THE DAY GOD DESTROYS THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH WITH FIRE

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God tells us in His Word (Bible): “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). But are you also aware that one day God will destroy the heavens and the earth with fire?

“Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” 2 Peter 3:11-12

Shocking? Absolutely. Unbelievable? Not at all.

The Apostle Peter, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, delivered this staggering news to God’s people: “The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be burned up … That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat” (2 Peter 3:10,12).

Yes, you read that correctly. The heavens will be dissolved, and the earth will literally melt in the heat.

A few verses earlier Peter described how in the last days before Jesus returns scoffers will deny that God judged the world previously with the worldwide flood of Noah’s day.

 “Knowing this, first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing… For they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s Word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and with water. By water also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:5-7).

The coming day of judgment is just as certain as God’s creation of the universe, and just as sure as the great flood in Noah’s day. The worldwide flood that buried millions of dead creatures all over the world, fossils, including fossil fuels (decayed vegetation under pressure), adequate evidence it occurred.

The good news: the Apostle John was given a vision of what will happen after God burns up the earth.

“Then I saw a new Heaven and a new earth, for the first Heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ’Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’” (Revelation 21:1-5).

Every child of God will inhabit the New Heaven and New Earth with a perfect body that is incorruptible.

“The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).

Talk about an upgrade! If you could choose today between going to Heaven or going to Hell, you would certainly choose Heaven, right? After all, who wants to go to Hell? But do you realize that there is only one way to be forgiven of your sins and get into Heaven?

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

Peter proclaimed: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Saved from what? 1. Sin, 2. Death, and 3. Hell. The final chapter of the Bible makes things crystal clear:

“And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also, he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end… The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:5-8

Those who have deliberately and persistently pursued their sinful desires will find themselves in the Lake of Fire where there is punishment and the second death.

Your good works cannot remove a single stain from your soul. Like everyone else, you need the blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross 2,000 years ago. When you turn to Christ in faith and rely upon His death for your salvation, your robe is instantly washed clean and made white in the blood of the Lamb.

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

Peter informed believers: “In keeping with God’s promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13).

The day God burns up the earth will be terribly frightening, to say the least, but this global upheaval must take place before the Lord ushers in a New Heaven and a New Earth.

In the meantime, “God wants everyone to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth,” (1 Timothy 2:4), and “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).

I have adapted this post from an article by Dan Delzell, The Day God Burns Up The Earth, pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Papillion, Nebraska. 

GOD IS AT WORK IN COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES IN THE USA

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Over 1,000 students attended the Texas A&M Corpus Christi worship event:

More than 120 people were reportedly baptized during a recent revival event on the Corpus Christi campus of Texas A&M University, a gathering that has spurred increased attendance in church young adult groups in recent weeks. 

New Life Church of Corpus Christi helped organize an on-campus worship event on Aug. 31 known as “One Night,” an annual gathering held in the area for the past eight years and on campus for the past two.

New Life Church Young Adults Pastor Tarik Whitmore, whose church has a student organization on campus known as New Life Young Adults, told The Christian Post that their ministry outreach to Texas A&M began in 2015, saying its influence on the campus has “gradually increased over time.”

Whitmore reported that while last year’s One Night event had about 600 attendees and 51 baptisms, this year, they saw more than 1,000 in attendance (out of a student enrollment of around 10,800) and 124 baptisms.

“From the very beginning of worship, it was clear that something significant was happening because it was just, it was so powerful,” White said, noting that the gathering included “faces [we’ve] never seen [in church] before” who were “lifting up the name of Jesus.”

“For young people, it’s one thing for them to do that in a comfortable, familiar context like the Sunday morning; it’s another thing for them to do that at their college outdoors in front of their peers.”

Whitmore was amazed by how much anticipation there was for One Night. In the days leading up to the event, when he and other NLYA members spread the word, they came across many students who already knew and were planning to go. God is doing something with students in certain colleges and universities in the USA.

In February, Asbury University in Kentucky garnered national headlines when students held an impromptu worship service at the campus chapel that lasted 16 days and brought in tens of thousands of visitors from across the United States.

The revival service also inspired the launching of worship events at other schools, both public and private, as well as the creation of “outpouring teams” comprised of Asbury students to share their experiences with others off-campus.

God is at work across the world, particularly in countries where Christians are being persecuted.

Also, we know the end of the story; Jesus will return first to rapture the Saints to heaven and pour out His wrath upon an unrepentant world. Then Jesus returns to Earth with the glorified Saints to rescue the nation God established for His purposes, Israel. This needs to happen so that the covenant promises God made with Abraham and David will be fulfilled. As well, the new covenant spoken by the prophet Jeremiah must be fulfilled.

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:31-34

Christians, we need to show the Palestinians, better still all Muslims that this prophecy will be fulfilled. All the Biblical prophecies of Jesus’ first coming as well as many other Biblical prophecies have already been fulfilled exactly as prophesied so we can be sure the many prophecies of Jesus’ future Millennial reign from Jerusalem will be fulfilled as well.

Jesus will rule and reign on this earth for a further 1000 years before it is destroyed by fire. The rest of the dead are raised (saved and unsaved) to face Jesus at the White Throne Judgement. The unsaved are thrown into the Lake of Fire where they face punishment and a second death. The glorified Saints go to a new Earth where only the righteous dwell.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:1-4

“And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Revelation 21:22-27

Note that even on the new earth there are kings and nations. There is a hierarchy on the new Earth as there is in heaven now with the Angels. The difference with the world today is the leaders on the new Earth will be humble servants of those they are assigned to direct their activities. Yes! there will be work to do on the new Earth and new Heaven.

BUILDING A RIGHT WORLDVIEW

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How can we build the right worldview? There is only one way and that is to start with the origins of this complex universe with its multitude of living things that require many scientific laws to make it function correctly. Those inter-related laws could not have constructed themselves. Science has discovered that DNA (complex information) controls all of the machinery in living cells instructing them what to do. Both the information and the machinery have to be complete and functional at the beginning. They cannot evolve. Moreover, information only comes from intelligence, not matter or energy, hence proof there is an Intelligent Designer. Even better still the Intelligent Designer has revealed Himself to us both by Word, and the person of Jesus Christ, God incarnate.

Down through the ages God has spoken to and worked with individuals so we know He created us in His image to be in a relationship with Him. As a result, we have His Word (Bible) most of which is now fulfilled prophecies so that we know it is God’s Word and that the many end times prophecies will also be fulfilled.

Why is church attendance decreasing SO drastically? In this presentation, Ken Ham discusses the mass exodus that churches are experiencing in Western society and what Christians can do about it.

Ken Ham’s talk is based on his book, Divided Nation: Cultures in Chaos and a Conflicted Church. The good news is that there is a link to download Ken’s slides (in four different formats) so you can use them to help get this message of biblical authority out to more believers! He also includes notes with each slide. You can find that resource on the Answers in Genesis online bookstore.

GOD IS SOVEREIGN – YOU CAN BANK ON IT

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The arrogant ruler, King Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest king of the Chaldean dynasty of Babylonia (605 -561 BC) made a humbling discovery. God promised to take Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom from him for a time, and told him, “Your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules” (Daniel 4:26). That’s exactly what happened, and the truly humbled king afterward insisted that God “does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’” (Daniel 4:35).

“Dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations” (Psalm 22:28). Because God has absolute power, no one—including demons and humans who choose to violate His moral will—can thwart His ultimate purpose.

Paul wrote, “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). What does “everything” not include?

Even what appears random is not: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh” (Proverbs 16:33). If we believe this, our reaction to many of the difficulties we face will change. Problems will seem smaller, for although we can’t control them, we know God can—and that everything will work out for His glory and our good.

God is sovereign over evil and disaster.

Though evil had no part in God’s original creation, it was part of His original plan, because redemption from evil was part of His plan. Therefore, Scripture doesn’t distance God from disasters and secondary evils the way His children often do. Amos 3:6 says, “When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?” A description of natural disasters follows in Amos 4:6–12, where God says He intended these not only as punishment but also as a discipline designed to draw His people back to Himself. (These passages have specific contexts in which God is bringing judgment on His people; they do not prove that all disasters are God’s judgment.)

Satan may bring about a “natural” disaster, but the Book of Job makes clear that God continues to reign, even while selectively allowing Satan to do evil things. Evil never takes God by surprise, nor makes Him helpless.

God isn’t the author of evil, but He is the author of a story that includes evil. In His sovereignty, He intended from the beginning to permit evil, then to turn evil on its head and use it for a redemptive good. God didn’t devise His redemptive plan on the fly, simply making the best of events that spiraled out of His control.

God is sovereign in the outworking of historical events.

Jesus declared that some events “must” happen, in line with Scripture and God’s sovereign will, among them, “From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Matthew 16:21).

Because of what the triune God knew and decided in eternity past, Jesus not only might or could go to the cross, but had to. God chose.

Peter, speaking to a Jerusalem crowd, said of Christ, “This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge” (Acts 2:23). God planned His redemptive work and did what was necessary to make it happen.

God is sovereign over disabilities and diseases.

Every day since 1985 I’ve had to deal with the implications of my insulin-dependent diabetes. As a result, I recognize my absolute dependence on God. This has drawn me closer to Him, and I’m deeply grateful.

Some Christians try to distance God from disabilities, arguing that if we attribute them to the sovereign hand of God, we’re making Him out to be a monster. This argument doesn’t change what Exodus 4:11 actually says with startling clarity, that God directly claims to give people their disabilities: “Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, Yahweh?’”

I may fail to understand it, but if the Bible is my authority, don’t I have to believe it? I’ve spoken with many disabled people who didn’t find comfort until they came to believe God made them as they are.

My brilliant friend David O’Brien lived with a severe form of cerebral palsy since birth, and yet he demonstrated joy that transcended his body’s bondage.

At a conference for the disabled, David commented, “If Christ had to suffer to be made complete, how can we expect not to have some form of suffering?” Then he said something unforgettable: “God tailors a package of suffering best suited for each of his own.”

David spoke the following, in words difficult to understand, yet prophetically clear: “Dare I question God’s wisdom in making me the way I am?”

Skeptics may say of disabled believers, “They’re denying reality and finding false comfort. If there’s a God who loves them, he wouldn’t treat them like this.”

David’s audience found better reasons to believe and worship the sovereign God who purchased their resurrection with His blood—and who offers them comfort and perspective—than to believe the skeptics who’ve purchased nothing for them and offer only hopelessness.

We can trust God’s loving sovereignty in every hardship.

Benjamin B. Warfield taught at Princeton Seminary for thirty-four years until his death in 1921. Students still read his books today yet few know his story. On their honeymoon, lightning struck his wife, Annie, permanently paralyzing her. Warfield cared for her until she died. Because of her extreme needs, Warfield seldom left his home for more than two hours at a time during thirty-nine years of marriage.

Warfield viewed his personal trials through the lens of Romans 8:28–29 and wrote this:

The fundamental thought is the universal government of God. …If He governs all, then nothing but good can befall those to whom He would do good.… And He will so govern all things that we shall reap only good from all that befalls us.

Really, Dr. Warfield? Only good from all that befalls us? Warfield spoke from the playing field of suffering, answering an emphatic yes to the loving sovereignty of God.

Our state of mind determines whether the doctrine of God’s sovereignty comforts or threatens us.

Charles Spurgeon wrote, “There is no attribute of God more comforting to his children than the doctrine of Divine Sovereignty.… On the other hand, there is no doctrine more hated by worldlings.”

Imagining that God should let us run life our way sets us up to resent God and even “lose our faith” when our lives don’t go as we want. However, that’s a faith we should lose—to be replaced with faith in the God of sovereign grace who doesn’t keep us from all difficulties but promises to be with us in all difficulties.

God has a way of making what seems worst into the very best.

Nancy Guthrie writes of a speaker asking people to fold a paper in half. She then instructed them to write on the top half the worst things that had happened to them, and on the bottom half the best things.

Invariably, you’ll find things at the top of the page that are also at the bottom. Experiences labeled as the worst things that had ever happened, will, over time, give birth to some of the best things.

It’s the same with my own list. If enough time has passed since some of those “worst things” have happened, then almost certainly we’ll find an overlap.

Our lists provide persuasive proof that while evil and suffering are not good, God can use them to accomplish immeasurable good. Knowing this should give us great confidence that even when we don’t see any redemptive meaning in our present suffering, God can see it…and one day so will we.

Adapted from Randy’s book Hand in Hand: The Beauty of God’s Sovereignty and Meaningful Human Choice.

GOD’S WORK DONE IN GOD’S WAY WILL NEVER LACK GOD’S SUPPLY

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We often hear people say, ‘The end justifies the means.’ In other words, it’s okay to do something dishonourable, if necessary, in order to achieve something honourable. But that is not a biblical perspective. God is as concerned about the process as much as the product.

“So they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.“
2 Samuel 6:17

Early in King David’s career, he learned this lesson the hard way. He was moving the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. But he failed to follow God’s instructions on how to transport the Ark. A man died as a result, and the Ark’s movement was delayed for three months. There is a lesson there: God cares about how we serve Him as much as He cares about what we accomplish. For example, not only are we to speak the truth, but we are also to speak the truth ‘in love’ (Ephesians 4:15). We are to defend the faith but with ‘gentleness and respect’ (1 Peter 3:15).

Do God’s work today—yes! But do it God’s way so He is free to bless and honour it.
God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply. Hudson Taylor

“In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:6

“Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. For the LORD loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.” Psalms 37:27-29

God tells us what is next on His agenda for this world. The rule of Satan and man on planet Earth is coming to an end. We are fast approaching the last seven years prior to Jesus’ return to this earth to establish His Millennial Kingdom about which we are given a lot of detail in God’s Word.

Check out http://www.millennialkingdom.net and Matthew Bryce Ervin’s book, One Thousand Years with Jesus – The Coming Messianic Kingdom.

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:1-6

GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL OF NATIONS

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“And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.” Daniel 2:21

Daniel was shown by God that He sets up kings and takes down kings—the opposite of something that is random or arbitrary.

God had used three kings, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, his son, King Belshazzar, and Darius, King of the Medes and Persians for His purposes to judge His nation Israel. It was for a season, 70 years.

“In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.” Daniel 8:1-2

God is still using kings and presidents for His purposes today. The re-establishment of Israel as a nation in 1948 was a miracle and it had been prophesied by the O.T. prophets including Moses. Even before Israel went into the Promised Land, Moses told them that they would be cast out and scattered, but at the prophesied time God would regather them, and their Messiah, Jesus, would rule and reign the nations of the world. He would do so from a completely new Jerusalem on the highest mountain in a world restructured by the coming wrath of God as described in Revelation: the Trumpet and Bowl judgements.

The Seven Trumpets of God’s Wrath

“Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed… Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind... Revelation 8:6-9, 13-15

The Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath

“Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” So the first angel went and poured out his bowl on the earth, and harmful and painful sores came upon the people who bore the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The second angel poured out his bowl into the sea, and it became like the blood of a corpse, and every living thing died that was in the sea. The third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood... The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.” Revelation 16: 1-4, 17-21

“Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4-6

TEXAS SENATE PROTECTS CHILDREN FROM A GODLESS FUTURE

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Lawmakers in Texas have advanced two pieces of legislation requiring public schools to prominently display the Ten Commandments in every classroom and allow school districts to set aside time for students to pray and read religious texts. 

If passed by the House of Representatives, God will bless this State for taking a stand for Him. Texas will be a light on the hill for God and He will make it stand out in many ways. In fact, it is already happening as many companies are leaving California to move to Texas. If passed. watch and see how this move to save children from a godless future will bless this State.

Last Thursday, the state Senate approved SB 1515, introduced by Republican Sen. Phil King. If passed by the House of Representatives, it would require Texas public elementary and secondary schools to display the Ten Commandments in each classroom. 

In its current form, SB 1515 amends current law relating to how the Ten Commandments are displayed in public schools.

While there is currently no such requirement in Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District made such a proposal at least legally feasible, the bill’s author contends. 

Joe Kennedy, a public high school assistant football coach in Washington state who was dismissed for praying on the field after games, was reinstated after he was punished by Bremerton School District for praying on the field after games in 2015.

The text of SB 1515 states that enacting the legislation will remind “students all across Texas of the importance of a fundamental foundation of American and Texas law — the Ten Commandments.”

State senators also passed SB 1396, which would allow public, non-religious school districts to adopt a policy requiring its campuses to allocate time for students and staff to participate in an optional “period of prayer and Bible reading on each school day.”

Authored by Republican Sen. Mayes Middleton, the bill would allow prayer or Bible reading to be delivered over a school’s public address system. It would require parents to opt-in for their children to participate.

“A public school student has an absolute right to individually, voluntarily, and silently pray or meditate in school in a manner that does not disrupt the instructional or other activities of the school,” the bill states. 

“A person may not require or coerce a student to engage in or refrain from such prayer or meditation during any school activity.”

GOD MADE EVERY NATION ON EARTH

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“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,” Acts 17:24-26

This Scripture reveals the extent of God’s control over nations. Having established nations at the Tower of Babel by confusing the languages these verses prove God has allotted the nations “periods and their boundaries“.

Moreover, God uses the nations for His purposes. Two great examples are how God used Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon (He ruled Babylonia from 605 to 562 BC. As the most influential and longest-reigning kings of the Neo-Babylonian period, Nebuchadnezzar conducted the city of Babylon to its height of power and prosperity):

“The king (Nebuchadnezzar) answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery (Daniel 2:47)”

and Darius, King of the Medes and Persia ( He was king of Persia 521–486 BC, known as Darius the Great):

“I (Darius) make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.” Daniel 6:26-27

Also, King Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire and king of Persia from 559-530 BC. He is venerated in the Hebrew Bible as Cyrus the Messiah for conquering Babylon and liberating the Jews from captivity. 

“Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped, to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings, to open doors before him that gates may not be closed: “I will go before you and level the exalted places, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut through the bars of iron, I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret laces, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my chosen, I call you by your name, I name you, though you do not know me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me, there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.” Isaiah 24:1-7

Read what David has to say about God, His nation Israel and His control over His universe. Above all, God established Israel as His nation for His purposes, and with Jesus as its King and Priest, it will rule over all the nations in His soon-coming Millennial Kingdom.

“Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant! For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his own possession. For I know that the LORD is great and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightning for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses. He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and of beast; who in your midst, O Egypt, sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants; who struck down many nations and killed mighty kings, Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan, and gave their land as a heritage, a heritage to his people Israel.” Psalms 135:1-12

WHO’S BEHIND THE WEATHER? OUR CREATOR GOD

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If you ask most people what controls the wind, most people would probably answer it has to do with the relationship between the earth and the sun, temperature, and pressure imbalances. Few people think of God having control over the wind’s cause or its lack thereof.

Yet Revelation 7:1-3 says: “Then I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds so they did not blow on the earth or the sea, or even on any tree. And I saw another angel coming up from the east, carrying the seal of the living God. And he shouted to those four angels, who had been given the power to harm land and sea, ‘Wait! Don’t harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants.’”

In this text, the Bible says God employs his angels to restrain the winds to accomplish a specific purpose. The wind belongs to God. The winds are under his control and subordinate to his will. It’s not so much what’s behind the winds and storms; it’s who.

In his commentary on Revelation, William Barclay, the renowned Scottish Bible scholar, says that the Old Testament often pictures the winds as God’s agents employed in his acts of judgment. Here are a few of Barclay’s examples:

“Zechariah has the picture of the chariots of the winds, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth (Zechariah 6:1-5). Nahum speaks of the Lord who has his way in the whirlwind and the storm (Nahum 1:3) … The winds are God’s chariots (Jeremiah 4:13). God comes with his chariots like a whirlwind (Isaiah 66:15). [Chariots were utilized for warfare and judgment on one’s enemies.] The wind is the breath of God (Job 37:9, 10). The wind rends the mountains (I Kings 19:11) and withers the grass (Isaiah 40:7, 24) and dries up the stream, the river, and the sea (Nahum 1:4; Psalm 18:15). God’s day [Judgment Day] would be the day of the whirlwind (Amos 1:14). The whirlwind of the Lord goes forth in its fury and falls on the head of the wicked (Jeremiah 23:19; 30:23). The wind of the Lord…will come from the wilderness and destroy the fertility of the land (Hosea 13:15). God will send his four winds upon Elam and scatter the people (Jeremiah 49:36).”

Other passages of Scripture provide a window for looking inside God’s pilothouse, not only for the winds but the weather in general. God can use the weather to either bless or punish. Job 37:11-13 reads: “He loads the clouds with moisture, and they flash with his lightning. The clouds churn about at his direction. They do whatever he commands throughout the earth. He makes these things happen either to punish people or to show his unfailing love.”

Perhaps one of the strongest passages which present the way God uses climate conditions to display his sovereignty is in Haggai.

“You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses. It’s because of you that the heavens withhold the dew and the earth produces no crops. I have called for a drought on your fields and hills — a drought to wither the grain and grapes and olive trees and all your other crops, a drought to starve you and your livestock and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get.” Haggai 1:9-11

In God’s economy, angels are also associated with affecting weather patterns. Angels have a ministry concerning the earth. They are linked to winds, fires, storms, and pestilence (Psalm 103:20; 104:4; I Chronicles 21:15, 16, 27). Throughout the book of Revelation, they are connected with fire, hail, blood, a plague of locusts, and the poison of scorpions. At certain times in history, God authorizes and directs them to use their tremendous powers to affect meteorological conditions.

The Bible knows nothing of secondary causes. Barclay concludes: Since Adam and Eve, who were initially placed in a perfect environment, rebelled against God and fell into sin, this universe, this planet, has been negatively impacted.

We live in a fallen world. Nature itself is broken like humanity and doesn’t work correctly, and it can’t until the redemption of humankind is complete (Romans 8:19). Therefore, natural disasters are often simply the result of an ailing earth in convulsion.

Nevertheless, when a nation or nations operate grievously in sin, ignore God, reject his ways, and despise Christ and His people with increasing intensity, it shouldn’t surprise us if he intervenes and sends catastrophic natural calamities to get people’s attention. These extraordinary misfortunes mercifully remind us of who is in control. They are warnings with redemptive messages to be reconciled with our Maker.

In their book, God’s Answer for America, Darrel and Cindy Deville rightly state these environmental conditions are referenced as “global warming” or “climate change.” But the Deville’s point to a more likely cause, arguing: “No matter what they call it, these things are all part of the birthing pains and natural disasters that will increase as Jesus prophesied (Matthew 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11, 25-26).

These are not ‘global warming’ (or ‘climate change’), but they are part of God’s ‘global warnings’ as signs for these last days. These will continue to increase and shift as the return of Christ gets closer to birth a new age, his millennial reign. We also believe things will be happening and shifting in the days ahead that will cause scientists to be baffled.

Politicians claim we all need to work together to ‘battle climate change,’ but there is nothing they can do to stop it. Like a woman in labor, the contractions will become more frequent and more intense the closer the new birth gets. So, this is not about ‘climate change.’ But the earth is instead preparing for a ‘kingdom change’ – the coming glorious kingdom and reign of Christ on earth (Revelation 11:15)

COMING MILLENNIAL KINGDOM

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Most Christians are giving no thought to Jesus second coming to earth and yet there are far more prophecies about His second coming than there were of His first coming. We need to remember that despite the many prophecies of Jesus’ first Coming, the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees and Sadducees, totally rejected Him. What about the religious leaders of our Day?

Fortunately, there are many great ministries that God is raising up in these last days to alert Christians to the many signs Jesus has given of His second coming. The primary “end times” ministry, I would recommend is Nelson Walters’s YouTube videos. Make sure you sign up for those. Those that follow this website know that I repost many of Nelson’s videos here.

Jesus’ “end times” warnings are given in all three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Olivet Discourse). Paul confirms key “end times” prophecies in 1 Thessalonians – The Coming of the Lord (1 Thess.4:13-18) and The Day of the Lord (1 Thess.5:1-11). In Revelation, John opens up many of the OT prophecies, particularly the book of Daniel (“Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end” Daniel 12:9). Daniel and John in Revelation give us great detail on the last seven years (70th week of Daniel) prior to Jesus’ return. For Christians, it is imperative that we recognise the Antichrist (Great Deceiver) and the False Prophet when they arrive on the scene. These two individuals are going to look really good as the apparent deliverers from the mounting chaos in the world. Fortunately in Revelation, John takes us through to the end of the story when the Antichrist is defeated and Jesus ushers in His Millennial rule on this earth. All the OT prophets were given the victorious end of Israel’s story with their Messiah ruling the nations from a magnificent new Jerusalem. Great detail is given in the Bible on the last one thousand years of this Cosmos’s existence before God destroys it with fire.

I believe one of my tasks is to get Christians thinking and praying about how they might prepare now for their role when they return with Jesus in their resurrected bodies to rule and reign with Him. Remember, Jesus’ Millennial reign is a transition period. The curse is not lifted from this Cosmos so people are still being born and dying. We are told repeatedly that Jesus and the Saints rule with a “rod of iron”. Satan is bound in the Abyss for most of this time but is released at a time near the end of the thousand years and is still able to gather an enormous army (“their number is like the sand of the sea” Rev.20:8), to come against Jesus and the Saints. Even with Jesus and the resurrected Saints here on earth people will still rebel wanting to be the god of their own little world.

I am in the process of building the website http://www.millennialkingdom.net which I hope you will use to start to become familiar with what God has revealed to us about Jesus’ soon-coming Millennial Kingdom. He has revealed it for a purpose. When you do it will make you more Kingdom-focused and in prayer about how you can fulfill your mission here and now.

In the Millennium, I am sure we will be using the latest technologies; ENERGY: I am confident Nuclear Fusion will be perfected as a power source. TRANSPORT: It appears that Hydrogen Fuel Cells and Battery Powered vehicles will both have a place. ROBOTICS: Use of robots will expand. Amazon’s robotic warehouses have demonstrated the benefits. Robots work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with no tea and lunch breaks, no holidays or sick leave and they do not make mistakes. The biggest unbudgeted saving for Amazon was no mistakes. The savings were huge from Customer Service not having to handle customer complaints about wrong deliveries: phone calls, the cost of returns, and sending replacement products.

Just saw this video of aerial robots picking fruit.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Driverless cars and trucks will be the norm. Moreover, it is unlikely we will own vehicles. We will just order the correct-sized vehicle for whatever purpose. It will arrive on time and deliver you or your group to where you want to go and then move on to its next task. The savings will be enormous, fewer vehicles as all working most of the time, no garages at home or work.

AGRICULTURE: Fresh vegetables grown in cities close to where they are consumed will be the norm. It is already happening in places like Singapore. Gardens in the sky – echo urban architecture.

In the Millennium I think God will use me in the business segment as it was a talent He has given me and I enjoyed it. What about you? You can pray into it by asking God to prepare you now for your coming role in His Kingdom.