Yesterday I posted the link to a McClatchy news article that speculated that Barack Obama’s sudden openness to discussing his faith comes as a reaction to a poll which showed that an increasing number of people are unsure about what he believes in or suspect he is not a follower of the Christian faith. Drake University political scientist Dennis Goldford suggested in the article that Obama’s sudden openness is a tactic to show people he’s not out of the mainstream.
What I want to do today is to alert people that it’s not unprecedented for a political leader to lie about their religious beliefs for political reasons (I'm not trying to imply that Obama is lying or not). The political leader I highlight today was a fairly well-known man (okay, that’s an understatement) named Adolf Hitler.
A Historical Example of a Political Leader Misleading the Public About His Religious Beliefs For Political Reasons
Obama Talks Religion
I have an event to attend shortly so I’ll keep this short…
One of the major headlines today is a story about Barack Obama suddenly being open about his religious faith. McClatchy Newspapers wrote a surprisingly insightful story about Obama’s sudden openness and the potential motivation behind Obama’s sudden openness. The article is very interesting and can be found at this link
Other interesting articles about Obama’s religious beliefs and background include:
- A 2004 Chicago Sun Times Interview where Obama discusses religion: Link
- An excerpt from Obama’s book The Audacity of Hope: Link
I’ll let you judge whether to believe him or not and let you decide what to glean from these articles. I probably missed a lot of other articles that people have found interesting. I apologize in advance for that.
Woops, time for me to go!
Permanent Open Market Operations: A Driver of Stock Market Rallies?
The U.S. stock market rallied about 2% last week arguably without a major, positive headline driving the buying.
- Some people on Wall Street pointed to Tuesday’s Federal Reserve’s statement about how they prefer to see more inflation as the main reason for the stock market’s rally. The problem with this explanation is that stocks ended lower following the Federal Reserve’s announcement on Tuesday. In addition, the Federal Reserve didn’t say anything about how they would go about to create more inflation. The Federal Reserve’s announcement was all talk and little action.
- Some financial media outlets pointed to U.S. home sales figures and durable goods orders as other possible reasons for stocks to rally higher. The problem with this explanation is that both pieces of data were not good and there were financial media outlets completely contradicting each other in their reporting about the nature of the data. For instance, The Financial Times reported that last week’s U.S. durable goods data was better than expected and was thus a driver of higher stock prices. In contrast, the Wall Street Journal reported that stocks went up last Friday despite weaker than expected durable goods data in the U.S. Meanwhile, the home sales data was not only below expectations-it was a complete disaster.
Unsurprisingly, I do not believe that the U.S. stock market’s major move last week was justified based on the nature of the news that was out there. I suspected that something else had to be at work…
To further the controversy/suspicion surrounding the recent movement in the stock market, Rick Santelli, the CNBC financial reporter whose rant against the government last year inspired the rise of America’s Tea Party Movement, implied on Monday morning that September’s stock market rally was “bought and paid for” at 9:37 of the following video.
Zerohedge, a financial website that I follow regularly, reported that there was indeed some suspicious activity going on throughout all last week which may have been responsible for the stock market’s seemingly inexplicable rally. This suspicious activity is what I want to cover in today’s blog post because the average person is highly unlikely going to hear about it when reading a newspaper or a mainstream news website.
A Peculiar Article About the U.N. Preparing for Alien Contact
I’m currently working on a rather significant article about some suspicious activity going on in the stock market and examining some Bible prophecy chapters that I feel require more study (chapters a lot of people don't cover). In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a link and my thoughts on a rather peculiar article about the U.N. considering naming someone to the role as ambassador of Earth in case aliens contact Earth: Link
For those who are new to this blog, my research indicates that aliens are a real, but they are low-level fallen angels that likely have a role in Satan's attempt to deceive people now and during the End Times. My research also indicates that the U.N. is not exactly an organization that works for Christians so perhaps those who run the U.N. are trying to draw people's attention to the possibility that aliens are real and could possibly contact Earth. Believe it or not, there are some people out there who put faith into the so-called "gravitas" of U.N. so if the U.N. takes the possibility of alien contact seriously perhaps some previous "unbelievers" may begin to take the possibility seriously. This Telegraph story about the U.N. may end up converting a few people into believers of the alien phenomenon, but it also gives a lot of people more reason to view the U.N. as a laughable organization. "Ambassador to Earth" is something I would expect to see in an old, black and white science fiction movie, not in real life... Now we may have one soon according to this article. Yikes
A Major Implication of Isaiah 11:14: Finding When Damascus Gets Destroyed
A few days ago I suggested that the Bible indicates that Israel will attack the Moabites, Edomites, the Ammonties, and Philistines after the Battle of Armageddon. I also wrote that I believe the details of Israel’s attack on Moab, Edom, and Ammon is described in Jeremiah 48 and 49. If each of these claims are factually correct then we may be able to identify the specific time when another major future event takes place: the destruction of Damascus.
Isaiah 11:14: Israel Conquers its Enemies Part 2
The majority of the past few blog entries have focused on Isaiah 11:11-16, one of the most important passages in Bible prophecy. Last Thursday’s entry focused on the desert highway that the redeemed, remnant of Israel located in Egypt and Assyria shall travel on as they head back to Israel while last Friday’s entry focused on finding the specific time when the remnant of Israel shall be gathered from around the world. Monday’s blog post began a multi-part series on Isaiah 11:14, perhaps the most important verse of Isaiah 11:11-16. For those who are reading my blog for the first time, here is what Isaiah 11:14 says:
- Isa 11:14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
Monday’s blog post specifically covered how the remnant of Israel (“they” in Isaiah 11:14) are likely going to get revenge against the Edomities, Ammonites, and the Moabites following the Battle of Armageddon. Israel shall annihilate these nations and shall take possession of their respective lands. Part 2 of this multipart series of blog posts about Isaiah 11:14 shall focus on the fate of the Philistines.
My Strange Experience Watching the President of Iran Speak 5 Years Ago
I need some more time to reflect on Isaiah 11:14 before I release Part 2 of my series of blog posts on the verse. However, I don’t want to leave you empty-handed today so I’ll share a strange story about something I experienced while I watched the President of Iran address the U.N five years ago.
This week is the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. World leaders usually spend the week meeting with each other and making speeches to a world audience. Incredibly, every world leader is allowed to pontificate about anything they want regardless of how incendiary it is. For instance, the President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can question whether the Holocaust actually happened and the President of Venezuela Hugo Chavez can imply that George W. Bush is the Devil without being arrested or thrown out the U.N. building. Usually, the annual gathering is something that can be ignored, but something took place five years ago at the gathering which I can never forget...
Isaiah 11:14: Israel Conquers its Enemies Part 1
The past couple of blog entries have focused on Isaiah 11:11-16, one of the most important passages in Bible prophecy. Thursday’s entry focused on the desert highway that the redeemed, remnant of Israel located in Egypt and Assyria shall travel on as they head back to Israel while Friday’s entry focused on finding the specific time when the remnant of Israel shall be gathered from around the world. Today’s blog post will begin a multipart series on perhaps the most important verse of Isaiah 11:11-16: Isaiah 11:14.
Isaiah 11:14 is perhaps the most important verse of Isaiah 11:11-16 since it provides an overview of what Israel (they) will do to the Edomites, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Philistines in the future.
- Isa 11:14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
I’ve had extreme difficulty understanding Isaiah 11:14 for the past few years because I’ve been unsure when the events described in verse 14 will happen and unsure whether Israel will deal with the Philistines at the same time they will deal with the Edomites, Moabites, and the Ammonites. It’s important to understand these issues because many passages in the Bible deal with the annihilation of the nations listed in Isaiah 11:14. For instance, Zephaniah 2:5-9 promises that the land of the Philistines, Moab, and Ammon will be destroyed by God and that the remnant of Israel will take over their respective territories in the future.
- Zep 2:5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
- Zep 2:6 And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.
- Zep 2:7 And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.
- Zep 2:8 I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.
- Zep 2:9 Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.
I believe I’ve made enough progress in understanding these issues that I can comfortably share my thoughts with you on them. However, I cannot provide a complete analysis on the fate of Edom, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia in just one blog entry because there would be too much to read in one sitting. As a consequence, I’ll cover Edom, Moab, and Ammon in this blog post and save my analysis on the fate of the Philistines in a future blog post (probably the next one).
The Lord Sets His Hand Again: Thoughts on Isaiah 11:11-12
Yesterday I mentioned my ongoing study of Isaiah 11:11-16. Recall that I mentioned that Isaiah 11:11-16 is an important passage to understand because it summarizes events described in a lot of prophecies in the Bible, including much of the Book of Isaiah and potentially chapters like Jeremiah 48-49.
I’ve always wondered about Isaiah 11:11 and 11:12. I’ve wondered whether verse 11:11 describes a different event than verse 11:12 and wondered about the specific timing that these verses will be fulfilled.
- Isa 11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
- Isa 11:12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
After making some progress in recent days, I feel confident enough to provide you with my current thinking on these two verses in this blog entry.
A Sample of the Prophecy I’m Studying at the Moment: The Highway of Isaiah 11:16
My primary focus right now in terms of studying Bible prophecy is on Isaiah 11:11-16, which says the following.
- Isa 11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
- Isa 11:12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
- Isa 11:13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.
- Isa 11:14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them.
- Isa 11:15 And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod.
- Isa 11:16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.
Isaiah 11:11-16 is an extremely important passage because it summarizes a lot of End Times prophecies concerning the redemption and return of Israel. Many prophecies in the Bible concern the redemption and the return of Israel (especially those of the latter part of the Book of Isaiah) so a good understanding of this passage will enable you to understand a lot of the prophecies of the Bible.
I’ve been trying to figure out the timing of the events described in the above passage for the past several years, but it has not been until recently that I’ve made some significant progress on pinpointing the timing of the events described above. I’m not yet done with my study of the passage above, but I’ll share with you my current thinking on the highway of Isaiah 11:15-16.
Creme Makes Outrageous Claim and More: Sept 2010 Share Intl Magazine Review
Pre-Article Disclaimer for Newer Readers: If you are reading this blog for the first time or are not totally familiar with my work, I am a 100% Christian writer who analyzes things from a Christian point of view. I sometimes research into what the spiritual forces of evil are up to in hopes of gleaning information to help us Christians figure out what is going on or to figure out what Satan has planned. You can read more about why I dare consider these unbiblical sources at the following link Now on to the article...
A couple days ago the September 2010 edition of Benjamin Creme’s (the official spokesmen of Maitreya (the leader of the Ascended Masters, a group of spiritual beings mentioned in Ephesians 6:12 as the “spiritual wickedness in high places”) magazine was released online. As I typically do, here is a brief review of the contents of Creme’s latest magazine.
Bible Prophecy: The Ultimate Puzzle
There is a lot of information out there about Bible prophecy in books and on the Internet. Unfortunately, much of that information is wrong and people put too much faith in so-called “experts” to get their information. Any person can use a piece of scripture to defend their argument on a topic, but a person who truly knows what is going to happen can account for virtually all of scripture to defend their entire End Times point of view.
Analyzing the Big U.S.-Saudi Arms Deal
The big news today is that Barack Obama has agreed to sell Saudi Arabia $60 billion worth of military weaponry. The deal includes 84 new F-15 fighters, upgrades to 70 existing F-15s that the U.S. has already sold to the Saudis in the past, 70 new Apache Helicopters, 36 Little Birds Helicopters, and 72 Blackhawk Helicopters. The reaction towards this story seems to be overwhelmingly negative based on the comments I’ve read on news websites. I’ll try my best in this blog entry to provide a “fair” analysis of this deal in hopes I can differentiate my reaction to this deal from others’.
An Example of How the Value of the Stock Market Does Not Always Reflect Reality
Recall that I wrote about how the Bureau Labor Statistics (BLS) completely made up data regarding the number of Americans who filed for new unemployment benefits. The data showed an “unexpected” decline in new claims filed mostly thanks to the BLS claiming that there were major declines in the number of new claims filed in three of the worst state economies in the U.S.: California, Michigan, and Illinois (no data was reported by these states because of the Labor Day holiday so the BLS made up their own numbers for these states and six other states that also did not report data).
Wall Street and the media cited the data as the reason why the stock market was up on Thursday and cited the data to argue that the U.S.’s unemployment situation was not nearly as bad as people feared. For instance, here is a Bloomberg video where the reporter naively trumpets the faulty jobless claims data as 100% fact and reason for people to remain optimistic about the so-called “economic recovery” in the U.S.
When I saw Wall Street and the media treating this false information as truthful information and saw how this information became an excuse to buy stocks, I realized that there is something wrong with how the stock market is valued.
Believing the Media's Portrayal of Reality is Getting Harder...
Yikes. I feel like I am living in warped reality after reading a couple of news headlines this morning…
Another Look at Psalms 83: The Hidden Ones
I want to analyze Psalms 83 again but with a focus on a key detail located in verse 3. Verse 3 tells us that God’s enemies will seek to make war against His “hidden ones”.
- Psa 83:1 A Song or Psalm of Asaph. Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God.
- Psa 83:2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
- Psa 83:3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.
- Psa 83:4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
Anyone who claims to know when Psalms 83 will take place in the future must fully explain who are the “hidden ones” described in verse 3. Who is hiding? And why would they be hiding? This is what I’ll tackle in this blog entry.
A Reader Challenge: Find Verses that Explain Israel vs. Iran
The Israel vs. Iran situation has become more complicated with Iran activating their nuclear facility in Bushehr last month. Today there is a report that Iran is relocating some key research aspects of their nuclear program and weaponry to Bushehr because they believe that environmental concerns regarding a strike on the Bushehr nuclear facility will dissuade Israel from attacking Bushehr regardless of what Iran has stationed there.
I am curious whether anyone believes there are any Bible prophecy verses that may account for or predict the outcome of this current Iranian nuclear situation, and if so, which verses. Before I share my thoughts on Israel vs. Iran I want to make sure there are not verses that I've missed before I write my analysis. If you have some verses please leave a comment on this post or email me.
A Biblical Viewpoint On the Work to Bring a New World Order
Before I begin with the main topic of today’s blog post I want to mention that I have a “new” addition to the blog. Above the blog posts now appears a widget that displays headlines that I feel are important to understanding what is going on today and/or the future along with some of my thoughts on the headlines. I intend to update the widget frequently (even on days when I may not post a new blog entry at all) so if you’re interested in what news headlines I believe stand out or my reaction to certain news events you should checkout the blog on a regular basis.
Today I want to address a topic that I do not write about a lot: the possible efforts to bring a New World Order. I have New Age/occult sources that speak about the work to create a New World Order and how great it is going to be when it finally arrives, but I’ll refrain from citing them in this article as much as possible because I want to primarily focus on whether we can use the Bible to support the notion that there is an effort to bring a New World Order.
EU President to Propose the Creation of an EU Treasury
I wrote back in May that we need to watch for the possibility of fiscal union emerging as a result of the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe. I wrote that fiscal union would be an important development to watch for the following reason:
Fiscal union is not quite the same as political union, but it’s a major step towards it. Under fiscal union the members of the EU would be able to influence each other’s budgetary and taxation policy. The determination of budgetary and taxation policy is not only an economic decision but a political decision. Therefore, the creation of a fiscal union would give EU members some political sway in the domestic politics of individual European countries. The next step after fiscal union would probably be political union.
Today there is a report that Yves Leterme, the Prime Minister of Belgium and the current President of the EU, is going to proposal new legislation that could lead to the creation of an EU Treasury. The creation of an EU Treasury would be a step towards fiscal union as EU countries would have shared responsibility for paying the debt that the treasury would issue and the EU Treasury apparently would help to harmonize budgetary policies throughout the EU.
The creation of a EU Treasury is not imminent yet because there is likely going to be some opposition by Germany and others weary about surrendering more sovereignty to Brussels. Nevertheless, this is something to watch given consequences associated with fiscal union. The complete report can be found at this link.
Technology Could Become a Liability in the End Times
I received a brochure from my cell phone service provider earlier this week announcing that I am eligible for a free phone upgrade if I renew my contract with them. I currently own a cell phone that practically is so obsolete that I think phones from ten years ago might have more technological capabilities than my phone. In addition, I might be the only 25 year old in a Western country that has never sent a text message from a cell phone.
Given my backwardness when it comes to cell phones and their uses, I was amazed to see the features and capabilities of the phones I was offered. These phones had television, video recording, Internet, social media, texting, and music playing capabilities. Reading about these phones not only made me realize how much technology has improved in the past ten years but also made me realize something startling about where we are heading in the future with technology.
A Quick Take on the New Middle East Peace Negotiations
I’ll keep this short because I am constantly bailing out water from a leaky washing machine at the moment. Today begins the first Middle East peace negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians in almost two years. Barack Obama says he is “hopeful, cautiously hopeful, but hopeful" while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas recognized that reaching a peace deal is going to take a lot of hard work...
Analyzing the Role Domestic Politics May or May Not Play on U.S. Troop Escalation in Afghanistan
Yesterday Barack Obama gave a special television address to the American public to announce the end of combat operations in Iraq. The announcement represents another step in Obama’s goal of ending American’s military involvement in Iraq by the end of 2011. Although there are still 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, they no longer officially have a combat role with the Iraqis assuming responsibility for their own security. Meanwhile, Obama is escalating America’s military presence in Afghanistan as he believes more U.S. troops are needed to secure the country.
When I thought about Obama’s policies in Iraq and Afghanistan yesterday I remembered that all of this should not be a surprise for me because Obama is attempting to do what he said he would do before the 2008 election: try to end the war in Iraq and try to increase U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan.
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