I think that there has never been a time in the history of our world, when so many different circumstances have converged in such a way that some globally momentous event is surely eminent. I am continually amazed at the fact that the world economy remains “stable” (a relative term) to the degree it currently still is. The longer I have observed this miraculous and unexplained holding pattern, the more convinced I personally become, that the shattering event that causes it all to come tumbling down, will be the rapture of the church.

The news at the end of the week, of bank runs in China and China’s national banking maneuvers and restrictions put in place to avoid them, seems to my mind, extremely significant.  China, which has bought so much U.S. debt.  China, which has the most holdings in actual gold than any other nation presently, who has jockeyed to become the world’s leading economic power, and to win the title away from the U.S., and has indeed followed in our footsteps to the extreme of now teetering on the verge of financial collapse.  I am no economist, but if China is wobbling, and America is wobbling, when so many nations have already resorted to austerity and experienced civil uprisings, it seems that we are edging closer every second toward a financial meltdown of global proportions.  This won’t mean there is no wealth, it will simply mean that the power elite who have worked so long and so hard to control all of the wealth, will finally be able to make their move to secure that total control once and for all.  I don’t doubt there are plans in place to hasten this development.  I just happen to believe that God has His own plan and it will pre-empt that of the world powers.  I don’t watch these events, biting my nails and wondering which horrific and catastrophic thing will happen first.  I watch in full peace and confidence knowing God has His own plan.  Man plans his way, but God directs the outcome.

That is not to say things won’t get pretty dismal here in the U.S. beforehand, but I expect that it will be in that very instant when things look bleakest, that the Bridegroom will come for HIs Bride.  We have watched and warned and waited.  There is a time for everything and the very fact that so many (in the church) scoff at prophecy and the prospect of the rapture, and the return of Christ, is a glaring indicator of how ripe conditions are for this momentous event to occur.  I just read an article that said Jan Crouch, in the wake of her husband’s death and her taking of the helm of TBN, has chosen to pare off the prophecy-focused programs from their broadcasting line-up.

It is difficult after closely watching events in the Middle East for months and years on end, for Christians to maintain the vigilance necessary to remain up to speed on every development.  Unlike some of the major prophecy-related news blogs, I and many others run a one-person operation, but I believe the Lord has His purpose in calling each one who is in this ministry, and that purpose applies right down to the handful of readers who tune in to read this.  It took me some time to figure that out.  Though I have never focused on numbers, I have strived to work at this blog in such a way as to grow the readership, but I fully realize that I am merely one small cog in the machine, and mostly serve to continue passing news along as a distributor of sorts.  I do not claim to be an expert by any stretch.  I just know that in the parable of the Virgins, five were “ready” and five were not, but still all of the maidens fell asleep.  Just like the disciples in Gathsemane, we grow weary and succumb to the weakness and frailty of the human flesh which sometimes falters, the spirit being willing, but the flesh being weak.  My posts, you may have noticed, have more or less begun to bypass America-specific news in favor of the global and particularly Middle-East developments, and that is because I am convinced that God is on the very verge of swinging His attention back to Israel, to fulfilling that seventieth week Daniel wrote about.

The failure of Kerry’s Peace talks and the fact that Abbas is now wheeling and dealing with Moscow, signals a shift that brings things into alignment for the “hook in the jaw” that will bring a Russian and Middle East contingent against Israel for purposes of taking a spoil.  As Obama has proved impotent in leadership as it relates to these global affairs, Vladimir Putin has arrogantly scoffed at Obama’s weakness, while making a point of “stepping up” in ways America once would have done. (Not that the Middle East powers haven’t turned to Russia before).  Whether this has garnered any real trust on the part of world leaders, who are well aware of Putin’s own ambitions of world power, is debatable. But the fact remains, the rest of the world is hanging back and letting this go unchallenged, while Putin seizes opportunity and is forging ahead. ITAR-TASS reported Thursday that Abbas and Medvedev had plans to sign an agreement between Palestine and Russia, for a $1 billion natural gas project in the Gaza section of the Mediterranean Sea.  That’s interesting, considering that the rights to those particular waters are owned by British Gas.  But since the U.S. under Obama’s leadership is no longer inclined to stand against rogue states such as Russia (not to mention Iran), this move could result in Russia effectively blocking Israel’s ability to export their own gas, while also serving to legitimize Palestinian Statehood in a back-handed sort of way, via Russia’s endorsement.  Not only has Russia made a deal with Abbas, but on Christmas Day, they also made a deal with Syria, for oil and natural gas exploration off Syria’s shores.

So now Abbas has dropped Kerry and Netanyahu, and is dealing with Russia, not only on trade issues, but statehood issues, and even working with Russia in regards to the war in Syria!

Meanwhile, there is a separate effort going on in Geneva right now, to address humanitarian concerns in Syria, all of a sudden (finally?).  Remember Syria?  Yeah, the war there has become such “old news” that we don’t hear much about it anymore.  The world is calling for peace and safety and for Israel’s figurative head on a platter.  Sudden destruction can only be around the corner.

I am not looking for the next stuff-hitting-the-fan event here in America. No doubt, it is coming, but I think that it will be in tandem with chaos on a global scale.  Obama has been in office five years.  A tremendous amount of change has happened, both in the U.S., and in the rest of the world, in that time.  But students of scripture know that a lot more has yet to happen.  I believe much of it will erupt simultaneously with the catching away of the saints, and I believe that all of those other things that still have yet to occur, will come about with breathtaking speed.  It is very significant that a minister in Israel publicly called for the rebuilding of the third Temple.

A showdown is looming! I defy you to name any nation in the world right now that is not starkly polarized, with clear dividing lines.  There is no peace anywhere today, and it’s clear there will not be compromise and reconciliation, therefore the only alternative is war.

God has already said that the events of the tribulation will be so catastrophic that if He did not limit the time, no one would survive it.  The labor pangs have been growing more frequent and intense since 2009.  The ultimate sign that true labor is about to commence for a woman, is that her water breaks.  Generally, labor will begin within 12 to 24 hours after that particular sign.  I believe that some “watershed” moment is about to take place after which there will be no more room to question “what time it is” in this world.  The amnionic sack serves to protect the fetus.  When it breaks, there is no reversing the process.  Likewise, the presence of the Holy Spirit in His saints, serves as a buffer, providing a degree of safety and control over the destructive potential of evil in this world.

I know many people who could write a theological treatise on all the reasons why they are convinced that something is about to give way.  My spiritual intuition and my faith in God’s heart and nature, as well as the record of the way He has dealt with mankind in the past, all serves as a greater indicator to me than all the news articles from across the globe.  There is a time for everything under the sun.  Scripture is clear and anyone with eyes to see it, can recognize that this world as it is now, is unsustainable.  God is merciful and longsuffering, but there comes a time that He is finished with mercy and must attend to justice.

I take seriously the admonition of Luke to “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man”.

Watch:

• Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.
• Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord does come.
• Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
• But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
• But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

Pray

• And he spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
• Will he delight himself in the Almighty? will he always call upon God?
• Continue in prayer, and watch in it with thanksgiving;
• Pray without ceasing.

Accounted Worthy

• But they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead,
• in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer:

Stand

• Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
• Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
• Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Luke passage warning us to watch and pray, that we may be accounted worthy, has this to say:

Do you ask how you may be found worthy to stand before Christ at that day? Those who never yet sought Christ, let them now go unto him; those who never yet were humbled for their sins, let them now begin; those who have already begun, let them go forward and be kept humbled. Watch therefore, and pray always. Watch against sin; watch in every duty, and make the most of every opportunity to do good. Pray always: those shall be accounted worthy to live a life of praise in the other world, who live a life of prayer in this world. May we begin, employ, and conclude each day attending to Christ’s word, obeying his precepts, and following his example, that whenever he comes we may be found watching.

Christian watch! Pray! Wear the Armor! Stand!

To the unbeliever, the unsaved, be warned.  You must be born again in order to see the Kingdom of God.  You have to admit that you are a sinner, that as the Bible says, the wages of sin is death, understand that sinless Christ died to pay that sin debt on your account, so that you could be pardoned and freed from the penalty of death (eternal separation from God), and ask that His atonement be applied to you.  Pray that YOU may be accounted worthy to escape the destruction and yes, wrath, that is to come.  Time is running out quickly.