The Israeli-Palestinian Double Standard

For the past week, the story that has dominated the worldwide news coverage has been the re-newed fighting in the Gaza Strip between Hamas and the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces). Israel apparently has had enough of Hamas reigning down rockets and mortars on it's people and has decided that they are going to wipe out Hamas's ability to do so. This however may prove to be a more daunting task than anyone thinks. After all, Hamas will always be able to get more rockets from Iran even if Israel destroys the ones they have now. The only way to solve this issue is to cut out the "cancer" that lives in Gaza and destroy Hamas completely. Whether or not Israel has the courage to do this remains to be seen.

What I find interesting though is how this conflict is perceived by the rest of the world and how it is portrayed by the MSM. The coverage that I have seen has been decidedly anti-Israeli and completely lays the blame for this conflict at their doorstep. Incredible as that may seem, if you are an observer of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict you know that Israel ALWAYS gets the blame. It matters not that Israel has shown GREAT restraint over the past year by NOT attacking Hamas despite the fact that nearly 4,000 rockets have been launched into Israel and the cities that border the Gaza strip. I wonder how many other countries of the world would tolerate that kind of daily bombardment as well as Israel has. My guess is none. And yet the world continues to blame Israel. Why? Because there is a double standard that exists within this conflict that will never be resolved.

You see, the world, the media specifically, still thinks Israel should not be there. They side with the Palestinians every time. The poor, poor Palestinians. Did you know that there has NEVER been a country in the history of the planet called Palestine? Did you know that before Israel claimed back her land and started to develop it the so-called region of Palestine was nothing but a desert region where nothing grew and no one lived. The Palestinians aren't even a people per se, they are just misplaced Arabs that no other Arab country in the region has claimed so that they can be used for political purposes. (For more on this do some research of the Ottoman Empire and how it was broken apart after WWII) The travesty of this whole thing is that Israel CAN co-exist with the Arabs of the region and longs to do so but the Arabs are the ones who refuse to compromise.

In the end, Israel will make some gains but will most likely lose the war of public opinion as even now the MSM and their surrogates are spinning this as an act of aggression that is unnecessary. The UN as well as the EU and Russia has called for Israel to end the conflict now despite that fact that Israel has a right to protect itself against it's enemies. Again, would Russia tolerate the Ukraine launching rockets into its territory every week and causing it's citizens to live in fear? I think not. If something like that were to take place Russia would invade the Ukraine and crush the opposing force. In other words they would do EXACTLY the same thing that Israel is doing now. The reason for the condemnation though is because of how the conflict is shaped in the media. The MSM and the World media want you to believe that the "big bully" Israel is going in "guns blazing" and wiping out the innocent Palestinians who only have rocks to fight back with. The truth however, is far different. Hamas is a well funded terrorist group that get's it's backing from Iran and is in effect an Iranian "proxy" that is fighting Israel. Don't forget that another Iranian proxy just fought the Israeli's in Lebanon not too long ago with much success. This organization, Hezbollah, is also thinking of entering this conflict by launching rockets with much greater range from the North. The idea is to cause Israel to fight on two fronts and cause them to split their forces. This could be very effective and is a good plan if you look at it from their point of view.

People need to realize that Israel is basically fighting for it's very existence here. They are fighting to re-establish that "deterrence factor" that they lost after the war in Lebanon.

As it is, Israel is surrounded by hostile regimes that have vowed to destroy them and "push them into the sea". These countries need to believe that a war with Israel would be devastating for them and a mistake and the "deterrence factor" would keep them from attacking her. The Israeli's fight because they HAVE to NOT because they want to. They only long to live in peace. I pray for the peace of Israel and it's people but I also know that this will not be, according to The Bible, until just before Jesus Christ comes again. If you want to know what's going on with God's plan for the world keep your eyes fixed on Israel for it is there that the "last days" of mankind will unfold.

Newsweek tries to right a "wrong".

In what has to be the most disrespectful and dishonest piece of journalism written on this subject to date, Newsweek's "religion writer" Lisa Miller has taken a very hard jab at the religious side of the gay marriage debate. In her piece "The Religious Case for Gay Marriage" she basically tries to argue that The Bible is NOT specific when it comes to the issue and that when religious people use this as a basis for their opposition towards gay marriage they are merely allowing their own interpretation to guide their decisions. The byline of her piece states: Opponents of gay marriage often cite Scripture. But what the Bible teaches about love argues for the other side. Really? Well since it is obvious to me that Lisa Miller has not READ The Bible, I've decided to help her out with what it DOES say about this issue.

First, it's interesting to note that she uses the age-old tactic of quoting from the Old Testament when she describes the different types of "marriages" that God allowed in ancient times. This is something that people often do when they want you to believe that God actually said you COULD have 10 wives or husbands. Well, let's use the very document that she pretends to be referencing from to make her argument. What does God say about marriage?

In Genesis 2:22-24 God puts Adam to sleep and removes a rib from him in order to create woman. He then present her to Adam who uses poetry when he lays his eyes upon her and calls her woman. The next verse 2:24 states the following: Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. This is the first time that The Bible talks of marriage as between a man and a woman but it is not the last.

Let's look at what Jesus says about marriage in the New Testament. In Mark 10 Jesus is confronted by the Pharisees and they attempt to trick him into answering a question about divorce. Knowing the hardness of their hearts Jesus answers them this way: But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain (the two) shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain (two), but one flesh. Did you see what just happened? When Jesus was given the chance to speak of the issue of marriage he VALIDATED the Old Testament Scripture as written in Genesis. He also reiterated that God's plan for marriage is one woman and one man. Could it be any clearer than that? No I think not.

So why then would Newsweek take on this issue and blatantly LIE about it? Because they know that most people haven't or won't take the time to read what The Bible says about this issue. They would rather just listen to the media shape their argument for them and then regurgitate it at the opportune time.

Is it possible that there is some other agenda at work here? Absolutely! This is Newsweek's way of protesting the Proposition 8 vote in California recently. They, along with most members of the MSM and Hollywood are outraged that this actually passed. They are thinking to themselves: How DARE the people vote this down!!! What is wrong with them? They obviously don't know the truth behind this issue because they are all stupid and it is up to US to educate them.

The TRUTH of the matter is that we are VERY educated on this issue and we know EXACTLY what The Bible says about it. Regardless of how many "progressive scholars" they trot out to say that we are narrow-minded, intolerant, unloving and stupid WE know why we believe what we believe and we have The Bible to back us up.

The crux of the argument for Newsweek though is not the issue of marriage at all but the opposition to homosexuality itself. Miller claims it's because "we evangelicals" have a hang up with "sex between men" but are somehow ok with lesbian sex. Again, for a "religious writer" she knows very little about her stated subject. The Bible has a great deal to say about homosexuality which for some reason Lisa Miller can't seem to find either. (I'm seriously thinking of sending her my highlighted, underlined and dog-eared Bible so that she can use it as research for her next "religious" article.) For example in Romans 1 we read: "For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error." No ambiguity there, right? I mean can The Bible state it any clearer than it does right there? No, I think not.

And lastly, she resorts to the whole "living document" argument often used by liberals when discussing their opposition to the 2nd Amendment. She states: "Biblical literalists will disagree, but the Bible is a living document, powerful for more than 2,000 years because its truths speak to us even as we change through history." So if we choose to believe that The Bible is to be taken literally then we are obviously not allowing ourselves and out thinking to "change through history". You know, EVOLVE! However, what she fails to understand is that The Bible's truths are supposed to be applied to our lives so that IT changes us, not the other way around.

This whole article is somewhat disingenuous in the fact that Miller does her best to justify the homosexual lifestyle as acceptable in the eyes of God and counts on the fact that most of her loyal readers won't take the time to see if what she says is true. This is in fact a veiled attack on evangelical and fundamental Christianity at is core and it's goal is to further demean bible-believing Christians on the national and world stage. As I stated in my earlier End Days series.....we are getting very close The End and the signs are visible everywhere you look. This attack on God's Word and on His people is just the latest salvo.

I would also suggest reading Dr Albert Mohler's latest blog on this very article. Very good! It can be found here: http://www.albertmohler.com/

How close are we? Part IV

As promised, this is the last installment of the End Times series. This time we will deal with one of the most intriguing subjects of the last days time period: The Antichrist. This individual has been immortalized on the silver screen through the "Omen" series and although the story line is very close to the actual biblical account, it is more Hollywood than not. Let's see what The Bible says about this person.

First you must understand that the term "antichrist" only appears in one book in the entire Bible, the Book of 1 John or John's First Epistle (Letter). He uses is to not only describe the "person" The Antichrist, but also to explain that it is a "type" of person as well. Let's look at what he says:

In the following verse he describes both:

1 John 2:18-Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

In this verse he explains who qualifies as an antichrist:

1 John 2:22-Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

Therefore anyone who denies that Jesus is the Messiah is a "type" of antichrist.

He also goes on to talk about :"antichrist" as a type of spirit that is present in the world system:

1 John 4:3-And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world

So as you can see antichrist is not only depicted as the coming world leader spoken of in Revelation but also someone who denies that Jesus was who He said he was-The Christ. There are however, verses in The Bible that actually speak about the "person" The Antichrist and these are the ones we will look at closer.

When most people talk about the End Times and The Antichrist they refer to The Book of Revelation. Here The Antichrist is spoken of as "the beast". In Chapter 13 The Bible lays out what the characteristics of this person will be, his behavior and the events that will transpire around him as he reveals his evil plan for the world.

So what are the characteristics of The Antichrist? As described in Revelation Chapter 13 he will:

Get his power and authority from Satan himself (Rev 13:2)

He will be wounded in the head (possible assassination attempt)and miraculously will survive (Rev 13:3)

His "miracle" of survival will cause all people of the world to worship him and the power behind him which is Satan (Rev 13:4)

He will be given power to do whatever he wants for 42 months (Rev 13:5)

He will wage war against the Christians and the Jews and wipe many out and he will rule the entire world (Rev 13:7

He will be assisted by another "beast" that will perform miracles and have great power which he will use to cause all to worship The Antichrist and his image (13:11-14)

He will cause all to get a "mark" (in the hand or forehead) which they will need in order to buy or sell anything (Rev 17)

Also in Revelation 13 we are given a clue of who this person will be and how to recognize him when he comes:

Revelation 18-Wisdom is needed to understand this. Let the one who has understanding solve the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666.

It is interesting to note that the number 666 is more prominent now in many different places than it was just 10 years ago. Many scholars believe that the "mark" that the beast causes everyone to take will be some sort of bar code that contains the number 666 in some fashion and that there is an effort underway now to desensitize people to the stigma surrounding that number. We shall see.

There are also many warnings given about following The Antichrist and receiving his "mark". The Bible states that this will condemn you to eternal punishment and you should resist doing so.

Revelation 14:9-11 states-Then a third angel followed them, shouting, "Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or the hand must drink the wine of God's wrath. It is poured out undiluted into God's cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.

As you can see it would be a very bad idea to accept this "mark" and to give in and worship The Antichrist. But what if you did not know who you were worshipping? What if you were deceived by this man as many will be? Is this even possible? Actually it is and it is also another warning. If you have been told of Jesus Christ and you have rejected Him then this is warning is for you:

2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 states-And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the [lawless one] is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Basically, The Antichrist when he comes to power will appear to be supernatural and will also appear to be "godlike". He will have the power of Satan that will allow him to work miracles and many will fall for this "false messiah". The warning from God is that if you have rejected His son and His plan for your redemption then this "strong delusion" He will send will affect the way you view things and you will willingly accept and worship the "beast". That is a very strong warning and should be taken very seriously.

There is a theory among some Christian Scholars that there have been many "antichrists" in history and there may be many more in the future. The reason behind this? They claim that because Satan is a fallen angel and is this a "created" being then his knowledge is finite whereas Got is omnipotent and knows all things Satan only knows some things. What he doesn't know is WHEN God will decide to Rapture His people and thus usher in the the final age in man's history. Because of this "blind spot" Satan must always have someone prepared to assume the role of the The Antichrist. They argue that Hitler, Napoleon, Stalin and other murderous tyrants could very well have been applicants for the job. In any case, The Bible is clear that this man is coming one day and he will orchestrate the bloodiest period in man's history. Is he waiting in the wings now? The world seems to be ready to accept a one world leader now more than ever. Someone who will have the answers to all of the worlds problems. Someone who will bring the world together and bring all religions together under his power. He is waiting for his signal to begin his reign of terror and then he will be unleashed. But the question is when?

How close are we? Part III

This is a continuation of the End Days Series. In this installment we will look at the most controversial subject surrounding the End Times period. It's mainly controversial because even within the Christian community there are opposing views as to how and when it will occur. There is however a consensus that it WILL occur..at some point. I'm talking about The Rapture. This is the moment in which Jesus Christ returns for His TRUE church and removes them from the world "in the blink of an eye". Before we get into this though we need to present the facts.

Fact 1: The word Rapture does not appear anywhere in Scripture.

Fact 2: The Bible states emphatically that this will be a supernatural event that will involve the transformation of the participants.

Fact 3: There is no timeline given for when this will actually happen.

Ok, so let's take these one at a time and dissect them.

The word Rapture does not appear anywhere in Scripture.

Regardless of what translation you use of The Bible you will be hard pressed to find the word Rapture. That's because it isn't in there. Now you are probably asking yourself "If it's not mentioned then how can we believe in it?". That is explained by taking a look at where the word came from. The Greek word used in The Bible to explain this event is "harpazo". Harpazo means to be "caught up" or "snatched away". This is the word used by the Apostle Paul when he describes the event itself:

I Thessalonians 4:16-17 states the following:

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves.

Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever. (NLT)

He uses that word to describe what action will be taking place during this event we call The Rapture. The word "rapture" however comes from the Latin word raptus which means the same thing. It makes sense that the English word rapture would then be used since we live in an English driven world rather than the Greek. However, they mean the same thing.

Fact 2: The Bible states emphatically that this will be a supernatural event that will involve the transformation of the participants.

As you can see this in NOT the Second Coming because Jesus does not actually come back to Earth. Instead he calls His people to Him and they are removed from Earth.

Now you may be asking yourself how it would be possible for all of these people to just float up into the air and totally disregard the laws of physics? Well frankly, it's not. There won't be millions of bodies shooting through the sky to go meet the Lord because they would burn up at some point once they entered the atmosphere. Instead these believers are "transformed" into spirit beings which can travel with no restrictions through time and space. The Bible describes this this way:

1 Corinthians 15:51-53 states:

But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed.

It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die.

For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die.

As you can see The Bible take great pains to make sure that the reader understands that something supernatural is going to happen to these bodies. Also, one thing you should know about Scripture is if there are words that are repeated it's because they are very important. Basically, God through His Word, is stressing to us that this is a very important detail.

So, what you have is people that will be supernaturally transformed into spirit beings and removed so quickly that other than those experiencing it no one will know it happened!!

Fact 3: There is no timeline given for when this will actually happen.

Now you would think that if something like this was going to happen surely The Bible would want us to know when. Interestingly enough though it remains strangely silent. Even Jesus Himself proclaims that he does not know when it will happen.

In Matthew 24:36 He states:

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only."

And again He states in verse 42:

Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

Even though He makes it apparent that we cannot know WHEN this will happen He does tell us that it will be unexpected and catch many off guard.

In verses 43 and 44 He states:

But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Clearly this is a warning. One thing that must be noted here is that presently there are NO outstanding prophetic signs that must be fulfilled before this event can take place. It could literally happen at any time and will...soon.

Now just take a moment to think about what this event would do to this world when it happens.

How many cars will be without a driver?

How many planes will be without a pilot?

How many surgeons will vanish while in surgery?

And the list goes on. This will have an immediate and devastating impact on the whole world since it will not be limited to just one country or continent.

Millions will vanish with no explanation and those left behind will bear the brunt of the chaos that will follow. It will not be a great day to say the least and will set the stage for a new world leader. Someone who can emerge from the shadows and bring order to the chaos. Someone who will have an answer for what just happened or at least a plausible explanation that the world will believe. The Bible has a great deal to say about this world leader which we will explore in the final blog of this series. Enter: The Antichrist. Coming soon...

How close are we? Part II

As promised, this is Part II of my series on the End Days. This time we will take a look at an event that is promised to be the most earthshaking, wonderful, spectacular event ever witnessed by mankind. Since there have been several spectacular, earthshaking and wonderful events already you can imagine (or maybe you can't) what one would need to be to be called the greatest in all of history! To be sure it will be BIG, REALLY BIG!! Let's take a closer look at what The Bible says.

The Second Coming has long been a promised intervention, by Jesus Christ, in this world's history that Christians, and to some extent non-Christians, have found to be somewhat mysterious. I guess we should look at WHY this is going to happen first.

While Jesus walked the Earth He made a promise to all that followed Him then and those that would in the future that even though He had to leave, He would one day return. The reason for His return? To claim His rightful place as the Ruler of the World. You see, Christians believe, because The Bible tells us so, that because of what Jesus did (Death on The Cross), He would be rewarded for His obedience. God commanded that ALL things would then be under the power, rule and control of Jesus Christ. And when God says ALL things He means ALL things. It is at the time of His coming that Jesus will establish His kingdom upon the Earth and ALL nations will be ruled by Him. This will be the "restoration" of all things. Just as The Fall (think Adam and Eve here) set in motion the Death of all of Creation so the return of Jesus will set in motion the restoration of all Creation. You see God planned a much different world than the one we live in today. If you go back and read Genesis you will see how great things were before The Fall. God said several times during Creation that "it was good". But what does that mean? It means that the following DID NOT exist in the world God created: sin, evil, hate, anger, disease, natural disasters, death, envy, greed and the list goes on and on. The world that God created was perfect in every way, as were we (mankind), until we rebelled against Him. Once Adam and Eve rebelled against God the world started to die, as did we, and it has continued to do so to this very day. That is why Jesus must come again to restore all things. When He comes again he will destroy all of the above mentioned evils and vices and the world will be perfect again. His return will usher in the Thousand Year Reign of Peace.

What should we expect when Jesus comes again? A good place to look is in The Book of Matthew the 24th Chapter, of The New Testament. Here the Disciples come to Him and ask what will be happening when He returns and what they should expect? The following will be present:

False Messiahs (they will actually refer to themselves as "the Christ" Matthew 24:5

Wars and rumors of wars 24:6

Famines, diseases and earthquakes 24:7

Murder, persecution and hatred of Christians 24:9, 10

False "holy leaders" or prophets that will cause many to be deceived 24:11

Lawlessness and lack of love in the world 24:12

Christian Gospel preached everywhere in the world 24:14

So as you can see it's not going to look like the Land of Oz!! (We are definitely not in Kansas anymore Toto!)The interesting thing about this passage is that if you take a closer look at the present state of the world today it looks eerily similar doesn't it? Perhaps now we should look at WHEN this will take place.

Although Jesus goes into great detail to tell us what the world will be like when He comes again He never says when. In fact he states in scripture that even He does not know when but only God Himself. So unfortunately that is a question that we cannot answer. We can only hope and wait for that day to come.

Even though we do not know when, we do get an idea of WHAT will happen when Jesus returns. The Bible tells us that this will be THE MOST incredible, amazing, fantastic, sorrowful (for some) day in history! The Bible says that Jesus will come riding a heavenly white horse and an Army will be following Him. the Army of The Lord (Talk about a Breaking News Alert!!) Jesus, along with His army, will meet the armies of the world at the Valley of Meggido or Armageddon and He will destroy the "beast" or the Antichrist (One World Leader) and the armies of the world arrayed against Israel. In one fell swoop the power and might of Jesus Christ will be shown to all. The first time He came He allowed Himself to be beaten and killed. This time around He returns as Judge and ALL will bow before Him. From this point onward He will set up His kingdom on Earth and will rule with an iron hand. Basically, what He says goes....period. This will be a wonderful time of great peace and tranquility like the Earth has never seen since the days of Creation. Once and for all there will be no questions as to who He is because He will live amongst us.

Now some of you are thinking: "This is the craziest thing I have ever heard and this idiot actually believes this"! YES, I do. However, it does not surprise me that there are those who do not. In fact, The Bible itself predicts that there will be people who scoff at the idea of the Second Coming : 2 Peter 3:3-4 says:

First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will be scoffers who will laugh at the truth and do every evil thing they desire.

This will be their argument: "Jesus promised to come back, did he? Then where is he? Why, as far back as anyone can remember, everything has remained exactly the same since the world was first created." (New Living Translation)

As you can see The Bible, once again, accurately predicted the future. You must understand that my belief begins and ends with scripture. In other words; without The Bible there IS no Christianity. That is why so many have tried over the centuries to either destroy it, ban it or discredit it. Take away The Bible and Christianity dies. and so many have tried and continue to try even today to do away with this holy book. The Bible continues to prove that it is God's Word with each passing day and year. Predictions made thousands of years ago continue to come true. History, as The Bible explains it, continues to be proven true with each archaeological find. So you must ask yourself this question: If The Bible predicts that all of this will happen and it has never been proven to be inaccurate then shouldn't I read it and learn to understand it's message?

I think the one thing that people need to understand is that God has not hidden this from us in any way. He TELLS us what will happen in The Bible. His hope is that you will see what is coming and turn your life around before it's too late. He wants you to be saved from what is coming but you must choose to do so. Coming soon: Part III The Rapture.

How close are we? Part I

This post will be one of a series that I am going to do that will mix modern day events with my beliefs of Christianity and the topic of the "End Days". In order for us to properly examine this topic we will need to rely heavily on what I believe to be God's Word: The Bible. I must first put out the disclaimer that I am a fundamentalist and a literalist. This means that I believe what the scriptures say and I believe it literally. This is somewhat of a radical view even among Christians but I tend to believe that if there is a God and He did leave His Word for us to follow, then chances are very good that He meant for us to understand it. Many people believe that God has hidden many things in "codes" within the Bible. I am not a big believer in this since they seem to change every time someone puts out a new "Bible Code" book and if there is one thing that I know about God it's that He is "the same yesterday, today and tomorrow" (Hebrews 13:8). So keeping this in mind let's look at what the Bible says and how it relates to our world.

First, let's discuss a topic that many people are discussing these days: The End Times. How can we say that we are truly living in the last days or end times? Surely if we were nearing "the end" God would let us know that we were right? In fact He has. Case in point: 1 Timothy 3:1-3:4 says the following in the New Testament-

But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (NKJV)

Now you don't have to be a theologian to understand that all of what is being discussed here is present within this world today and has been for sometime. Now here is the rub: Did you catch when these things will supposedly be present? In the first line it says the last days. So now you have to ask yourself a question here: If these things have been present in the world for sometime now and The Bible says that these things will happen in "the last days" then that means that we have been living in the last days for quite sometime. Right? What if I told you that The Bible actually states that we have been living in the "last days" of "end times" for over 2,000 years? Don't believe me? Here's the proof: 1 Peter 1:20 in the New Testament says the following:

He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you (NKJV)

WHOA! What does that say? Maybe a more simplified version will make it plainer:

God chose him for this purpose long before the world began, but now in these final days, he was sent to the earth for all to see. And he did this for you. (NASB)

Yep, that's right. Basically, according to God, the last days or end times BEGAN when Jesus revealed Himself upon this Earth some 2,000+ years ago!! This little revelation gives new meaning to the whole argument that mankind is running out of time. Technically, we have been living on borrowed time for quite a while. I think this is enough for you to digest for now. More to come in the next posting: The Second Coming. Stay tuned!