Tossed About

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We’re not just supposed to “watch our tongue”, we’re to watch our ears too. Jesus said so. “Take heed what you hear”, He said (Mark 4:24). And you may wonder how you can do that. But that verse came to me very strongly in relation to what I’m experiencing with so many Christians nowadays.

Maybe a better way it is expressed or explained is where Paul said, “That we no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.” (Ephesians 4:14) So very many believers today are very much “tossed to and fro”.

In this case, it’s not like some specific Biblical doctrine. But, boy, they are carried about with every wind of political hearsay and rumor. Millions are just enthralled and entangled with political hearsay, as long as it has a little sprinkled sugar coating of what passes for Scripture glazing it.

Solomon said, “The simple believes every word but the prudent man looks well to his going.” (Proverbs 14:15) Most of the time it’s good to be simple. But in this Bible verse, “simple” has the connotation of the naïve and gullible. We’re supposed to be harmless as doves but also wise as serpents. (Matthew 10:16) I’m so often grieved when I see how very many Christians are sucked in to modern political quarreling and think they are doing God service this way.

Christians are just getting sucker punched by the enemy in the way of listening to secular, worldly diatribes which seek to allure Christians into their orbit by having a veneer of Christianity to them. But in actuality it’s just another Godless temptation to pull Christians away from our foundations in the Word and out into the latest concoction of the enemy to get us off the wall of God’s will.

In Job it says, “The ear tries words as the mouth tastes meat” (Job 34:3). Christians so much need to exercise discernment in what they allow themselves to hear. It doesn’t happen by just isolating yourself away from everything, I’m not talking about that. Jesus said we are to be “in the world but not of the world”.  (See John 17:15 & 16)

But I think it does come down to discernment in what we hear, recognizing when some broadcast or publication is just the devil’s slop, dressed up in a Christian costume. Jesus warned of false prophets that come unto you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves. So then we get all vigilant about some pastor or Christian teacher that we’re told is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

But we spend a couple of hours a day online on sensationalist, provocateur sites and channels that are nothing but political propaganda to indoctrinate you into a set of beliefs and actions that are not Scriptural and are not in truth leading you to true Christian service.

I’ve been making videos recently that go into the details of how things will be in the final days before the coming of the Lord and some places there have stood out to me so much. Here’s what the angel told Daniel it would be like in the very last days, how the people and servants of God will be in those times. “The people who do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.” (Daniel 11:32) Do you think that those are political exploits? Military or militia exploits? Or will it be like the exploits that happened in the book of Acts and the early church?

Another verse from Daniel, “And they that understand among the people shall instruct many.” (Daniel 11:33) Is that going to be understanding conspiracy theory and correct political stands? Or will it be in understanding the foundational truths of the endtime that will be playing out then? Are we going to be leading the believers and seekers of those times to a knowledge of the Lord and His soon coming? Or every wind of doctrine and confusion that will be blowing about in those times?

So this is something of a heart cry for me and from me. It just grieves me how many are actually falling away to fringe secular teachers and I’m talking about brethren who were before strongly on the wall of Christian service, even some who I knew on the mission field.

Take heed how you hear. We need to not only keep our mouth and our tongue, we need to keep our ears. “Go from the presence of a foolish man when you don’t perceive in him the lips of knowledge.” (Proverbs 14:7) We need a lot more discernment in what we’re spending our time listening to, how and where we’re getting out information from and what we are allowing to enter our hearts and minds. Lord help us!

One of the most sobering verses about the prophetic endtime is not found in Daniel or Revelation but in II Timothy. It says this, “And they shall turn away their ears from hearing the truth and shall be turned to fables.” (II Timothy 4:4) My gosh, how much this is happening across Christianity right now. Not fables like some ancient children’s fiction but broadcasts and publications that have just enough smattering of Christianity or the Bible so that they can pose as something of the Lord when it so utterly isn’t.

To me this is one of the greatest dangers facing Christians in these times, not secular governments or other religions but these empty, poisonous falsehoods, posing as truth by having a thin glazed veneer of Christian tinge. Brethren, watch out. Recognize it. Test it and if it is pulling you away from the depths of the truth of God’s Word and His service, the reject it like the plague.

Proponents of the Truth

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If there is anything a Christian should be known for, it should be for their truth. We should be known for our love, certainly. But if we’re weak in truth, it discredits the Lord and all He stood for. Jesus said, “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice”. (John 18:37) He even said, “I am… the truth…” (John 14:6)

So truth, “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) and just loving truth the way we love God and Jesus should be at the core of every true Christian.

And the same way we are to “hate evil” (Psalm 97:10), we should have a disdain and abhorrence for falsehood and even half truths. But if ever there was a time when the shadows of darkness and, frankly, the lies of the devil are running rampant and making inroads into the minds and hearts of the believers, it seems to be now.

There’s an amazing thing that’s to be found in the Book of Revelation about the conditions of the time right before the Lord’s return. It’s somewhat mysterious but I think it speaks plainly about the level of falsehood that saturates our lives today.

Revelation 12 verses 15 & 16 say this  “And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.”

Waters in Scripture often represent words. Jesus said of His disciples, “Out of their bellies shall flow rivers of living water”, speaking of the Holy Spirit that they would receive. But conversely, the devil also has his “waters”, Satan’s lies and propaganda which evidently will really be poured out in the final days. [And are being poured out already right now!]

And it says that “the earth”, the ungodly of this world, will swallow those waters that the serpent cast out of his mouth. But, significantly, it doesn’t say the woman, the bride of Christ will swallow them.

If ever there was a time when Christians should be diligently focused on finding the truth, holding the truth, speaking the truth and shunning falsehood, it should be in these times. It’s such a poor testimony of the Lord when Christians are easily deceived into some worldly cause or movement that is in fact a pitifully poor substitute for the genuine and truthful cause of Christ and the truth of His Word.

Some people think about purity and they immediately think of something moral or immoral, as they understand it. But simply extolling and embracing truth, while feeling a repulsion to lies and even half truths, can be an even greater need and testimony. It grieves me when I see so many believers get sucked into the affairs of this life and secular political parties, even long time friends I’ve known from the mission field who now view politics as their service to God.

Jesus even in His lifetime talked about those who will “…think they do God service”. But what will they be actually doing? Jesus said in John 16:2, “The time will come that whosoever kills you will think they are doing God service.” As many of you know, there are oodles of Christians who’ve gotten so involved with the affairs of this life that they are convinced that they need to take up physical arms and to be willing to kill others in their service for the Lord!

Isn’t that pitiful?! What a travesty of true Christian discipleship! I wrote something 7 years ago called “A Strong Man, Armed” about when there may be some margin of place where, to physically defend your family, bearing arms may be justified.

But then so many here in the States at least, nominal Christians and sometimes genuinely sincere Christians, are convince that a huge stock of guns is the only alternative for the people of faith. It’s really sad how many believers of our times have veered from the example of the Early Church as well as the pattern and explanation we have in the prophetic Word about the church of the endtime, before the coming of the Lord.

I’m convinced that, just as the Early Church was, the final church of the Endtime before the coming of the Lord will be dependent utterly on Him, His Word and His miraculous intervention and direction. This all just shows us how very far astray much of  Christianity in our times has gone and how much we actually need the cleansing purifying of persecution which, among other things, will sweep away all those who “walk in the counsel of the ungodly and stand in the way of sinners.” (Psalm 1:1) Lord help us!

And He will. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. The Lord  is going to purify His church, purge out the abundant dross, worldly influences and political entanglements that are so utterly prevalent. He has to. Otherwise the believers of the final Endtime will in no way be prepared in any way for the onslaught that will come against them.

But it starts with truth. The deceptions that have captured so many believers of these times must be destroyed, like the idols the prophets of old had to smash and defy. It’s still the same today. Amen, Lord, do it.

PS   And this morning, as I somewhat hesitated to post this article, I heard verses quoted in a devotional which I know I’ve never noticed before.  “For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, even as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” (III John verses 3 & 4)

The book of Daniel chapter 11-b, “The Last 3½ Years”

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First, on a personal note, I’m doing well, staying healthy, active and looking forward to the many things on the plate and in the works over the next few months.

As most of you know, one of my main occupations in the last few years has been to work on the production of videos on the subject of the prophecies of Daniel in the Bible. Around 2014, having completed videos through Daniel chapter 9 in English, I began to concentrate on doing them in foreign languages. It worked out, thank you Lord, that videos have now been done in 14 languages besides English and a total of over 60 videos have been placed on my site and on YouTube.

Then this year I felt I should swing back towards doing them in English again and to try to finish the rest of the book of Daniel. So far 3 new English videos have been done in 2020 and there is only one more left to do.

I’ll include here the link to the one that went up a week ago, about the last 15 verses in Daniel chapter 11. Those 15 verses are possibly the summit in the study of the book of Daniel. The passage is one of the most detailed and specific views of the last 3½ years before the return of Jesus that can be found in the Scriptures,  an in-depth view of the action, events and characters that will be at the forefront of the last few years before the return of Jesus to establish His rule on earth.

I hope you are all well, staying healthy and also inspired by all the Lord is doing in the lives of people around the world during this trying time.

Here is the link  to the video:

Once more, into the breach

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One more time and you feel like it will kill you. You feel you have given your all. But the job is not done. You don’t know if you can take any more. This is what soldiers experience. Or some of those in sports. And even some Christians.

It is said of Jesus, “He poured out His soul unto death.” (Isaiah 53:12) “He went a little further and fell on His face.” (Matthew 26:39) For Jesus, He went all the way, “even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:8)

It’s a funny place to be in your life. You believe in what you are doing. But you’ve come to the place where it really costs you something. If you keep going further, there looks to be real loss; personal loss will be the price. Maybe there is physical pain but maybe it’s just emotional and spiritual pain, hopes, plans and possibilities. The results of decisions that you know are going to further the kingdom of God, but really cost you personally.

This is what the quote from Shakespeare is about, “once more, into the breach”. I’ve never read Shakespeare extensively but I do know that his writings are considered to be some of the greatest heights ever reached in the English language. Here’s what he wrote about “into the breach”

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger.”

From Shakespeare’s play “Henry the Fifth”

Maybe you’ve come to a place in your life where your hopes, dreams and possibilities have come together in a unique and golden opportunity that’s before you and you recognize it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But you also see clearly that there is a price to pay. To reach your goal is going to take everything, all that you have and no one will know about it but you and God.

I’ve never been in a physical war. Never had bullets whizzing by me, never had artillery shells exploding around me. But I think this must be how it is for people in that situation, where their life is on the line from minute to minute.

I like sports for this reason. People in sports have to give their total all if they are going to succeed. Half hearted people are not successful in sports. Actually it is the same in Christianity but it doesn’t show up as easily. Christians are actually supposed to be maintaining many of the attributes of soldiers. “A good soldier of Jesus Christ” (II Timothy 2:3) And also the discipline and commitment of athletes. “Lay aside ever weight and the sins that so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus…”   (Hebrews 12:1 & 2)

Many people cry at the end of a movie. But have you ever cried at the opening scenes of a movie? That happened to me one time. I was just going through a very rough marriage and family breakup and I went to watch “Chariots of Fire”. The opening scene was of these athletes running on a beach and the music was so moving. So the movie had been on a minute or two and I started crying. God was speaking to me that I just had to be like those athletes and to keep going and moving on.

Sometimes, that’s how we can make it, with a broken heart. We don’t have the strength in ourselves. We can’t run the race. We can’t measure up to the task before us. We are weak, very much, in ourselves. But then we have to give ourselves over to the Lord. He has to be the one that goes further within us in our lives. It’s only our faith in Him in us that gives us the power and faith to go as far as He calls us to go.

This is the better life He has called us to. A life of purpose, of impact and effect on the world we live, a life that is lived from the heart that He has entered and changed. But sometimes, no one really knows but God. No one sees what you are paying for decisions you are making. Soldiers dying in the battle, athletes giving their utmost and then more. And yes, Christians, like Jesus did in the garden of Gethsemane when “He went a little further and fell on his face.” (Matthew 26:39)

It can be so difficult. But then it also is an incredible blessing of the Lord, to be in a place where you clearly have to decide if you will go that far, if you will die that much, if you will suffer that distance. Paul in the Bible evidently experienced this. In one place he said “I die daily”. (I Corinthians 15:31)

I truly believe that at some point in the future, Christians around the world will be in “a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation”. (Daniel 12:1) Jesus clearly said a time like that would come. For so many, times come that test us very much, where decisions test how far we will go, often the way it is for soldiers in battle or athletes in competition. But then as the Bible says about these warriors and competitors of this world, “They do it to obtain a corruptible crown, be we an incorruptible.” (I Corinthians 9:25)

Often it can be like Shakespeare said in “Henry the Fifth”, like soldiers in the midst of mortal combat, “once more, into the breach”. May the Lord in us help us to go further than we ever could in our own strength and faith. May we press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Budding… in September

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My trees were dead and are alive again! Some trees (and lives) look truly dead, like what’s been happening here this summer in Texas. The scorching sun and heat have devastated some of the trees and many have totally dried up and turned brown.

Day by day as the drought got worse here, it grieved me to see how so many of the trees in the back lot were wilting and turning brown. At length I hauled out the garden hose to do emergency watering of many of them that make up the far back of the property. But more and more, a lot of them lost all their leaves and looked fully dead. (Like some peoples’ lives, maybe?)

Then, after a grueling July and August with temperatures daily around 105 (38 Centigrade), we ended up getting several days of strong, steady rains. So, so needed. Like the verse, “You, Lord, did send a plentiful rain whereby you did confirm Your inheritance when it was weary.” (Psalm 68:9)

But was it too late to help the trees? Like so many people’s lives, it really does look like it’s too late. Not only is there no fruit in their lives, even their leaves have withered and gone. No joy, no faith, no shine or sign of life is left, even though they’re still alive in the physical.

This morning, a few days after the rains, I was having my morning walk in the back and I could hardly believe my eyes. Many of the “dead” trees were budding! In the second half of September! I was so happy to see that. Like long lost friends you thought were gone forever, they came back. But how? Above ground, all signs of life had been scorched and dried up by the relentless sun and heat.

But underneath, below the surface, the roots had stayed alive. Is this possibly symbolic of anything? Do you think this is possible in the very many lives we all know who seem to have dried up and died even many years ago? Could some of those people still have roots of faith alive below the surface? Could some of those people “bud in September”?

It took an act of God. My feeble efforts to do watering during the worst of the drought may have helped a little. But it took the clouds and storms from heaven to drench the earth and provide the roots the missing elements of water, like faith. Over the next days the few remaining trees that still had some leaves began to perk up. But this morning, like a second spring, about 70% of the trees I’d counted as dead have been showing little green leaves everywhere among the branches.

“This my son was dead and is alive again, was lost and is found.” (Luke 15:24) If God can do this with trees, do you think He can do this with people? Can He send storms and rains that somehow soak the soil of our souls, bringing a renewing of faith and life below the surface and the visible, in the roots of our beings so that life can again appear where it looked as dead as a doornail for a long time?

“With God, nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37) It’s wonderful when the Lord somehow speaks to you through His creation or His deeds there. A few years ago, I had another lesson out in the back lot, in the depths of December. I wrote a blog article about that, “Green Leaves Hanging On”. It was the cold of winter but a few green leaves in the back were still holding on. That really spoke to my heart.

Paul said, “The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” (Romans 1:20). We all need hope. We all need faith. Jesus said, “He that believes on me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35) But many people, just like our trees in the back, come into a time in their lives when they do thirst. They lose faith. Or they are talked out of it by friends. They “cast away their confidence” (Hebrews 10:35) and like the prodigal son, go off and away from the wellsprings of life to waste their lives. Until a mighty famine comes. Or a mighty drought.

Only the Lord can do it. Only the Lord can somehow allow the unseen roots to still be alive below the surface after all the life seems to have ebbed away in the part we can see. “You renew the face of the earth.” (Psalm 104:30)

It was a beautiful and heartening experience this morning and an unexpected one. The symbolism of it all immediately struck me of the greater meaning of how the Lord can do the same thing in the lives of many we know who’ve withered, wilted and fallen away over the years for whatever reason. Would to God that He will send rains of refreshing and renewal to all those ones as well. Amen

Salvation and rewards

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Is salvation cheap? In some ways it is. In fact it is free because it is a gift of God. This upsets some folks and they just don’t think it’s fair or right. Of course it cost Jesus the ultimate price to give us the gift of salvation. But for us it’s free, it can only be received.

But some say, “Well, the devils believe in Jesus”. Someone said that to me yesterday. There’s a verse that says, “You believe in one God? You do well; the devils also believe and tremble.” (James 2:19) It doesn’t say they “believe in Jesus”, there. Certainly the demons in the spiritual world are knowledgeable that there is a God and when Jesus was on earth some of them said to Him, “We know who you are, the Son of God.” (Luke 4:34) But personally I would never say, “the devils believe in Jesus.”

A verse that was priceless to me at the very beginning of my salvation was this one. “But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)

That’s exactly what happened to me. In my experience of having Jesus dawn in my life, it was “receiving” Him that brought to me a power in my innermost heart and soul that had been so completely missing before that.

Sin had had dominion over me in such a complete and overpowering way. But through some dear young teen-aged Jesus People sharing the Bible with me, I came to know of the path of salvation. So I came to Jesus.

But in my case, “believing” in Him was utterly united and linked to “receiving” Him, as that verse says. Receiving Him by actually verbally inviting Him into my heart and life, after my friends showed me John 1:12 and other verses, like Revelation 3:20, where the Lord said He would come in to us.

Some say, in fact someone said to me yesterday, that this is not enough. But it certainly was for me. It wasn’t some mental thing, a glib recitation of some lines of rhetoric. It was the cry of my heart to the throne of God. And God answered. Jesus did come into my heart. I did become “a new creature in Christ Jesus” (II Corinthians 5:17). I was “born again”. (John 3:3)

But Mark, is that all?!

Well, no, of course not; that’s not all. My life is an example of that in that I’ve gone on from that event (when I was 21) to an incredible life of joy and Christian service that’s still fresh and exhilarating many decades after my original born again experience.

But I think I know what some are concerned about.  I guess it could be called accountability. They’re concerned that someone can just almost trick God, “say the magic words” and then skate home free all the way to heaven, while living the same hellish life that most people do in this world.

No, that’s not how it works. For one, I can tell you that I’ve virtually never run into a person like that who has prayed to receive Jesus. Those who do instinctively come to God with a reverence, already knowing their desperate need and that there is a God and His Son who are there to help and answer.

My life and the life of my friends has been based primarily around witnessing and soul winning. That’s what Jesus called His disciples to 2000 years ago and what the original Jesus Movement of the early 70’s was fundamentally about. So I spent many years witnessing on the streets in places like Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset Strip, Trafalgar Square in London, Dam Square in Amsterdam and later in Vienna, Budapest, India, Indonesia and on from there, endeavoring to lead souls to Christ with the message of salvation.

It’s a spiritual thing. It’s something that the Lord does through you and with you and it’s a very serious time when you’re trying to win people to Him. The Lord gives you enough discernment to know whether the ones you are witnessing to are receiving what you are saying and are receptive or whether they are shallow and playing games. So in my experience, I don’t think I’ve run into almost any people who were just insincerely, nonchalantly reciting a prayer instead of really coming to God in prayer for His help and salvation.

But then, you ask, “What happens next?” Well, for so many I know, they really had an experience with the Lord and were astounded by the change in their lives. Like the apostle Peter wrote, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby.” (I Peter 2:2)

That’s what happened to me; I immediately had a huge appetite to study the Bible and to feed from it spiritually. My friends were there to help me and I just gulped down all I could, day after day and it became the new main source of knowledge and truth for me from that day on.

But I know what some are driving at. What about if someone just tries to go on their merry way, no sign of change, no different from what they were before? Of course I would question them about the depth and reality of the prayer they prayed, if that happened. But, to cut to the chase, let’s say that something like that does happen. Are they saved? Will they go to heaven? Have they sort of “pulled a fast one” on God?

This is where rewards come in. I’m convinced that there will be folks in heaven, perhaps a lot of them, with not a whole lot of rewards. They had saving faith. They believed in God, they believed that Jesus was the Son of God and in the basics of what Christ said and did. Maybe they went to church. Sometimes they prayed or even knew a little from the Bible.

But the vast and main thrust of their lives was for this world, the things of this world, the pleasures of this world, and the goals of this world. Jesus and God were in no way first place. What’s God going to do with people like that? Send them to hell? They were actually believers.

Maybe it’s like Jesus said to one group of believers in the book of Revelation, “You have a name, you live and are dead.” (Revelation 3:1) Some people, probably very many people are like this. For some the Lord in His mercy sends along chastening, bereavement, tribulation, tests and purgings to try to get them to turn to Him and away from their sins. Sometimes this works. He has to smash their idols, just as He did with the people of Israel in ancient times.

If we are truly one of His children but we are not following forward with the path and leading that He is calling us to in this life, then He will very definitely send along chastening to our straying ways. There are oodles of promises in God’s Word about that. But getting back to the original issue, still the bottom line and opening paragraph comes back to “belief”. This is repeated over and over in the Word. That’s the beginning and the requirement. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.” (Acts 16:31)

Are you worried about “the mark of the Beast”?

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There’s a lot online now about “the mark of the Beast”. So many people are concerned about this that I feel I should say something. I put off writing this article but several people recently wrote me about this.

Is “the mark of the Beast” already here? Can it be forced on you? Is the Covid 19 vaccine “the mark of the Beast”? A great Bible verse to remember in times like this is, “God is not the author of confusion…” (I Corinthians 14:33).

I wonder how many people even know what “the mark of the Beast” is or, I should say, what it will be. It’s in the news a lot currently, even in some of the mainstream media. Briefly, “the mark of the Beast” is found in the book of Revelation, mainly in chapter 13. This chapter is about the last “forty-two months” (Revelation 13:5) before the return of Jesus to this earth as the King of God that he is.

Here’s the most specific thing in Scriptures about the mark of the Beast.

“And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. And his number is six hundred and sixty six.” (Revelation 13:16-18)

Of course, including this here may bring to mind more questions than it does answers. Who is the “he” mentioned at the beginning? What kind of “mark” is it talking about? Some kind of tattoo? Or like what many now say: an implant of some kind? What does that mean about “666”? Or even the simply question: what is “the beast”? I’ll answer that one right away. “The beast” is the Antichrist of the endtime who’s been predicted to come in many places both in the Old and New Testament.

But it gets worse. Because the next chapter, chapter 14, tells us that

“…the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If any man worships the beast and his image and receives his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.” (Revelation 14:9 & 10)

So the Bible says that in the very last days, no person will be able to buy or sell unless they have “the mark of the beast”. And then it says that anyone who does accept the mark of the beast will be punished with the wrath of God. Wonderfully, we can fall back on the strong promise in God’s Word, that “He will not allow us to be tempted above that we are able to bear but with the temptation he will make a way of escape, that we may be able to bear it.” (I Corinthians 10:13)

And this is exactly what the Bible says that God is planning to do in this last period of 3½ years before the second coming of the Lord. We’ve seen what is said about all this in Revelation chapter 13 and 14. But in Revelation chapter 12, there are incredible promises to His believing children, the Christian believers of the final days. Twice in the chapter, it says almost the same thing. Verse 6 of Revelation 12 says

“And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and sixty days.”

Then perhaps for emphasis and to underline the Lord’s faithfulness to His bride, the body of believers in the final days, verse 14 says,

“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time from the face of the serpent.”

For an explanation of that phrase referring to “a time, times, and half a time”, see the video I did on Daniel 7, at around the 24:32 mark, where I explain about this. Daniel chapter 7 is the first place in the Bible where that phrase, “a time, times, and half a time”, is used to refer to 3.5 years. But it comes up in other Scriptures many more times after this.

Where does this leave us? Are we all going to be killed if we don’t take the mark of the beast? Or sent to the lake of fire if we do? I certainly don’t believe that those are our only two options.

To keep this somewhat short, I’ll add in here the links to two articles I’ve done specifically on “the woman in the wilderness” that is spoken of in Revelation 12. Here is a recent article written on it. And here is one, “Fleeing into the wilderness… in Bulgaria” that I wrote a few years ago, when I was in Bulgaria, on the subject of “the woman in the wilderness” in the final days.

I don’t believe you can be forced to take the mark of the beast, when it does ultimately appear, probably in times soon to come. God is not going to pour out His wrath on you because you were compelled to go against His will. “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world”. (I John 4:4)

Neither do I believe at all that any upcoming vaccine against the corona virus is going to be, or contain, the mark of the Beast. This is ludicrous, unscriptural palaver. Christians really need to be reading up about things and not be victims of such shallow, politically motivated hearsay.

I get upset at how easily Christians nowadays are duped into believing the latest fad or “wind of doctrine” that blows their way concerning Bible prophecy. It may be a sign of how weak and unlearned the majority of believers are when it comes to knowledge of the prophetic end time.

If there is any good in the current hue and cry about the corona virus and the mark of the beast, it could be that at least it is getting out the basic idea that there will be a mark of the beast in the end time. This is similar to how the movie a few years back about “Left Behind” got out the idea of the second coming of the Lord, even though the central premise of  that movie was that there would be a Rapture before the Great Tribulation which is false doctrine.

If you are currently worrying about the mark of the beast, I suggest you don’t. Instead, try to really get into the Word about it and the whole subject of the final days before the second coming of the Lord. I’ve spent the last few years in making a series of videos on the prophecies of Daniel which are featured on my website by that name where this article appears. There are also many blog articles that go into various aspects of the end times. I hope the material will be a blessing to you and that you will be able to grow in a knowledge of His Word for the difficult times that already face us and for the more difficult times soon to come.

Daniel 11-a, verses 1- 31

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I’ve been able to complete the next video in English in the Prophecies of Daniel series. This one covers the verses in Daniel chapter 11, up to verse 31. Daniel chapter 11 is where Jesus pointed His disciples to when they asked about His return at the end of this age. A three week battle went on between the forces of God and Satan before the message given to Daniel in chapters 11 and 12 was able to reach the prophet. The chapter is long and somewhat intricate; the lynchpin verse is verse 31. This portion of Daniel 11 pertains to “the first 3½ years” of the last 7 years before the return of Jesus. Here is the link to the video:

The book of Daniel chapter 10 video

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I’ve been able to complete the video about chapter 10 of the book of Daniel. While this chapter isn’t a prophetic chapter, it is one of the strongest ones in the Bible to show the realities of the spiritual world and the battles that go on there. Daniel chapter 10 presents the scene and the events leading up to one of the most significant messages ever given to a prophet of God in the Old Testament. So significant in fact that Jesus of Nazareth Himself some 550 years later specifically referred to parts of the messenger given by an angel to Daniel in this experience. And Jesus went on to say of this, “whosoever reads, let him understand”.

Daniel chapters 10 through 12 are almost certainly one event but it was divided up into chapters, perhaps because it was so long. I’m very glad to be getting this video up on YouTube, the first one I have done in English in 6 years. Presently I am far along with the next video after this one. That one covers Daniel 11 from verses 1 to 31. Here’s is the link to the Daniel 10 video:

Anarchy and stable government

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Perhaps the November elections in the USA will pass without violent unrest. Some people here now flirt with the idea of an uprising if the election doesn’t go their way.  Talk show host for years have spoken against the government, declaring that the government is our enemy. My friends, I’ve lived in over 50 countries as a missionary, 36 years on the mission field and I can tell you this: you don’t know how good we have it.

Do you know what a civil war is really like? Do you know what you are contemplating or being lured into contemplating? Just a few years ago a long time friend of mine really wanted to get into a fist fight with me. I didn’t go for it but they really pushed me. They told me later, “I didn’t want to kill you; I just thought we’d slap each other around a little.”

But so often, Pandora’s box being opened, you don’t realize what will come out. And people in America are talking amongst themselves about civil unrest, both on the Right and on the Left. People have been heavily armed here for years. And sadly the Christians are just as much in the middle of all this as anyone.

I wish I could scream at some people right now. Do they have any idea what they are thinking about and contemplating? No, 99% don’t. They’ve lived in the incredible bubble of America all their lives which, as bad as it is in some ways and places, is nothing when you compare it to the conditions of anarchy and civil war that can come to a country and stay there, if they open the door to violence.

I wish the voice of history could call out to American hearts and minds, all the millions of people over the last hundreds of years could speak to you from beyond, our ancestors who lived and died in anarchy and societal collapse because some ones thought that the time had come to rise up against the government. Or their neighbors. Or the opposition. Or whatever.

But Americans don’t know history anymore. They don’t even know their own history. Almost all my relatives came to Texas after the Civil War in the 1860’s, from Mississippi and Alabama after the war there had brought their lives to ruin and havoc. They fled like Syrians have done in our times; they crossed the Mississippi River and came to Texas.

Many Americans today are spoiling for a fight. They’re “fed up and not going to take it anymore!” “They have no choice!” Sad, foolish people bringing on their own sorrow. It’s like a dream that you see happening but you can’t intervene to stop it. If you don’t like the election in November, are you going to take up arms against the other side?! Your side lost so that’s the last straw?!

“It must be rigged! It’s all a conspiracy! We have to take back our nation!”

YOU ARE BEING DUPED. You are going to reject the democratic processes that have worked here for close to 250 years and instead rely on your gun rage? Or your “woke” comrades on campus and their neo-Marxist agenda?

But many people are past reasoning. “The lines have been drawn, the curse it is cast”, sang Bob Dylan over 50 years ago. And it may be truer now than it ever has been. This is the spirit of the times, just before great cataclysm. People are all jazzed up for their cause, full of hate of their “enemies”, even though it be their own neighbors. And off they go to the jolly war they have been prepped and hyped up for over years. When will we ever learn?

I’m concerned about the US election in November. I’d love to be proven wrong. I’d love to see everything turn for the better, the flaming rhetoric get turned down, a little bit of reconciliation appear in the air, the Corona virus begin to subside and happy days be here again.

We’ve had a period of relative peace and safety here in North American for over 150 years, at least when compared to places like the former Yugoslavia, Lebanon, Syria, Northern Ireland, Israel, Rwanda, Sri Lanka and perhaps you can think of many more.

Yes, there have been injustices, oppression, racism, inequality and a host of inexcusable grievances that were unwarranted. But we haven’t really had major wide spread civil unrest and war within our borders since 1865.

Maybe we are at the high-water mark. Perhaps soon cooler heads will prevail. Maybe in the next days and weeks things will swing back towards dialogue and away from violence and escalation. Because if the centrifugal forces keep increasing that are pulling this nation to its edges, then violence may in fact be the end result of where things are going at election time.

If any of you are toying with the idea that taking up arms is a way to make America a more righteous place, I just wish there was some way I could impart to you how that idea has failed to deliver over and over again for hundreds of years, no matter how righteous it may have looked at the time.

And especially if you are a Christian, just get a grip on the Lord and your own heart and reject that idea! It is not the leading of God; it is not what the Lord is leading you to do. But instead it comes from strident, secular, Satanic forces which don’t have the mind of Christ working in them.

Please pray for peace in our country. Amen.