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Sunday, March 20, 2016

Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem [Palm Sunday]

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Bible class could be added to public school curriculum in Kentucky

Tom Loftus, The Courier-Journal (Ky.) , WFAA 6:56 PM. CST March 11, 2016

Former Sen. Jack Westwood and Sen. Robin Webb (Photo: Tom Loftus)
FRANKFORT, Ky. – A bill to create an elective social studies class on the Bible in Kentucky public schools was unanimously approved by the Senate Education Committee on Thursday.
"What this does is to allow Bible literacy courses in the form of a social studies elective," its sponsor Sen. Robin Webb, D-Grayson, told the committee. "This bill would not have religious connotation as much as a historical connotation."
Senate Bill 278 would direct the Kentucky Department of Education to write regulations for the classes on the Bible that local school districts can choose to offer as an elective in grades nine through 12.
The bill says students shall not be required "to use a specific translation" of the Bible for the class. And it says the course must "follow applicable law and all federal and state guidelines in maintaining religious neutrality and accommodating the diverse religious views, tradition and perspectives of students."
Webb and Jack Westwood, a former state senator who now lobbies for the Family Foundation, both testified to the Bible's importance in history, literature, art and other aspects of culture and society.
"Senate Bill 278 does not teach the Bible...It's not proselytising," Westwood said. " What it does is teach about the Bible."
Robert Boston, director of communications for the Washington-based Americans United for the Separation of church and State, said in a phone interview, that such bills can pass constitutional muster but can raise problems when the classes begin.
"If it increases Bible literacy, that's fine because of the Bible's profound impact on society," Boston said. "But you have to be careful that it doesn't elevate one interpretation of the Bible over others."
The bill now goes to the full Senate for a vote.
Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached at (502) 875-5136 or tloftus@courier-journal.com.
Copyright 2016 KXTV

Friday, March 4, 2016

Earthquakes and Bible prophecy connection (1)

Today, earthquake is being talked about here and there. The repeated announcement over the radio and the television of a big earthquake that is expected to hit certain parts of Metro Manila is timely public service to calm us down and encourage all of us instead to concentrate on safety measures to take. Rather than immersing ourselves in self-pity and hysterical mood.
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Indeed, today is a perfect time for us to reflect on the significant role of earthquakes in Bible prophecy. Many of us are wondering and asking: do earthquakes have a significant role in Bible prophecy? Are the two interconnected? From the standpoint of the Holy Bible – yes, earthquakes and Bible prophecy are interconnected, intertwined, and interrelated. From beginning (creation) to the end of the Bible story (end times), we see earthquakes “highlighting” the happening of important Biblical events.
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Let me share with you some awesome information about earthquakes in the Bible (References: The Holy Bible and Internet reports):
• The Holy Land has been a region frequently visited by earthquakes. And more. It is a region in the world with a long and documented record of big earthquakes;
• Earthquakes that have been reported in the 21st century are not unique considering that there have been recorded many earthquakes before the 21st century. French Count F. Montessus de Ballore, considered the greatest student of earthquakes, studied and catalogued earthquakes during the period from 1885 to 1922 and came out with the astonishing finding that there were 171,434 earthquakes from the earliest recorded times. His report is stored in the library of the Geographical Society in Paris where it occupies 26 meters (over 84 feet) of bookshelves;
• One of the deadliest – if not the deadliest – earthquakes occurred in 2004 in the Indian Ocean in Indonesia with a 9.1 magnitude that triggered a tsunami. This earthquake combined with tsunami has been described as the world’s deadliest natural disaster since 1976. Though the Chile earthquake (1960, 9.5 magnitude, deaths – 1,700) and the Great Alaskan earthquake (1964, 9.2 magnitude, deaths -131) had greater magnitude than the Indian Ocean earthquake – the people who died in the Indian Ocean earthquake reached the staggering number of 180,000, which was more than those who died in the Chile or the Alaskan earthquakes.
• In Genesis 1:9-10, we find our Lord (on the 3rd day of creation week) creating land out of the waters that had earlier been occupying the whole earth. In the words of a writer, “continents seem to have been uplifted and the ocean floor was depressed during a great faulting process that established the foundations of the earth”:,
• The year-long global flood during Noah’s days is considered by many as the greatest sedimentary and tectonic event in our history since creation. The faulting of seafloor springs triggered the year-long global Noah’s flood (See Genesis 7:11);
• Was the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah recorded in Genesis 19:24-28 accompanied by an earthquake? Yes… a terrifying manifestation of God’s righteous anger due to the immorality of the people then. The archeological sites southeast of the Dead Sea (Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira) believed to be the remains of Sodom and Gomorrah are evidence of the catastrophic collapse and burning along the border fault of the Dead Sea Transform Fault;
• Remember the awesome shaking of the mountain before God spoke and gave the Ten Commandments to Moses? Or the splitting of the land where Korah and his men (rebellious to Moses) were encamped –before the “earth closed upon them.” (Numbers 16:31-33);
• When our Lord Jesus was crucified and exclaimed, “It is finished” as He died, “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to the bottom and the earth did quake…” (Matthew 27:51, KJV). Again, at the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus, there was a great earthquake (Matthew 28:2). 

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Michele Bachmann Reveals Prophetic Fulfillment in Current Events in Russia, Middle East

“And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the Kohanim the Leviim. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them.” Deuteronomy 17:18-19 (The Israel Bible™)
expressed her "excitement" over the Iran deal as a signal to the start of the End of Days.
Former Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann (Photo: Wiki Commons, Gage Skidmore)
In an recent interview, Michele Bachmann, a four-term former member of the House of Representatives, reaffirmed her belief that the End of Days is near and revealed how current Middle East events mirror Biblical prophecy.
Bachmann has stated many times that the world is moving towards Armageddon, with grave implications for the future of Israel.  Her opponents criticize her for framing political issues in Biblical terms, but her Biblical perspective allows her to view imminent catastrophe in a positive light, accepting it as part of God’s plan.
A devout Evangelical Christian, Bachmann views world events through a Messianic lens, a perspective she describes as “a Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other”. Like many rabbis, she sees Russia’s involvement in Syria as the precursor to the prophesied War of Gog and Magog. In a radio interview on the Olive Tree Ministries website earlier this month, she spoke passionately about the situation in Syria in the context of Biblical prophecies about the end of days.
Bachmann interpreted Russian intervention in Syria as the precursor to Putin’s more complex regional aspirations, explaining, “They would partition it so that Eastern Syria will effectively be considered disputed occupied territory by the Islamic State (ISIS). The world is about to grant legitimacy to the Islamic State, which will have control over Eastern Syria and Iraq.”
Noting the recent discovery of massive natural gas reserves in the Mediterranean and shale oil in the Golan, she speculated that Putin intends to control Western Syria. “If [Russia] can control that Eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, so that they can have that port, that’s what they’re really interested in: the potential offshore energy.”
She also predicted that Putin would invade Israel in partnership with Iran and supported by China. This move will give Russia a power base in the Middle East to control the world supply of oil and natural gas, thereby creating what Bachmann calls “a global world order”.
This, Bachmann said, is a fulfillment of Ezekiel when he describes the apocalyptic battles of Gog and Magog in chapters 38 and 39. She identifies Russia as Magog, described in Ezekiel as being “Rosh” from “the far north”. As a Christian, Bachmann bases her beliefs on the Bible, saying her theory about Syria “lines up with scripture.”
Her platform on social issues is firmly rooted in the Bible and the belief that “Biblical basis for society is the key to happiness.”
Bachmann mentioned Isaiah 12:3, a key Biblical verse which is the basis of much support for Israel. “Any nation that accepts God and his principles is blessed, and those who push away are cursed. That’s what we’re seeing happen to the United States,” she said in the interview. “We will suffer the consequences as a result.”
Her strongest criticisms were saved for the Obama-brokered deal with Iran over its nuclear program. She saw the unanimous UN Security council vote in support of the deal as fulfilling the Zechariah 12:3, which prophesied that the nations of the world will unite against Israel. She cited the UN vote as fulfilling that prophecy, being the first time the entire world has gone against Israel.
Bachmann argued that Obama’s agenda threatens the world and will bring about the prophesied end of days. Obama’s plan, according to Bachmann, is to become Secretary General of the UN, expanding its power in order to actively bring the US under its authority. For Bachmann, this is “foretold”, as she cites Acts I and Acts II from the New Testament.
“If we were smart enough with our Bible, we would know that,” she said with absolute certainty. “This is about the Lord speaking to the world, saying, ‘I am coming soon’”.
Obama responded by mocking her. At the White House Correspondents Dinner last March, the President scoffed at Bachmann’s prediction he would “bring about the Biblical End of Days.”
“Now that’s a legacy,” he quipped. “That’s big. I mean Lincoln, Washington, they didn’t do that.”
Despite viewing current events in an apocalyptic framework, she remains optimistic. According to Bachmann, grim world events herald in the messianic era. In an interview on One Place last April, she expressed this in no uncertain terms.
“We see the destruction, but this was a destruction that was foretold,” she said. “The prophets in the Old Testament, they longed to look into the days that we live in, they longed to be a part of these days. That’s why these are not fearful times. These are the most exciting days in history.”

Chuck Missler - Ten Monuments of Prehistory

Chuck Missler on Bible Prophecy pt 2

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

When was the Old Testament Completed???

Around 400 B.C. all the books of the Old Testament had been completed. By 300 B.C. the Jews who dwelt in Egypt, in the city of Alexandria, had begun to translate the Bible from Hebrew to Greek. The five books of Moses were finished around 270 B.C., and then the remaining books of the Old Testament were translated in the subsequent one hundred fifty years. This became the earliest translation of the Hebrew Bible. According to the Letter of Aristeas, this translation was done by seventy-two scholars, all of whom were experts both in Hebrew and in Greek; hence, it was called the Septuagint, which is the earliest translation of the Bible. Later when the Roman Empire unified the areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, some began to translate the Bible into Latin, but their translations were in a crude vernacular style and contained many absurdities. In A.D. 384 the church father Jerome undertook the revision of the Latin New Testament; his work of retranslating was completed in A.D. 388. The Latin translation of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew was finished by A.D. 404. This version was later called the Vulgate, which itself is a Latin word, meaning “made common.” Hence, it is also known as the Latin “common” version and is still being used by the Roman Catholic Church today.