Signs of the Times – March 2021

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What about the weather? 

One of the major drivers in the plan for a Global Reset is the issue of climate change.  The argument goes that temperatures on earth are rising because of man made global warming caused mainly by burning fossil fuels.  Therefore we must change the way we live by stopping the use of coal, gas and oil to save the world from irreversible climate change which will bring life on earth to a close. 

One problem with this theory is that over the past few months records have been broken for cold temperatures worldwide.  

Siberia suffered one its coldest winters on record, with temperatures in the vast Northern Asian region regularly dipping below -50C (-58F) from December through to February.  Much of Central and Western Asia has also been battling brutal and unusual freezes with very heavy snowfalls over China and Japan, leading to food and energy prices soaring to record highs. 

North America’s snow cover and cold weather broke almost 10,000 low temperature records, with temperatures 40-50 degrees below average over a large portion of the central and southern plains.  The freezing weather came within minutes of causing the whole electric grid of Texas to fail, as wind farms froze and the rest of the system could not cope with overload. 

The heaviest snow and cold ever recorded hit Madrid and much of Spain, while Greece suffered its most intense snowfall since the 1970s.  Extremely rare snowfall happened in Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. 

Even in the southern hemisphere, summer temperatures have been lower than usual in New Zealand and Australia with rare summer snow in highlands of New Zealand’s South Island.  Antarctica suffered its coldest January since 1978 with sea ice growing. 

No one can accurately predict the future of the weather.  However a recent NASA report said there are changes taking place in the sun, with a decrease in sunspots, which could cause it to get colder on earth. This phenomenon, known as the ‘Solar Minimum’, happens in cycles and causes lower temperatures on earth.  It caused the Little Ice Age in 17th century when the River Thames froze at London Bridge hard enough for ice fairs to be held on it and the sea around Holland and north Germany froze.   

Another issue now affecting the environment is the movement of the magnetic north pole which is shifting eastwards towards Russia.  At the same time the magnetic shield around the earth is weakening.  A weakening magnetic shield makes the earth more susceptible to ‘Corona Mass Ejections’ hitting the earth from the sun.  These are capable of knocking out our electricity grids.   

A weak magnetosphere allows more cosmic radiation to penetrate, primarily through the North Pole.  This will also cause heating of the waters at those latitudes, which melts the ice in the water.  If this causes a reversal of the ‘Beaufort Gyre’, the current that swirls around the Arctic Ocean, it will send very cold water into the North Atlantic causing a weakening of the Gulf Stream and plunging northern Europe, including Britain, into very cold weather.   

MAGNETIC POLE SHIFT + LOW SOLAR ACTIVITY = GLOBAL CLIMATE CRISIS 

Scientists have also discovered that the earth was spinning on its axis ever so slightly faster in 2020 than it did in previous years.  Coupled with other unknown phenomena which we have no control over, these events have the potential to cause major climate change, even extinction events and catastrophes on earth.  Scientists have concluded that there could be a connection between the Solar Minimum and an increase in earthquakes and volcanoes.  2021 has already seen large earthquakes in various places and many volcanoes throwing large amounts of lava into the air.  This has the potential to bring colder weather to earth as well. 

All of this ties in with Bible prophecies of a shaking of the earth in the last days before Jesus returns.  Human mismanagement of the earth has some impact on what is going wrong, but it is not the whole story.  There are other factors which we can do nothing about. 

The Bible indicates that there will be a problem relating to the environment in the last days of the age.  In Romans 8.22 we read ‘The whole creationgroans and labours with birth pangs together until now.’  Jesus gave an increase in earthquakes as a sign of the last days (Matthew 24.7).  Isaiah 24 speaks of mass destruction and death on earth as it is ‘defiled under its inhabitants’, ‘the inhabitants of the earth are burned and few men are left’, and ‘the earth is shaken exceedingly.’ Revelation 8 prophesies trees burning down, fish dying in the sea and waters polluted and undrinkable. 

Jesus said “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth,for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then they will see the Son of Mancoming in a cloud with power and great glory.Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, becauseyour redemption draws near.”  Luke 21.25-28. 

At Jesus’ Second Coming, He will use His divine powers as Creator of the universe to repair the devastation on earth caused by the last days events and set up His divine rule for the 1000 year Millennium in which the ‘earth will be full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.’  Isaiah 11.9, Habbakuk 2.14. 

Nations going mad. 

In Jeremiah 25.15-16 we read: ‘For thus says the Lord God of Israel to me: “Take this wine cup of fury from My hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. And they will drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.” 

Today we see a kind of insanity taking hold of the western nations as the ‘woke’ politically correct agenda is imposed on all areas of society.  This agenda is specifically hostile to God’s created order of male and female and God’s revelation of His unique nature as our Creator, Redeemer and Judge found in the pages of the Bible.  As God’s truth is scorned and rejected by those in power, a spirit of insanity is being poured out on them as they lead the people on the path to destruction. 

A recent example of this took place in the US Senate and Congress. The 117th Congress opened with a politically correct prayer made by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, an ordained United Methodist minister.  He opened the session by praying in the name of a Hindu god and twisting the word “amen” into a promotion of gender equality.  Though his prayer was full of Christian themes, terminology, and references, Cleaver closed it by appealing to the deities of “many different faiths,” implying they are all the same.  “We ask it in the name of the monotheistic God, Brahma, and ‘god’ known by many names by many different faiths,” said Cleaver.  In fact Brahma is the chief god of the polytheistic Hindu religious system.  His prayer concluded with the words “Amen and A-woman,” as if the “men” of “Amen” was somehow a gendered term and that it is patriarchal and bigoted to use the “men” word in prayer! 

Of course, “Amen” comes from the common Semitic root word meaning, “So be it.” It is used in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic liturgy, being found in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Arabic (along with English and many other languages).  It has no linguistic connection whatsoever to the English words for men or women.   But who said being PC had anything to do with truth or reality? To the contrary, it is quite often based on the denial of reality, or, in this case, complete ignorance of a common word. 

Not to be outdone, though, House Democrats have revealed their new, “future-focused” rules, which include the following: “In clause 8(c)(3) of rule XXIII, gendered terms, such as ‘father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother, half-sister, grandson, or granddaughter’ will be removed. 

“In their place, terms such as ‘parent, child, sibling, parent’s sibling, first cousin, sibling’s child, spouse, parent-in-law, child-in-law, sibling-in-law, stepparent, stepchild, stepsibling, half-sibling, or grandchild’ will be used, instead.” 

So, this is what the future looks like? This is what it means to be inclusive?  The best response was that of the House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy who tweeted, “This is stupid. Signed, A father, son, and brother.”  Well said. Stupid it is. 

But as easy as it is to poke fun at this ridiculous proposal, it is highly significant when major government institution wants to remove all gendered language. As the saying goes, this does not end well.  It may end as in Canada with a bill charging hate speech for failure to comply with transgender preferences.  

In 2019 a Canadian man was involved in a legal dispute over his daughter’s desire to transition to male. Not only did the court rule that he could not interfere with her getting hormone treatments, but he was forbidden to call his own daughter by her given, female name or to use female pronouns with reference to her, even in private, under penalty of immediate arrest. 

So, as laughable as the “A-woman” prayer might be, and as absurd as the House’s “gender-inclusive” rules might be, we should take both with complete seriousness and say, “Not on my watch.”’ 

Information from Michael Brown, originally published at AskDrBrown.org 

Persecution rising around the world. 

Christians are being slaughtered all across Africa, they are being taken to concentration camps in North Korea, thousands of churches have been brutally shut down under a new wave of persecution in China, and millions of believers throughout the Middle East must live knowing that each new day may be their last.   

Open Doors says levels of Christian persecution are at a record high around the world, revealing that the number of Christians murdered for their faith rose 60 percent in 2020.  Open Doors World Watch List names the top 50 nations that are persecuting Christians:  

  1. North Korea 
  1. Afghanistan  
  1. Somalia 
  1. Libya 
  1. Pakistan 
  1. Eritrea 
  1. Yemen 
  1. Iran 
  1. Nigeria 
  1. India 

North Korea is definitely deserving of the number one spot on the list. Right now, hundreds of thousands of prisoners are enslaved in concentration camps, and most of those that get sent to one of them are never heard from again. Afghanistan also deserves its spot in the top 10.  Many of those that convert to Christianity face death, and the government that was installed following the U.S. invasion is extremely hostile to the Christian faith and is one of the most oppressive countries on the entire planet.  As the US moves its troops out of Afghanistan it looks likely that the Taliban will take control again, bringing even more oppression and persecution on the suffering people of that nation. 

According to Open Doors, other nations such as India have been using COVID as an excuse to ramp up persecution of believers.  “Extremists and governments are using COVID-19 as a justification to increase persecution against Christians and we see this in several places,” said Open Doors CEO David Curry.  “In India, local governments are using pressure on Christians to withhold food and medical care – over 115,000 incidents of this that we can document,” explained Curry. “Extremists like Boko Haram in northern Nigeria are attacking Christian villages, knowing that there is nowhere for them to go and they’re taking food and medical supplies. This is happening more and more and that’s on top of the other incidents of persecution. So, there’s this level of intensity that’s been added to because of COVID.”  In Africa, mass slaughter of Christians is happening on a regular basis, but the mainstream media in the western world hardly ever mentions them.   

Over in China, thousands of churches have been permanently shut down, Bibles are being regularly burned in public, and countless numbers of church leaders have been “disappeared”.  For those churches that are permitted to remain open, technology is used to carefully watch every move.  Curry explained, “There’s 100 million Christians right now in China, and they (the regime) are using their technology for surveillance of the church. They’re watching their every move. They’re seeing when they go into church. They’re using facial recognition. They’re looking at their searches online. They have a massive surveillance system which is monitoring religious practice in China and it is absolutely chilling, and I think it poses the greatest threat to human rights.” 

Animosity toward Christians is rapidly rising all over the western world as well, and what we have witnessed so far is just the beginning. The Christian faith is being demonized on television, in the movies, in our education system and by many prominent voices in our society. 

Sadly, it is just a matter of time before we see active persecution of Christians here in the West too.  Another sign of the last days and the coming of the Lord Jesus. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.  And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Matthew 24.9-10. 

So is there a life after Covid? 

We asked this question earlier in this magazine and looked at ways in which some people wish to use this crisis to change the way we live on earth.  There is another issue which brings us back to the central message of the Gospel.   

The worst thing that can happen to a person who catches Covid is that they will die.  And if they recover from Covid, they will later die from something else, unless the Lord returns first.  What then? 

According to the Bible ‘It is appointed to man to die once and after death the judgement.’  Hebrews 9.27.   

The Lord Jesus said: ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation (damnation).’  John 5.25-29. 

The only way to escape from the resurrection of condemnation (hell) is to believe the Gospel, that Jesus died for our sins and rose again from the dead to give eternal life to all who repent and believe the good news.  The only thing we can be 100% certain about concerning the future is that one day we will leave this mortal body, either by death or the rapture of the church.  The only way to know that we will have a good outcome when that happens is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. 

Here is a prayer to make that step of faith if you have not done so yet: 

Dear Heavenly Father, I admit that I am a sinner and need your forgiveness.  I believe that Jesus the Messiah died in my place, shedding His blood to pay for my sins, and that He rose again from the dead to give me eternal life.   I am willing right now to turn from my sin and accept Jesus the Messiah as my personal Saviour and Lord.  I commit my life to you and ask you to send the Holy Spirit into my life, to fill me and to take control and to help me become the kind of person you want me to be.  Thank you Father for loving me.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.