A Price Will Have To Be Paid For Rejecting Jesus!

How does someone even inherit hell? There is only one answer, and that is to reject the salvation offer of Jesus Christ, everything else is simply sin. Trust me, you want to avoid the Great White Throne Judgment!

Do you like scary movies? I used to, and it seems the main reason why is that scary now is all too real all the time as believers. I now want to see something that will lighten my day. Remember that when we began this study into the Book of Revelation, I stated that this is the least taught book of the New Testament because (1) few have taken the time to understand it, and (2) some churches have eliminated this portion that people would be encouraged who read it. That is just wrong. Well, it's this chapter, that is the reason why...there is a day coming, according to the Bible, when God will judge all of humanity. The Bible tells us that we have to preach the full counsel of God, not just the parts that make you feel good. The Book of Revelation is by far, my favorite book of the Bible. Its wonderful news to those that accept and believe in everything Jesus has done, heaven awaits us. But for those that reject Jesus, there is judgment, a price to be paid. There is a real hell waiting.

Revelation 20, picks up at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the beginning of the Millennial reign of Christ with the coming Great White Throne Judgment.

For every one word that Jesus spoke about heaven, there are three words that He spoke about Hell. 1:3 ratio. He spoke more about it, than any of the 66 books of the Bible. Why would Jesus do that?

It was Jesus that would go to the cross.
It would be Jesus who would suffer.
It would be Jesus who was resurrected from the dead.
It will be Jesus, who at His name, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is God.

If you die in this life, rejecting Jesus, shutting the door on His offer of salvation, the Bible promises that one day there will be a time to pay for that. A time when there will be a great courtroom, but no jury. There will be a prosecutor, but no public defender. There will be a Judge, but there will be no change to appeal. There will be a sentence, but no one will be able to pay the fine. It will be the Great White Throne Judgment of God and there will be no escape.

People chose to walk out whenever studies like this are preached from church pulpits, and in this portion of the Bible. They reject the fact that this is a real possibility, but they fight against the offer of Jesus' salvation every single day of their life.

Revelation 20:1-15 ~ " Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. 

"Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads of their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power; but they will be priest of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. 

"And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceived the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 

"Then I saw a great white throne with him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Than another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades, were thrown into the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he as throne into the lake of fire."

Remember that the false prophet and the Anti-Christ were the first to be thrown into the lake of fire. They've have been suffering in there now for a 1000 years, during the Millennial reign of Jesus. An angel is dispatched from heaven, and takes Satan and finds him with a chain and puts
 him into the pit. There is no argument, no struggle, no war from him when this happens. Did you consider this? He is absolutely removed from influencing the earth during the 1000 year Millennial Reign of Christ. He can't say or influence anyone who lives into the Millennium.

This will be a time according to the book of Isaiah when God will extend the lifetime of humans, when they turn 100, they will be like children. It will be like in the Old Testament when human longevity happened. People will die of old age, but they will be really, really old. Not like now.

There will come a time when Satan is loosened for a time, and don't you wonder why God released Satan at all from the very beginning not just now? We know the answer! When he tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, it was to be disobedient to God and he has been doing that ever since.

The Bible tells us that during the Millennial reign, even without Satan's influence, man's heart will still be filled with wickedness. They will turn on Christ at the end of the 1000 years. Hitler believed that by controlling man's race, he could obtain a perfect utopia. Karl Marx believed that by controlling man's social environment where everyone is treated the same, he could do the same thing and achieve perfection. Yet in all of it, man's heart is still depraved. It's not the environment and it's not the genes, the Bible says man is born with a sin nature. We sin because of our sin nature. It's in us!

Even if you've never committed one single sin, the Bible says if you even think about doing them, you're still sinning. God knows every thing we do, think and even what our motives are...He knows it all!!! There is nothing we can do to be sinless and impress God. Nothing we can do can fix that. We can NEVER be good enough or do enough to impress God and get to heaven on our own merits. Only Jesus can erase it all through our faith in HIM alone!!!

Judgment is Coming and When Jesus Comes Back, You Don't Want to Be Here!

If you are under 40 years of age, there is information you need to know, key things in your culture's history, because if you don't - you're bound to repeat it. Most of this younger generation is missing out on most of American History because it is being stripped down and removed or simply watered down. This is becoming an illiterate generation, and they are simply okay with not knowing it. They simply don't care because it is not relevant to them.

This is the same logic being applied to the Bible as well. The Holy Spirit gives wisdom and insight to understand the Bible. It's the very reason when two people pick up the Bible, one gets it, and the other doesn't. The difference is the illumination work of the Holy Spirit. You can ask God to give you the understanding to know what you're reading and He will give it to you.

The events after the Tribulation are the division from what is true and false.

This is the perfect description of Jesus, once again preparing Himself to visit the earth, but not like the first time as a gentle redeemer and Savior. Not this time!

Luke 4:18-21 ~ "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

The Scripture Jesus was referring to was Isaiah 61:2 but he stopped at the comma and didn't finish the remainder of the verse. Why? First of all He was proclaiming that the first part of this Scripture was about Him! He stops at the comma. The Second Coming of Jesus is Part 2 of the Bible study He began 2000 years ago. So what does part 2 say? The comma that has been holding back the fulfillment of the remainder of the prophecy?

Isaiah 61:2b-3 ~ "and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn: to grant to those who mourn in Zion - to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified."

The Second Coming deals with Israel.

Revelation 14:14 ~ "Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand."

This is none other than Jesus Christ. The following Scriptures answer this:

Matthew 24:30 ~ "Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

Psalm 104:3 ~ "He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind."

This speaks of His dwelling, His glory not clouds on a stormy day.

2 Samuel 22:11 ~ "He rode the cherub and flew: he was seen on the wings of the wind."

Acts 1:9-11 ~ "And when he said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

These events signify the end of the age. The end of the world as man knows it. Be encouraged, and if the rapture happens tomorrow, you Tribulation Saints be encouraged. Why? Because the Bible says that the Lord knows those who are His.

What you need to know about the parable we are going to refer to is that there is a field. There is an owner of the field. He sows seeds in the field. There is an enemy who came and sowed mock seeds or fake seeds in stealth. He did it against the wishes of the owner of the field. Tares, are identical to wheat and look exactly like them. You can't tell them apart.

Matthew 13:24-30 ~ "He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men where sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares (weeds) among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and born grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and asked him, "Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?" He said to them, "An enemy has done this." So the servants said to him, "Then do you want us to go and gather them?" But he said, "No, lest in the gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat in the barn."

This means wherever there is the truth, there is the false.
Wherever there is the fit, there is the counterfeit.
Wherever there is a real believer, there is a false believer.
Where do you find them? In the church.

Matthew 13:31-32 ~ "He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."

You can't plant a mustard seed and have it grow into a tree. This is an abnormal growth that Jesus is referring to and He knew by using this, that it would get everyone's attention. This little thing, grew into a huge monster. This is not a good thing. Pastor's will often quote this Scripture as a means of referring to church growth or faith, but it is taken out of context, wrongly dividing the world of truth. The birds here are hiding themselves in its branches.

Matthew 13:33 ~ "He told them another parable, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measure of flour till it was all leavened."

Again this is not a good thing, it is bad news. Jews did not leaven their bread and in this case the woman hid it in the measures of flour which she would bake into bread.

In all these parables, things were hidden among the good. The tares, the birds and the leaven. Now let's see how Jesus explains them all.

Matthew 13:34-43 ~ "All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world." Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field. He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of this age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be a weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear."

This entire passage is a reference to Revelation 14:14-20.

Matthew 13:47-50 ~ "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be a weeping and gnashing of teeth."

This is referring to the coming judgment of the world. Jesus Christ is coming back with authority as Judge.

John 5:26-27 ~ "For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man."

Joel 3:12-13 ~ "Let the nations stir themselves up and come up the the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. The vats overflow, for their evil is great."

Revelation 1:16 ~ "In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength."

Revelation 19:21 ~ And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh."

This speaks of the Second Coming of Jesus , the very same children that said, "Bring the little children unto Me." When Jesus comes back again, He is coming back in Holy Judgment upon the world.

The Greatest Party of Hell on Earth is Coming! Will You Be There?

Imagine turning to BBC or CNN or even Fox News and seeing a group of people dancing around the bodies of two men lying dead in the street. These people are more than overjoyed that these two men are dead. They are throwing things at them and having a great time. Sound far fetched that we could ever see something like this today? I might imagine that it wouldn't surprise us to see this on the news tonight. We see things like this happening all the time all over the world. The reason the people are so happy that these two men are dead is they believe they have silenced their message from God in heaven. I believe that if evil thinks that they can shut Christians up and killing us, they too would start dancing.

We see this spirit of zero tolerance happening during the Tribulation period coming to these two men. I believe we are moving toward that level of volatility where men will go nuts because they hate the things that God loves. They will rise up against them. It exposes man's hatred against the truth.

Revelation 11:9-11 ~ "For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth. But after three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them."

This is quite literally Christmas in hell. There is a great hatred that the world will have for God and God's witnesses. That is true even today. There is a hatred toward the Lord, a hatred towards His message. What surprises me is that this is a future event and the world is still talking about tolerance today. Everybody is told to tolerate every group of people except for one and that is Christians. You can outlaw them, get rid of them, anything to get them out of here because they drive the world crazy. Nothing is going to change in the future, in fact it will only intensify. It's a world of tolerance until it comes to these two men who are teaching the Word of God.

In light of the advances in technology, how does the whole world rejoice over the death of two men in Jerusalem? Satellite TV, CNN, and every one is going to see it and rejoice. They will be sending one another gifts all over the world to celebrate what has happened. Do you think this is too far for us to consider something like this happening in the world today? Have you taken a look at the news lately in the Middle East when something happens they rejoice over? Have you seen dead bodies dragged behind the back of a Jeep? Do they not stomp and burn bodies and rejoice over it while it is being televised? Are you not watching that? Or have you not seen that?

We need to wake up as a church. Here we are today reading a book that is 2000 years old and it seems as if we are turning on the news today and seeing how relevant this is in our culture today. We we see a body of a man being dragged in the streets in the Middle East behind a truck, burned on fire, beaten and hung over a bridge. That would never happen right, while the people who did it are rejoicing and claiming victory over the event? It is happening and it will happen all the more the closer we get to this future event. You don't have to use much of an imagination to see that happening in the world today. The earth dwellers will rejoice over this event!

This will be the biggest party in all of the world on earth and remember that even though it appears that Satan has the victory or the enemies of God, their victory once again is short lived. They will only be rejoicing for 3 1/2 days. The world hates God, even though they will be gathering together all the religions of the world except those that have to do with God. The world views the messengers and their message as evil. They refuse to tolerate others. What do you think these two prophets were prophesying about the return of Elvis? No it was the truth of God's Word. People today are so weak and fragile that they whine and whimper and have a breakdown of the slightest things.

They will allow these men's bodies simply sit in the streets right where they were killed for 3 1/2 days. The burial practices of the Middle East - that day! Our technology today is where this prophecy of the Bible foretells is today. This is a real time, worldwide event that will be seen by everyone, in every language of the world. Isn't it amazing how wonderful and true the Bible is even though this was written about 2000 years ago? The exposing of man's hatred against the truth, is a hatred that cannot be curbed.  Remember back in the year 2000 when people thought the world was going to end and they all celebrated and partied. We are not too far from these types of events being celebrated and heralded. It's a hatred that they can't not see.

While most of the time the Lord isn't seen as a person to put an end to a party, He does after 3 1/2 days. When the breath of God enters these two men and they come back to life, imagine the horror and terror that will come over those that believed they were dead. Millions of people will see this happen.

Revelation 11:11 ~ "But after three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them."

This great fear that will come upon those that witness and see this event will be the kind that cause mass hysteria, causes panic and immobilize those that see it.

God's final witness to the world will be a powerful testimony of grace and judgment. These two are exclusive. You can not reconcile these two, they are both true and false at the same time. God who is holy and righteous, has to be just. But God is also a God of grace and mercy. The more we learn about God the more we can come to terms with just how we chose to live our lives and how responsible we are. You and I are the only ones responsible for the decisions we make. We can often look back in our life often before we were Christians and realize how stupid some of those decisions are. However, when we became Christians we made less stupid decisions.

As we grow older, often times when faced with making a decision, the one in our minds is often times the one God doesn't want us to take. Since He is such a God in whom knows how it will all play out in the end, who knows the decision we need to make, and how often we get into trouble when we act in our own minds instead of waiting on Him, we should pray for patience to be willing to wait for the time in which God will give us the answer to what we need to do and to be willing not to jump ahead until He does. Now that is wisdom. Sometimes God wants us to find the answer ourselves so we can learn how to do this in our own lives personal through seeking Him. Don't take someone's else opinion on what you should do, even if it is a pastors. If he is worth his weight in salt, he will instruct you to prayer and to seek God's truth in the Bible.

Revelation 11:12-14 ~ "Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on. At that very hour there was 
 a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe has passed, the third woe is coming soon."

When it says that the two men ascended or went up to heaven, this was not a quick disappearance. This was a slow process and the same one used when Jesus ascended from the apostles for the last time. So much they as the apostles were watching, their mouths hung open so long, two angels appeared to them to ask what they were doing looking up so long.  In grace, the Lord will not leave anyone behind.  Regarding the justice of God, He will never leave justice undone. This is something we need so much in our world today.

Revelation 11:13-14 ~ "At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe has passed, the third woe is coming soon."

This means that a tenth of the city of Jerusalem fell down. What is truly interesting is that in the King James Version is says that 7000 men were killed, it doesn't say how many total number of people at that point were killed only the number of men killed in the earthquake. No one knows the exact number. None of us rejoice in judgment and neither does God. However when something horrific happens, do you not want to see justice done? We all want it so long as it doesn't affect us.

When we make a huge mistake you know what we want most from the judge? Mercy! The problem is that we live in a system now where the whole system is corrupt. If you have money, you will get off. There are older people who should be retiring or not working, that have to return back to work. They worked hard all their lives and invested money and because of white collar crime, their retirements have been stolen from them. There will come a day when God will exercise perfect judgment. The Bible says in Genesis by Abraham, "Shall not the Lord of all the earth, do right?" He knows every motive to every crime.

The final portion of today's study offers a bit of confusion and begs us to answer the question, who are the people who gave glory to God, while the rest were afraid? One scholar might argue it doesn't matter they simply were so afraid, they didn't know what they were doing and gave credit to anyone. But it was short lived. They didn't really know what they were saying. Others will say, if you look at the chronology of the events and this being a parenthetical pause, this event brought about the sealing of the 144,000 saints. No one knows for sure.

Do you have Jesus Christ in your life? No, more matter what you have in your life today, it is nothing compared to what He offers! No money, no possessions, no position or job. Only Jesus can offer you what the world can't. It's not how you start, it's how you finish. We need to make sure our faith in Jesus is real.

Why Did God Create Humans if He Knew They Were Going to be Evil?

As we open our study today into the Book of Revelation, people might ask the question, "Is God happy as He is unleashing the judgment upon the earth?"  God never wants to unleash harm upon His creation but remember, this is a world now that wants nothing to do with God. They have begged, pleaded and shook their fists as God and said, "Get out!" This is a Christ-rejecting world at the point we find ourselves today. Just like any good parent, it never pleases a parent to discipline a wayward child. The Bible even addressed this in Proverbs that a wayward child brings reproach to his mother. God is the same way, everyone He loves He corrects, chastens, and because He cannot sin, He has to execute judgment against evil because He is righteous, Holy and just! He wouldn't be God if He didn't judge evil.

Our culture believes that they can sin up a storm and there will not be any ramifications. He is Holy and just in His judgments and while most people believe that since nothing has happened yet, God must be passive, doesn't exist or is simply looking the other way. We can fathom God's understanding in His plans but we know this, He is just in His loving and He is just in His judgments. Therefore, He has to execute judgment on evil. We, as humans, are all for justice and that is why we can appreciate this as long as it is the other person, getting the justice administered to him. God doesn't have to make any apologies because He is Holy.

God will exercise His judgment and wrath on one group of people alone, a Christ-rejecting world. He takes no delight in what He has to do, but He has to execute judgment on evil and those who do it. Jesus died for all the sins of the world, no matter what you have done, that alone will not condemn you to hell despite what you may have been told. No murders, adulterers,  homosexuals, liars, thieves, fornicators, you name it. None of those gets you into hell. There is only one sin that condemns you to hell. It is rejecting Jesus Christ as your redeemer. That is it. Jesus died on the cross for your sins. If you don't make it to heaven it will be because of one reason, you have repeatedly day by day, neglected to come to Christ as your Lord and Savior.

There is no other religion in the world that can take a book and stand in the very places in history like believers of Christ can with our Bibles and relive those moments standing in the actual places, because they are still there today. We can stand in the valley of Megiddo and read Revelation and know that one day, the culmination of all wars will take place there. Even Napoleon said that in that place alone could the greatest battle on earth take place. That alone should make you excited as a believer in Christ! Only a Christian or Jew can open the Bible and say, "We are standing in that place!" Our faith is founded upon fact!

Neil Armstrong when taking a personal tour of Israel said to his tour guide he wanted to stand on the very same steps of the temple that Jesus did and the tour guide explained that the steps that they were at were the very same ones that Jesus walked up and down. He said, while he may have been the first man to step on the moon, it wanes in comparison to standing where Jesus stood! (Neil Armstrong Walks on Jerusalem). Funny how you won't read that in Time Magazine!

There will a pause in heaven because silence shouts the righteousness of God! The Bible warns over and over to be silent before the Lord because He is holy. When the judgment of God comes, solemn preparation must be made.

Revelation 8:2 ~ "Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them."

Trumpets were used to call God's people for worship in the Old Testament. Trumpets were used, for calling God's people to war in the Old Testament and even in the 18th and 19th century. They were also used to call God's people together for announcements as well as the tolling of the church bells in many cultures more so in the Midwest and East coast today, not so much in the West. The angels will pull out their trumpets and these are NOT rams horns by the way. These are trumpets of judgment. Great ominous warnings! Solemn preparation must be made because God is holy and He is in heaven.

So why is this even important for us to study. I mean this is a pretty intense and horrible chapter. Because I want to make sure that YOU are NOT here when that time comes. Remember the church is no longer on the earth, they have been raptured to heaven! People these days want miracles and signs before they will be believe in Christ. The greatest miracle of all time wasn't the healing of the blind or deaf, or even the restoration of the lepers or the resurrection of Lazarus. You want to know what it was? It was that God who was not a human being, He was something all together different, came by the way of the virgin Mary, born in Bethlehem as prophesied by the Scriptures. Took on Himself, human skin, and stepped into the world. That to me, is the greatest miracle of all! That God who is not a human, became human to live a life and meet all the requirements of the law He gave, only He could do it. To meet its demands, to show its perfection, and then in association with our imperfection, Jesus who was innocent and we who are guilty, went to the cross and died in our place!

God is holy and therefore judgment must come upon the earth and preparations are needed to make that happen.

Habakkuk 1:13 ~ " You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong., why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?" 

You might ask yourself the question, "Why did God create man if He knew He was going to be evil?" Because of choice. You love choice right? Sometimes as parents, we often wish our kids didn't have certain choices in their lives. It would sure make raising them a whole lot easier right? Like when we tell them to clean their rooms. You know they have a choice right?  They may do it eventually, their way, but they have a choice. We all do. In every aspects of our life. From what we eat, what we wear, who we marry, what will want to do for work or school. Choices are available to all of us.

God engineered within the human being the ability to chose. That is the only way to have true love and worship. But man pirated such a privilege and responsibility and decided to go it alone with God. That man was called Adam. And we have been messed up ever since. We can't blame Adam because we probably would have done the same thing. Before God makes things right on this planet, sin has to be judged. Solemn preparation must be made because man sins and deserves judgment. The truth of the matter is that we are all sinners. Non believers love to use the Bible to quote, "Judge not, lest you be judged," but they fail to read the rest or even understand what the context of the word "Judge" means in that portion of the Bible. It means not to condemn. Jesus, Himself, told all of us to be fruit inspectors. Don't forget, "All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God." ALL OF US. We are all in the same boat!

It's human nature to practice sin! It's in our blood and that is not a popular thing to say. Even from birth, no one taught us how to sin, we automatically know how to do it. Babies refuse to listen when you tell them No, you can't have another cookie. We have to remind our children, NOT to do certain things, because inherently we all know how to do them. When you tell your kids not to do something, what do they do? They do it anyway. When you call them on it and ask if they did it, they will lie about it. Not me! Where does that come from? The Garden of Eden. Adam. Eve.

Exodus 23:a~ "You shall not fall in with the man to do evil, "

2 Samuel 12:9a ~ "Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight?"

2 Kings 17:17 ~ "And they burned their sons and their daughters as offerings and used divination and omens and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger." 

Genesis 6:5 ~ "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

Solemn preparation must be made, because evil is about to run its course. We are a people and a race that wants its own way, without God, and when we get it, we mess it up. That is what Utopia is all about. It's man creating a world without God thinking he can govern himself. Not matter what your political affiliation or gender, we can not do it! It's flawed from the beginning. We need Jesus. He begins that when He comes into our life and makes us new. The greatest government of all is a theocracy, when God rules and reigns in men's hearts. That is how the world is changed. The Bible says, it won't be changed until Christ comes.

Didn't Jesus remind us in the pattern to prayer, Matthew 6:13 ~ " and lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from evil." 

Why? Because evil is forever around us.

John 3:15-19 ~ "that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. for God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and the people loved thee darkness rather than the light because their works were evil."

This means that men schemed and looked forward to doing evil rather than following God. For each of us that knows Jesus now, knows exactly what that means. When the judgment of God comes, the prayers of the saints will be heard.

Revelation 8:2-6 ~ "Another angel (an 8th angel), who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them."

This is the answer to prayer but more specifically the answer to the prayers found in Revelation 6:9-10 ~ "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge the earth and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"

Remember they had died earlier during the first 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation period. Remember what the answer was to their question? Wait! We now come to Revelation 8, and their brethren have died and so the prayer is answered. Throughout all history both in the Old and New Testament, the last thing you want to be is an earth dweller. The word in both the Greek and Hebrew means those who live for the earth. It is in direct agreement with Romans 1 about those who worship the earth and its creation. Those who say the earth is their mother. The earth is our home. The earth, not God, has given us forth.

I believe that Christians should be the greatest custodians of nature on the planet earth. Just don't worship it. There are those who worship it. There is a balance and never are we called upon to worship the earth. Earth dwellers are those that live for the earth and worship planet earth. It's what they live for. It's your life, what you can extract from the earth. Gold. Power. Money. Prestige. Place. Position. It's what you live for. The earth dwellers.

Isn't it interesting that to counter that, the Bible says to those of us that are Christians, our citizenship is in heaven! That we are ambassadors for Christ! Diplomats sent into a dangerous world is what ambassadors means to the Christians.

People might look around today and ask if we are seeing God's judgment on the earth. No rain in California. Laws being passed that are contrary to the Bible. I believe what we are seeing is God's warning signs right now, not judgments. God warns, and He warns, and He warns and then once we make the final rejection, the final time we push Him off, remember the Bible says in Genesis, my Spirit will not always strive with man, I hate to tell you this, but we haven't seen anything yet. God is warning us. Here in California, we are under a severe drought and have been below our needed water levels for 9 years. Is this the judgment of God? No, we are not going to get away that easy. Violence and racial division, even political division, makes you wonder what is really going on in the world today. Even with CoVid 19, we wonder if that is a biblical plague. No, far from it. These are warnings based on Joel 1. The rains begin to stop, crops begin to fail. It's almost like you're reading the newspaper today. Read it later.

The culture is suffering because of the decisions we have made. Not because God is judging us. He is simply telling us to turn back to Him. He is asking the Christian, the believer, to turn back to God. That is what he is asking us to do. There is no judgment from God happening on the earth just yet, but it is coming one day. Will YOU choose Him today?

Who Are You Trusting For the Answer to the Problems of the World?

You've probably heard the saying, "God helps those, who help themselves," and often times people will say that comes from the Bible. Did you know that it isn't? It is actually God helps those who cannot help themselves as a way of summing up the Bible. When we look at today's study, we are going to be studying all of man's greatest efforts as it references the best people in the world today, such as Apple, Microsoft, man's ability to establish cities and cultures, it's all going to come down. Man's attempt to govern himself, will fail and all of this stuff begins to crumble. So what should we be doing? We should be trusting in God. Earthly powers will always let you down.

You may have heard people say, "Well, I don't go to church because it's full of hypocrites," or "I don't believe in God because I had a pastor rip me off." "I don't believe in God because, and they will always cite something that plays on their emotions. Yet God never asked you to trust in any of those things. He asked you to trust Him.

You hear people saying, "Well I'm going to do this or we're going to establish that, or we're going to fix the environment for example," I hate to burst your bubble on what you ,for example the the Park Service, of all people in Alaska, has stated that the glacier is not shrinking but it's growing. It's getting bigger. When will you ever hear that on the news? Man's perception is constantly changing and shifting, to the point where it will crumble, but God's Word is always true!

When creation begins to break down, humanity will be brought to its knees and look who is affected.

Revelation 6:15 ~ "Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains."

There will be no earthly power that will come to its help. The "kings of the earth," means the greatest of politicians. Are you looking to the government to be your answer? I hope not. When this great cataclysmic event happens, not even the kings of the earth, the greatest of politicians will have the answer. The "princes" are influential lords, we don't have that so much here in America, but in England they do. Kings, Princes, Queens, Blue Bloods, but even they won't be able to stop it. There will be no decree that anyone will make that will stop what is happening at that time. They won't be able to do anything. This is the frustration of human government. God will bring all of man's devices to a conclusion.

The Bible says that there is a way that seems right to a man, but that way ends in death. Decision making, those choices that seemed right, the Bible says will end in destruction. "The rich," those are your wealthy influential merchants and traders, those who traverse the world for trade. Can you imagine what it would be like to be Bill Gates for just one day? I say only one day because beyond that most of us would get into trouble with that. Can you imagine being the richest man in the world and you can't do a thing about what is happening? That's usually certainly true when some life threatening disease comes and all those avenues have been exhausted, but can you imagine that on a global scale?

Want to know a stupid analysis of Bill Gate's money? They actually broke this down. For every American at the time of when this study was written, that he could buy every single one a $44,000 vehicle, every American? Did you know that he is worth more than some countries? Than most countries actually? What are you going to do when the entire world begins to shake violently and asteroids fall from the sky and the mountains and islands are moved? Build a bomb shelter? What are you going to do? It gets even more interesting. "the generals," even the admirals and the top military minds can't do anything. They have no answers.  Interesting. "The mighty," refers to power brokers, they don't necessarily have money or the military at their disposal they have amazing global persuasion and influence. They can't do anything about it either. Now you can see why these times are truly dark and sinister days coming. Aren't you truly glad that you are a Christian today? Aren't you glad that we don't have to go through what is coming?

Then it goes on to say, "and every slave and every free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountain." There were two other people who tried to hide when they blew it, Adam and Eve. What were they thinking? I'm not saying that we would have done anything different, we probably would have done the same thing, but think about it. They knew God, they walked and talked with Him! If you read the Bible carefully, you will know that Eve was by herself when this happened. She was alone when the serpent came. A lot of people try blaming Adam as if he was there, but he wasn't. We don't know where he was, but he wasn't there when the serpent tempted her. She saw, she listened, she sinned! The Bible says, by the way, Adam never sinned like that, she sinned, he entered into her sin. She blew it.

Adam could have walked in and said, "Girl! What in the world has happened to you?" He didn't do that. In fact a lot of people see the story of the redemption of Christ and His people, she sinned willfully. Timothy, in the Book of Timothy, tells us that she sinned willfully, but Adam was not the one deceived, she was. She was deceived by Satan, but Adam just went for it, he entered into her sinful condition, willfully. It may be that Adam, in a sense, was acting out how Christ came and entered into sin willfully to redeem us in an act of love! Regardless, they hid themselves. How strange it is, that we can become so deceived that we begin to hide ourselves, and look we all do it. We do it because we are afraid of being known, because if we are known fully, we are afraid of being rejected, isn't that right? You are so afraid that if people knew you fully, they wouldn't like you or love you. That is human nature! It's wrong but it's human nature.

You want to know why? Because we all long for unconditional love! We yearn for it! We long for the love that accepts us just the way we are. A love that is not critical or judgmental, a love that loves us! Either when we don't see that love or believe that it is available, or we don't have it, we veil ourselves. That might be why vanity is so prevalent in our culture, I mean its one thing to look nice and you're not committing some sin to wear make up or to not wear make up. If it makes you look good, wear it. J. Vernon McGee once said, "If the barn needs painting, paint it!" Every body likes to focus on things that don't matter and make a big deal out of it. That's not the issue, but when you cross the line and vanity becomes such a big deal that a person surrounds them self with such falsehood because they are so afraid of becoming accepted. People can be so great looking but when you truly get to know them, they are mean, cold, cutting and they don't look so great anymore. You don't want to be around them anymore.

Then there are some people who are so-so and when you get to know them they are truly the most beautiful people on earth because they are tender, sweet, compassionate, and that is on the human scale. The amazing thing is that God loves us. He loves us all, despite how calloused, cutting, mean, prideful, selfish, rude and harsh we can be. Why don't we see ourselves that way? God loves you! It's not someone else's standard that we  have to live up to. They didn't make us. God made us. Yes we we need to repent of our sin. Yes, we need to be born again. Yes, Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father but through Me." It's true. But He loves us and wants us to come to Him.

There is no safe place or place of refuge for these people that are left on the earth. Let's look at their bizarre prayer in the final verses. They pray but it's the wrong prayer. Why don't they call out to God? It shows how hard their heart have become.

Revelation 6:16-17 ~ "They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall of us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"

Have you ever been to a petting zoo? Have you ever warned your child to stay away from "that mad lamb over there?" You ever seen a lamb out of control eating people up? It doesn't happen. Seems like a contradiction, "an angry Lamb?" That just weird. It's like getting bit by a worm! How does that happen? Lambs aren't supposed to be angry!

Jesus Christ came as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, John the Baptist said. But now that Lamb that has been sacrificed and has risen from the dead, and is enthroned in heaven. He comes back in the Second Coming exercising His judgment. Why? Because it is a Christ rejecting age. It was an age that was religious but didn't know Him personally. It was an age that did they own thing and didn't consult God. It was an age that lived for themselves and cared a less about God. It was an age, which the prophet said, they did right what was in their own eyes. Are we not living a time similar to that? Where anarchy is happening in our own state at this very hour the breaching of the law? We have mayors in the state of California refusing to uphold the law on certain issues while looking away at others! That is a crime and it is the first step of anarchy! Unbelievable.

The Bible says that every man will do what is right in his own eyes. That is anarchy! These last two verses tell us that the earth will tremble before God and they are going to say a silly prayer, "Mountains, rocks and hills, fall on us! Fall on us and hide us from Him who sits on the throne."

God is not out of control at this moment, He is never out of control, but He is holy and just, and sin must be judged. You might not like to hear things like this, and believe me I don't like writing blog posts like this, but if one person today decides, "Wow! I don't want anything to do with that time!" You don't have to have anything to do with that time. Jesus Christ has provide the way, that we can escape the terrible age that is coming. Have you made that decision to say to Jesus Christ, I don't want to live in that time.

Now look we don't know when that time is coming, but honestly you look around at the world and you say it can't be long, but let's just think way out. What if everyone of us dies of old age, we are still going to go into eternity, and it all comes down to where you want to spend an eternity? Let alone the fact that things could happen, that bring in the advent of this horrific time. What is your decision, what is your choice? I will be put the invitation out before you, the scripture says that as many as who receive Jesus Christ, to them gave He the power to become children of God, to as many as who believe in His name.

Don't be mistaken, this has nothing to do with being religious. It has nothing to do with your church attendance, or history of giving or service, it has nothing to do with belonging. You know if this was my last day on earth today, I would say this to you, knowing that I would stand before my maker today, I would say this to you, my last chance, that the Bible says, to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that word repent means to change your mind. Trust in Him and if you confess that God put both Jesus Christ on the cross and that He rose from the dead, and if you believe that and confess it with your mouth, you shall be saved. That is what the Bible says.

You might say, "Well that is too simple!" Well then go ahead and try it. A lot of people can't do it. They find that offensive, but have you ever done this? Now hang on to your seat, when the scripture says that these things have been written so that you might know you have eternal life, that word means that it is a tangible, factual knowledge of, we would say today in our modern tongue, you can sink your teeth into it. Do you know that you are saved, going to heaven that securely? Do you know that? Here is the catch, everyone of you that are going to heaven, the Holy Spirit inside you bears witness with your spirit says the Book, says the Bible and you are assured of it. In other words, those of you that are going to heaven, and you know it because of what Christ has done, YOU are going!

For those of you that are saying, I hope so , I really really hope so. Listen, you aren't sure. You don't have that confidence. You don't really know. Those of you who are thinking well I hope it will balance out in the end, you're in trouble. If this was my last invitation to give you today, I would not change a word I am saying right now. YOU can decide NOW to have your guilt removed, your sin forgiven, your name written down in the Lamb's Book of Life, and have heaven assured to you, forever. It's called a relationship with God and do you have it?

You might remember the when your TV programming was interrupted by these words, "We Interrupt this Program... and they would announce things like President Kennedy was shot or the Apollo 13 astronauts are in peril or President Reagan has been shot...and it was gripping! The point I am making is that none of us are promised we will see the sun rise tomorrow or if we will even see the sunset tonight. Our lives will be interrupted with the events of life, and ultimately with the end of life. God reserves that right. To Him it is not an accident. The Bible tells us that all of our days have been numbered by the Lord. But to us it would come as a shocking interruption...we interrupt this program of your life that you have been called into question now to give an answer to your soul.

The Bible says we must all appear before God. When you look at these things, are you ready to meet Jesus? I hope this blog post has interrupted your normal way of living today.  I want to interrupt your life today with the offer and invitation today to call out to Jesus that He might save you from your sins and give you a life worth living, a life that is more sure and more firm, than the foundations of this very earth. Will you accept this invitation today?

What Side of the Fence Are You On?

The one thing we all need to remember when we look around at the world today is to not be discouraged. That is God's plan for your life. We need to remember when we look at John in the Book of Revelation, he is no longer on earth, but has been transported to heaven, so he is looking down at what is going to happen to the earth one day. Remember John is not there. The church is not there. We need to make a decision, where will our eyes be? On heaven or on earth? In any situation, we face. Are our eyes focused on heaven or the earth? Do we look at them the right way, because when we consider that, it dramatically changes how we view what we are going through, with heavenly perspective or with worldly ones!

Are you swallowed up with fear at what is going on in your life? Maybe it's finances, a health care issue, marriage or family issues, and you find yourself so stressed out by how you are going to get through all of this, but if you focus on those things, they will consume you. However if you focus on God, it changes the entire perspective on everything. As we look at these things in the Book of Revelation in Chapter 6, you have a choice, to be a member of Jesus Christ by your faith in Him alone, and view these events from heaven. When you look at the things we are going to be studying today, what you are stressed about right now, will be nothing compared to what is coming.

In North Africa right now, they are facing a political and religious famine, with Islam imposing its rule on much of North Africa. One of the fall outs from this is famine. We know that people are being starved to death and those are political issues. They are controlled by those groups in power in those parts of the world. This famine that is coming, is coming to a Godless, faithless, Christ-rejecting world. You want to ensure that you are NOT part of what is coming. You need to trust in Jesus Christ of the Bible. Read your Bible. Start in John's Gospel in Chapter 1, learn about who Jesus is and put your faith in Him. He is mighty to save.

Our children are being raised in the public schools not to question their teachers. Go ahead and give them the answers they want, so you don't fail in school or college. If this is the answer they want, how did we come about, and the answer they are looking for is evolution, go ahead and give them that. When you get your grade and you are out of that class, you can go up to them and show them your grades. You can tell them you only believed about 7% of what they taught, God is real and some day you are going to meet Him one day. The only reason I got an "A" was because I gave you the answers you wanted. But I wanted to tell you before I leave here that I disagree with all of this. It's humanism.

People are blind like those college professors and they are on a course that they don't even know is ending. But you do and the Bible says its going to end. This man that comes forth in this system he brings will bring a horrible red horse symbolizing death that will come and he is given a great sword. A world that has lost its values is a world that is anarchic and has missed the blessings of God. When we are mindless of God, we begin to miss His blessings. God promises that if we seek Him we will find Him. "Take me on!" God says "and you will find Me!" God says, "I'll make sure you find Me!"  When you find God, you find meaning and purpose in life and blessings. The Bible says as long as we are walking with God, He'll shower His blessings upon us. God blesses obedience as long as it is not in violation of the Bible, God will bless you! Yet if we live in a world without God, we are going to miss His blessings.

God told Abraham, in Genesis 12:3 ~ "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed." 

You don't have to agree with all that Israel does nor do I expect you too. They have done a lot of stupid stuff. But don't ever turn your back on Israel. It is a spiritual issue. God says don't do it. God says the moment a nation turns its back on my people, that nation will come under a curse. Take a look back in history to see what has happened to the nations that have cut Israel out of existence. Hints: You won't sign up to go there on vacation! If you do go there, you have to take antibiotics because their standard of living is pathetic. God has blessed America. He established the United States to put forth the Word of God, around the world as a platform, to show what a nation would look like when God was consulted, and to be a big brother or sister, to put a protective umbrella over the nation of Israel in its infancy as it gave birth to a new people on May 14, 1948, at the admonishment of our President at that time. As long as we are desiring to bless God's people, America will be blessed.

When this nation elects a President that goes against support of Israel, you can start marking your calendar. This nation will begin to diminish and I believe it will have to. When the advent of the Antichrist, the strength in the Euro, and the rise of the Ancient Roman Empire, we're the greatest nation on the planet, the most powerful nation ever in the history of mankind, the most affluent people in mass that the world has ever known, than why is this country not mentioned at all in the Bible? Iraq is mentioned. Iran is mentioned. Saudi Arabia is mentioned. Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Ethiopia, Russia, where is America? It's not there. Why? Why it's vacant is yet to be seen. It's such a Christian nation. Why is the greatest nation so absent in the Bible? We miss out on the blessings of God, which brings a hopelessness when we don't consult the Lord. The Bible says a famine will break out.

Revelation 6:5 ~ "When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!" 

What is all that about? First things first. A denarius was a day's wage from sunup to sundown. An entire days pay for a quart of wheat? That means that food will be scarce. Does it say that there will be no food? That is how amazing the Bible is. It says you have to buy food and it will take a day's wage. It didn't say there was no food. This is how brilliant God's Word is!

Jesus Christ said in Matthew 24:7 ~ "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines."

The word here implies, not because God is faithful, it's not because God doesn't bring rain, or summer or winter and all that. He is faithful to do it. It's political and religious famines. Food is diverted. Manipulated. Played with. Interesting to note that is says, "do not harm the oil and the wine." This is a reference to those who are affluent and influential at that time, by both New and Old Testament scholars. They won't have a starvation problem. They are pulling the strings. But the bulk of the world will have to work all day, just to get a loaf of bread. Why? It is politically and religiously motivated. If you look back historically at famines in the world, there are very few that were environmentally related, did you know that? There have been some but nothing like what has come about due to politically and religiously controlled groups.

Look at North Africa, specifically Ethiopia, if you were to fly over the region and look down you would say, "What is the problem? " It's all green and beautiful down there, what is the problem? Why can't they grow food? You know why they can't grow food? It's a religious and political problem. The people who are not Muslims in Ethiopia, can't get the food, can't get the seed, and all the world food programs that try to get in there, everything gets confiscated and carted away. It's a political religious war! That is what is happening in the Sudan and other parts of North Africa. Political and religious control has brought about great famines. People can't have access to their crops, or their seed, or to water because those groups that are in control. Now that is not a popular thing to say. But that is exactly the truth. Jesus prophesied it before it ever hit this world.

We see a world that is missing the blessings of God and it doesn't have to be that way. A world without God is sentenced to death. There is hope in the midst of this whole thing. You don't have to be here to experience this whole thing. You have to make a decision. Is this what you want? What kind of person would sign up for this kind of mess? No one. There is only one option. To believe in the gospel. To believe that we are new creations in those who put their faith in Jesus Christ. That is your choice today. To inherit the hell that begins in Revelation Chapter 6, or to choose to inherit and accept heaven by the loving and given hand of God. Don't ever attack God for sending people to hell.

The world is sentenced to death. Man was not made to die. This was not the world God intended. Everything in this world, the heart, an amazing electronic pump, gets itself going, runs all by itself until God says to stop. Isn't that amazing. You know that death scientifically is a mystery? People might argue and say, "Well I know how that person died, it's because his kidneys failed." Why did his kidneys fail? We have come to swallow death like it's nothing but it petrifies us to death. The point of the matter is we were never intended to die, but we live in a fallen world and die we must, because we are all S.I.N. positive, says the book of Romans. Sin came into the world and by sin brought death. Jesus Christ came into the world to die on the cross, (1) to remove sin from all mankind, past, present and future sin, Jesus died for all of us. Yet only those who come to Christ and receive that offering that He paid for on the cross will benefit from His work. The choice is yours. Will you say "Yes!" to Jesus?

If you inherit this world that is coming, you have no one to blame but yourself. No one. Stop making excuses. Jesus wants you to have life! This is a world sentenced to death and He wants YOU out of here. In the Book of Revelation, there is a lot of hope. It just depends on whose side of the fence you are on. It's my prayer that you choose life today! What if our great God required your soul at this moment? You might say, well I'm an atheist, I don't believe in God. You know God can get you to believe in Him in just a minute. He can cause your heart for just a brief moment to have a tight sensation in your chest or perhaps you've been on a plane in a violent storm and you have that "man-moment," where you rationalize that you know how much stress a plane can take before something serious happens, you've seen Modern Marvels right? You say, this plane is no where near that stress on those wings. There not going to snap off! Those wings aren't even bending that much. I've seen them do that in a laboratory but they are no where close to that! Then it starts getting worse. The plane starts falling. Your drink flies up and you start thinking, "Um, Lord? Are you and I okay? Is there anything that needs to be cleared up?" Then the plane starts moving around, bouncing up and down, and then there is "Lord, take care of my family. " It just starts escalating.

You might be sitting here right now, saying you are an atheist. Billy Graham as he was nearing the end of his life has said, "No more than ever I am convinced there are no atheists, because when it comes to push and shove, someone will cry out to God or gods of some sort. Some might cry out to Budweiser. He is not there. Some might cry out to your horoscope. Not there. Only the Lord God is the only one who can save you!

"I am THE Way, THE Truth and THE Life," Jesus said, "and no man comes to the Father but through Me!" ~ John 14:6

As a pilot, there is a certain level of turbulence they are comfortable with and there is also a time, where they will begin to think about their own life, even if you're the greatest pilot in the world. What if God requires your soul in that moment. All pilots know where that level of concern is in regards to turbulence. When you hear that level of fear in a pilot's voice, you begin praying. Why would you choose to inherit this mess that is coming? It's strictly your own choice when it comes to your own future. You are the only one to blame. If you wind up in hell, you won't be blaming God. God went to the cross so you would have a choice! Decide today where you will wind up!

Revelation 6:3-8 ~ "When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!" Then another horse came out, a fiery read one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword. When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!" When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. "