Nearing Midnight In depth weekly commentary (Mar 30)

March 30 What Should We Be Doing? From the very beginning of the site, I determined that one of my main duties would be to motivate fellow Christians to be productive in their faith. Far too many prophecy sites have an exclusive fixation on dire news. I think it is foolhardy for people to be watching the end-time signs unfold, while at the same time divorcing themselves from any responsibility that comes with being a believer. We are seeing spectacular signs of how close we are to the tribulation hour. Bible prophecy is advancing on all fronts. I’m particularly amazed at how the world is casually talking about creating a new global currency. I have noticed many long-time prophecy commentators have been writing, “I’ve never seen anything like this before” type articles. The interest in prophecy is showing up in our traffic. March will easily be Rapture Ready’s busiest month ever for bandwidth traffic. Yes, all this end-time news is amazing, but what are doing about it? We’ve all seen the headlines concerning the shaky state of the financial system. It makes me wonder where Christians have their priorities when they continue to put their faith in a system that is based on a mountain of IOUs . If believers could see the ultimate fate of their earthly treasures, they would probably be more inclined to invest in their heavenly accounts. I get a lot of emails from Christians who express their frustration at having to watch the world slowly fall into the enemy’s hands. They want to go home and leave this wicked world. I think the best cure for the rapture blues is the realization that we are accountable for every second we spend here on earth. Someday, we will stand before the Lord and tell Him what we’ve done in His name. After the rapture, it’s show and tell: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). I don’t understand how Christians can believe so strongly in Bible prophecy, and yet have such a cloudy grasp of their role in the kingdom of God. I recently came across a website that lectures visitors about the importance of being busy about the Lord’s work. The site’s owner needs to take his or her own advice. The main page has a daily news log that has not been updated for two years. I’ve seen enough of these abandoned prophecy sites to know that laziness or boredom are the prime reasons a web venture becomes defunct. What has kept me motivated to maintain this site for 22 year is the understanding that the only things that have lasting value are what I do in Jesus’ name. A couple of years ago, I retired from the Air Force after two decades of service. Even though I enjoyed serving my country, very little of my work in the military will translate to the life to come. It is very important to regularly ask ourselves how dedicated we are to the cause of Christ. We can often tell when the rest of the Church is losing its focus, while at the same time, we overlook our own slothfulness. Here are few questions to test your motivation level: How active is your prayer life? Do you regularly study God’s Word? Do you live a life of spiritual integrity? When is the last time you shared your faith with someone else? Do you support Christian causes? One of the key things missing from the Church today is a sense of duty. The first century Christians weren’t willing to die for their faith simply because they joined a club. They were willing to suffer martyrdom because they had a hope that went beyond the cares of this world. Our actions are what really define us as believers. The desire to spread the gospel message is something that should be on the hearts of all Christians. Charles Spurgeon once put it very bluntly, “Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that." Opportunity abounds here at Rapture Ready. We are probably the only major prophecy site that welcomes input from the public. Most prophetic websites are run by people who have a bias for featuring their own content. We’re so open to receiving anything that promotes the gospel message, we’ve even gone as far as editing some articles submitted by people with good ideas but a shortage of good grammar skills. Once we cleaned up and post their articles, they become productive witnessing tools to thousands of people each month. The hardest part about doing something for the kingdom of God is getting started. If you decided to write a personal testimony and you only write two words a day, what does it matter if it takes you two years to complete the task? Once it’s finished, you will have accomplished something that 99.9 percent of your fellow believers will never do. Another factor that keeps my nose to the grindstone is the realization that the opportunity to be productive in the Lord’s work is only for a limited time and will never be repeated. Once the rapture takes place, intercessory prayer, the sharing of our faith, and the ability to financially support godly causes will abruptly end. “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (Rev 22:12). -- Todd Where is Antichrist? Part I The most frequently asked question at prophecy conferences and in Bible prophecy classes–at least in my experience—is: “Is America in Bible prophecy?” The second most asked is: “Do you think the Antichrist is alive on earth today?” These questions are for the most part posed by people in the audiences or classes in general. However, more and more frequently I find these questions being asked by journalists, both print and broadcast. It is interesting to me that I rarely hear a skeptical or scoffing tone in the voices of the media representatives who interview me. There seems a sense, even among secular journalists, that perhaps there’s something to this Bible prophecy stuff after all. Don’t get me wrong: I’m not sensing a sudden turning to God, or to His Word. However, there is a halting uncertainty there. Like, “Well, maybe I had better be just a bit more serious about the subject, since there is such angst over these strange economic conditions.” Economic Conditions There is a sense that strange, unexplainable things are happening, and even secular newshounds seem to viscerally understand that Bible prophecy has something to do with the increasingly troubling issues and events of our time. U.S. leaders–I use that term loosely—have seemingly thrown caution to the wind. It’s like, as I heard one Bible prophecy broadcaster say the other day—those who are supposed to be trying to fix the melting financial structure of America have placed the whole shebang on 17 black, and have given the roulette wheel a hope-filled turn. Actually, it is more like they have written trillions in IOUs and put them on 17 black, and have given the wheel a turn. If the little ball ends up on any number other than 17 black, what then? That is the crux of the crucial nature of this insanity surrounding the American economy as the end of the age approaches. Craziness rules--like when the Federal Reserve reached in its right pocket and transferred more than a trillion dollars IOU to its left pocket to keep the American financial system afloat. “Just last Wednesday the Fed said it would flood the teetering financial system with an additional $1.2 trillion. The money will be used, the Fed said, to buy government bonds and mortgage-related securities in hopes of lowering the borrowing costs for home mortgages and other types of loans, thereby stimulating economic activity. In other words, the central bank will print more money to pay for the purchases. What the Fed does not explain publicly is how those kinds of infusions of money out of thin air, with nothing to back it, reduce the purchasing power and assets of all Americans by devaluing the dollar. The $1.2 trillion is in addition to hundreds of billions already added to the system since the beginning of the year and dwarfs even the biggest government bailouts to date…” (“Fed's secrecy policy 3 years old,” WorldNetDaily MoneyNetDaily, March 22, 2009). Keep in mind that Federal Reserve is a non-government agency. Congress designated this monetary governing body to control the nation's money supply. The Fed’s actions directly impact the value of the dollar. This body, manned by the non-elected financial elite, holds sway over every investment held by Americans. Actions like those taken by the Federal Reserve in the case of creating out of nothingness the trillion plus dollars, then putting that massive IOU into the system with a blind faith that that unbacked infusion will beat the odds of failure, will, if nothing else is done, put not only America’s economy, but the economies of the nation-states of the world into the final stages of collapse. The following excerpt tells of just how surreptitious are the actions against the taxpayers and their offspring, who are expected to shoulder the burden of funding the globalist elite’s grandiose plans to build their new world order. “WASHINGTON – As America's economy continues in freefall, tomorrow marks an auspicious three-year anniversary – the day the Federal Reserve announced, with little fanfare, its decision to stop reporting to the public the M3 money supply, the broadest measure of three standards of measurement…Since 2006, Americans have seen their investments plummet in value and witnessed the shrinking buying power of their earnings. Why did the Fed make that decision three years ago? What was its rationale? The justification for the secrecy by the organization that prints money was cost. By not producing those numbers for the public, the Fed would save about $1.5 million annually…” (ibid.). The Craziness Proliferates! It should be astonishing to think that the media, so obsessed with nefarious financial dealings by civilian monetary elite–e.g., the AIG executive bonuses, would let civilians with the power of the Fed go without being punished for perpetrating such surreptitiousness on American taxpayers. There seems to be, however, not the slightest notice. The $1.5 million savings by the Fed in not reporting to the public the M3 money supply amounted to 0.00000699 percent of its annual net income of last year. This savings was highlighted as sufficient reason to keep vital information from the public. Just to point out the deceptive nature of this piddling savings being reported in order to justify keeping taxpayers in the dark, remember that the same media went all out in diverting the publics’ attention from the enormous bailouts by focusing on–by contrast to the prodigious bail-out dollar amount— the infinitesimal bonuses paid to AIG executives. Remember, too, that the bonuses were given to the AIG executives through contractually mandated arrangements. The sleight of hand by the Fed in transferring the massive IOU from one pocket to the other to keep the country’s economic ship afloat was done under the knowing eyes of the Obama Administration and Congress. An uninformed American public was, and is for the most part, kept in ignorance by news media not fully disclosing the scope of the thievery of the economic well-being of this and future generations. What About Antichrist? This essay’s title is “Where Is Antichrist?” So, where, if anywhere in this present hour, is this future evil Bible character in all of the foregoing? Can he be on the scene today? Jesus forewarned that false christs will come on the scene in the latter times. The definition of antichrist is most often given as the one who will present himself in place of (imitate) Jesus Christ, and will at the same time oppose Jesus Christ. The “beast” is prophesied to be the world’s worst tyrant of human history. The prophet Daniel was given the following about this person who is called “son of perdition,” “man of sin,” and many other names. “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand “ (Dan. 8:24-25). We will examine in next week’s Nearing Midnight commentary this man who is of legendary proportions, yet who transcends by far any legend. He is not an imaginary monster such as Dracula in the Stoker novel, or Darth Vader as in Spielberg’s fictional wars among the stars. Antichrist is a real monster, and a most treacherous one, because he will through supernatural deceit appear as a geopolitical and socioeconomic savior of mankind. Be sure, the beast of Revelation 13 is about to step into the spotlight of history’s final act. -- Terry ***PROPHECY CONFERENCE – WAKE UP AMERICA!*** America stands today on the brink of a prophetic leap into the unknown. The nation is not mentioned by name in Bible prophecy, but is she there, by inference, within the pages of history about to be written by God’s own Majestic Hand? Southwest Radio Church, now a 120 station, nation-wide network which has been broadcasting since 1933, with a voice commissioned by god for the end times, will host a series of presentations to address where lies the ultimate destiny/fate of the United states of America. Terry James will be featured speaker, dealing with the most pressing current issues and events of prophetic relevance as presented by his book just released by Harvest House Publishers. “The American Apocalypse: Is the united States in Bible prophecy?” examines the nation’s standing as the most advanced in human history, and at the same time dissects the many-faceted perplexities that threaten its fall. Why is the United States, which has almost single-handedly brought the world to the technological apex of human history, not mentioned in the Bible? Or is it? The American Apocalypse examines how and why America stands as the global pillar to which all nations are tethered through the fantastic electronic and satellite inter-linkages she has been primary in producing. James maintains that key to where this nation Stands, and to her destiny, is America’s supernatural relationship with God’s chosen people, Israel. ALSO: 5 other top prophecy experts will speak on where America and the world stand at present on God’s Prophetic Timeline. Saturday, April 18, 2009 Embassy Suites Hotel 11301 Financial Centre Parkway Little Rock, Arkansas Call 1-800-652-1144, or go to swrc.com for further details. The conference is FREE, and there is no registration required.

Nearing Midnight In depth weekly commentary (Mar 9)

March 16 Sorry Dave, Your Visions Aren’t Needed I have received dozens of emails concerning the prediction made by David Wilkerson, pastor of Times Square Church in New York. Because several news organizations have featured his doomsday warnings, I thought I should comment on them. Here is what Wilkerson posted on his blog: "I am compelled by the Holy Spirit to send out an urgent message to all on our mailing list, and to friends and to bishops we have met all over the world. AN EARTH-SHATTERING CALAMITY IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. IT IS GOING TO BE SO FRIGHTENING, WE ARE ALL GOING TO TREMBLE - EVEN THE GODLIEST AMONG US." After pulling the fire alarm, Dave gives us this dire prediction: "For ten years I have been warning about a thousand fires coming to New York City. It will engulf the whole megaplex, including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut. Major cities all across America will experience riots and blazing fires—such as we saw in Watts, Los Angeles, years ago. There will be riots and fires in cities worldwide. There will be looting—including Times Square, New York City. What we are experiencing now is not a recession, not even a depression. We are under God’s wrath." I have a big problem with David Wilkerson's so-called visions. This is not the first time he has warned of calamity coming to America. He has a rather long track record of making these predictions. I first read of his fetish for prognostication from a book he wrote entitled, The Vision. Published in 1974, it claimed that America was headed for calamitous horrors in the near future. Several times in the book, he said his visions would occur within the next decade. He also linked a number of current events to the end times. Here are some of his failed predictions: Marijuana will be legalized. Nude dancing in church will become popular. We will see “Satan evangelists” witnessing to people. Bands of homosexuals will roam the streets, raping people at will. A new drug will cause teenagers to become more sexually active. Environmentalists will come under heavy criticism. Storms with huge hailstones will kill thousands of people and cause massive damage. The U.S. dollar will collapse. There will be a major famine in America. Wilkerson was wrong because his forecasting was heavily tied to trends of the ‘70s. For example, the drug culture and the sexual revolution were both peaking as he wrote this book. One of his most glaring errors was predicting economic calamity right as the stock market was bottoming out in the ‘73-‘74 recession. For the latter part of the ‘80s, I was on Wilkerson’s newsletter mailing list, and I remember him continuously spouting a stream of doom and gloom predictions. His forecast of immediate pending calamity continued into the ‘90s as well. Here is a quote from a prophecy dated September 7, 1992: "I have had recurring visions of over 1,000 fires burning at one time here in New York City. I am convinced race riots will soon explode! New York City is right now a powder keg-ready to blow!...federal and State Welfare cutbacks will be the spark that ignites the fuse. Next year, New York City could have over 100,000 angry men on the streets, enraged because they have been cut off from benefits....Federal troops will have to move in to restore order. New York City will have tanks running down its avenues....Churches will be closed for a season because it will be too dangerous to travel about. Fires will rage everywhere." I could go on, but my main concern is not the validity of Wilkerson's visions. What troubles me is the harm these personal predictions do to the end-time message. Here is a disturbing remark I found on a secular message board: "A man of god. That's nice. I'm a man of my gods. And I can tell you, my gods have no plans to destroy the United States or the world. I can tell you that my gods assure me Wilkerson's god is just another tribal god and doesn't have the pull Wilkerson attributes to him. So I've given Wilkerson's words due consideration and filed them away appropriately, the same place I'm filing this thread - in a hole in the ground." Even if David were a true prophet of God, I'm not sure his predictions are needed at this point. The prophecies in the Bible have never been wrong, and they provide a clear warning to everyone that the tribulation hour is near. The frequency of the birth pangs is the most unmistakable indication that the return of the Lord Jesus is coming soon. One of these pangs is violence. Jesus prophesied that as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days just before His return. In the days of Noah, “the Earth was filled with violence" (Gen. 6:11). Just this past week, we three major events confirmed the trend toward violence in the last days. On Sunday, an Illinois pastor was murdered while standing in his pulpit; on Tuesday, a man went on a shooting rampage in Alabama that left 10 victims dead; and on that the same day, a teenager killed 15 students at a school in Winnenden, Germany. There is one good thing to take away from Wilkerson's visions. He confirms the validity of Bible prophecy. Despite his best effort to anticipate world events just a few years down the road, he failed miserably. The biblical writers blindly penned their prophecies thousands of years ago, and their work perfectly matches the events of our day. “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28). --Todd Violence Trumpets Christ’s Return The prophet of all prophets, who just happens to be the very Word of God (John 1:1), foretold the human condition at the time of the first phase of His second coming. Jesus said, “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man” (Lk. 17:26). Those are strong words by Jesus, and they open for the student of Bible prophecy an avenue that runs directly to a signal around which can be built a case for how near this generation must be to the rapture. I write of the rapture, and not Christ’s second advent, because in this prophecy Jesus is talking about the first, not the second, phase of His second coming. The first phase is the rapture; the second phase is the moment described in Revelation 19:11, when the King of kings, Jesus Christ, returns dramatically to earth to end man’s humanity-destroying war called Armageddon. Jesus prophesied that at the time of this first phase, the rapture, earth dwellers will be going about life pretty much as usual. It will be like in the days before the great flood. About those days, Jesus said: “They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all” (Lk. 17:27). There were, like in our time, also some strange and sinful things going on in those days–things that finally brought God’s wrath and judgment and the destruction of all but the eight people inside the ark. The particular sinful matter that was going on in Noah’s day that I want to explore a bit is put forth in the following: “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (Gen. 6:11-13). The operative sinful characteristic is: “violence filled the whole earth.” Violence has always been part of the human condition. Cain killed his brother Abel in the first murder. More than 15,000 wars have been the scourge of every generation since Noah and his family left the ark. Cain’s pre-flood slaying of his brother set in motion a visceral propensity within mankind to do violence to fellow humans. Wars waged by the likes of the ancient Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Alexander’s Greek Empire, and the Roman Empire brought tremendous bloodshed down through the millennia. But it was the 20th century, with World Wars 1 and 2, the Korean War, the Vietnamese War, and others that continue into the 21st century that spawned the level of violence that equates to the worldwide violence of Noah’s day just before the great flood. Murderous rage has exploded upon this late hour of human history in most every aspect. Killing rampages that used to be the aberrant acts of the rarely seen serial or spree killers now seem almost a part of homicide considered to be the norm. One specific form of violence that I sense strongly indicates a recently elevated rage that is like the satanic hatred of times just before Noah and the seven others went into the ark is that aimed directly at true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. “An Illinois pastor was shot and killed, and two parishioners injured after an unknown gunman opened fire during Sunday services at the First Baptist Church in Maryville, Ill. The gunman walked down the church aisle and briefly spoke to the pastor before shooting during the 8:15 a.m. service. Rev. Fred Winters used the Bible he was reading from to shield himself from the first round of bullets being pumped at him, a parishioner told FOX News. The gunman's .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol jammed after the fourth shot was fired. The suspect then started stabbing himself with a four-inch knife, Ralph Timmins of the Illinois State Police told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch… ‘We have no idea what this guy's motives were,’ [Rev. Mark] Jones said outside the church. ‘We don't know if we'll ever know that.’…” (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,506820,00.html) The murderous violence followed a church shooting July 28, 2008, in Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Two were killed in that rampage and seven were wounded. The motive was determined to be political. School shootings have also continued to escalate. >From the Columbine, Colorado, school shootings and the Jonesboro, Arkansas, school shootings to the mass murders at every level--lower grades to college/university levels--the lists of dead and wounded continues to rise, their perpetration mostly inexplicable in each case. The latest such mass murder demonstrates that the seemingly demoniacal rampages infects the world, not just America. “WINNENDEN, Germany — A teenage gunman killed 15 people, most of them female, on Wednesday in a rampage that began at a school near Stuttgart in southern Germany and ended in a nearby town, where he then killed himself after the police wounded him…” (Carter Dougherty, Victor Homola, and Stefan Pauly, “Teenage Gunman Kills 15 at School in Germany,” New York Times, 2009). So many such instances of violent insanity are piling up that it is difficult to pick and choose which to use as example of end-times violence Jesus described. That fact alone is enough to validate just how much alike are our days and Noah’s. Violence that is such a characteristic of this generation of earth’s inhabitants must certainly be a major indicator sounding from the end-of-days trumpet of warning. It is heralding the glorious prophetic truth that Jesus can at any moment step out upon the clouds of glory and shout, “Come up here!” (Rev. 4:1). --Terry ***The American Apocalypse: Is the United States in Bible prophecy?*** Terry’s new book, “The American Apocalypse: Is the United States in Bible prophecy?” continues to stir interest in helping answer the questions so many have about the flood of issues and events overflowing their daily lives today. Yet, there remains so many to be informed about prophecy God gave through His Word, the Bible, just for such an hour in which we live upon this fallen sphere called Planet earth. Thank you for getting a copy of the book. Please remember to write a review on amazon.com, so those thinking about getting a copy will understand what other readers are saying about the book’s contents. Also, please consider getting a copy for your pastor and others of your church’es staff. God’s word says “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” (Hossea 4: 6) This is especially true in lack of teaching/preaching on Bible prophecy. “The American Apocalypse: Is the United States in Bible prophecy?” is designed to bring readers quickly up-to-speed on what is happening around them from God’s Prophetic Perspective. Your pastor –and other Christians who are family and friends-- need to understand these troubling though exciting times. Christ’s shout “Come up here” must be near, based upon these times of signs. We pray that every Christian in America will begin looking up for their Redemption that is drawing near. (Luke 21: 28) You can help in generating interest among fellow believers. We believe that your and our forewarning during this late hour is building Heavenly Tresures for Watchmen on the Prophetic Wall”. http://www.amazon.com/American-Apocalypse-United-States-Prophecy/dp/0736925058/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233260057&sr=1-1 http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=925051&netp_id=562345&event=ESRCN&item_code=WW&view=covers http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-American-Apocalypse/Terry-James/e/9780736925051/?itm=7

Desperate Sheep Without a Shepherd

Desperate Sheep Without a Shepherd By Jan Markell The "New Age Movement" (NAM) has been around since the days of literal Babylon. It gained new strength in the late 1800s and even more in the 1960s, which was the "Age of Aquarius." While all participants are not occultists, they all do love the supernatural and experiential. They have many "gods." And they believe the delusion that mankind is getting better and better. Because they believe such a myriad of ideas, some call these misguided seekers "cosmic soup." In the 1980s, I gave seminars on this "new spirituality," which it has been renamed in the 21st century. I studied it then and knew it almost as well as those who were enjoying their altered states of consciousness. Thankfully, I wasn't. In more recent years, the cause has been furthered by the woman who never met a false teaching she didn't love --Oprah Winfrey. She has paraded one guru after another on her many platforms and made most of them wildly successful. In 1982, I chuckled at who I thought was just another deluded crackpot, Benjamin Crème, who was taking out full-page ads in multiple newspapers announcing the soon-arrival of Lord Maitraya. This superhero was to come on the scene for the benefit of all religions and belief-systems. He was to be the new "messiah." And while these deceived followers of mystical enlightenment fully believed he could save the world, I wondered if he was just a fantasy in the esoteric minds of Crème -- a John the Baptist type -- and many NAM idealistic dreamers. But now 25 years later, TV commercials are airing about Lord Maitraya! Why was I a doubter? One such commercial can be found here. As a matter of fact, Benjamin Crème and references to Maitraya are found all over the Internet's favorite pastime, YouTube. In the minds of Maitraya's followers, he is just over the horizon ready to appear in his mystical, Eastern glory. Another is here. Once again we see the foundation for the one-world religious system forming. As Chuck Missler said on my radio program this past weekend (February 28), to be posted late Monday, the apparitions of Mary, which are all over the world now, will be a uniter of religions because so many respect her, including Islam. We carry both a book and a DVD of this found here. The Vatican, in fact, may become the infrastructure for the one-world religion. Clearly this "New Age Movement" or "new spirituality" will play a prominent role in the global religion. The antichrist will allow the "false prophet" to have a lying-signs-and- wonders party for 3 ½ years and that's it. From then on, only "Mr. Fix-it" can have all the glory. Only the "man-with-a-plan" will have the spotlight after that. In my study for my seminars some years ago, I learned quickly that almost all who are a part of the cults and false religious systems are like sheep without a shepherd. They are desperate, primed for deception, jumping from one costly therapy, seminar, technique, or group, all seeking the ever-illusive "higher self" and the "god within." They would see themselves as "spiritual" people. They even refer to "the christ within" but it is a counter-christ. They may be shocked when they stand before the Lord and He says to them, "Not everyone who calls out to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who do the will of my Father in Heaven will enter" (Matthew 7:21-23). While there is time, share the gospel with them. Some have a Christian background and have twisted the terms you and I know. They will say they believe in God but it is the "god within." They will flaunt their "Christ consciousness." This is just more end-time deception and delusion but souls are involved so don't write these people off without offering them new life! You are not responsible for their decision. And if you see the Lord Maitraya commercial on TV, use it as a reminder to pray without ceasing for the deception that abounds today. It is also a reminder of the many "false christs" the Bible predicts for the last days. Whether or not there is any credibility in Creme and Maitraya really isn't the point. The point is that many are looking for false saviors today. To better understand the delusion going on today, visit my Web site category of "Spiritual Deception."

Awaiting His return, Jan Markell

Nearing Midnight In depth weekly commentary (Mar 9)

March 9

Iran's Exponential Nuclear Program

The never-ending concern over Iran's nuclear program has surged back into the headlines. A new report by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy says that Israel is seriously considering unilateral military action against Iran to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The report noted that "Israelis see the option fading over the next one to two years, not only because of Iran's nuclear progress and dispersion of its program but also because improved Iranian air defenses, especially the expected delivery of the S-300 surface-to-air missile system from Russia, are seen by Israel seriously limiting its military options."

Another recent news report said that Iran now has enough low-enriched uranium to produce at least one nuclear weapon, and enough raw uranium to produce 30 nukes.

Despite all the turmoil from a recent parliamentary election, Israel’s leaders remain focused on the threat. This weekend, Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin told the Israeli cabinet that Iran had "crossed the technological threshold" and “hopes to exploit the dialogue with the West and Washington to advance toward the production of an atomic bomb."

The key to nuclear bomb production is the enrichment process, in which the isotope uranium-235 is separated from uranium-238 in centrifuges. Natural uranium is 99 percent U-238 and less than one percent U-235. Reactor grade fuel only needs to be 4 percent U-235, while weapons grade material must be purified to 90 percent.

Iran currently has 6,000 centrifuges enriching uranium, and it will soon finish installing another group of 3,000 centrifuges in the next few months. Tehran’s ultimate plan is to move towards large-scale uranium enrichment that will involve 54,000 centrifuges.

Now that Iran has a nuclear reactor in operation, it can also produce plutonium. The spent fuel rods from the reactor have the potential to yield enough plutonium for several atomic bombs. Despite being a nation rich in oil, Iran has decided to build several nuclear power plants. Years ago, I said this was evidence enough that the Iranians will use their so-called “peaceful energy program” to produce atomic weapons.

A huge problem with Iran's nuclear program is the lack of information. Many facilities in Iran have never been visited by nuclear inspectors. The intelligence community can only make best-guess assessments of when Iran will have the bomb. The Iranians may have thousands of centrifuges the West doesn't know about.

The world needs to realize that Iran's nuclear program is growing at an exponential rate. In a few months, it could become unstoppable as it gains the capability of producing dozens of bombs.

The U.S. nuclear program is a good example of how quickly arms production can accelerate: In 1945, after the two nuclear bombs were dropped on Japan, the next bomb was not ready until later in the month of August. By June of 1946, America had a stockpile of nine nuclear weapons. By 1949, we had 200 A-bombs. By 1952, our nuclear arsenal had grown to 2,422.

It's doubtful that Iran will achieve the ability to produce thousands of nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, Iran only needs a few nukes to destroy the state of Israel. Nearly half of the Jewish population lives in three urban areas – Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa.

Israel is very reluctant to launch an attack. Iran now has hundreds of conventional missiles that can reach Israel. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said they would target Israel's nuclear plant in a counter-attack. Hezbollah forces in south Lebanon or Syria might also be drawn into the conflict.

A surprise attack on Iran could be what isolates Israel in the last days. The Bible says that when the Antichrist turns against Israel, no other nation will come to its aid. If nations are angry with Israel now because she decided to defend herself against Gaza rocket strikes, I can’t imagine what will happen if Israel triggers a global oil crisis.

“For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city” (Zech. 14:2).

At some point, Israel's survival instinct will engage and its leaders will give the go-ahead for a strike. Benjamin Netanyahu is about to become Israel's next Prime Minister, and his hawkish stance on defense will certainly add to the drive for action.

-- Todd

End-Times Flood Alert!

Daniel the prophet posted the end-times alert that, I’m convinced, forewarned the end-of-age, birth-pang-like convulsions we are experiencing today. He likened these to a great flood that will gush toward the last generation occupying Planet Earth when the flood occurs: “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof [shall be] with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined” (Dan. 9:26).

Daniel prophesied the same thing the Lord Jesus prophesied when He answered his disciples' questions. “And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matt. 24:1-2).

Both Daniel and the Lord were saying there was coming a specific time when the Temple would be completely destroyed. Daniel included the destruction of the city of Jerusalem in the prophecy. He prefaced that prophecy with the statement that first Messiah would be “cut off.” He then indicated an ongoing war that would run the course of human history. The end of that war, which was already determined (foreknown by Almighty God), would gush in flood-like fashion at the very end of that war.

Jesus, in His Olivet prophecy, after foretelling that the Temple would be absolutely leveled, went through the flood of events that will mark the time of the end. That flood, first predicted by Daniel, then given in detail as it would inundate Planet Earth by the Lord, is beginning to surge through our daily headlines, as we of Rapture Ready have persistently been examining through constant updating and analysis.

Since the time of the Roman Empire’s destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple in 70 A.D., following Christ’s crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and ascension, Satan’s war against mankind, against the Jew, against Jesus Christ, has been unceasing. The devil has tried every tactic, from subterfuge within the true Church, world-wide wars, false prophecies, and false teachings that have brought about increasing apostasy to subtle, then phenomenal movement of mankind back to Babel. And there is now the geometric progression toward globalization brought on by the economic crises that threaten to melt and meld national economies into one luciferian governance.

The G-20 meetings scheduled for April, and/or subsequent such world forums to find a common fiscal denominator that will give the world leaders elite the new world economic controls they covet, will likely open the floodgates of Daniel’s prophecy even wider. The United States of America’s role/fate–alone--in this on-rushing flood is a phenomenon to behold. Many of those of us who analyze and report on matters that we sense form potential end-of-the-age prophetic fulfillment stand as astounded as everyone else in consideration of the swiftness of America’s continuing economic decline. We have always put forth that America must lose its status as the world’s greatest superpower–that the U.S. is not mentioned in Bible prophecy. Thus, in order for prophecy to be fulfilled, America must disappear from its prominence, among the nation-states of the world.

At the same time, Israel, it is plain from what God’s Word foretells, must grow in prominence on the world stage, even if it is a prominence that casts an unfavorable light upon God’s chosen nation. Clearly, both things are taking place in a flood of daily news. America is on the decline, Israel’s prominence, in terms of its becoming a perceived stumbling block to world peace, is on the ascendance in world news headlines. Todd and I think one of the most immediate prophetic indicators to watch is the G-20 meetings. The advancement of America and the other key nations into building a new economic world order is key to how quickly the prophesied agglomerate that will bring to power the beast and his regime of Revelation 13:16-18 is developing.

That global arrangement is prophesied in the following:

“And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast” (Rev. 17:12-13).

The G-20 meetings won’t immediately eventuate in this prophetic arrangement. However, the globalist elite’s search for answers that will address the economic distress and perplexity among the nations will likely move mankind dramatically closer to the system described in the Revelation 17:12-13 prophecy.

Perhaps we are about to see flung wide open the floodgates that will unleash Daniel’s end-times torrent. That means that Jesus’ call to His people–the Church—to "Come up here!" might indeed be near.

--Terry