My Reaction to the Response to My Latest Article

I just want to share my reaction to the immediate response to my latest article with you to show that I'm not a robot who writes and posts articles without any regard to what people think...

Earlier I posted an article about why it is important for people to critique religious/spiritual experiences. I spent several hours carefully writing that article trying to not say something I would regret or something that could be misinterpreted. I even attempted to defend my stance by citing Bible prophecy-related verses about why people should beware of the potential for Satan to use lying signs and wonders to deceive people.

When I posted the article I thought that people reading the article would be fine with what I wrote. Apparently, my expectations were too optimistic because it seems I somehow offended a few people to the point that they subsequently clicked the “Unlike” button on the Facebook Fan Page, which signals to me that they no longer want to read my work anymore.

• If you haven’t already done so, if you like my work and/or want to receive notifications on Facebook as soon as a new article is posted please become a fan on Facebook. A notification will appear in your news feed within seconds after I post a new article.

This negative response saddens me because I did the best I could do when writing that article and other related articles. I take reader response to my articles personally because I put so much effort into the articles I write. Many articles take several hours to write because I attempt to provide evidence and support to defend what I write in my articles and limit the amount of opinion in them. I try very hard to make sure my thoughts are based on research-not opinion.

Today's events made me think of 2 Timothy 4:3-4, which warns that a time will come when many people will just want to hear about things that sound pleasant to them:

• 2Ti 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
• 2Ti 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

To clarify, I'm not saying the people who seemed to be offended by my article today are the kind of people referenced in 2 Timothy 4:3-4. I didn't say that... Today's events just reminded me of the passage because the passage mentions how difficult it would be sometimes to find a receptive audience.

I'm not sure a 100% sure when I'll write next because I need to overcome the feeling I had when I saw this negative reaction. But I'll try my best to overcome it...

Thank you for your time and your readership

The Importance of Critiquing Religious and Spiritual Experiences

The events people experience can have a very profound effect on the views they hold. Many people’s views on a variety of topics are shaped or reshaped by what they experience in life. This is particularly true with religious/spiritual experiences, especially when something unusual takes place.

• For instance, Paul (Hebrew name Saul) was a major persecutor of early Christians (Galatians 1:13-14, Philippians 3:6, and Acts 8:1-3) until he encountered Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:3-9). Following that life-changing experience, Paul converted to Christianity and became arguably the most prolific writer of the New Testament.

Over the weekend I read several old magazine articles about how some people automatically assume that certain religious/spiritual experiences they endure in life are divinely-inspired and reject people’s critiques of their experiences even when those critiques include biblical evidence that suggests these experiences may not have been biblical.

After reading these articles, I thought about some recent comments I’ve received in reaction to my criticism of Joe Coleman, the man in Ireland who claims to receive messages from the “Virgin Mary” and a man who claims to be a “light worker”, which is a New Age term basically describing someone who works to help evolve people’s consciousness in preparation for the New Age. I felt I could relate to these old magazine articles because I unsuccessfully tried to convince a couple of Coleman followers that their experiences being around Coleman were engineered by an unbiblical source.

• Today I want to discuss these examples in-depth to further illustrate the power that a religious/spiritual experience can have on people's thinking and how it can be dangerous for people to not test whether their experience(s) are biblical, particularly in the future .

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Eye-Opening Statistics about the State of Christian Belief in America

I’ve written several articles about the “falling away” of Christians under the assumption that a falling away is taking place. I based this assumption on what I’ve observed, on what other people have observed, and on my own personal experiences. I’m sure many people would agree that a falling away is taking place around the world. However, not everyone may agree with the assumption that a falling away is taking place because they have different experiences and observe different things which suggests a falling away isn't taking place.

I’ve searched for data to support or refute the notion that a falling away is taking place worldwide for the past several weeks. Unfortunately, I have not yet found data that I could use to report about a worldwide falling away. However, yesterday I found some fairly recent research about the current state of Christian belief in the United States, and it’s far worse than I thought…

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Another Israel vs Hezbollah War Seems Inevitable

A couple of weeks ago the coalition government in Lebanon collapsed after Hezbollah quit the government in protest of an ongoing investigation that was set to accuse Hezbollah of complicity in the 2005 assassination of a former Lebanese Prime Minister. After a power struggling lasting for several days, Hezbollah has emerged as a front-runner to form a new government in Lebanon with a billionaire Prime Minister candidate that it supports.

The potential for a Hezbollah-backed government in Lebanon is a cause of concern…

• Hezbollah receives a lot of support from Iran, so the rise of a Hezbollah-backed government would potentially give Iran greater influence in the region.
• Hezbollah is also an antagonist of the U.S. and Israel so relations between Israel and Lebanon and the U.S. and Lebanon could be severely damaged with the rise of a Hezbollah-backed government.

The potential rise of a Hezbollah-backed government in Lebanon has caused some people to even reassess their outlook on a potential war between Israel and Hezbollah. I argue that war between Israel and Hezbollah seems inevitable regardless of whether a Hezbollah-backed government controls Lebanon or not. Today I’ll share why I believe another war between Israel and Hezbollah seems inevitable.

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Which Countries May be Next to See Instability if Food Prices Continue to Rise?

Over the past several days the media has covered massive protests in Yemen, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, and Jordan. The situation in each country is unique, but one of the common issues people are protesting over is the rapidly rising cost of food, which takes up a much more significant portion of people’s household budgets in these countries than in the U.S.

• The rising cost of food is an issue to monitor because people need to eat in order to survive; a person can’t live without eating food for a sustained period of time like a person can live without listening to their iPod for a sustained period of time. As seen in many of the ongoing protests around the world, if people are having difficulty obtaining food they’ll put significant pressure on their government to do something about it.

Today I want to highlight a recent report from Nomura Global Economics and Strategy about which countries may be the most vulnerable if food prices continue to rise.

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My Thoughts on the Palestinian Papers

Yesterday Qatar-based international news network Al-Jazeera (who Israel accuses of having an Anti-Israel bias) revealed that they have acquired thousands of papers and documents detailing secret peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians over the past ten years. Al-Jazeera claims that the information they’ve obtained, which they nicknamed the “Palestinian Papers”, detail how the Palestinians made several concessions that observers previously believed they would not make so easily.

• Al-Jazeera mentioned that they plan to release the information they’ve obtained between January 23 and January 26.

Unsurprisingly, Palestinian leadership is not happy about news of a major documents leak. The Jerusalem Post quotes a high-level Palestinian Authority official stating that “Al-Jazeera has declared war on the Palestinians”. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas wondered how Al-Jazeera obtained the documents and denied accusations that they made several of the concessions mentioned in the documents.

The documents released so far provide information on the recent state of negotiations relating to some issues that have Bible prophecy implications like the control of the Temple Mount and the fate of East Jerusalem. Today I’ll highlight what has been reported regarding these two issues and discuss the potential impact that this major documents leak may have.

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Biblical Reasons Why People Should Not Ever Practice Channeling

A couple of days ago Coast to Coast AM, a late night American radio show that has around 3 million weekly listeners, featured an over two hour interview with two people who claim to be in contact with extraterrestrial beings. I was disturbed by what I heard since the people interviewed were able to promote the practice of channeling (a process people use to contact spirits), the primary method the two people claim to use to contact these alleged extraterrestrial beings, without facing any critique from the host.

• The interview was conducted under the false and dangerous assumption that channeling is a way for people to gain valuable knowledge about future events. The host asked the two people what their sources were telling them about certain subjects as if their sources reliably supplied people with truthful information (which they certainly do not). Not once did the radio host provide a critique of the practice of channeling for his audience of 3 million weekly listeners. In fact, the radio host endorsed the work of the two people he interviewed and encouraged people to buy the book they were selling. Basically, it was more than two hours of very spiritually dangerous radio for unsuspecting listeners.

I suspect the vast majority of people accessing this article already know about the dangers of channeling. I understand that I probably won’t shed that much new insight for you with regards to this topic-if any-in this article. However, there are many people out there who are unaware of the dangers of channeling. I write this article mainly for these people in hopes that they will find this article and learn to avoid this dangerous practice at all costs.

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A Research Study on the Impact Alien Discovery Could Have On the World’s Religions

I encountered a recent Guardian U.K. article about a group of scientists who’ve urged the United Nations to make contingency plans to deal with aliens in case they someday make contact with Earth in a recent edition of a scholarly journal. One of the scholarly articles the Guardian U.K. article mentioned concerned what might happen to the world’s religions if extra-terrestrial intelligence (aliens) was officially confirmed to exist.

The Guardian U.K. article gave a very brief summary of the author’s conclusion, which was the following:

"Theologians will not find themselves out of a job. In fact, theologians might relish the new challenges to reformulate classical religious commitments in light of the new and wider vision of God's creation".

Unfortunately, the Guardian U.K. article failed to report the research that the author based his conclusion on. The author’s actual research study contained some interesting findings that might give us some idea of what could happen in the future if “aliens” (which some prominent Christian and non-Christian researchers conclude are actually evil spiritual entities attempting to lead people astray and is a view I agree with) were to make contact with Earth/arrive on Earth.

• A scenario where beings descend to Earth may be possible in the future because Revelation 12:7-9 mentions that Satan and his angels will someday be thrown out of Heaven and cast into the Earth:

“(v7) And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, (v8) And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. (v9) And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

• People on Earth at that time could identify the fallen angels being cast to Earth as "aliens".

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One Aspect of the Tunisian Uprising May Provide a Glimpse of the Future

One of the most widely-reported world news stories over the past several days concerns the uprising in Tunisia. If you have not heard about the Tunisian uprising, I have a found a couple videos that’ll provide you some background information about why it is taking place: Link 1 Link 2

The President of Tunisia Eventually Fled the Country

In Bible prophecy terms, the uprising in Tunisia is an event that is consistent with what we should see as the seventieth week of Daniel approaches (the seven year period that most people refer to as the “tribulation”) which is an increase in commotions/political instability (Luke 21:9). However, I believe the Tunisian uprising is more meaningful than just a simple uprising... I believe one aspect of the Tunisian uprising may show us how revolutions of the future might be facilitated.

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How Can We Tell When We Are Definitely in the 70th Week of Daniel?

A reader recently asked me something along the lines of “how shall we know when the “tribulation” has definitely begun”. This is an important question to address because there is a lot of speculation about when the seventieth week of Daniel (the seven year time period that most people refer to as the “tribulation”) might begin or what people are going to see before it begins. It would be useful for us to have some definitive signposts that we look for so we do not get caught off guard when the seventieth week of Daniel does begin or get caught up in premature proclamations that the seventieth week of Daniel has already begun.

Today I’ll attempt to provide a few definitive signposts that the seventieth week of Daniel has begun or is about ready to begin.

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The Relative “Calm” before the Storm: The First 3.5 Years of the Seventieth Week of Daniel

A reader noted that the first three and a half years of the seventieth week of Daniel (the seven year period that people most people refer to as the “tribulation”) is going to be relatively “calm” compared to the time period following the midway point of the seventieth week of Daniel. The reader asked me if I had any ideas about why the “the FIRST 3 1/2 years seem relatively calm compared to the final 3 1/2 years?”

My response to the reader’s question is quite long so I might as well share my response with everyone just in case others might have a similar question or might want to read about this topic from my perspective…

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The Global Nature of Prophetic Events

A reader recently noted that many prophecies throughout the Bible only affect Israel and its people. The reader asked if this trend carried over to the Book of Revelation or if the Book of Revelation and the signs we are watching for are broader than that.

I think this is a good question to attempt to address because my views are based on an assumption that people should monitor events around the world and not just the Middle East; although watching the Middle East is important too since it’s an area of instability and an area where a lot of Bible prophecy is going to be fulfilled. I think it’s good to take a step back today and explain why I pay attention to global events instead of solely focusing on events in the Middle East.

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Locating the End Times Start Time on the Calendar

I occasionally hear speculation about how the End Times might begin on a certain date on the calendar because of some event or meeting that is scheduled to take place on that date. For instance, I recently heard speculation that the End Times might begin this April, which is the suggested time a former group of 26 E.U. leaders have given to current E.U. leaders to push for a U.N.-led solution for Middle East peace. The speculation is that this particular push for Middle East peace could lead to the confirmation of a seven year covenant, which Daniel 9:27 suggests to us is the event that marks the start of the seventieth week of Daniel (the seven year period that many people call the “tribulation”).

• Dan 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

I tend to not get too caught up in the speculation concerning certain dates/events because I believe the Bible provides information that we can use to estimate the time of year when the start of the seventieth week of Daniel is most likely going to occur.

• Today I’ll share with you why I believe the start of the seventieth week of Daniel is most likely going to occur at a specific time of year and share with you what time of year that is.

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Is the Kingdom of Cush Re-Emerging? Ezekiel 38:5

One of the more “positive” news topics these days is the independence referendum in Southern Sudan. Voters in Southern Sudan currently have an opportunity to determine whether Southern Sudan will secede from the northern part of Sudan and form their own, independent country. The following video provides some background information on the independence referendum which will continue through Saturday: Link

The independence referendum in Southern Sudan has caught my attention because it may potentially have some Bible prophecy implications if voters in Southern Sudan approve the referendum, which remains to be seen since 60% of registered voters must participate in the referendum to pass it. Today I’ll explain why this event may potentially have some Bible prophecy implications.

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A Historical Precedent for Man-Made Famine

Many people think about bad weather and crop-killing diseases (like Ug99) as factors that will be responsible for causing widespread famine in the future. Some people also cite potential energy shortages, water shortages, and war as other factors that could lead to widespread famine. I believe all of these events are factors that could contribute to widespread future famine, which is inevitable since the Bible tells us that we will see famines in the birth pangs period.

• Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
• Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

In addition, I would not rule out the possibility for some food shortages to be purposely exasperated or engineered by man-made decisions.

• It might seem difficult or crazy to envision that someone would be cruel enough to purposely create a famine or exasperate an existing one. However, such a scenario is not impossible because it has actually happened before. Today I’ll discuss an instance where a man was cruel enough to purposely starved millions of people to advance his agenda.

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Ug99 (Stem Rust): A Potential Future Driver of Famine

The Bible warns us that famine is one of the signs we will see during the birth pangs period:

• Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
• Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

I’m sure many people who monitor current events for signs that the End Times are approaching are drawn to news reports about the rapidly rising food prices, the United Nation’s warning that food prices are nearing crisis levels, and the emerging social unrest in countries that are most sensitive to the rapidly rising cost of food.

• Monitoring these recent developments is wise because this rising food prices situation can lead to much greater instability in the world if it continues. However, I would not yet say that what's going on is unprecedented since there was also a major food crisis in 2007-2008 (which quietly died down by the end of 2008). It’s still too early to determine whether we have something unprecedented now…

As news reports focus on rising food prices, a disease that may be capable of becoming a future driver of famine is very quietly spreading...

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My Take on the Report that China May Have Altered its Policy on Preemptive Nuclear Attacks

Last week I mentioned a news story that quoted China’s National Defense Minister proclaiming that China must prepare for military conflict in all strategic directions within the next five years. In my article I wrote how I wouldn’t be surprised if the United States was one of China’s future opponents in armed conflict.

Yesterday Kyodo News reported that China recently may have taken a significant step towards increasing its willingness to nuclear weapons against potential, future foes. Kyodo News cited internal Chinese documents which suggested that the Chinese military is now opened to launching preemptive nuclear attacks if it faces a “critical situation” in a war against a nuclear state (i.e. the U.S.) Link

• Before yesterday’s report China was known to have a “non-first strike” policy, which implied that China would only use nuclear weapons if they were attacked first. Yesterday’s report raised enough eyebrows that China’s Foreign Minister Spokesman today issued a public denial in an attempt to calm people’s nerves.

I have not seen the internal documents that Kyodo News obtained nor do I have access to military intelligence, so I am in no position to claim that China is lying or the Kyodo News report is false. However, I would not be surprised if the report is true because the idea that China is now considering preemptive nuclear attacks is consistent with the idea that they are preparing for military conflict in “all strategic directions”.

• If the report is true, Chinese military officials seem to be able to envision a scenario where they are engaged in a war against a nuclear state. Although it is the job of military officials to prepare for any scenario, it’s probably disconcerting for the United States and for China’s neighbors to see reports that China may becoming more liberal with the way it uses its nuclear weapons in war.

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Revelation 9:16: Insights on the 200 Million Horsemen Part 2

After reading Part 1 an anonymous reader questioned whether 200 million horsemen is possible given that it is hard to imagine that there are 200 million horses available in the world. The reader had good reason to question whether 200 million literal horsemen can be mustered since the world’s horse population is estimated to range between only 58 to 75 million.[1][2] This fact would argue against the idea that there are going to be 200 million people who will each ride their own horse on the battlefield...

One theory I’ve seen posed is that the 200 million horsemen are spiritual beings rather than human beings. Theoretically, there could be 200 million spiritual horsemen riding around and slaying people. However, I don’t think this theory could be completely proven. But I wouldn’t rule it out either…

Another possibility comes from viewing John’s description of the 200 million horsemen from his perspective. John lived in the first century A.D. when motorized vehicles, guns, computers, etc did not exist. Consequently, John probably faced the difficult task of describing things that people in his era had no conception of. Imagine if you were in John’s position and had to describe technological advances that won’t be around for another 1900 years... I think it’d be a very difficult task… Some people who adopt this viewpoint attempt to figure out what modern day technology(s) John saw using the following details:

• Rev 9:17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.
• Rev 9:18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.
• Rev 9:19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.

For instance, my dad mentioned to me recently that he thought John could have saw tanks and armored personnel carriers…

I’ll let you decide whether to believe the 200 million consist of human beings or spiritual beings. What I’m going to do today is to provide you information about troop levels around the world to show whether it is currently possible to have 200 million humans engaged in combat in case you tend to believe the 200 million consist of human beings.

• If you believe the 200 million are spiritual beings I still think you’ll find the numbers I present interesting...

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Revelation 9:16: Insights on the 200 Million Horsemen Part 1

Last week I wrote about how China may become a participant in armed conflict soon as it prepares for war in all “strategic directions” within the next five years. A reader commented that China could be a participant in future conflict because they could produce 200 million horsemen, which is a direct reference to Revelation 9:16. This comment got me interested in analyzing the topic of the 200 million horsemen because it reminded me that there is a lot of speculation about the 200 million horsemen…

In the coming days I’ll attempt to provide some analysis about the 200 million horsemen. Today I’ll provide an overview of the sixth trumpet which includes the reference to the 200 million horsemen.

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My Year 2011 Forecast

There are currently many pundits and analysts providing their 2011 predictions about all sorts of topics, including: politics, entertainment, investing, economics, gaming, sports, technology, etc. Since many people are currently providing their 2011 predictions I figured that I should provide my thoughts on what events and trends I anticipate are going to take place during the next year. Today I share my thoughts with you.

Before I begin I want to state emphatically again that I am not a prophet. I don’t pretend to be one or ever want to suggest that I am. I am totally fallible so there’s no guarantee that the trends or events I mention in my forecast are going to come to fruition. Now that I’ve gotten the disclaimer out of the way it’s time for my 2011 forecast…

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