All kinds of STUFF!

All kinds of STUFF!

by Michael G. Mickey

(9-26-05)

Everywhere I look these days I find STUFF I want to write about! STUFF! STUFF! STUFF! Alas, however, there just aren't enough hours in the day (or the week) for me to do so, the end result being a whole lot of STUFF I wish my readers could see never makes it onto my site. The reason? Issues of potential prophetic significance are showing up so often in the news of our world today newer STUFF ends up taking precedence over older STUFF. So, having said all that STUFF and using the word 'STUFF' more than I probably should use it in any one commentary, let's look at some of the STUFF you may have missed recently I wish I could've shared in a timely fashion, as well as some recent STUFF of interest I'm going to get out before its moment to shine as a fresh development passes by.

Wicca increases followers

A Florida Baptist Witness article written by Alan Branch on the topic of Wiccan witchcraft opens with the following disturbing paragraph:

I recently had the opportunity to meet with several youth ministers from Southern Baptist churches here in Missouri. Each impressed me as having a deep commitment to biblical authority and personal passion for Jesus Christ. As we discussed the challenges facing current youth ministers, a concern all shared was the fact that many youth, including youth in evangelical churches, are dabbling in Wicca.

Later in the article Branch adds the following:

By blurring the distinction between creature and creator, Wicca encourages sexual chaos, inter-generational conflict and violence. Paul makes clear the dangers of worshipping creation in Romans 1:18-32. Romans 1:25 in particular stresses the tragedy of nature worship: “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” As a result, sexual chaos followed (Romans 1:26-27) as well as inter-generational conflict (“Disobedient to parents,” Romans 1:30) and violence (“envy, murder, strife,” Romans 1:29).

Concerning the problem of Wicca and its influence in the lives of our children, I would add to Branch's opinions that I believe the teaching of evolution in our schools has played a prominent role in leading our children down the road to the worship of nature. Nature as the master force of the universe, after all, has been force-fed to their susceptible young minds in our nation's public schools where they have been (and still are) being led to believe the miracle of their existence, in all of its complexity, is essentially nothing more than the byproduct of a cosmic accident followed by centuries of natural selection.

When our children are taught evolution, they are taught that their existence came as a direct result of the evolution of creatures instead of by the hands of their Creator. Children whose parents fail to counter the idiotic theory of evolution (yes, it is idiotic!) with biblical teaching at home subsequently fail to see themselves as accountable for their actions and begin to act like what they've been taught they are - animals! This is precisely why Satan and his minions have fought long and hard to see the lie of evolution replace the truth of Creation in classrooms all over the world, hopeful that our children will descend deeper and deeper into godlessness. If what Alan Branch and other youth ministers discussed recently is a small version of what is taking place on a much larger scale globally, it's no wonder our world is in such a mess!

Lawmakers nix gay marriage ban

The Boston Herald reported recently that Massachusetts lawmakers nixed a state constitutional amendment to replace gay marriage with civil unions, killing the measure and leaving same-sex nuptials in place.

The article quoted Cambridge, Massachusetts' openly gay Democratic Senator Jarrett Barrios as saying, "I would defy anybody – anybody in this chamber, anybody in Massachusetts – to say that the apocalypse has come, yet some have predicted it. Sixty-five-hundred married couples later, the sun still shines in Massachusetts. My coffee does not have curdled milk."

Senator Barrios' scoffing remarks may well come back to haunt him in the not-too-distant future. Why? Because Jesus told us, as seen in Luke 17:28-30, "Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."

Lot, as seen in the 19th chapter of Genesis, lived in Sodom, the city from which the term 'sodomy' is derived today. What prophecy teaches us, in light of the words of Christ presented above, is this, which Senator Jarrett Barrios and all those like him who rejoice in their unrighteousness should take note of: The sun is going to continue shining in Massachusetts as it always has and many a cup of coffee is going to be consumed that won't have curdled milk, but that isn't a sign that God isn't going to hold those responsible who mock His Word and engage in sexual immorality which He has forbidden! In fact, prophecy tells us the closer the world gets to becoming Sodom and Gomorrah, the closer we are to seeing God's wrath fall on a world that has forgotten Him - a time when there is subsequently going to be a lot of curdled milk, as well as unimaginable sorrow!

Just as everything was proceeding as normal in Lot's day with mankind attending to the concerns of normal everyday living, everything is going to continue as it presently is here in the end times, relatively speaking, until the Church, much like Lot was removed from wicked Sodom, is removed from a wicked world via the Rapture of the Church. On that day, things are going to take a decidedly different course in this world of spiritual darkness wherein God's rules concerning sexual conduct are cast aside as meaningless.

Luke 17:29: But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

Joel 1:15: Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

The difference between the EU and the US

The European Union is the revived Roman empire of Bible prophecy - the final empire that will eventually rule the world (see Daniel 2:44) under the leadership of the Antichrist prior to the visible, physical, bodily return of Jesus Christ.

As such, it is interesting to see, as documented in an EU Observer article, what John Bruton, the EU's ambassador to the US, sees as the difference between the United States of America and the European Union. Excerpt from the article:

He points out that political discourse in the US is "almost biblical" with a focus on good and evil, in contrast to Europeans who are more "relativist".

America, from Bruton's point of view, focuses on good and evil while the EU is more relativistic in its views and actions, precisely why Satan is eventually going to be successful in turning the EU into the Beast government Bible prophecy tells us will be diverse from all kingdoms - one that will devour the whole earth, tread it down, and break it in pieces under the leadership of Antichrist, as seen in Daniel 7:23.

I often state I believe Satan's greatest weapons of control and deception here in the end times are political correctness, tolerance, moral relativism, and liberalism. John Bruton's words concerning the EU only serve to reinforce my views, demonstrating, at least from my perspective, just how deadly and evil moral relativism is at the very least!

Moral relativism is defined by Wikipedia as "the position that moral or ethical propositions do not reflect absolute or universal truths but instead are relative to social, cultural, historical or personal references, and that there is no single standard by which to assess an ethical proposition's truth."

When we cease to believe there is an absolute moral truth - namely the Word of God - there are no longer any boundaries whatsoever in terms of how we live our lives. Therein lies the problem, whether relativism is the guiding force in an individual's life or in that of an empire!

Bottom line: Where there is no God, there is no good!

Bush and Jordan's King Abdullah

Jordan's King Abdullah is in the news a lot lately, particularly where interfaith matters and Middle East peace is concerned. Could it be of prophetic significance? I don't know, but those who read my website regularly know I like to keep tabs on all those involved in the effort to bring peace to the Middle East as it is the quest for Middle East peace that will eventually lead to the advent of the Antichrist, as well as the subsequent arrival of his False Prophet, both of whom will be prominent leaders in the seven-year Tribulation Period that will follow the Rapture of the Church.

Recently, a Washington Post article identified King Abdullah as "a leading voice of moderate Islam" - a leader calling for the quiet majority of Muslims to take back their religion "from the vocal, violent and ignorant extremists."

After Abdullah recently spoke at Catholic University, Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, according to the article, told the king he had said things that we (presumably the western world) have looked forward to hearing from major Muslim leaders. In what the article refers to as "a reciprocal gesture", McCarrick (GET THIS!) offered a prayer "in the name of Allah, the merciful and compassionate."

King Abdullah, whom the article indicates quoted from the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Gospels and the Koran during his visit, reportedly said all three faiths teach "devotion to the One God and love for our fellow human beings."

Bible prophecy teaches us a day is going to come when the entire world is going to be involved in a one-world religion. Will this religion worship Allah, the God of the Bible, or indicate they are one and the same? None of the previous actually, but King Abdullah and those like him are planting a seed in the collective mindset of humanity that we might all be capable of worshipping one deity - a concept which will eventually become a reality in the Tribulation Period when a one-world religion which will be acceptable by some and resisted by others will be forced upon those too weak to resist it!

2nd Thessalonians 2:4 tells us the Tribulation Period will see the Antichrist - the son of perdition - oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God!

The Antichrist's False Prophet will, through deception and great miracles he will be able to perform, coerce, deceive and threaten mankind into worshipping an evil, satanically-empowered man - the Antichrist - as its god, as we see in Revelation 13:11-15:

And I beheld another beast [the Antichrist's False Prophet] coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

In the chaotic and miserable Tribulation Period to come, rebellious mankind, having turned its back on Almighty God repeatedly leading up to those dreadful days, is going to find religion. Sadly, however, those who choose to worship the Antichrist, in an effort to spare their own lives, will damn themselves to ultimately spend an eternity in the only place worse than the world they'll find themselves in at that time - hell itself!

Not only is King Abdullah potentially leading the world closer to adopting a one-world religion mindset, he is also about to embark on a Middle East peacemaking role at the request of US President George W. Bush, according to a Haaretz article. According to the article, President Bush has asked him to meet with both Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas "to help advance the Middle East peace process", which the article indicates Abdullah has "graciously agreed" to do.

Many people write me concerning suspicions they have that Jordan's King Abdullah may be going to play a role, on some level, in the fulfillment of Bible prophecy concerning Middle East peace. While I don't pretend to know what role, if any, he may have in God's prophetic plan, Abdullah's seemingly middle-of-the-road beliefs place him in a unique position to act as an intermediary between the Israelis and Palestinians. It'll be interesting, as such, to see if his name begins being routinely connected with the Quartet's ongoing peace efforts.

Jerusalem: The burdensome stone

According to a Palestine News Agency article, Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser al-Kidwa said on 9-22-05 that "only when East Jerusalem returns to its people and the resolutions of the United Nations are completely complied with and implemented", will the peace the world has long awaited come to the Middle East! That, my friends, is of great significance to those of us monitoring the news of our world today in an effort to understand how close we are to the return of our Lord and Savior taking place!

Zechariah 12:3: And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

The world is wildly clamoring for Middle East peace to come, but there isn't going to be any peace, according to the Palestinian government, until the possession of Jerusalem is decided! Little else needs to be said concerning that which hasn't been said by me a hundred times in the past.

Global warming could spark conflict

A Yahoo News report states a recent report indicates "rising world temperatures could cause a significant increase in disease across Asia and Pacific Island nations, leading to conflict and leaving hundreds of millions of people displaced."

As we look at the picture Bible prophecy paints of the world to come, some of the descriptions included within the report, which was compiled the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Australian Conservation Foundation, sounds very similar to the end times in general, as well as the Tribulation Period itself!

Consider the following excerpts in comparison to Bible prophecy:

From the Yahoo News report:

Global warming by the year 2100 could also lead to more droughts, floods and typhoons, and increase the incidence of malaria, dengue fever and cholera, the report into the health impact of rising temperatures found.

From the Bible:

Matthew 24:7: For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

From the Yahoo News report:

Internationally, higher world temperatures would increase the incidence of violent storms and droughts, and could lead to crop failures which could cause political and social upheaval.

From the Bible:

Scorching heat is seen in Revelation 16:8-9: And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

From the Yahoo News report:

"As stresses increase there is likely to be a shift toward authoritarian governments," the report said.

From the Bible:

Authoritarian government is seen in Revelation 13:16-17: And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

From the Yahoo News report:

"At the worst case, large scale state failure and major conflict may generate hundreds of millions of displaced people in the Asia-Pacific region, a widespread collapse of law, and numerous abuses of human rights."

From the Bible:

Major conflict is seen Revelation 6:4: And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

One example of numerous abuses of human rights which will come in the Tribulation Period to come is found in Zechariah 14:2: 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.

A widespread collapse of law is seen somewhat in Revelation 9:20-21: And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Storm activity in the Atlantic to be the worst in decades

The words of Christ - Luke 21:25: "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;"

MSN Money is reporting 2005 has been the most active for hurricanes and tropical storms in the Atlantic since 1995. Not only that, the article adds "there could easily be several more storms between now and November, to make this the most active hurricane season for decades."

Julian Heming, whom the article identifies as a "tropical prediction scientist at the UK's Met Office", is quoted as saying: "We have seen more [hurricane] activity in general in the Atlantic in the last 10 years than in the previous 25."

Christ told us roaring seas would be a sign of His return. Standing alone, 2005's hurricane season, even as rowdy as it has been, probably wouldn't do much to convince a skeptic of the lateness of the hour we're living in as it relates to the return of Jesus Christ, but when we look at the bigger picture? I think most of us would agree the world's roaring seas are a HUGE sign when they're added in with all the other signs of Christ's soon-coming return present in our world today!

Is the EU and its High Representative, Javier Solana, down for the count?

A Reuters report entitled 'Constitution-less EU fumbles for world voice' indicates the European Union's High Representative, Dr. Javier Solana, has lost the spring in his step and adds the following, in part:

Leaning on a barrier in the United Nations to ease his aching back after a week of intensive diplomacy, Europe's ex-future foreign minister looks as if he has had the stuffing knocked out of him.
Since French and Dutch voters rejected the European Union's draft constitution in referendums three months ago, the veteran Spanish diplomat's prospects of becoming the single voice and face of a coherent European foreign policy have gone up in smoke. And it shows.

"Solana was really looking forward to being Europe's first foreign minister," said one of his senior aides, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It was a body blow."

If the constitution had come into force in 2007 as planned, Solana was guaranteed the job of EU foreign minister, embodying the 25-nation bloc on the world stage and running its worldwide diplomatic staff and multi-billion-dollar aid budget.

Appointed in 1999 and reappointed last year, he has written a European Security Strategy, set up a military staff to run peacekeeping operations and appointed a network of special envoys in trouble-spots. But like Moses, he will never set foot in the Promised Land.

Instead, Europe is condemned to lumber on for several more years, perhaps indefinitely, with an unwieldy system of foreign-policy-by-committee in which a posse of officials huddle together on the European side of every table.

If it does eventually get a foreign minister, it will likely be too late for the 61-year-old former Spanish foreign minister and former NATO secretary-general, whose term expires in 2009.

A lot of prophecy watchers have monitored Javier Solana's political career very closely, particularly given his present role as EU foreign policy chief. Why? Because Bible prophecy, particularly Daniel 9:26-27, tells us a leader of Roman descent who will eventually lead the European Union to conquer the world leading up to the visible, physical, bodily return of Jesus Christ at Armageddon is someday going to confirm a seven-year covenant of peace in the Middle East "with many" to start his meteoric rise to the top. As such, it's only natural, in my opinion, that there would be some suspicion that Solana might be the prophesied Antichrist in the making, if for no other reason than the office he presently holds in the EU. Foreign policy chiefs do, after all, set up peacekeeping operations and act on behalf of their governments in 'confirming' all sorts of foreign policies like peace plans.

If this report is to be believed, however, Javier Solana, whose name has probably resulted in more Christian forum threads being closed than any other name I'm personally aware of (as a result of forum participants breaking rules forbidding Antichrist speculation from taking place), may soon be little other than a footnote in EU political history, potentially paving the way for someone new to arrive on the world's diplomatic stage as the EU's High Representative - a possibility the Reuters report's author seems to believe may very well take place and soon, as a result of Solana stepping down from his role as EU foreign policy chief no less!

Personally, I think Reuters may be jumping the gun somewhat in writing Solana and the EU Constitution off as there are, according to an EU Observer report, efforts underway to revive the EU's constitution but that's neither here nor there really.

As I often tell people who write me wanting my opinion on various Antichrist suspects, we can't know, beyond pure speculation, the identity of the Antichrist! Those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and believe in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church don't need to be spending our time concentrating on the identity of the Antichrist in the first place. The king of fierce countenance (Daniel 8:23) isn't going to be our problem to deal with anyway if we're correct (and I totally believe we are) in our scriptural analysis relating to the timing of the Rapture of the Church! Our focus, as such, needs to be on identifying the lost and leading them to faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior as we keep our eyes turned toward heaven watching for the coming of JESUS CHRIST!

In conclusion, that is all the STUFF I have to discuss....for now.

Keep looking up!

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