Identity is defined by Psychology Today as the knowledge of who we are (Timothy Pychyl, “Teenagers, Identity Crisis & Procrastination: On the Benefits of Knowing Who You Are”, Psychology Today, April 2008).
63% of teens say they “know who they are” while 37% do not fully know their identity yet (Stage of Life, “Did You Know: High School Facts and Figures”, 2008-2018.).
whosoevers.com – MAINSTREAM STATS AND QUOTES ON 25 OF SOME OF LIFE’S TOUGHEST TOPICS TEENS STRUGGLE WITH TODAY, AND THE BIBLE’S RESPONSE TO THEM.
Teens search for identity in status, work, race, ethnicity, education, family, opinions of others, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, friends, money, power, talent, etc. Technology and social media, no doubt, proves finding identity even more confusing and difficult, giving them more possible versions of “self” than ever before to constantly edit, As well they have an endless supply of people to compare themselves with. They risk a vicious cycle of seeking constant online approval, causing unhealthy online dependency or a misconception that online identity equals real life. (Chandra Johnson, “Growing Up Digital: How The Internet Affects Teen Identity”, Desert News Family, May 2014) (Mary Madden, et al., “Teens, Social Media, and Privacy”, Pew Research Center, May 2013), (Solstice RTC, “Self Identity in Teens: Social Media Is Getting in the Way”, 2019).
The truth about their identity is found in only one place, the Bible. Our Creator says our identity is found in Him because we are created in His image (Genesis. 1:27). Before we were born, He knew us (Jeremiah 1:5) and had plans written for us (Psalms 139:16). Jesus said we find our true life if we give ours to him (Luke 9:23-25), He then sends us the Holy Spirit to live in our Spirit to sanctify us, to enable us to be children of God (John 1:12) to live a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17) and be in relationship with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17) all through our identity in Jesus (Galatians 3:26-28). Our citizenship is in heaven and eventually on a new earth. (Philippians 3:20 & Revelation 21:1-4).
Sadly, in our post Christian world children are no longer taught the truth from God’s word by parents and certainly not at our public teaching institutions, schools and universities. Moreover, increasingly our institutional churches are no longer preaching God’s Word having compromised with the world on its changing moral values. The good news is provided in my last post: HARVEST RIPE: THE GOSPEL WELCOME NEWS TO THE YOUNG. Each of us just needs to be attuned to what God is doing and follow the Holy Spirit’s lead.
Source of information Tough Topics (for Teens) by Zeal Bible Club. Go to whosoevers.com to support this great work.
A recent study from Barna that found that two-thirds of teens and young adults (65%) agree that “many religions can lead to eternal life” compared to 58% of teens and young adults surveyed in 2018. Additionally, 31% of teens and young adults “strongly agree” that what is “morally right and wrong changes over time, based on society,” compared to just 25% in 2018.
A 2018 study from Barna similarly characterized Gen Z as the “first truly ‘post Christian’ generation,” with only 4% adhering to a biblical worldview. “Moral relativism hasn’t just crept into the worldview of Gen Z,” said Jonathan Morrow, director of cultural engagement and student discipleship at Impact 360 Institute. “It is now the majority opinion.”
whosoevers.com – MAINSTREAM STATS AND QUOTES ON 25 OF SOME OF LIFE’S TOUGHEST TOPICS TEENS STRUGGLE WITH TODAY, AND THE BIBLE’S RESPONSE TO THEM.
Ryan Ries, co-founder of The Whosevers, a movement that seeks to deliver the message of the Gospel to schools and empower students to live boldly for Christ, told The Christian Post that these recent statistics reveal how important it is for young people to have a positive, biblically-grounded influence in their life.
“Anxiety, depression, suicide, identity issues, all of these things are at an all-time high right now,” he said.
“We are seeing it across schools, we’re seeing across the country. “Parents, youth pastors, and anyone who works with teens and young people need to “be honest about the statistics and really let them know what’s going on,” Ries stressed. “Kids know they are depressed, suicidal, and struggling, and when you try to sugar-coat the Gospel and avoid hard issues, they aren’t going to know there is freedom that can take place,” he explained. “We’ve got to have good conversations and address these things because otherwise, we’re missing an opportunity to have a high impact and disciple these kids.”
Thanks to social media, young people are able “to sin in the most radical ways,” Ries said, adding: “When we were young, we had to figure out how to sin. We are now living in a whole different time, where kids who are 9 years old have the mind of teenagers because of the content that they’re exposed to. They’re getting immune to it, callous to it, and corrupted by it.” But as a result, Ries said, the “harvest is ripe”for the Gospel. He said that he’s seen an unprecedented increase in teens and young people dedicating their lives to the Lord in recent months. “The fruit is so ripe that it’s literally falling off the trees up to this point,” he said. “Everyone is giving their life to the Lord. You’ve got to have a conversation with them, be genuine with them, let them know that you love them and that God loves them. They are so eager for the freedom and truth the Gospel gives.”
Time is short so take this opportunity to present the greatest good news ever told to all in your circle of influence. If you are available the Holy Spirit will bring people to you. God loved us sufficient to send His Son to die for us that we have the opportunity to get back into a son/daughter relationship with Him. Not only that, but also to be assured of eternal life with Him on a new earth and heaven with an end to pain, suffering and death.
The GOSPEL is the best news ever.in human history. Consider what God, our heavenly Father, did to make it possible for mankind that had rejected His sovereignty at THE FALL to be restored back into a right relationship with Him.
Adam was told that death would be the result of eating from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil> Yet Eve and he chose to disobey God and eat it being deceived by another being, a spiritual being, that had already chose to disobey God, Satan, also known as the Devil. Mankind thus bought death and suffering into a word that was originally created perfect.
God’s plan to restore mankind is beyond our comprehension and it is only because God originally made us in His image to be in relationship with Him does He reach out to us by His Holy Spirit to make Himself known.
The most remarkable part of God’s plan is that He, Himself entered His world in the person of His Son, Jesus to pay the price of mankind’s disobedience – death. It is important to understand Jesus came exactly as prophesied in God’s Word given through His prophets.
God has demonstrated that He wants a relationship with each of us. He has done this ever since Creation by working with individuals that trusted Him. It is why it is so important we know His Word (The Bible) is inerrant, it conveys the true history of this world and of His working with individuals.. Events such as Noah’s Flood, The Tower of Babel, Israel’s exodus from Egypt and above all Jesus resurrection from the dead were all real events. Satan has contrived with strategies that are demonstrably untrue, such that the world made itself via evolution and therefore miracles are impossible and that God’s intervention in His world with miraculous events such as Noah’s flood are myths. In the case of Noah’s Flood this is despite the fact most nations around the world have a flood story in their origins.
Delivering the Gospel, the best news this planet has ever heard should be a joy for us to deliver and we should be anxious to share it with everyone. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer. He is also the one who convicts unbelievers of sin so He will direct us to those people that need to hear the Good News if we are available to be led by the Spirit and are saying each day, as Jesus did when He walked this planet, not my will but yours, Lord be done today.
Time is short, brothers and sisters in Christ so let us get about our joyous task of delivering the best news ever told. Your own testimony of what God has done and is doing in your life is an important part of the Good News. So too is Jesus prophesied soon coming return to put things right.
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. Rev. 20:5
This fallen world will experience the rule and reign of Jesus with the Saints for 1000 years before this world is destroyed by fire. The second resurrection of the dead and the White Throne judgement follows and only then will believers join Jesus and God the Father on a new earth and heaven. Jesus work is complete and He hands over sovereignty of the new earth to the Father. All unbelievers have been relegated to the Lake of Fire, punishment and a second death.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.” Revelation 2:11
“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 20:6
“Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This isthe second death, the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:14
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 21:8
Jews cower in their homes as Arabs set fire to synagogues and comb the streets for Jewish victims. Failing that, they attempt to break into Jewish homes. They burn cars and whatever else they can lay their hands on. These events are taking place over the last two days, in Israel proper, in the city of Lod, a half hour’s drive from Tel Aviv.
Israel’s Iron Dome Defense System intercepts a barrage of Hamas rockets fired at Israel from Gaza towards Tel Aviv—some 150 at a time
Lod is a mixed city. Its Jewish population has been shouting for help as they remain trapped in their own homes while Arabs run riot. The government has quite rightly been criticized for its tepid response. Only about 30 rioters have been arrested. Finally, on Tuesday evening, the government ordered 16 Border Police companies to the city and declared a state of emergency.
As pathetic as has been the government and police response, it’s Lod’s Arabs who deserve the most censure. They are Israeli Arabs. They have grown up in Israel, not on the other side of some imaginary line, not in the so-called ‘occupied territories.’ Israel makes enormous effort to help its Arab citizens feel a part of the country, despite propaganda to the contrary. In short, there is no excuse for the savagery of this ungrateful minority.
One Jewish woman in Lod, appearing on Channel 11 on Tuesday night, described the relations she had had with her Arab neighbors up until then. She said they were a model of warmth and mutual respect. Most fascinating was hearing how the friendly relationships of years changed in the way a switch is flipped. She said she could feel the difference. Suddenly, they looked at her with hostile eyes. The woman, a sociologist by profession, said she couldn’t explain it. She also said she saw Arabs outside “dancing with joy” as the Hamas rockets flew by.
It is reminiscent of accounts from the 1929 Hebron pogrom, where “Arab homeowners had told their Jewish neighbours ‘today will be the great slaughter,’ and several of the victims took tea with so-called friends who, in the afternoon, became their killers.”
Lod’s violence has now spread to other heavily Arab cities. Bedouin in the south lie in wait along the highways, ready to stone passersby.
Arabs cheered at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate as they watched a Hamas rocket reach the Jerusalem area on Monday evening, May 10th around 6:00 p.m. Between six and seven rockets were fired in the barrage, which was directed at Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, located approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) west of the capital.
Israelis are watching and no doubt reaching conclusions. “All the work we have done here for years [regarding coexistence] has gone down the drain,” Lod’s mayor said. Even the most dedicated peace advocates have fallen silent as Arabs, who a month ago were wishing their Jewish neighbors a Happy Passover, took to the streets with chants of “With blood and fire we will redeem Palestine.”
An Arab Israeli rioter
In terms of “end times” timing this is a very significant watershed event. The hostility will only escalate from here as Jews have to isolate Palestinians living within its borders. World anti Jewish sentiment will escalate as a result. The good news is that we know the end of the story, and whilst Israel still has its greatest challenge ahead involving the Antichrist, Jesus will return to Israel to rule and reign the nations from Jerusalem when it will be known as the “City of Peace” and “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Isaiah 1:26; 2:1-4; Jeremiah 23:6)
We must not miss the eternal purposes of God in His everlasting covenant with Israel. The following scripture was given by Jesus to make this truth in a profound way.
When a woman from modern-day southern Lebanon found Jesus and begged Him to heal her demonized daughter, He ignored her. (Matthew 15:21-28 – Faith of a Canaanite Woman) She kept at it, and wouldn’t relent (much like the widow in Luke 18). His disciples, ever known for their abounding compassion, offered to get rid of her so they wouldn’t have to hear the inconvenience of her desperation. Jesus, blessedly, ignored the immaturity of the twelve apostles to make a point through this interaction—a point we need to have clarity on today.
He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
But she came, knelt before Him, and said, “Lord, help me!”
He answered, “It isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
“Yes, Lord,” she said, “yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment her daughter was healed.[28]
Here is a non -Jewish Gentile approaching the Son of David and begging Him for help. If we miss what Jesus wants to convey to us in this passage i.e. the eternal purposes of God in the everlasting covenant, then He initially does not come across as the loving, merciful Jesus we know. Thankfully, this incredible woman did not miss these critical issues, and Jesus drew this confession out of her for all of us to hear—and heed.
Consider this paraphrase of the verses above given in the FAI Prophecy, Proclamation, Covenant and Controversy, MAY 13, 2021:
Jesus: “I cut a covenant on the hills of Hebron to form a nation-state wherein I’ll reveal My eternal purposes and glory to the world. The house of Israel is therefore marked with a covenantal peculiarity your people are not marked with.”
Lebanese Woman*: “You are the LORD, and I know enough about You to know You can help me.”
Jesus, shrugging: “The covenantal provisions are for the children of the covenant.”
Lebanese Woman: “I’ve heard about You, and I’ve heard about Your covenant—and I submit to Your right to do what You will as You will, when You will and how You will, to whom You willand through whom You will. And I know You’re going to bless the nations through this covenant—I know there’s enough of You to go around, and even a Gentile like me can receive the overflowfrom the covenantal table.”
Jesus:“YOU GOT IT! I love your faith!”
The FAI video series Covenant and Controversy is a must watch for every Bible believing Christian. Not only must you watch this series but you need to promote it as widely as possible. After you have watched the first video then you will now why I am promoting this video series so enthusiastically.
As most of my followers know I support the Kenya House Church Movement in Kenya started many years ago now by Pastor Charles Owino Otieno. It has grown to ten house church groups with a new group started just weeks ago with the conversion of a Catholic priest. The circumstances surrounding his conversion provide a great story which I will use for another LEN post. However, shortly after Charles returned home I received the following email from Alfred one of the KHC leaders.
I received a report from Charles, and I later saw him addressing the media on one of our local radio stations, reporting on the earthquake that shook their area and left three people dead, and several others injured. I understand that among the victims of the earthquake was Charles’s mother and one of his brothers. I will be travelling together with my wife going to the home of Charles tomorrow, to see the family.
The following report is from Charles: “The tragedy happened on my property. This picture was taken on my own farm. .
This was not a normal flood, the kind we know and we have seen many times. This was different. A normal flood erodes the soil surface, sweeps away vegetation, animals and destroys houses. But this one was a combination of both an earthquake and heavy rainfall. It covered a wide area of land, It devastated our property leaving behind a very big empty valley about 5kms long and 5 to 6 metres deep, as you can see in this picture. My house church group had planted a maize farm on this land which was about to mature and it was all swept away. And you may also remember that our economic activities here is farming so we are back to square one.
I have already sent $250 to help, but as I am a pensioner now, I am limited in what I am able to contribute. I would appreciate help from some of my LEN followers. You can make a donation by clicking on the Donation icon on the Home Page. If you would like me to acknowledge your donation on this website please let me know. Also, if you would like to become a regular supporter of KHC that would be appreciated. We have a number of projects that need funding. A printer to produce training materials in Swahili is first on the list. Charles would like to print off the ICCC Transformed Working Life series for the leaders. Also, I have previously requested support to purchase a computer for Charles and then for some of the other leaders so they can access training videos from Christian organisations like CMI and others that support Home Church Groups. I will also be able to hold regular Zoom meetings with Charles and the other KHC leaders.
Technology is advancing exponentially and its adoption is also experiencing exponential growth. Our lifestyles are set to change dramatically as a result. At the same time governments have recklessly taken on so much debt they are unable to govern responsibly. Money printing is rampant and interest rates close to or at zero. A great financial reset is inevitable. As well, Covid has given governments much more control over their citizens which they will not readily relinquish. Covid has also changed dramatically how businesses operate and in fact how we live our lives. The scene is set for Technochasm. Eric Fry, editor of Fry’s Investment report first used the word Technochasm to describe the phenomenon that is dividing our economy — and our stock market — into distinct groups of winners on one side … and losers on the other. Tech-focused and tech-enabled companies are leaving their old-school counterparts in the dust — both on Main Street and on Wall Street.
Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman told Bloomberg in October 2018 that Neom will be completed in 2025, and phase one is nearing completion.
Saudi Arabia is building a futuristic mega-city called Neom deep in a desert bordering the Red Sea.
The state has pledged at least $500 billion to make it happen, and is soliciting further investment.
Another good example of technological change is Electric Vehicles and Driverless vehicles both developing at a phenomenal rate, made possible by 5G. Experts predict that by as early as 2030 – that 95% of new car sales will be Electric Vehicles (EV) largely due to the development of solid state batteries when 1000 km range will become the norm, and charging time cut to 5 minutes (80 per cent). EV self driving cars will reduce the traffic volumes by 80% on the roads. Imagine the impact this will have on our how we live our lives. You will not own a car, you will order a driverless car for each occasion. A minicar for one person to go to work or an eight person vehicle for the family to go on an outing. Homes will no longer need garages. The vehicle that takes you to work will immediately be sent on another errand or to a Battery Recharge Station.
What about robotics? Amazon already has a robotic warehouse. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and for the most of the time it does not need the lights on. Robots make few order processing errors so the Customer Service Department was reduced dramatically.
Robot restaurants are popping up all over downtown San Francisco, as a futuristic option for people to grab fast food for cheap. The latest example is Creator, a robotic restaurant that specializes in making gourmet hamburgers with their all-in-one burger robots. This video takes you behind-the-scenes of their appointment-only smart kitchen to learn more about how robots will be the future of food in urban cities. Why they say Robot restaurants won’t take your job is because without robots these restaurants would not exist because the owners could not afford the space needed nor pay the staff costs required for a restaurant using manual labour.
Blockchain technology is another big disrupter, its impact will be almost if not bigger than the internet. Blockchain technology will break the shackles of centralization and provide better options to end-users. At the core, blockchain is a decentralized, peer-to-peer ledger-based network where there is no central authority. It will take the middle man out of so many transactions across most sectors of industry (trade and finance) and government.
Another aspect of the Digital Revolution is digital money. Bitcoin is already mainstream but in addition China is set to launch the digital yuan latest 2022. America will not be far behind as they realise the digital yuan will give China an edge to challenge America as the dominant international currency.
Put all this radical exponential technological change together with Governments that are no longer able to govern wisely and we have Technochasm. The rich are getting richer and the middleclass and the poor are getting poorer. The young believe previous generations, particularly this generation have destroyed the planet to the extent it now threatens their existence. They are taking to the streets and to violence to effect change, anarchy and lawlessness is escalating. I believe the scene is being set for the prophesied Antichrist to step onto the stage, the strongman able to solve the worlds problems. However, Bible prophecy tells us we still have two significant middle east wars before the little horn (Antichrist) of Daniel 7 & 8 is revealed. Regardless, time is short, Christians need to get about our Master’s business to share the Gospel, the only good news for a world that is facing the wrath of God.
A new peer-reviewed study published last month in the academic journal Sociology of Religion demonstrates that churches grow under persecution.
The study’s findings, outlined in Christianity Today by authors Nilay Saiya and Stuti Manchanda, buck conventional wisdom. In places where Christians enjoy official support from national governments, religious faith tends to decline. Conversely, Christianity spreads most successfully in countries with legal commitments to religious pluralism and in places that actively discriminate against and persecute believers.
These are the countries with the fastest growing Christian populations (the states with low/no official support for the faith are in bold): Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda, Madagascar, Liberia, Kenya, DR Congo, and Angola.
And here are the countries with the fastest declining Christian populations (the states with moderate/high official support for the faith are in bold): Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia, Albania, Moldova, Serbia, Germany, Lithuania, and Hungary.
Hungary, for example, is an officially Christian nation. Even still, faith is waning: Although a majority of Hungarians identify as Catholic, only 12% regularly attend church services and just 14% describe religion as “very important” in their lives.
It is worth noting, as author Rod Dreher has, Prime Minister Victor Orban’s governance in Budapest is very much aligned with politically conservative Christian views. As such, the country has passed legislation to that end.
Nevertheless, Saiya and Manchanda argue that, in pluralistic societies, where religious ideologies coexist and must compete, for lack of a better word, Christianity — untethered from politics — often flourishes. Paradoxically, they found, “state favoritism of religion inadvertently suppresses it.”
That is due to the fact that, countries that are “officially Christian,” and even in the U.S., to an extent, Christianity may become less about a convictional relationship with Jesus and instead morph into just one aspect of a citizen’s larger national identity, resulting in faith being less about personal beliefs and more about cultural tradition.
On the other hand, the Christian faith has expanded most in Asian countries, where there’s no “official” faith and pluralism has been embraced: In contrast to Europe, Christianity in Asian countries has not been in a position to receive preferential treatment from the state, and this reality has resulted in stunning Christian growth rates. The Christian faith has actually benefited by not being institutionally attached to the state, feeding its growth and vitality.
Consider the case of South Korea, which in the course of a century has gone from being a country devoid of Christianity to one of its biggest exporters. It currently ranks as the second-largest sender of missionaries, trailing only the United States.
This example illustrates well the paradox of pluralism. Because South Korea is not a Christian country, Christianity enjoys no special relationship to the state. In fact, Christianity in Korea endured the brutal persecution of Japanese colonial rule, during which churches were forcibly closed down and their properties confiscated. Indeed, the church persisted through poverty, war, dictatorship, and national crises throughout Korean history.
Since World War II, Korean Christianity has grown exponentially, with tens of thousands of churches being built and seminaries producing thousands of graduates every year. Today, about a third of the country is Christian.
Christianity also seems to flourish — as it did for the early church leaders in Acts — in places where believers face discrimination and persecution.
The faith of those facing persecution for their convictions is often deeper and more profound, because the stakes are inherently higher when it’s not in one’s cultural best interest to embrace such beliefs.
Open Doors USA, an advocacy organization tracking Christian persecution around the globe, ranks Iran as the eighth-worst place in the world for believers. Despite facing “extreme” persecution — where the government has outlawed conversion from Islam, imprisons those who evangelize, and arrests people for attending secret house churches or sharing Christian literature — it’s believed there could be at least one million Christians in the Islamic country.
A similar phenomenon is believed to be unfolding in Afghanistan, which Open Doors lists as the second-worst place to be a Christian. There is only a small number of believers in the country, where it is illegal to convert from Islam, and those who do face certain imprisonment, violence, and potentially even death. Rula Ghani, the first lady of Afghanistan, is a Maronite Christian from Lebanon.
Outside the Middle East, the world’s largest persecuted body of believers is found in China, where the communist government continually discriminates against and harms Christians.
Chinese police destroyed several church buildings earlier this year, including one where 50,000 Christians worshipped.
Much to President Xi Jinping’s chagrin, Protestant Christianity has continued to grow exponentially in China, where the government estimates some 200 million of its 1.5 billion citizens are believers.
Fenggang Yang, a sociologist of religion at Purdue University, said in 2019 he believes more Protestant Christians will live in China by 2030 than any other country in the world.
“When Communists took power in 1949, there were one million Protestants living in China, compared with 58 million in 2010 and probably around 100 million in 2019,” he said. “Despite the government’s efforts to suppress, I don’t think it will stop the growth of Christianity in China. All the evidence I have collected shows it’s undeniable; it’s already happening.”
If these numbers reveal anything to Christians, it is that believers should place their trust not in conventional wisdom, but in the often paradoxical work of the Holy Spirit.
Russian philosopher Fyodor Dostoevsky once lamented the deeply misguided belief held my many Christians “that Christ cannot reign without an earthly kingdom.”
It would be folly for the Christian to spend his or her life building an impenetrable kingdom on earth. We know from Scripture such an effort would be in vain. Psalm 46 says, “The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice and the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” And, in Matthew 24, Jesus told His disciples it is His authority alone that will stand the test of time: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
In Matthew 6, Jesus warned His followers against storing up treasures on earth, “where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.” Instead, He told them to invest in the eternal Kingdom of God.
Our ultimate hope, redemption, and restoration comes not in the protection of the state, which is never certain, but through salvation in Jesus, with whom we are heirs to a Kingdom operating outside the space and time of this temporal world.
America has entered into the times of Baal, says Jonathan Cahn. His latest Prophetic Message is timely and challenging. However, it also demonstrates that God is totally in control as the events that have unfolded in America are exactly in line with a template assigned by God that has played out before in Israel’s history. The timing is mind blowing.
As Jonathan reveals in this video, Christians in America have entered a time when they will face the greatest challenges and the greatest darkness in their history. Survival as Bible believing Christians will be impossible unless we become like Elijah.
What prepared Elijah for what God had planned for him to do? It was in his isolation at Kerith Brook when he was being fed by ravens, sent by the hand of God. Camped in the wilderness, isolated from everyone, Elijah was totally dependent upon God and God alone to meet his every need. It was in his time of greatest fear and need, that God prepared Elijah for his later ministry.
Like Elijah and many of God’s heroes He had to strip them of everything that was important to them and take them to a place of utter brokenness. And like Elijah, there, in isolation by our Kerith Brook, he will carefully tend to our needs. In the most unreal ways, he will provide for us, feed us, clothe us. And, in the process, we will learn how much he loves us and that we can trust him.
It is in our seasons of hurt and isolation that he does an amazing work in us. But that amazing work in us is not for us alone. It is to prepare us for the amazing work God wants to do through us.
Your Kerith Brook might look quite different from Elijah’s. However, regardless of circumstances, God’s plan is the same: he wants to use this time of isolation, this time of pain and loss, to mold you into His image. He wants to meet your every need. He wants to prove that He is good, loving, faithful. He wants to show himself as the Great I am. He wants to build your faith so that you can eventually leave the Kerith Brook.
Then, when He sees that you are ready, He will use and lead you in ways you can not even imagine but for certain it will be to a place where His power and might can shine through you.
In Revelation, the seven seals tells us what unfolds in each of the seven years prior to Jesus returning to this earth to rule and reign during the Millennium. Also, I believe that what Jesus tells us about each of the seven churches reveals to us the actions and state of the church in each of the last seven years prior to His return and it correlates to the events of the seven seals. It also reveals which church is protected from the wrath of God (Raptured) and which church is left behind to fact the wrath of God, thereby revealing the timing of the Rapture. Read for yourself and see how it fits so well. For more detail please check out Nelson Walters book: Revelation Deciphered
In the first year when the first seal is opened the Antichrist comes on the scene (rider on white horse).
The Church at that time in the first year (Ephesus): The church is doing some good things but “you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent… He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the Tree of Life, which is in the paradise of God.” Revelation 2:7
In the second year when the second seal is opened, the Antichrist is permitted to take peace from the earth and people slay one another (rider on red horse).
The church at that time (Smyrna): “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested” Revelation 2:10
In the third year when the third seal is opened, famine comes over the earth (rider on black horse).
The church at that time (Pergamum): “you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans (eat food sacrificed to idols (take the Mark of the Beast in order to get food?) and practice sexual immorality). Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 2:15-17
In the fourth year when the fourth seal is opened a fourth of the earth is destroyed with the sword, famine and pestilence (rider’s name Death on pale horse).
The church at that time (Thyatira) “I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and toeat food sacrificed to idols… those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.” Revelation 2:19-20, 22-23
In the fifth year when the fifth seal is opened, John sees under the altar the souls of the martyrs (not yet resurrected) that have come out of the great tribulation and they are told to wait awhile longer until their numbers a complete – more Christians to be martyredon earth. The Rapture has not occurred at the fifth seal so a Pretribulation Rapture is not possible.
The church at that time (Sardis). “You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.” Revelation 3:2-4
In the sixth year when the sixth seal is opened. John sees the signs in the sky which immediately precede Jesus coming to rapture the Saints and to pour out His wrath upon an unrepentant earth. “I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale… Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
The church at that time (Philadelphia) ““‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name... Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.”
The Philadelphian church obviously represents the church that is raptured.
At the start of the seventh year when the seventh seal is opened there is silence in heaven for about a half an hour. Just prior to the seventh seal being opened or at the same time there is a trumpet blast and the dead in Christ are raised first and then the Saints alive on earth are taken up to meet Jesus in the clouds.
The church at that time (Laodicea): We are given a picture of the church which is left behind: “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” Revelation 3:15-17 Whilst they are left behind and will be recipients of the wrath of God, Jesus still says to the church at Laodicea: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” They are still able to repent and be saved but will experience the wrath of God.
The wrath of God will last for 1 year and ten days (to do with the Jewish year and timing of the Festivals). During the days of Noah the wrath of God was also poured out for 1 year and ten days so the events of the “end times” will be like the days of Noah for a number of reasons just as Jesus told us it would be.
