and the churches were filled with young people.  Church enrollment exploded and people came back to God.  There was a healing of the land.  The revival went on for the next 30 years and God prospered the whole land.

Heaven had invaded Scotland.

But the story continues.  The Smith sisters had a niece that was born on Lewis in 1912, the youngest of ten children.  Mary Anne McLeod lived in a thatched-roof, one-room cottage known as a "black house" on a "croft" (a small agricultural landholding).  The village had one street.

The croft could feed one family of children, but when the children married they had to go somewhere else.

So in 1930, at age 18, Mary Anne set sail for the United States to find a job in domestic service (as a number of her older sisters had done).  Mary Anne was an economic migrant, one of a new generation looking for a new life.

Please know that this story is about the way God moves people toward revival by prayer.  Knowing that the Smith sisters and the 15-year old Donald Smith were related, we can assume that their family held prayer high.

This is not about politics, but about God using who He pleases.

Mary Anne sailed for America and six years later, married Fred Trump.  After that, she no longer lived in a black house.  Perhaps Mary Anne Trump was close to God and perhaps she raised her children to love God.  I don't know.  We all make our choices.  The choices that her son has made in the past would cause you to doubt he knows God personally.

But God will use who He will use.  And it is a fact that His Word does not return void.  That means the same verse that impressed Peggy Smith's mind regarding revival in her town is still in play.  The first part has come true.  "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground"  They asked and God watered the dry ground on the Isle of Lewis.  

And what of the rest of the verse?  "I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring."  Isaiah 44:3  God also promises to bless descendants/offspring.

Is God that good?  What about those who don't deserve it?  The folks who don't believe God would use our President to accomplish His purposes...don't understand that we all are sinners.  NONE of us deserve His blessings.

One day we all fall on our faces before Him, marveling in His grace and mercy.

Revival is a move of God in a community.  God works in individual hearts so that the community becomes God-conscious even before a word is spoken.

Shall we ask Him to make our sin known to us?  Shall we pray for REVIVAL?    

TWO MARCHES

January was a month of marches as Americans expressed their First Amendment rights.

One of our five freedoms is the freedom to assemble peaceably and petition the government for a redress of grievances.

There were two back-to-back marches dealing with women's issues which came down Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. First was the March for Life on Friday and then the Women's March on Saturday.

Contrast is always a good teacher and she taught plenty this time.

*The March for Life was overwhelmingly larger LINK than the Women's March, but it seemed the media primarily covered Saturday's smaller march.

*The first march had a tone of enthusiasm with winsome smiles and fresh faces and prayers that called people to higher ground.

Many of the signs said "LOVE LIFE; CHOOSE LIFE".  Who doesn't love life?

*Rancor, obscene signs, and hats knitted like a woman's private parts characterized Saturday's march as women demanded their way.

*At the March for Life...nobody was marching for themselves; nobody demanded their right to take the life of their child.  Instead, the March for Life defended the helpless and marched for those who could not march.  But Saturday's marchers were so quarrelsome that major factions dropped out this year.

*The Women's March has marched two years, while the March for Life has kept marching each of the 46 years since Roe v. Wade.  They march in January each year, often in freezing conditions.

In the days following those two march days, several states have legislated laws which allow a woman to "choose" to end life even after a baby is born.  People are aghast at how far we've come.

It was chilling to listen to the Governor of Virginia (who is a pediatric neurologist) speak about the process in a calm, dispassionate voice.  LINK  It was as if he were explaining a hangnail procedure.

Then the Governor's supporters were more outraged about a yearbook picture than about his advocacy of ending a life.

The selective harvesting of body parts from an abortion is already a reality; Planned Parenthood subsequently sells the body parts.  Perhaps the parts would arrive in better condition if the child were delivered whole.  This is beyond GHOULISH!

As Americans, we are given rights by our government for the outworking of our lives within the common good.  But as followers of Christ, we lay down our rights so that in all things, our lives would reflect His glory.

KAMALA

The Democratic nominees for 2020 look to be many.  If Americans are swayed by a pretty face, take note that Kamala Harris has jumped into the deep end.

Here's something I like about her.  She has an Indian Mama and a Daddy from Jamaica, but when asked about how she would describe herself, she replied "a proud American".

Her appeal will be multi-faceted.  She's a woman, a pretty woman, a woman of color, and smart.  Well, perhaps you wouldn't put dating Willie Brown in the smart column.  He is thirty years her senior and married, but he did have power to offer.

Ms. Harris' legal career pads her resume, assuming you don't count those 600 dismissed cases and other troubles.  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/opinion/kamala-harris-criminal-justice.html

At age 54, the rest of Kamala Harris' resume is "wet paint".  She is "new" to things such as NEWLY MARRIED (2014), NEW SENATOR (2017), and she had six years experience as Attorney General of CA.

Ms. Harris' campaign schtick will be a line from her opening foray:  "The value we as Americans cherish are all on the line now.  The future of our country depends on you and millions of others lifting our voices to fight for our American values."

So what are Ms. Harris' values?Here's what she is advocating in her speeches:

FOR abortion (100% rating with Planned Parenthood)
FOR gun control ("F" rating from NRA)
FOR free healthcare for all
FOR free college for all
FOR sanctuary cities/DACA
FOR cannabis
OPPOSED to death penalty

Not all Americans embrace THOSE values, Ms. Harris.

A NEW WOMAN

When the new Congress was getting sworn IN last Thursday, I was being sworn OUT of the Parkhill Women's wing of Washington Regional Hospital.

Parkhill kept some parts I no longer needed, and sent me home with a fine new sling, which I did need.

In the meantime, my husband has been amassing points.  He likes to talk about how fast he loses his points, but so far he has only lost ONE.

It seems on the night of surgery he ran home to get something and left the garage door up.  Overnight.  Mike and I are older people and we know older people do better when they stick to their routines.  But our schedule has been so upside down of late, Mike got a pass.  He deserves a medal for how he has waited on me.

Just look at these sweet people.  This is my Oasis group (and spouses) who came to pray over me.  Since it was New Year's Eve we threw in a party.  They brought their own food and even cleaned up.

All along this journey, we have felt so loved.  People have called and brought food and prayed.  I felt God's presence and protection throughout the procedure and we have been careful to thank Him that He is a Shield.

Of course, we also found some "new best friends" that were along the way:

SURGEON.  Please hold all jokes about my surgeon's name, Dr. Jason Hurt.  One of our LR friends who is a surgeon was quick to say "You cut to cure".  They must teach that in surgeon school.

I'm really singing Dr. Hurt's praises. If I had known him years ago, I would have done this a lot sooner. He is not only competent, but is good-hearted and attentive.  He kindly did not leave behind any of that gas which collects up around the collar bone.

I've thanked the Lord for Dr. Hurt and the skill set God gave him.  And I'm thankful that my friend Jo recommended him.  

Besides, who wouldn't like this Daddy?

ANESTHESIOLOGIST.  What's the best thing you can say about the one who put you to sleep?  I didn't throw up!  I don't even have a sore throat.  Thanks to YOU, Dr. Shepherd.

While we were chatting it up and he was looking down my guuzzle, I looked past him out into the hall at a posting board.  It said "Shepherd/21". I asked if he had twenty-one more patients after me or if that was the room number.  He said 'Oh, that's my brother".  "What does he do?" I asked.  "He's a neurosurgeon".

Those Shepherd boys got good genes.

NURSES.  Seriously, EVERY registered nurse we encountered was a pleasure.  One favorite was a tiny red-headed RN who was young and super compassionate.  She had just gotten married in December and I asked her what made her want to marry her husband.

She didn't miss a beat.  She said he defended her to her parents.  They had complained during nursing finals that she wasn't coming home enough.  Apparently his defense was a short cut to her heart.  I'm praying the LORD will give you and your husband many years together, Kayla.

WHAT I LEARNED.  Have you ever noticed that when you tell someone you've had a medical procedure...they tell you theirs?  Well, subjectively speaking then...I would have to say I don't think you could find two sets of ovaries in the whole of Washington County.  Of course, there definitely aren't any here at BTV (Butterfield Trail Village).

Color me grateful.  I'm told I will be a new woman.  I got to experience God's tender loving-kindness and the attention of His people.  Mike treated me like a queen.  But at the same time, we're also glad to be on the far side of the experience.  We're starting 2019 fresh and new...by God's grace.