In WHOM do we TRUST In Times of Great TROUBLE

Our Heavenly Father sends us frequent troubles to try our faith. If our faith be worth anything, it will stand the test. Gold Leaf powder is afraid of fire, but Pure Gold is not: the Cubic Zirconium dreads to be touched by the diamond, but the true jewel fears no test. It is a poor faith which can only trust God when friends are true, the body full of health, and the business profitable; but that is true faith which holds by the Lord’s faithfulness when friends are gone, when the body is sick, when spirits are depressed, and the light of our Father’s countenance is hidden. A faith which can say, in the direst trouble, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him,” is heaven-born faith. The Lord afflicts His servants to glorify Himself, for He is greatly glorified in the graces of His people, which are His own handiwork. When “tribulation works patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope,” the Lord is honored by those growing virtues. We should never know the music of the harp if the strings were left untouched; nor enjoy the juice of the grape if it were not trodden in the wine press; nor discover the sweet perfume of cinnamon if it were not pressed and beaten; nor feel the warmth of fire if the coals were not utterly consumed. The wisdom and power of the great Workman are discovered by the trials through which His vessels of mercy are permitted to pass. Present afflictions and troubles tend also to heighten future joy. There must be dark shades in the picture to bring out the beauty of the lights. Could we be so supremely blessed in heaven, if we had not known the curse of sin and the sorrow of earth? Will not peace be sweeter after conflict, and rest more welcome after toil? Will not the recollection of past sufferings enhance the bliss of the glorified? 
Here is another thought;

This is an important question. Listen to the true Christian’s answer, and see if it is yours. “On whom do you trust?” “I trust,” says the Christian, “in a triune God. I trust the FATHER, believing that He has chosen me from before the foundations of the world; I trust Him to provide for me in providence, to teach me, to guide me, to correct me if need be, and to bring me home to His own house where the many mansions are. I trust the SON. Very God of very God is He—the man Christ Jesus. I trust in Him to take away all my sins by His own sacrifice, and to adorn me with His perfect righteousness. I trust Him to be my Intercessor, to present my prayers and desires before His Father’s throne, and I trust Him to be my Advocate at the last great day, to plead my cause, and to justify me. I trust Him for what He is, for what He has done, and for what He has promised yet to do. And I trust the HOLY SPIRIT, He has begun to save me from my innate sins; I trust Him to drive them all out; I trust Him to curb my temper, to subdue my will, to enlighten my understanding, to check my passions, to comfort my despondency, to help my weakness, to illuminate my darkness; I trust Him to dwell in me as my life, to reign in me as my King, to sanctify me wholly, spirit, soul, and body, and then to take me up to dwell with the saints in light for ever.”

Oh, blessed trust! To trust Him whose power will never be exhausted, whose love will never cease, whose kindness will never change, whose faithfulness will never fail, whose wisdom will never be bewildered, and whose perfect goodness can never be diminished! Happy are you, if this trust is yours! So trusting, you shall enjoy sweet peace now, and glory hereafter, and the foundation of your trust shall NEVER be removed. Charles Spurgeon

No sign will be given to it EXCEPT the sign of the prophet Jonah. MATT 12:39

GODS MIRACULOUS SIGNS By Gina Suzanne

Back in mid-May of 2010, a gray whale, over 15 meters long, was spotted off the Herzliya coast of Israel which according to all scientific authorities, is unheard of.

"This was the first time this species has been seen in Israel, according to Israel's Marine Mammal Research Assistance Center".

."Gray whales usually live in the Pacific Ocean, and it is still unclear what the whale was doing so far away from it's usual habitat, or so close to the shoreline"

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/lost-in-search-of-lunch-rare-pacific-whale-spotted-off-israel-s-coast-1.289085

"Over a lifetime, a gray whale migrates the equivalent distance of a return trip to the moon. However, these new images show that this particular whale would have had to beat all previous distance records to end up where it has," whale expert Nicola Hodgins said."

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2010/05/24/2739292/israel-under-the-radar1

"A gray whale has appeared off the coast of Israel, shocking conservationists.

Gray whales are thought to be extinct across the Atlantic Ocean, so the appearance of an individual within the Mediterranean Sea is a major surprise"

  

"This discovery is truly amazing. To find one in the North Atlantic, let alone the Mediterranean Sea, is bizarre in the extreme" ~Nicola Hodgins of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8672000/8672970.stm

"It was only after returning to shore and closely examining the photographs they had taken that the researchers allowed themselves to acknowledge that what they had seen was, in fact, a gray whale. There was only one problem.

There are no gray whales off Israel.

There are no gray whales in the Mediterranean.

There are, in fact, no gray whales in the Atlantic.

None of them swim within half a planet of the Holy Land.

And yet..."

"There is no doubt that this is a gray whale, and as such the sighting is little short of astonishing,"

http://news.discovery.com/earth/gray-whale-spotted-on-wrong-side-of-world.html


The very sighting is "a little short of astonishing" by itself. Factor in other astounding facts and this may be nothing short of a miracle. 
This may even be a miraculous sign to us in these end times as it appears to coincide with the great fish (whale) that swallowed Jonah:

Jonah 1: ¹ Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ² “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.” ³ But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.⁴ But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.⁵ Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load.^[a] But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep. ⁶ So the captain came to him, and said to him, “What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish.” ⁷ And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. ⁸ Then they said to him, “Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” ⁹ So he said to them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” ¹⁰ Then the men were exceedingly afraid, and said to him, “Why have you done this?” For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. ¹¹ Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?”—for the sea was growing more tempestuous.

 ¹² And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me.” 
 ¹³ Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. ¹⁴ Therefore they cried out to the LORD and said, “We pray, O LORD, please do not let us perish for this man’s life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O LORD, have done as it pleased You.” ¹⁵ So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. ¹⁶ Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and took vows. ¹⁷ Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

It is important to note that the Strait of Gibraltar is the only natural gap in the topographic barriers that separate the Mediterranean Sea, in which the whale was sighted, from the Atlantic Ocean.The Mediterranean Sea itself is about 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles) long and covers about 2.5 million square kilometers (1 million square miles), while the Strait is only about 13 kilometers (8 miles) wide.

Note the narrowness of the Strait of Gibraltar in both the above map and the below aerial photo:

Please note on the map, the myriad of shorelines of the many countries that are bordered by the Mediterranean Sea.There are various well populated resorts in the Mediterranean Sea but none of the millions of tourists/beachgoers spotted the gray whale as it was only sighted at Israel.There were no reported sightings of the whale from any of the other beaches or shores except at Herzliya Beach, Israel. 

Amazing to note is the fact that Herzilya Beach is located close to the modern day city of Jaffa, which in Biblical times was the seaport of Joppa, from which Jonah set sail. 

Notice that the Scripture delineates in Jonah 1:

^"Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them."

As such, it appears that land was still in sight as they were rowing "hard to return" to it.
Therefore, it appears as though the storm commenced soon after disembarking from the  ancient port of Joppa which is in an inlet close to Herzliya beach. As such, it appears that the modern day whale sighting was in the same geographical area that the whale of Jonah was located. This is an astounding finding as the current day whale sighting is an astonishing rarity as would have been the whale's presence in the exact same location in Jonah's time.
For both whales to be recorded to be in the same locale is phenomenal. The fact is that the whale sightings in the Mediterranean are scientifically impractical to begin with as gray whales are "extinct in the Atlantic Ocean" from whence they would have had to exit to enter into the Mediterranean.
Factor in that both rare sightings were in the same exact location out of the 27,320 miles of the bordering coastlines (not including the shorelines of the various large islands).
Add in that both whales would have had to navigate around multiple islands while journeying 2300 miles across the Mediterranean to reach the exact same destination near Jaffa/Joppa which is the complete opposite shore from the Strait of Gibraltar.
This broad expanse of the Mediterranean Sea proves what an monumental chance it is for both whales to be sighted at the same locale. 
Out of the million square miles that compromise the waters of the Mediterranean Sea what are the odds that both would be found in the same site? Additionally, what are the odds that both whales would enter the narrow 8 mile wide strait of Gibraltar from the ocean that they are not even indigenous to, to begin with?
So, out of the million square miles of the Sea with the all the bordering coastlines (as well as island shorelines)both whales were sighted in the same exact region with no sightings noted elsewhere. This modern day whale was sighted from the beach, right off the shore, as was Jonah's whale. According to the scientific authorities, it is highly unusual for a whale to be "so close to the shoreline". 
Certainly this facts shows what appears to be even more of God's handiwork. Let us remember, that scientifically, both whales were not even supposed to be in the Mediterranean to begin with! 

It would surely seem that statistically the odds of the ancient whale of Jonah and the gray whale recently sighted, being in precisely the same area, would be astronomical.
This surely constitutes a miracle and thereby may be the sign of Jonah that Jesus spoke of:

"An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" Matthew 12:40

Just as the Lord sent the ancient whale to swallow Jonah, He may have also sent this modern day whale for the purpose of signaling to His children, the closeness of the His return in order to remind us that we need to return to Him.

Our God so loves us that He provided us Biblical prophecies in order to understand the times in which we live and to realize that we are now entering the last days. The religious leaders of Jesus's day, the Pharisees, ignored the ancient prophecies and were not watching for His first coming. They were much too comfortable with their earthly, exalted position. They did not necessarily desire the Messiah to come at that time as it would interfere with their role in the religious community. Had they been watching according to the words of the prophets, they would have known to the exact date, the day of His visitation. Since they did not, they missed His first coming just as many in the modern day church may miss His second coming. The majority of the Church and the Church leadership have not heeded the dictates to "watch" and are therefore unaware of the the closeness of His return in these end times.
If the Pharisees had been watching for the prophetic fulfillment of the Scriptures they would have realized that it was the time for the visitation of their Messiah.
The book of Daniel actually provides the timeline for the advent of the Messiah:

 ²⁵ "Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. ²⁶ After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.

Historically, the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem came in 445 BC on March 14th. The Biblical calender is based on the lunar cycle and has 360 days in a  year. 

From the decree of March 14, 445 BC until the time that the "Anointed One will be cut off" which is referring to the first coming of Jesus, Daniel prophesied it to be an interval of 62 weeks + 7 weeks =69 weeks or a total of 69 seven year periods.

69 weeks x 7 years= 483 years

483 years x 360 days annually=173,880 days

Taking the date of the decree of March 14, 445 BC and adding 173,880 days lands exactly on the date of April 5, 32 AD, the date recognized as when Jesus, as King of Kings, rode into Jerusalem on the donkey fulfilling Zechariah 9:

 The Coming King

    ⁹ “ Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you;  He is just and having salvation. Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. 

The Pharisees, who Jesus called a wicked an adulterous generation, completely missed their Messiah since they chose not to watch even though it was clearly outlined for them in the Scriptures. Just as today, many professing Christ followers and the "leaders of the flock" are missing the signs of His second coming because they have neglected to watch for the signs of the times that Jesus commanded us to watch for.

Many today appear way too satisfied with this life on earth to even want to listen when they are approached with the blaring signs of the return of Jesus (including the leaders of the church).
As such, a majority of the modern day Church of Jesus Christ can be equated to be modern day Pharisees.
Remembering what Jesus thought of the Pharisees should cause us to not want to be guilty of the same:

Matthew 23: ²⁷"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. ²⁸In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from men; for you do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." 

³³"You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?

Those who ignore the prophetic Scriptures and the signs of the times will miss the return of our Messiah just as the Pharisees did His first visitation. This may also be what the "sign of the prophet Jonah" alludes to as Jesus was addressing the Pharisees of His day for their disbelief, which resulted because they were not watching and were thus not aware even though Scripture provided them the exact timing, just as it is also signaling to us in these last days.
The prophet Jonah had been sent to Ninevah to warn their wicked society to repent, lest they face judgment. 
Perhaps this bewildering modern day sighting of yet another whale is also a warning. The people of today's society in which evil abounds, may be being warned that it is time to repent as God's judgment is soon coming.  
Just as Jonah remained asleep during the "tempestuous storm", so are many Christians remaining asleep through the tumultuous end time events that surround us. 
It is time for the Church to wake up to all the many signs of the times that the Lord Jesus warned of and commanded us to watch for.
It appears that we have been presented with the prophesied "sign of Jonah" to forewarn us of just how very close we are, as we rapidly approach the end of the age.
May we allow this amazing sign to help us to realize that it is time to release our grip on the things of this world and instead focus on eternity, making sure we have repentant hearts and are covered by the blood of the Lamb, Yeshua Ha Mashiach.

ELUL: THE KING IS IN THE FIELD

  By Tom O'Haver

Hi guys, We are so close to the return of our Wonderful Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. Here is an Awesome article that will encourage you in the right way as we move towards Yom Teruah. 

By Tom O'Haver

This year August 31st-September 28th is the Jewish month of Elul.  The word Elul - - is said to be an acronym of Ani l'dodi v'dodi li - "I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine" from Song of Songs 6:3. The “Beloved” is said to be the Holy One and the "I" is the people of Israel. In the Aramaic language, which was spoken by the Jewish people at the time that the names of the months were set, the word Elul means "search." This is certainly an appropriate name for this period of time when we are encouraged to search our souls.

Elul is also a significant period of Teshuvah (repentance) because this is the same period Moses spent on Mount Sinai pleading for forgiveness for the people of Israel. After the Israelites demonstrated their lack of faith in God by creating and worshiping the Golden Calf, which led to Moses smashing the first set of tablets, Moses ascended again to the top of the mountain on the first of Elul. He remained there for 40 days, beseeching the Holy One to spare the Israelites. God responded positively by instructing Moses to create a new set of tablets of the Ten Commandments. Moses returned to the people on Yom Kippur. Not only was it the same time Moses ascended for 40 days but it was also the day John the Baptist was preaching in the wilderness and Yeshua being baptized went into the wilderness for forty days coming back on Yom Kippur.

Jewish tradition teaches that the Holy One is more accessible during the 40-day period beginning with the start of Elul and culminating in the first ten days of the month of Tishrei, ending with Yom Kippur. The Mystical Sages referred to this period as when “The King is in the Field.” This is based in the notion that, when a king is enthroned in his palace, he is not easily accessible; audience is granted only to those who have merited his attention. But when the king is out in public, anyone may approach him. When the "King is in the Field," out to inspect the produce of his land, he is concerned about the well-being of the inhabitants of his kingdom. Not only is this is the time when the king may be approached by the farmer, but the farmer should approach him, to show respect, and to take full advantage of this rare opportunity to express his needs and thoughts to the king.

So it is with the month of Elul. This is the time when the sages say the Eternal King leaves the heavenly throne and descends to inspect this world. This is the period when some believe we are closest to God, and God is most receptive to our prayers. We look to the words of the prophet Isaiah, who said, "Seek God when He is at hand; Call upon Him when He is near" (55:6). And so we can make special efforts during this period to renew our commitment to God, when the Holy One is traditionally "nearest" to us.

Customs

Beginning on the second day of Rosh Chodesh Elul and continuing until (but not including) the day before Rosh HaShanah, it is customary to blow the Shofar every weekday morning. When Moses went up the second time to receive the tablets of the Ten Commandments, the Israelites blew the Shofar in the Camp. This was done to remind themselves of their sin of the Golden Calf, and to assure that they would not again succumb to the sin of idol worship.

To this day the Shofar is blown throughout Elul to remember that, just as the children of Israel sinned and were forgiven, we too have sinned and need to use this period to sincerely repent, so that we too can be forgiven. The sound of the Shofar during Elul symbolically declares, “Awake all you who are asleep; search your ways and mend them in repentance.”

During Elul, many Jews will recite Chapter 27 of Tehilim (Psalms) as part of the morning and afternoon prayers. It is also common at this time to visit the grave sites of loved ones.  As the month of Elul draws to an end, our efforts towards repentance become more intense. Beginning on the Sunday before Rosh HaShanah until Yom Kippur, special penitential prayers called Selichot are added to the daily cycle of worship. Selichot prayers are usually recited in the early morning, before the normal daily morning service. However, Selichot usually begins on Motzei Shabbat (after nightfall on Saturday) of the week before Rosh HaShanah. The first Selichot service of the season is usually held around midnight, the earliest possible time, to demonstrate our eagerness to seek forgiveness. The late night service is usually preceded by study on themes related to the High Holy Days.

What Can I Do?

Elul is a period of preparation, both spiritual and practical. Some things you can do to make the most of Elul are:

• Allocate time during the month for personal reflection, meditation and prayer. Try and conduct a full Cheshbon HaNefesh - “accounting of the soul.” 
• Approach others whom you may have hurt during the past year and seek their forgiveness. Tradition teaches us that for sins between the individual and God, forgiveness is guaranteed, but for forgiveness between one individual and another, we must actively seek their forgiveness.
• Hear the sounding of the Shofar every weekday morning.
• Say Psalm 27 every morning.
• Study the scriptures that will inspire you to repentance.
• Visit the burial place of loved ones.
• Purchase new clothes to wear for the new year; stock up on honey for a sweet new year...
• Get Ready!

Tom O'Haver is a Zaken (Pastoral Elder), the IT Director and
Webmaster for El Shaddai Ministries.

Do you truly understand? The days in which we live?

It's so troubling to encounter such a general sense of apathy and unbelief when talking with people about the days in which we live. It seems that invariably whenever I bring up the topic of the general state of the world, people just want to bury their heads and act is if it's just going to pass. Well my friends, It's not going to pass this time. A perusal of the natural disasters, wars, political and financial upheavals going on in this world are only evidence of greater thing to come. Jesus warned us just as well as many of His Old Testament counterparts that these days would come.

There are eight(8) short videos on Yom Teruah done by Pastor Mark Biltz. Mark is the pastor of Messianic Jewish congregation in Washington state. His ministry is called El Shaddei Ministries. Mark is a phenomenally gifted and interesting teacher. He brings many things to light that one might not otherwise get, or understand. Please do yourself a favor and watch these videos. They will truly enlighten you as to the season that is upon us.
 Here is the first one as a teaser. The videos play one after the other automatically after starting them here, just click on this link  http://www.youtube.com/user/joshdangeez  and you can watch them on my YouTube channel.

Yom Teruah #1

Are you Ready?

After yesterdays post, I decided that it was imperative that I ask this question of you all.
ARE YOU READY?

Back in the early eighties there was a song out by David Meece that bore that very title, here is a cool video of it...

Courtesy of Downing Media

 

Paul tells us in the book of Philippians chap 2 and verse 12 to; work out your own salvation, with fear and trembling. It is an awesome thing to fall into the hands of the Lord God Almighty, The Lord of Hosts, The Lord YAH-WEH. 

We need to take seriously just exactly where we are with Jesus. In the parables that were recorded by God the Holy Spirit, a few things really stand out that we should pay close attention to. As we will see, Jesus was very specific and most serious about what He spoke regarding our eternal destinies.

In Matthew chap 13, Mark chap 4 & Luke chap 8 Jesus talks about the "parable of the sower". This is near the chronological beginning of his ministry.

"Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

Here He is quite clear about what kind of ears His teaching will fall upon.

The first place His seed would fall upon would be upon the wayside. The wayside would be a heart that received the word, but the enemy easily swooped in and plucked it out because there was no desire in that heart to grow in the faith. That kind of heart might even believe in God, yet just have no desire to make a decision. 

The next kind of seed was the seed that fell on the rocks. That hard rocky heart actually received the seed and began to check out the faith, but while it was still very young and impressionable, the trials, tribulations and temptations that so easily beset even"true" believers, came and easily scorched out the infant seeker. 

The next kind of seed fell among the thorns. This heart received the word and really sprouted up, but it was within a body of other thorns, briars, stickers and tares, and it was choked out by the lowliness and sinfulness of those others around it. False teaching, back biting, bickering, gossip and the like. such are the sanctuaries of many of our churches. They are like the Pharisees of Jesus day. Matthew 23:15 says this;

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. Ouch!

The last place the seed falls is in the good soil. The good soil is a heart that is ready to accept the engrafted word of God into his heart, mind and soul with all that is in him. This heart has a desire for the word of God, for Worship and for fellowship with like believers. This is a heart that is tapped into the vine of John chap 15; I am the Vine and ye are the branches, he who abides in Me and I in him, will bear much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing. This heart grows and produces other fruit, some thirty, some sixty & some a hundred fold. Is this the kind of seed that fell in your heart? Lets pray it is so.

Notice the progression in the parable above. Four types of seed, three are bad and one is good. While some may want to argue about it, based on the above parable, only 25% of those who may be in church are actually true fruit bearing believers. We will discuss this further as we peruse some more of the parables.
Hang in there, God is not finished with any of us yet. If we are still breathing, His Spirit is still moving in our lives. He loves us supremely and desires that we would all come into fellowship with Him. Revelation 3:20 says this; Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open that door, I will come in and sup with him, and he with Me.

   Please listen to this song before we continue.

  Courtesy of;Gateway Worship. Kari Jobe- Revelation Song

On to the next parable...

What do you see here? A Cross?? To be certain. But what else do you see? 

In Matthew chap 13 and verse 24-30, Jesus gives us a scenario that has been played out for centuries. Here is the story...  "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, an enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.  

A man(singular) planted good seed in his field. But while men(plural) slept, his enemy came and sowed tares(bad seed) among the wheat and went his way.

So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."

Jesus goes on to explain this parable to his disciples in this way...

"He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Yikes!

Hmm, It's really all pretty self explanatory. But how often do we look a little deeper to ascertain what this parable is really trying to bring out? Look at the picture of the Cross up above. It has six(6) different pictures on it, but they all look the same. When we think about tares, commonly known as "darnel,"  we think about these big ugly weeds that are easy to spot and pull out of the ground, not so. 
They look just like the wheat. 

Here is a definition from Wikipedia that you might be interested in; 

(Darnel usually grows in the same production zones as wheat and is considered a weed. The similarity between these two plants is so extensive that in some regions it is referred to as false wheat. It bears a close resemblance to wheat until the ear appears. The ears on the real wheat are so heavy that it makes the entire plant droop downward, but darnel, whose ears are light, stands up straight. The wheat will also appear brown when ripe, whereas the darnel is (black)). 

What Jesus is letting us know is that "While men(We) are sleeping and not paying attention" Satan will plant lots of people in our assemblies that look and act the part, they may even seem genuine, but there will come a time that the true colors will shine through, and these plants of the wicked one will be exposed. Jesus loves us so much that He doesn't want to try and separate the wheat from the tares right now. He knows it would damage the wheat. Just think, there are people you love, maybe even love dearly, and they are not true believers. Wouldn't that be devastating to find out. It would hurt so badly to find out that maybe some of your closest friends or even family members didn't really love Jesus Christ supremely. But Jesus says that when we get to heaven, He will dry away all of our tears. He will be there to comfort and heal us when all of the truth really comes to light. Please understand, Jesus has made it quite clear that these false brethren are amongst us. These brothers are not going to change and become real. They have been planted by the enemy. We need to be wise in who we listen to and who we follow, and who we associate with. The time is short, lets make it count.  2 Peter chap 2 says this; even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways.

Wow, from this view they pretty much all look the same don't they. If you are not sure who you are listening to "or" you are not absolutely positive that the fellowship(friends) you are involved with have been "planted" by Jesus Christ, I would highly advise you pay attention. Jesus said in Luke chap 6 and verse 43 that A good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. While we have not been called to be fruit inspectors, we do need to use discernment and discretion with those we choose to associate. The Rapture is eminent. Will those with whom you associate participate in that event ?

It's starting to heat up a little... On to the next parable.

What EXCITING Times!

JERUSALEM THE STUMBLING BLOCK OF THE WORLD

Well guys, It's been about eight months since my last post, and what an eight months it has been. Jesus told us in Matthew 24, Mark 13 & Luke 21 all about what we could expect to see happen in these last days and He was spot on, as usual.

We have seen such turmoil in the entire world the past 1 1/2 to 2 years. Afghanistan, Greece, Israel, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Taiwan, Russia, China, The USA, Israel, The EU, Libya, Egypt, Congo, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand, Japan, Israel, Indonesia, Great Britain, Benelux, Germany, Italy, France & Spain. Surely you've noticed that I mentioned and highlighted Israel several times. That's because Israel, Jerusalem in particular, has been a stumbling block for various reasons to most of the countries listed above. These powers simply cannot accept the fact that Israel is a God ordained state with a right of sovereignty and Jerusalem has been; in the past, present & will be in the future; It's CAPITOL. The above list is only a small handful of countries that have been in the headlines this past twelve to eighteen(12-18) months with major problems. From economic instability, major natural disasters to war, famine & pestilence(diseases). Many of these world powers have suffered significantly. We are currently watching the USA completely melt down financially as well as morally. All of Europe seems to want to follow the trends of the US by melting down as well. Political unrest is at an all time high as politicians jockey for power through position. So many Military leaders of the free world seem to want to make Israel suffer for their own well being. Most of the Arabic countries would see Israel destroyed and be happy about it. They threaten her with annihilation if she doesn't give them whatever they want. Ezekiel had quite a bit to say about what has happened to Israel and what will be happening to Israel in the very near future in Chapters 37, 38 & 39.  On May14, 1948 God fulfilled the prophecy of the Valley of dry bones in chap 37:1-14. Israel became a nation of it's own. Before I go on, It should be noted that Jesus Himself said that the generation that witnessed the re-birth of the nation of Israel(Fig tree budding) would be the last generation on earth, that's us folks(Mark 13:28-31).

In 1967,  in the six(6) day war, Israel recaptured Jerusalem as her Capitol city and much of the land around that city as well. These new borders, known as the 1967 borders, won back fairly by the IDF(Israeli Defense Force), was ratified and approved by the United Nations. Now all of a sudden a war that was fought and won more than forty years ago is again in dispute. Well folks, God will soon step in with the prophecy of Ezekiel chaps 38 & 39. He is already at work setting the hook in the jaws of the power brokers mentioned in those chapters. In the Autumn of 2009 one of the largest Natural gas reserves on the planet was discovered beneath Northern Israel. Don't think that didn't get the attention of those who hate Israel. They want that gas. Turkey in the same time period bailed as a friend of the west and decided to get back to their Muslim roots. They now want to form a new Caliphate, that's like a new centralized Muslim government with one leader kind of like the Pope of the Muslim world, wow. This continuing saga is still waiting to be played out.
In September of 2011 when The UN will be jointly meeting in Jerusalem. The topic will be whether or not there will be a Palestinian State and whether or not Jerusalem will be split or entirely taken away from Israel. God will not allow this to happen.

Yom Teruah or Rosh Hash Hannah, The Jewish New Year happens to be at the end of September this year. It is a 2-3 day festival depending on what calendar you are using. The actual festival this year is on the 28th & 29th. Because on our calendar the day starts 6 hours later than on the Jewish calendar, it actually bleeds into the next day making it a three day affair. There are a couple of interesting facts to note regarding Yom Teruah. 

If you go to my You Tube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/joshdangeez , top twelve playlist on the right hand side, has eight(8) videos where Yom Teruah is explained more succinctly, but here are a couple of the interesting facts. 
 First fact; Try to stay with me here, Jesus said in Mark chap 13 in verse 32; But of that day and hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. When Jesus quoted this saying to His disciples, he was using a Jewish idiom describing Yom Teruah. It is known as the feast of "no man knows the day or the hour" because it is predicated on the new moon rather than just being a day or set of days. No one could know but the Father exactly when the new moon was going to appear, hence, no man knows the day or the hour. In that day there were actually two watchers that would pay close attention for the appearing of the new moon. When it could be seen, they would announce it to the High Priest and he would give the signal for the Shofar(actual Rams horn trumpet) to be blown, thus ushering the in New Year. Jesus, in parabolic form was telling us when He would return. In Mark 13 verses 35-37 He told us to watch. If, as in western thought, no man knows the day or hour were literal, what would we be watching for? In 1 Thessalonians chap 4 verse 13-18, Paul tells us: I would not have you ignorant brethren concerning those who have fallen asleep(died), lest you sorrow like others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that those who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not prevent those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an Archangel and with THE TRUMPET OF GOD, and the dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus shall we ever be with the Lord. Then in chapter 5 and verse 2, Paul quotes Jesus when he says that we should know perfectly that the day of the Lord would come as a thief in the night. Then in verse 4 he says; But you brethren, are not in darkness that this day should overtake you as a thief. Paul is telling us that we should know and realize the time when Jesus would be back to get us. Furthermore, Paul corroborates the statements made in the previous passage. In 1st Corinthians chap15 verses 51-53 when he says; Behold I tell you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, AT THE LAST TRUMPET. For the TRUMP will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on in-corruption and this mortality must put on immortality. He tells us when it's going to happen(Yom Teruah) and he tells us what's going to happen(Rapture). The only thing missing is what season? Well go back to what Jesus said in Mark 13:28-31, that generation that saw Israel become a nation would be the last. One might wonder at the length of a generation. Moses gives us the answer and it helps us to even more closely piece things together, in Psalm 90 and verse 10 he says; The days of our lives are three score and ten(70 years). If we go back to the date when Israel became a nation, 1948, and add 70 years, we come to 2018. Factor in the 7 year tribulation and you end up at 2011. Earlier I mentioned the Yom Teruah teaching on my You Tube channel. In that teaching it is clarified that Yom Teruah is the first fall feast of three. There are seven actual Feasts of the Lord mentioned in Leviticus that the Lord commanded us to remember throughout all of our generations. The first four of them were fulfilled literally by Jesus Christ at His first coming. The last three will be fulfilled by Jesus Christ at His second coming. The first of which is Yom Teruah(the Rapture). The second will be The day of Atonement when He sets His feet on the Mount of Olives to end the great battle of Armageddon. The third will be the feast of tabernacles when He rules and reigns and tabernacles amongst His people for one thousand years(The Millennium).

"Everything" just showing up DEAD all around the world??!!!

Wow... Today It's been brought to my attention and I am greatly amazed, that several prophetic passages are literally coming to pass before our very eyes. Hosea 4:3 says; "Therefore the land will mourn; And everyone who dwells there will waste away. Ok, so we're not wasting away.... YET! Keep reading; "With the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; Even the fish of the sea will be taken away" Yikes, have you been paying attention to whats going on all around us?

But let's not just take Hosea's word for it, how about another source; Zephaniah 1: 2-3 says "I will utterly consume all things from the face of the land" Says the Lord; "I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea and the stumbling blocks(idols) along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face of the earth" Ouch! sounds like some heavy handed words to me, how about you?

For the time being lets not focus on man being cut off from the face of the earth, or idols being scorched. Lets focus on the current news worthy events taking place and then ask ourselves whether or not we might want to start paying attention. Here are Ten (10) links I want you to take a look at. As you can see below, there are many different resources here and none of them are right wing conservatives trying to convert anybody to Christianity by using hellfire preaching or fear tactics. These are real events happening in real time and the Prophets Hosea & Zephaniah both said this would take place more than 2500 years ago. That's right, more than 2500!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/us/04beebe.html

http://www.blogher.com/frame.php?url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/04/birds-fall-from-sky-louisiana_n_804196.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/11/birds-fall-from-sky-california_n_807330.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_8540000/newsid_8544400/8544453.stm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/06/birds-dying-in-italy-thou_n_805541.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/18/200-dead-cows-wisconsin_n_810248.html

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-01-05/features/bs-gr-fish-kill-bay-20110104_1_dead-fish-mde-spokeswoman-upper-bay

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/01/05/more-dead-birds-this-time-in-sweden/

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4428657/Dead-penguins-wash-up-on-beach

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1344242/40-000-devil-crabs-washed-British-beach-freezing-conditions-hypothermia.html

Now the establishment will always try to come up with some scientific reason or excuse for what is happening, as in this FOX News video:

But my question is;
WHY is this all happening at the same time in every corner of this PLANET?!! I'm sure the lead penguin in Antarctica just led all of the other penguins to a mass die off on the beach!

The only conclusion I can come up with is...... global warming. Hahaha, right, LOL! Well you may choose to believe all of that nonsense, but I have been around to long to swallow that. There is something going on in this world that just doesn't make sense in the natural. The world is changing a a very rapid pace. Nearly every nation on the face of the earth is at the brink of bankruptcy, Nuclear proliferation is at an all time high, even if they are trying to tell us in the national media that we are disarming our warheads. Killer Earthquakes & every other type of natural disaster you can dream up in your goriest nightmares are a frequent current event. And now this!! The birds, fish and other beasts are dying off?? In record numbers??? For no apparent reason???? I don't know about you, but I have made sure that my train ticket is stamped for heaven by trusting in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for my personal salvation. He loves all of us so much that He paid for that train ticket more than 2000 years ago by allowing Himself to be cruelly murdered on our behalf. While that train ticket is free to us, it certainly was not free for Him. The price He paid was more than any of us could ever even imagine.

So take my advice, look deeply into your heart and ask yourself this question; If my life were to end tonight, have I secured that train ticket that I need to get into the kingdom of Heaven? Or am I standing at the train station all by myself, ticket-less,  hoping that the conductor will let me on the train because of my good looks. Jesus Christ Loves You. Ask Him to forgive you today and to give you new life in Him, and He will write your name down on that great docket in the sky called the book of life. Then turn from your ways and follow Him and He will fill you with so much joy and peace, that the current events you read on a daily basis, will only cause excitement about the fact that the train is almost ready to leave.