IS TRUMP DRAINING THE SWAMP AS PROMISED?

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Even before Trump’s January 2018 State of the Union Address, his administration had waded into the swamp and begun the cleanup process, fully embracing 64 percent of the agenda items proposed by the conservative Heritage Foundation for changing the way Washington works.

Pulling America out of the Paris Agreement on climate change turned out to be a major public relations victory for the president, sending a warning salvo across the bow of Washington, D.C.’s entrenched climate-change lobby and earning plaudits from his anti-globalist base.

Ending Obama-era regulations on net neutrality was another.

Then proposing and passing a once-in-a-generation tax reform package—over the objections of legislators from both parties—was an important sequel leading to, contrary to some media warnings, higher take-home pay and bonuses for American workers.

Using the provisions of the Congressional Review Act, the administration worked with Congress to eliminate 14 regulations adopted in the waning days of the Obama administration. The president made it clear he intended to wage war on over  regulation and began by lifting Obama’s moratorium on coal leases on federal lands. He then instructed all executive branch agencies to review all new rules, with the goal of eliminating two regulations for every new one. By year’s end, the administration had withdrawn, delayed or made inactive 1500 proposed regulations, saving more than $8 billion in lifetime net regulatory costs, with the promise of increasing savings to $9.8 billion with regulatory cost-cutting in 2018.

Another priority of President Trump’s agenda is the nomination and confirmation of conservative constitutional judges, perhaps best illustrated by the appointments of Justice Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court. Trump also appointed and gained confirmation for 12 circuit court of appeals judges before the end of his first year in office. This was the largest number of appellate judges confirmed during the first year of any American president. However, the challenge would become more complicated the following year, as more than 90 of the president’s appointments were blocked in the Senate.

Nominating and confirming strict constitutionals to the federal bench, as the Trump team has repeatedly pointed out, is an important step in reducing bureaucratic entanglements since most federal cases are settled at the appellate level. As many as 8,000 cases are filed before the Supreme Court each year, which is far more than any court can consider. Plenary review with oral arguments by attorneys for both sides is granted in about 80 cases each term, and as many as 100 cases may be disposed of without plenary review. Only one of every 700 cases heard by the appellate courts will find its way to the Supreme Court, so reducing the number of activist judges, eliminating needless bureaucracy and resolving disputes at the earliest possible level is a victory for the rule of law.

And by God’s grace, we will see an increase in this kind of victory in the Supreme Court. I encourage you to read more about this topic in Steve Strang’s Trump Aftershock.

CHURCH IN THE LAST DAYS

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According to a 2016 time study conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 34% of the workforce works on the weekend. The U.S. workforce is approximately 160 million. That means over 54 million work on the weekend. That’s staggering. Moreover, this situation will be mirrored in most developed nations.

The two fastest-growing demographics working on weekends are entrepreneurs and those with more than one job. The rise of the entrepreneurial society and the gig economy virtually guarantees this weekend workforce will increase, probably substantially.

If someone works either day, Saturday or Sunday, they are not likely to attend Sunday services. For Saturday workers, Sunday becomes their day off after a tough work schedule.

The reasons for not doing weeknight services are rarely theological. If your church has Sunday-only service or services, you are missing out on reaching one of three working persons. I really don’t think most church leaders realise how huge this number is.

The weekend workforce is not a future trend; it is a staggering present reality. Some churches will adjust and seek to reach these workers. Sadly most won’t.

As most readers of my post know, I believe in the last days the persecuted church will be like that described in the Book of Acts, like it was in China during the time of Mao, like it is now in Iran and many of the other Muslim countries. As well, pastors like Francis Chan have already discovered large churches are not focused on training up disciples who are then in turn capable of training up more disciples. Small groups of people totally committed to one another as they were in the early church is the model that is capable of completing the great commission.

LAST DAYS FAMINE/DROUGHT

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“And there will be famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various places. Matthew 24:7

Are we seeing this end times scripture being fulfilled in our time?

Approximately 106 000 farm animals have perished so far due to drought in Chile, reports confirmed on October 5, 2019.

This year’s dry spell is the country’s worst in six decades, leaving crops destroyed and dead animals in the field. Mostly goats, cattle, and sheep died due to a lack of water and fodder and about 37 000 family farms need aid in central Chile according to the agriculture ministry. Petorca locals pointed out that the long-term issue is the mismanagement of water sources.

Drought in Africa leaves 45 million in need across 14 countries

Failed rains across eastern Africa, southern Africa, and the Horn of Africa are seeing another dire season for farmers, increasing food prices and driving up the aid needs of tens of millions of already vulnerable people across the three regions.

All told, more than 45 million people will struggle to find enough food across 14 countries in 2019, many feeling the compounded effects of years of drought. It’s the second time in three years that an El Niño event has disrupted weather patterns.

A historic drought in India is so severe that it’s now visible from space

A historic drought in Chennai, the sixth-largest city in India, is so severe that it’s now visible from space. The city’s 4.6 million citizens are rationing every drop of water, restaurants are closing early and companies are scaling back their operations as Chennai tries to survive a heat wave with 99 per cent less water than it had at the same time last year. The state government is shipping in water on trucks, but those trucks can’t replace the now dried-up lakes that once fed the city.

Heat, hardship and horrible harvests: Europe’s drought explained

Europe’s searing temperatures have this summer transformed normally lush pastures to a dusty brown in a matter of weeks. The drought, especially in northern and central parts of the continent, has had a devastating impact on crops.

Heatwaves, record temperatures and disastrous precipitation in the first part of the summer have caused the drought, according to the World Meteorological Organization. April and May were the warmest on record when it comes to average temperatures across Europe, it’s been claimed.

Dead things everywhere: is Australia facing the summer from hell?

Valley water storages in the Macquarie are sitting at 11%. In the Namoi, in north-west NSW where water shortages have been acute, they’re at 1.5%. The Border Rivers, in the region between the NSW and Queensland border, are at 6%. In Sydney, dam storages have dropped below 50% for the first time in more than a decade. It’s one part of the climate crisis playing out across much of the country. A different year, similar story. Most places are drier than usual, warmer than usual.

NSW is experiencing one of the most severe droughts on record, with the Central West, Far West and North West regions the worst affected to date.

HOLY SPIRIT POWER

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“The Spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart.” Proverbs 20:27

A lamp requires oil to function. The Holy Spirit is the oil. You must be born again with the Holy Spirit to be holy, to function as God intended.

Man’s Spirit was always meant to be the vessel for the Holy Spirit, to produce the fruit of the Spirit in man; love, joy, peace patience, faithfulness, goodness, gentleness, kindness and self control.

Listen to Dave Wilkerson talk on Getting to Know the Power of the Holy Spirit.

RABBI ARI EXPLAINS YOM KIPPUR

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By: Rabbi Ari Enkin, Rabbinic Director, United with Israel

Yom Kippur is a time when we are forced to focus on our mortality. We take inventory of what we have done. We evaluate our ‘spiritual worth.’ Just like Yom Kippur is the day of judgement, so, too, we must prepare ourselves for the ultimate Day of Judgement. And that is what I want to focus on in this article.

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PREPARING FOR THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT

We also make use of Yom Kippur to recommit ourselves to leading a life worth living. We recommit to being good people whose lives are filled with meaning. We also want to ensure that we get ourselves the ‘best seats’ in the World to Come.

The Talmud tells us that we will be asked four questions when we one day reach heaven.

The first question is “Have you been honest in your business dealings?“

But make no mistake, it doesn’t merely refer to our honesty in money-related dealings. It also comes to include the questions: “Were you honest in your relationships? Were you a good neighbor? A good husband? A good father? Were you honest and did you give all your endeavors your best effort?”

The next question will be “Did you set aside time for Torah study?”

This too, is a much more loaded question than meets the eye. It comes to include such things as: “Did you pursue education? Did you strengthen your Judaism? Did you seek knowledge or did you prefer ignorance when it came to Torah observance? Did you live by the Torah’s values? Did you teach your children our heritage”?

Then we will be asked: “Did you try to have children?”

This, too, is of course, a loaded question. But it is so much more than that. It also includes: “Did you spend time with your family? Did you treat your wife properly? Did you try to provide for those dependent on you to the best of your ability?”

And finally, there is the question: “Did you look forward to redemption?”

I would suggest that this includes: “Did you work hard to build a better future for yourself and those around you? Did you give up when things weren’t getting tough or did you try, try, and try again? Did you support the State of Israe,l which represents Jewish redemption in our day?”

As we enter Yom Kippur it is these many question that should be on our mind. May we be able to give Him the right answers.

GOVERNMENTS HELL BENT ON DESTRUCTION

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Regular use of cannabis doubles the risk of psychotic symptoms ­including schizophrenia and is closely associated with anxiety disorders, depression and ­psychosis, says official advice to the Morrison government triggered by the passage of new laws in the ACT.

The briefing paper prepared for Health Minister Greg Hunt reveals extensive links between cannabis use and adverse mental health affects, which have “broadened considerably” as marijuana is decriminalised.

In the three-page brief obtained by The Weekend Australian, the Health Department lists five “key issues” or research findings to consider after the ACT Legislative Assembly passed a ­private member’s bill allowing adults to possess 50gm of cannabis and grow two plants. Individual households can have up to four plants.

The ACT is set to be the first jurisdiction to allow personal cannabis use.
The ACT has become the first Australian jurisdiction to legalise the possession, use and cultivation of small amounts of cannabis.

The department notes there has been a sizeable body of work analysing the adverse physio­logical and mental health effects of recreational cannabis use, des­pite marijuana being decriminalised only in a small ­number of jurisdictions.

It points to research from the US state of Colorado that found daily or near-daily cannabis use was associated with the development of a psychotic disorder.

The review of medical literature also examined Australian research, which concluded that regular cannabis users doubled their risk of experiencing psychotic symptoms — including schizophrenia — and were at an increased risk of screening positively for psychosis.

“The evidence base regarding adverse health effects linked to cannabis use has broadened considerably since the gradual decriminalisation, and in some cases legalisation, of the substance in certain international jurisdictions,” the department says.

“Adverse health outcomes as a result of regular cannabis use are not limited to mental health and psychotic symptoms.”

The department advised that a 2018 Canadian Medical Association Journal report found an overwhelming volume of evidence outlining the biological harm of cannabis use, including brain changes, adverse cognitive outcomes, negative pregnancy outcomes and testicular cancer.

The briefing also says a psycho­active component in cannabis called tetrahydrocannabinol, the main chemical responsible for the drug’s psychological effects, increased by almost 30 per cent throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. This was linked to exacerbated symptoms of anxiety, depression and psychotic symptoms in “naive” users and increased psychotic symptoms and dependence in “experienced” users.

In Colorado, the first US state to legalise marijuana, emergency department visits due to cannabis increased slightly while the acute effects of THC — including hallucinations, paranoia and delusional beliefs — markedly increased with higher doses.

Government sources said the departmental advice was a “devastating confirmation” of the health and mental health effects of recreational cannabis and urged ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr to explain what health advice he received before supporting the legislation.

God’s word tells us that lawlessness will increase in the last days and this is just further evidence to support that premise.

SUPPORT FOR PREWRATH RAPTURE

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The Prewrath Rapture positions the rapture at the trumpet blast of the seventh seal . Jesus said believers would not endure the wrath of God that is poured out with the Trumpet and Bowl judgements but He said that we would see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place (Matthew 24:15). It is at the end of the sixth seal that we are told ‘For the great day of His wrath has come.” (Revelation 6:17) At the seventh seal; The Rapture occurs and then the wrath of God begins to be poured out on the unrepentant. Much the same as Noah, his family and the animals enter the ark, God closes the door, and the wrath of God is poured out.

The Rapture

Believers will experience tribulation even great tribulation meted out by the Antichrist but at the same time Christians will shine brightly in the darkness with many turning to Christ despite the persecution it brings.

Dr Alan Kurschner of Eschatos Ministries explains how the greek grammar in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 supports Prewrath.

The Greek grammar in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 clearly supports the prewrath interpretation that those two events: 1. apostasy and 2, the lawless one revealed, will occur first, before the day of the Lord.

“Let no one deceive you in any way; for the day of the Lord will not come unless [ean mē] the apostasy comes first [prōton] and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3

A couple of simple cross-references of the same Greek construction in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 to other biblical examples will demonstrate that the pretribulational view skews Paul’s message. The Greek is constructed with the conditional “unless” (ean mē) coupled with the adverb “first” (prōton), which results in placing the conditional events sequentially before the main event.

For example, John 7:51: “Our law doesn’t condemn a man unless [ean mē] it first [prōton] hears from him and learns what he is doing, does it?”

That is to say, before the event of “condemnation,” two events need to happen first: (1) hearing from the accused, and thus (2) learning what he is doing. The two events do not happen “during” the condemnation, as the flawed pretrib Greek analysis would have it. Rather, they occur before the verdict of condemnation.

Next Mark 3:27: “But no one can enter a strong man’s house to plunder his property unless [ean mē] he first [prōton] ties up the strong man; then [tote] indeed the house can be plundered.”

That is to say, the strongman is tied up first, before the house is plundered (the “then” [tote] confirms this).

These two examples that share the same Greek construction with 2 Thessalonians 2:3 suffice to illustrate Paul’ message that before the day of the Lord begins, two events must happen first: the apostasy and the revelation of the man of lawlessness. Only then can the day of the Lord begin.

Review of Outgrowing God by Richard Dawkins Random House, New York, NY, 2019

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Atheist evangelist Richard Dawkins is on the crusade again with his latest book Outgrowing God1 to win more converts to his religion of atheism. His book was released in September, published by Random House Books.

CMI has produced an excellent review of this book. I suggest you go to their website http://www.creation.com to see it, in its entirety. The following is an abbreviated version.

As a teenager, Dawkins de-converted from (nominal) Christianity to atheism since he was unsure as to which god was the right god out of hundreds or even thousands of candidates.

book-cover

Dawkins does not understand that to know God one has to be born again and receive the Holy Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit can lead you into all truth. He is our counsellor, teacher and comforter. It is the Holy Spirit that produces the fruit of the Spirit in a believers life: love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness goodness, gentleness, kindness and self control. He is also the one that gives the gifts of the spirit for ministry.

In the first half of his book Dawkins raises eternal questions about good and evil. Is God really good? Is the Bible really true? Do we need the Bible and God to be good?

Dawkins obviously, like much of the world, does not like what God defines as sin and would much prefer to make up his own rules. Moreover, would like to change those rules as he sees fit.

Sin involves nothing less than flagrant rebellion against the will of Almighty God. Sin cuts us off from the living God entirely. This is no trifling matter. God, as our Creator, would be perfectly righteous in sending every one of us to death for our sins. It is only by God’s grace that He doesn’t do so. In fact, the problem of our eternal, sinful separation was so bad, that God sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins on the cross (see also Dawkins’ dilemma: how God forgives sin).

A key element in Dawkins’ de-conversion experience is his belief in evolution, which convinced him that seemingly designed elements really evolved over long periods of time.

The second half of Dawkins’ book deals with his attempt to undermine the concept of intelligent design, using natural selection and evolution as an alternative explanation. Not wanting to sound trite but as a scientist he should be aware of the Ockham’s Razor approach to science. For even Dawkins himself has previously stated “Biology is the study of complicated things that give the appearance of having been designed for a purpose”.14 So, even as an evolutionist, Dawkins is forced to acknowledge how certain structures in the animal kingdom appear to be designed. His examples include the color pigments of the octopus, the tongue of the chameleon, and the legs of the cheetah, or the feathers of birds (p. 36).

Dawkins does not explain how legs can turn into wings or leaves into thorns. Neither does he name a single gene which would be responsible for such mutations as a practical example. In short, Dawkins misrepresents the way natural selection happens in nature. Natural selection is efficient in explaining how anatomically different structures in organisms lead to differential survival. But it does not explain how the structures themselves arise. People readily recognise cases of intelligent design in automobiles, buildings, books, statues, or hieroglyphs. Therefore, DNA serves as a plan for the whole entire body of an organism. DNA is the information that controls all the machinery of the cells to function successfully, to reproduce and adapt to their environment. Information comes only from intelligence and in the case of the information to control living cells, a level of intelligence beyond our understanding..

Dawkins understands that the Earth is fine-tuned for life to exist on its surface. If the Earth were just a little too close to the Sun, then it would be too hot for life to exist. On the other hand, if it was just a little too far, then it would be too cold for life. Furthermore, if the gravitational constant, G were even just a little different, then life could not exist on Earth. This is something called the anthropic principle, namely that Earth, and even the universe seems to have been designed especially for human life.

In response, Dawkins posits the multiverse concept. This concept states there are millions or even billions of universes, parallel with our own, each defined by its own laws and physical constants. Therefore, according to the law of big numbers, even though the great majority of these universes may all be devoid of life, a very small percent of them may still be finely tuned to allow life to appear.

What physical evidence is there for billions of other universes? Is it even possible for us to know of other universes? As such, this is not a scientific concept. Even if there happened to be other universes out there, how do we know that there are billions of them? Also, how do we know that they come into being independently from one another to have differing parameters and physical laws? Nonsense.

Lastly, Dawkins and other evolutionists attack design as unscientific. However, we see intuitively, that design is scientific. For example, if engineers designed sonar systems from bats, what kind of supernatural intelligence created bats? Design can easily be inferred from simple observation of nature. Dawkins needs to use extra, convoluted arguments to explain that biological structures evolved as opposed to being simply designed. By applying the principle of Ockham’s Razor, we can reject Dawkins’ evolutionary arguments and accept the principle of design. Dawkins should not reject intelligent design but acknowledge it as a viable scientific argument for the origin of life.

END TIMES EVENTS? Earthquake Swarms Hit Texas, Oklahoma, San Francisco and the New Madrid Fault Zone

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(Photo by Andrew Buchanan on Unsplash)

There is a whole lot of shaking going on in America right now, and many people are concerned about what that could potentially mean. Could it be possible that the U.S. is entering a more seismically active time? Jesus told his disciples in the Olivet Discourse that in the end times, just before His return to earth, there would be an increase in earthquakes. This week alone, we have seen earthquake swarms in Texas, Oklahoma, San Francisco and the New Madrid fault zone.

In just over 12 hours, Texas experienced not one earthquake, but four, experts say. Three quakes were centred near the town of Snyder — just south of the Texas panhandle — with a fourth centred near the Fort Worth area, according to the United States Geological Survey. The first and strongest of the cluster hit just after 4:45 p.m. Monday about 12 miles north of Snyder and measured magnitude 4.0.

That was the strongest earthquake in Texas so far this year. Over the past 24 hours, the state has experienced nine earthquakes of at least magnitude 1.5, and over the past seven days there have been 40 such earthquakes.

Meanwhile, we have been witnessing unusual earthquake activity in Oklahoma as well. Decades ago, Oklahoma was very quiet geologically, but things sure have changed over the past few years. If you can believe it, there have already been more than 1,000 earthquakes of at least magnitude 1.5 in Oklahoma so far in 2019.

Unusual seismic activity is also occurring along the California coast. This week, a swarm of five moderate earthquakes in the San Francisco area made headlines all over the nation.

A swarm of tiny temblors shook up California’s East Bay over the past 24 hours, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

The agency reported at least five quakes registering from 2.0 to 2.9 magnitude, along with a slew of even smaller temblors registering below 2.0 magnitude. The swarm centred on Dublin and San Ramon on the east side of San Francisco Bay.

Those earthquakes didn’t really cause any significant damage, but the concern is that all of this shaking could be leading up to something. Moreover, scientists assure us that “the Big One” is way overdue and that at some point our time will run out.

Last but certainly not least, an earthquake swarm just hit the New Madrid fault zone as well.

In less than an hour on Monday morning, southeastern Missouri was hit by five significant earthquakes. It started with a 2.6 magnitude temblor around 11:18 a.m. near Lilbourn, a small city just north of Missouri’s boot heel, according to the United States Geological Survey. A mere three minutes later, a 1.1 magnitude quake rumbled nearby. Just before 11:30 a.m., a 2.7 magnitude quake rattled southwest of Lilbourn followed by a 1.8 magnitude quake only five minutes later, the USGS says. It would be 23 minutes before the next quake, another magnitude 2.7, shook an area just west of Lilbourn, the USGS says.

Extract from article by Michael Snyder in Charisma News 10/2/2019 

IS POPE FRANCIS THE FALSE PROPHET?

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Plans were revealed for the construction of an interfaith complex that will house a church, synagogue, and mosque in the United Arab Emirates as part of an effort to promote religious harmony and bridge adherents of the three Abrahamic religions. The complex, known as the Abrahamic Family House, will be located on Saadiyat Island near Abu Dhabi.

Pope Francis

The project is a result of Roman Catholic Pope Francis’ papal visit to Abu Dhabi in February when the pontiff and the Grand Imam of al-Azhar in Egypt signed a declaration establishing the interfaith Higher Committee of Human Fraternity.

PROPHECY WATCH: Church, Mosque and Synagogue to share new complex in UAE

Members of the committee

The committee includes: Bishop Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; Prof Mohamed Hussein Mahrasawi, President of Al-Azhar University; Monsignor Yoannis Lahzi Gaid, Personal Secretary of Pope Francis; Judge Mohamed Mahmoud Abdel Salam, Advisor to the Grand Imam; Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi; Dr Sultan Faisal Al Rumaithi, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Elders; and Yasser Hareb Al Muhairi, Emirati writer and media personality, Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig of Washington Hebrew Congregation

The Abrahamic Family House is the first formal initiative of the higher committee. Plans by British architect David Adjaye were unveiled during the Celebration of Human Fraternity at a New York City public library on Sept. 20. In a statement, Adjaye declared that the Abrahamic Family House will be “open to the world.” He expressed hope that it will serve as a space for people across society to “learn and engage in a mission of peaceful coexistence for generations to come.

Higher Committee member Rabbi M. Bruce Lustig of Washington Hebrew Congregation said in a statement that the new complex is an “important opportunity for all who believe in the power of faith and humanity.” 

“It will help build bridges between religious leaders and communities as well as foster peace and harmony in an era that is too often defined by difference,” Lustig said. “I am honoured to be part of such an esteemed group working to champion love over hate, justice over injustice, and faith over fear.”