Gifts and Curses

Many of us feel that while we may be “gifted” with some things, whether they are emotional, physical, or mental things, that these same things make us outcasts.  Different and sometimes totally unable to fit in with others.  We may feel unwanted, undesirable, and unacceptable to society, our families, loved ones, or even God.  Some of these inhibitors may include being overweight, being “abnormally” tall or short, or maybe even something as “simple” as having freckles.  For example, my hair is mainly jet black.  However, as of recently and despite my young age, I am starting to notice some grey hairs popping up.  I’m not the only one who notices them either.  In fact, it was my little cousin who first noticed it, and since she was seven years old at the time, that age when kids have no problem announcing things as they see them – and to the whole world, at that – she chimed right in and pretty much shouted, “Noah, you have a grey hair!” and proceeded to pluck it out, giggling as I winced in pain.  I was and still am to a point, self-conscious about it.  Especially since more have come in since then.  However, when my girlfriend noticed it, she informed me that she things it’s cool and unique.  She said it goes along with my facial hair (Though most of it is black, there are blonde-red  hairs here and there.)  See, though I see it as a nuisance and embarrassing to a point, others admire it.  It is God-given, as is everything else in life, and if something is God-given, it can’t be all bad.  The same goes for if you’re on the heavy side, or maybe very tall, and just as much so if you’re short.  God gave us all a pair of shoes that we must walk in, so to speak, and we can’t trade them in for a new pair.  So walk in your shoes with a sense of fulfillment and confidence.  Run in them.  Dance in them.  Rock them.

Anyway, on with this.  Some examples of the mental and emotional inhibitors I mentioned include ADHD/ADD, OCD, Bi-Polar Disorder, Depression, or even “little things” like trust issues.  I suffer from almost all of these, and it did get me down for quite a long time.  This is why I was an atheist for a good while.  I thought, “Hey, if I can’t even trust people that I see and speak with every day, why trust someone I can’t even see, and who doesn’t talk back when I talk to him?  And if he’s so judgmental, why should I even try when I’m so uncontrollably mean to people?”  I had fallen victim to trust issues caused by my father not being in my life at all, and by my friends who pretended to like me, but talked ill of me when my back was turned, which depressed me as well.  I have always suffered from Bi-Polar Disorder and OCD, which caused me to uncontrollably mistreat people.  All of this caused me to – for a very long time – avoid both people and God.  Only somewhat recently did I discover someone who was strong enough to withstand the trauma I sprayed out long enough to help me – my girlfriend.  She told me that to her, my flaws are beautiful and that everyone has them, but that I did need to get them under control and change some things.  Since we have been so in love from the start, and since we have always been able to be real and are best friends, I recognized that I didn’t want to lose what we had (and still do have.)  The only way to do that was to change – or to straighten up and get control of myself.  Long story short, I did, and I still strive to keep it that way.  The way I did it was by praying to the God that at the time, I was still unsure of, for guidance.  It then occurred to me that I should receive therapy.  I did so, and prayed for it to be successful, and so far it has been, and strangely enough, I learned after a few sessions that my therapist is a Christian as well.  I decided that, to some degree or another, God must be watching over me and hearing my prayers.  I accepted him and Jesus into my heart, apologized for denying them both, and thanked God for guiding me to where I need to be in order to receive not only control of myself, but God and Jesus’ love – The Holy Spirit – and of course, the unconditional love of my girlfriend, הארוס שלי כדי להיות.  We enjoy and give thanks for God’s love together now.

A large group of beautiful people who have to deal with having a massive gift and curse on their shoulders every day are our Jewish brothers and sisters.  It is told in the Bible that they are God’s chosen people, the inheritors of the Holy Land, and of God’s covenant.  On paper, they are superior people and I would personally love to have gotten the honor to have been one.  They are clearly blessed.  “Gifted”.  But in this world, they are persecuted, hated, and disliked.  Not by me, and I would hope not by any of you, but they are treated unfairly nonetheless, even if not as much as in the past.  At times, they must feel cursed.  It is unfortunate, just as all of our own personal gifts and curses are.  However, we can overcome, or at least harness our flaws.  Our Jewish brothers and sisters cannot.  However, we can show them our unconditional love and support, and involve them in our activities, and prey for them just as much as we do for each other.  Remember, Jesus was a Jew as well as all His apostles.  Our faith is therefore rooted in Judaism.  Let us therefore support our Jewish friends that we know personally.  Pray for them and involve them in our activities.  Pray for Jews all over the world.  Push our governments to continue to support Israel financially, as well as militarily.  Donate food to hungry Israeli children this Hanukkah, via Meir Panim, and pray for them some more.  To any Jews that may be reading this, know that I love you even though I don’t know you, and you are forever in my prayers.  Stand firm, brothers and sisters, and have a blessed, safe, happy Hanukkah.

Again, here is the link to Meir Panim, the organization which accepts donations to pay for food for hungry Israeli children:  Meir Panim

God Bless

-N

Explaining What “Gentiles” Are

This is actually going to be a very short post today, however, it contains very key knowledge regarding the Bible and end time prophecy.

Getting right to it.

In several instances in the Bible, particularly in the NT (As well as  a few times in the OT) we come across the word “Gentile” or “Gentiles”.  In Luke 21:24, we read

“And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

First, lets identify exactly what a Gentile is.  There are a few definitions, but all yield the same point:  Gentiles certainly have not yet overrun Israel, and the last time they did was more than seventy years ago, and it is documented in the Bible.

Definition 1:  Someone who is not Jewish

Definition 2: A Christian

Definition 3: A non-Mormon (Mormons consider people who are not members of their church to be gentiles.)

Israel is, the last time I checked, an Israeli, Jewish state.  Now here’s a fun fact:  Two Palestinians attempted to infiltrate Israel’s border last night, but Egyptian Security Forces shot and killed them.  Overrun Israel, the infiltrators did not.

Now, you could say that Christians will overrun it someday, and that may be so.  However, if we look at Israel in the right light, they’re actually doing quite well right now, especially when compared to past times.  No SCUD missiles being fired into their cities, no bomb-clad, horse-riding suicide bombers attempting to ride in on a horse and blow stuff up, and they are certainly not being ceased by anyone.  In case you haven’t noticed, Israelis are very tough people.  They fend for themselves well.  Does this mean we should stop supporting them, economically, militarily, and with food aid?  Most definitely not.  Does this mean they will never be overrun by gentiles?  No.  Does this mean that, as far as any human can tell, they are okay right now?  Yes.  More importantly, has “the time of the gentiles” been fulfilled?  We can assume not, since despite how well Israel may be doing right now, they are not in good standings overall.  They’re like a rabbit surrounded by wolves – a tiny state surrounded by angry, hateful, anti-Semitic states.  Things are looking decent right now, but I believe Israel and Jerusalem will be overrun again.  After all, it must be.  The Anti-Christ and the Abomination of Desolation must take place.

Yet another way to look at it, is that it currently is not a 100% Jewish state, because of the Islamic Dome of the Rock that stands where Solomon’s Temple used to stand.  Gentiles are standing there already, and NO ONE has left.  They have not shown means of force to lead away the Jewish people, yet the Jewish people have not evicted the gentiles.  Perhaps we’re further back on the timeline than we think.

Regardless, please, I’m asking you and begging you dearly, please show support to your Jewish friends.  They are just as much our brothers and sisters as we are brothers and sisters.  Jesus Christ was Jewish.  Would you ever discriminate against Him personally, or let anyone else discriminate against Him?  I wouldn’t.  Please show your support, they need it.  Not just in Israel, but all over the world.  I know the economy is very rugged right now, but if you can afford it, send food to hungry children in Israel this Hanukkah.  One great way to do this is using the Meir Panim website.  A link can be found on the left sidebar on The Jerusalem Post or you can go directly to Meir Panim’s website, here.

Thank you all and God Bless you.

-N

More Rapturists Looking to Deceive Believers

As an earlier post of mine said, many rapturists are looking to December 20-21 as the new date of their rapture now. However, as you will see if you read this post, every bit of information they are using is falsified and altered. Altered only slightly, so that it still is believable, but still enough to be dangerous and corrosive.

The Correlation of the First Day of Hanukkah and the First day of Winter

These rapturists are saying that since the first day of Hanukkah falls on the first day of winter this year (an occurrence that happens once every seven years) that it is a strong signal that Jesus may return on that day. This may be a strong point – when this correlation really does happen. However, this year is not the year. Though it’s close, the beginnings do not quite correlate.

The first day of Hanukkah always falls on the Hebrew date “Kislev 25”. This is the first mistake these rapturists have made. They profess that Hanukkah begins on Kislev 24. Simply incorrect.

It just so happens that when converted to the gregorian calendar, Kislev 25 is December 20th.

The next problem, is the winter solstice (the first day of winter) falls on December 21. Clearly, they do not correlate. Exhibit one closed.

The Blood Red Lunar Eclipse on December 10th, 2011

Another thing the rapturists are pointing to is the “Blood Moon” that rose over Israel and western North America on the 10th. Undeniably, these phenomenons are mentioned in the Bible on several occasions, and are said to signal the coming of Christ, but what these rapturists fail to mention is that one happened last year around this exact same time. They are common occurrences, and while there have been three this century that really have been followed by Israeli-involved wars, there are many more that have come and gone with nothing. There is no reason to believe this one is any different. Besides, it has now been more than seven days since the blood moon.

What is the significance of this?

The three others this century were followed by wars that broke out EXACTLY 7 days after the eclipse. Nothing has happened, and we have not been “raptured” so that we can miss the war, either.

There are many other things rapturists are doing and saying and pointing to as “signs of the rapture”, but the unmentioned ones are ten times as ridiculous as the ones I have mentioned. They include talk of illuminati(nonsense), President Barack Obama being the Anti-Christ (he doesn’t have the nerve to ever claim that he is God, and besides, his approval ratings would be much higher than they currently are if he was the anti-christ), the NWO is already in place and that they have staged events like 9/11, the earthquake in Japan, etc.

We should be outraged by this, and we should silence them the only way possible. Avoid them. Do not buy into their pagan games, and their perversion of prophecy. For a group of people that call themselves “Fundamentalists”, they sure do take away the fundamentals of the religion. I would bet most children raised in Fundamentalist families have been taught to be more concerned about the rapture than Jesus Christ, or their relationship with God, or their observance of holidays and I bet their prayer has been conflicted. We must silence these “biblical perverts” once and for all.

God Bless You.

-N