God's War on Terror

Walid Shoebat's book God's War on Terror is a must read. Even if one does not buy into Mr. Shoebat's version of who the Antichrist might be, his illumination of Islam will pull our heads out of the sand. He has done well convincing me that our European emphasis on end time prophecy is likely misapplied. Did we really fear the European Union? Who would lead it, the French? In any case, the evil that is Islam can not be over stated. After reading "God's War on Terror", hearing "the religion of peace" phrase can never be heard in quite the same way again.

More standard apocalyptic prognosticators will resist Mr. Shoebat's eschatology. For one, they have too much invested in their European model and have spent years convincing themselves and others of its infallibility. Maybe they are right but maybe not. Secondly, Mr. Shoebat's apocalypse is not nearly apocalyptic enough. Apocalypse mean revealing but most use and think of it as defining some catastrophic, world-ending event. If Antichrist is limited to Islamic control we would feel cheated. He must control the planet or nothing. And what a horror if chip implants are not the mark of the beast.

For those uncomfortable folks who insist on misery, there is sufficient catastrophe prophesied in case you miss out on beast markings. Totalitarianism is always popular for when hail and earth quakes prove inadequate.

Paradigm shifts are uncomfortable.

Surprise, We Are Still Here

Harold Camping is consistent if nothing else. Once again Mr. Camping has miscalculated the world's end. This comes as no surprise for Christian's who follow prophesy or anyone with rudimentary logic for that matter. Mr. Camping's date setting was based on the date of Noah's flood. And when exactly was that again? I am afraid the only certain doom is for those who insist on declaring a date for that which Jesus clearly stated no date can be known.

Does God keep secrets? Apparently He does. And He keeps no secret of this secret keeping. Jesus, who was God, is God, and always will be God - but is not God the Father, put it this way:

Mark 13:32 (King James Version)

32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

Did Jesus not know all things during his earthly tenure?

Hebrews 5:8 (King James Version)

8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

Or how about this one:

Revelation 1

1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

God the Father gave a "revelation" unto Jesus? What's that all about? When did that happen? I'll bet you always read that as "gave unto John". Maybe you should read it again.

Would it really bother you if today God the Father knew something that God the Son did not know? It wouldn't bother me. Would this limitation disturb the omniscient aspect of God? Not if we truly believe in the oneness of God. I would not suggest bringing it up at the neighborhood Bible study.

Is there a point to all this? Only that we all have a lot to learn. We are well advised not to climb too far out on any heretical limb in search of apples.

But the next time you hear some pastor experiencing his mental entanglements while recounting a story from Jesus' life and assuring you that "Jesus knew all things because He was God", you can think of me enjoying it with you.

What will be the signs of Your coming?

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

War, famine, pestilence and earthquakes are common. Why mention these common events as signs of the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus? There must be something special about them in the end of days. Will they be more numerous? Will they be more severe? Will there be something strange? Do they involve hubris?

When the aids epidemic appeared many thought this foreign, resilient pestilence had the characteristics needed for end of days. It was a new disease. It was incurable. And it was definitely strange. But alas, we are now comfortable with aids and though still scary it seems just another problem for humanity like cancer.

What if the calamities of Mat 24 have a characteristic we have not yet seen. Man playing God or aspiring to godlike authority would be an interesting ingredient. What if our insistence on tampering with the very elements of creation all in the name of improvement ended up destroying much of Mankind? Irony anyone?

Science is accelerating its ability to manipulate genetic material. Many warn of tragic consequences in genetically modified food. We have already crossed the threshold of genetically modified animals. Multiple scenarios of unintended consequences can be imagined. Exotic diseases could abound. Humans can be only partially human.

This is not fantasy or the stuff of science fiction alone. Search "transhumanism" for an eye opening experience. Wars have been caused by much less. Pestilence and famine is easy to imagine. Here is a pestilence link to get our attention.

Housing Not Recovered

MarketWatch

Average home prices are down 8% from a year ago, 3% over the quarter, and are falling at about 1% every month, according to Zillow.

And the percentage of homeowners in negative-equity positions — with a home worth less than its mortgage — has rocketed to 28%, a new crisis high.

Zillow now predicts prices will fall about 8% this year and says it no longer expects the market to bottom before 2012.

When you fear that all the "deals" are passing you by, you might consider the above report. House value bleeding may not be stopped yet. I would not be in any hurry to take on debt right now even if you can find a bank to lend you money.

But the article is bullish. He thinks buying now is a good idea.

Ultimate Unionization

According to a new report, 47 percent of Detroiters are ”functionally illiterate.” The alarming new statistics were released by the Detroit Regional Workforce Fund on Wednesday.

Is there a spot on earth more well known for unions and Democrats than Detroit?

Finding The Eye Of a Needle In A Haystack

How often have you heard these scholarly explanations:

The “eye of the needle” is a city gate.

The high priest had a rope tied around his ankle.

Scribes washed before and after writing the name of God.

Gehenna was a perpetually burning trash dump.

NASA scientists have discovered a “missing day.”

Problem is they are not true. We love torturing the scripture to support our biases. See this.

Credit: PaleoBabble

What Time Is It?

Einstein showed us the link between time and the speed of light. Time is a relative thing and depends on the variables of density and light's speed, to name two. I have been a Creationist of the long periods of time variety. There had been too much scientific evidence for an old earth and a 13+ billion year old universe for me to think otherwise. This was a strain for me because the Bible text appears to want "day" (yom) to mean a 24 hour period of time. There are good arguments for believing both old earth and 24 hours creation periods. The "gap" theory is one and it could be right. God's viewpoint from the infinite density of the singularity compared to the viewpoint of current universe's density is another intriguing conjecture by Gerald Schroeder. But increasing evidence of inconsistency in some variables affecting time from the beginning until now is finding its way into accepted scientific publications. I don't have the best articles but here are a few recent mentions to get us thinking.

If the speed of light has been slowing over time, then time measurement is tipped on its head. Science will oppose this concept to the death. Too many sacred cows would go to hamburger helper. I had considered this speed of light question bogus but am warming up to it in light of increasing discussions and questions. Barry Setterfield, a researcher who most scientists view as between Captain Kangaroo and Hitler, has done a lot work on the subject. I ignored Mr. Setterfield because of how others viewed him. Maybe we should give him more credence. World Net Daily has a good article summarizing Mr. Setterfield's ideas. Life would not be complete without rebuttal to Mr. Setterfield's article. Are you impressed by the open minded humility? Here is a better rebuttal to the slowing of light.

WMAP measurements of background radiation supports old earth and pegs time to the Hubble red shift figures so I'm not holding my breath on this whole light slowing thing.

Other strange things seem to be tampering with time measurements. Decay rates always thought to follow a predictable curve may not be so predictable after all.

If our measuring stick is mis-calibrated, the house we built may not be the size we believed.