Misconceptions About the Coming of Christ
The reason there is so much misunderstanding about the Return of Christ, is that he does not just return once. The actual aspects of his Return are rolled up in the word Parousia, Coming. Jesus’ ministry was to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Jews.
The 2nd Coming of Christ will be for the sake of Jews as well. But, there is another aspect of the Parousia that is not recorded in the Gospels of Mt, Mk, Lk, or Jn. The reason it is not recorded there is because no one knew anything about it, including Jesus.
No one knew anything about this aspect of the Parousia until it was revealed to Paul the apostle, by the ascended Christ. Jesus and the apostles expected him to come back 7 years after his ascension. The time that has lapsed between then and now is that of the Sacred Secret, which was hidden in God from the foundation of the world.
The event that serves as the end of this time period is Christ’s Coming for his Saints, those of us who have believed without first seeing. This aspect of the Coming of Christ is commonly known as The Rapture of the Church. There is nothing written about it in the gospels or the Book of Revelation.
1 Th 4:16-17
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. NASU
At the Rapture, Jesus does not set a foot on the earth; he is not on a white horse; he is not prepared for battle; and no one else sees him at all; he comes part way from Heaven to meet us and we return with him. No fanfare, no earthquakes, no fire from Heaven, etc. Additionally there will be no sign to prepare you if you are not all ready now.
What you read about in the gospels, Revelation and a few places in the epistles is when he returns 7 years later “with” us.
1 Th 3:13
so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. NASU
See in my book at http://www.fredswolfe.com
God bless,
Are You Willing to be Criticized?
Happy New Year Everyone!
We are 2 weeks into 2013. Has it taken you by storm? Do you feel more in control of things in your life than you did last year? Or do you feel like you are being swept out to sea by the wave of public opinion?
Those of us who stood for truth during the last election were bitterly demonized for our positions. We were called divisive, unpatriotic, trouble-makers, fabricators, spoil sports, poor losers, etc. Even members of our own families said such things.
As you all know life is a spiritual battle. If you did not personally experience anything like this, then I would say that you need to get in the fight and quit watching the parade of life pass you by. In Real Estate we call the silent majority “Looky Lews;” people who come to an Open House just to see it, with no interest at all in making an offer, getting involved. Are you just a “stander-by?”
I recently watched a video posted on Facebook by David Wells about the spiritual forces grinding down Americans. Throughout the video I am thinking ahead about what one person can do to rebuttal. Suggestions were given at the end of just that. One of them was “to be willing to be criticized.” Most people I know would shudder at the thought. Criticism, whether giving it or receiving it, has been completely vilified in our society. Being able to be criticized for what you believe takes integrity. Knowing what you believe to be true and truthful makes being criticized a badge of courage rather than one of disgrace.
Did you know that the biggest Critic in life is God and His Word, the Bible. All the great believers throughout the ages were severely criticized for their words and deeds. Most of them were accused of heresy, including our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The political leaders of his time were out to murder him from the get go, just because some Persian men said they were looking for him who was born to be the King of the Jews. He hadn’t even done anything to deserve death and didn’t when they finally succeeded thirty years later! Are you willing to die for what you believe? Is what you believe willing to die for?
One of my fellow-labourers in the Word, John Lynn, has done a few teachings on “Words—Words Have Meaning.” People live and die by words everyday. In order for words to have any affect on anyone, they have to be written or spoken. If you are not into writing, then you need to be into speaking. People need to know what you believe; your neighbors need to know what you stand for. What are you afraid of? Criticism, Embarrassment? Being afraid to be who you are is the worst.
We see this in the pre-resurrection Peter. He actually denied Jesus six times, but 3 will suffice. Many of the men who followed Jesus before his murder were in hiding afterwards for four days. They were scared to death. They were probably wondering what they got themselves into, why they didn’t just leave well enough alone and keep doing what they were doing before they met that troublemaker, Jesus. Now they were all in the stew. What had they done?
What they did, is what we need to do: stick our necks out for what we believe. Be willing to be criticized and if need be be willing to have our necks chopped off for doing so. The husband being the head of the wife, is just that: we stick our necks out for our wives just as Christ stuck/sticks his neck out for us. Don’t feel helpless, it is God in Christ in You. You are a majority wherever you go, whatever you do and whatever you say. If God be for us (and He is) who can be against us?
What a Fool I have Been!
The believers of Hitler’s time must have thought Hitler was the Antichrist; surely they believed Christ would return before he was able to do so many horrible things. The point is, there are no signs to indicate his return for the believers of this day and age. The Rapture of the Church is a part of the Sacred Secret, that was kept a secret by God until He revealed unto the apostle Paul, through Jesus Christ.
No one, including Jesus Christ, before his ascension, knew anything about the time in which we now live. It stands to reason that there can be no signs in the Bible as to when this Age will end, since no one knew when it would begin. All this and more is in my book at www.fredswolfe.com. If you did not read it this past year, you owe it to yourself, your children and your grandchildren to do so. Since there are no signs announcing the Rapture (Part 1 of the Parousia) there will be no time to prepare for it. If you are not ready now, you could very well be left behind.
If you are left behind, my book will tell you what to expect and how to make it through the Great Tribulation into the Millennial Kingdom where Christ will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. It will be a thousand years that you will not want to miss. God bless you and happy new year.
Thank God for The Fiscal Cliff and ………….
English: Peter Schiff speaking (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
………the men and women we have elected who are willing to go over it! I recently heard Peter Schiff* speak on the subject and his sentiments were exactly ours. The Fiscal Cliff is the ominous name given to the opportunity we have to put us back on our economic axis. I thank God for the Republicans who are standing on the principle of not increasing the tax rates for anyone. Today they are being demonized, but far down the road they will be viewed as true Statesman.
Going over the cliff is a bullet we need to bite. We have all heard of “kicking the can down the road” many times. This is the expression that has been coined for not standing up to the fiscal responsibility we have been faced with since the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Bear-Stearns. They were allowed to fail and so should have all those who came after them, who were instead “bailed out” by the Federal Reserve. Since our monetary policy was taken off the gold standard, the only thing valuing our currency was and is our and others’ faith in our government and its credibility.
Every time the Federal Reserve prints more greenbacks, the purchasing power of them drops. When we hear announcements of near zero interest rates until 2015 and a commitment to invest = spend = print $40 billion per month ad infinitum it should make us cringe. The mother of all train wrecks is on its way and it is called inflation. The Federal Reserve has even been able to manipulate this monster, but a day is coming when even it will reign uncontrollably at our expense and possible demise.
Satan is the “god” of this Age. Israel and the U.S. of A. are the only 2 vestiges of Hope left in the world today and we are on our way out. Who do you see having more influence in our government and society today than anyone/thing else, the One True God or the One False god? Satan’s single three-fold desire is to steal, kill and destroy.
To steal is to stealthfully take away.
To kill primarily denotes “to offer firstfruits to a god”; then (a) “to sacrifice by slaying a victim,” Ac 14:13,18, to do sacrifice; 1 Co 10:20, to sacrifice; to pay homage, offer sacrifices to a god, and becoming the sacrifice itself.**
To destroy is a strengthened form of ollumi, signifies “to destroy utterly”; in middle voice, “to perish.” The idea is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of wellbeing. **
This is exactly what has been occurring to the American People under the leadership of several of our past Presidents. it was very subtle at first and gradually became more and more brazen culminating with our current President, Barack Hussein Obama, in the guise of “equality,” making everything fair, leveling the playing field.
The speaker of the House recently buckled under the pressure and offered to increase taxes on those making over a million dollars a year. On the surface it looked conciliatory to me, but some in his own party rebuked him and rejected the compromise. Why? Because the fight is not about more taxes (stealing) but less spending, less inflation, preserving the shaky value of the dollar.
We need to hope and pray that Obama and Democrats, by and large, do not get their way in the next 4 days. God bless you and God bless America!
*http://www.europac.net/commentaries/republican_sellout_invites_stagflation
**(from Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright © 1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
SALVATION: get it now, while supplies last!
The Biblical Tetragrammaton, the Hebrew Name for God the Father. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Jesus once said, “Salvation is of the Jews.” Prior to Christianity, only Jews had the promise of Salvation. Their Salvation (as well as ours) was not only something in the future, beyond the grave, but something here and now as well. The word alone is used three times as much in the Old Testament as it is in the New. To the Jews it meant Deliverance, Victory, Rescue or Safety.
For anyone who has read even a little of the OT one can see how often Israel prayed for deliverance from their enemies and how many times YHWH delivered them. (Might not be a bad idea today as well.) I have read that Salvation in this day and age has relatively no value for one’s current circumstances, but, nothing could be further from the truth. Whatever it meant for Israel it certainly means for us who are born again, as well.
In Moses day, salvation could be seen: “But Moses said to the people, Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord (YHWH) which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord (YHWH) will fight for you while you keep silent.” NASU
The same was true of David: “And David spoke the words of this song to the Lord (YHWH) in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said, “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; 3 My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence. 4 “I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies. 2 Sa 22:1-4 NASU
WOW! Just look at these verses and realize the relevance of salvation for us today! In those days these words were used to describe everything attributed to God, Yahweh (YHWH). For us, they are also now attributable to Jesus, whom YHWH made both Lord and Christ. (I cannot help but explain something here for those who may not know: LORD in all capital letters in the OT is the proper name of God, YHWH. Some translation say Jehovah, but the most accurate is YHWH. There is a difference between Lord and LORD. Jesus is our Lord. His and our Father is our LORD.)
Jesus Christ was YHWH’s plan for Salvation to Gentiles who would be grafted in to fully share in the promises of God to Israel and their inheritance! This is exactly what it says in the gospel of Luke. This is what Simeon declared when Jesus was brought to the Temple some forty days after his birth: Lk 2:30-32, for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” ESV
All these aspects of salvation are available are available, now, today, to all who positively affirm what Romans 10:9 and 10 says, which is part of Paul the apostles prayer to God for Israel! Salvation is not something currently out of reach; it is readily obtainable. Get it now, while supplies last!
(See Chapter IV, page 19 of my new book at http://www.fredswolfe.com)
The Birth of the World’s Saviour, Jesus Christ
The 4 gospels are not just 4 different people’s accounts of Jesus’ life. They each portray Jesus in a different light. Matthew as a King, Mark as a Servant, Luke as a Man and John as the Son of God. Mark and John have nothing on his birth, but begin when he was 30 yrs. old. The Birth of Jesus Christ chronologically begins in Luke:
Luke 1:26-39 The Prophecy of Gabriel
26 Mary’s cousin Elisabeth 6 months pregnant with John the Baptist
27 Espoused—(Betrothed) contractually obligated Usually 10-12 months
28 The Angel came in to her physically, eiserchomai, not in a vision or a dream. Highly Favored—because of her obedience to God
29 Troubled & began to reason—When an angel appears, he doesn’t have a sign on his forehead saying, “Gabriel, the Angel of the Lord.” And he doesn’t have wings to give him away. Ha!
29 He didn’t tell her who he was—he appeared as any other man. (See Judges 6:17-22 Gideon)
30 Fear Not—favor or graciousness with God 2nd time he said it
31 3 things—conceive in womb, have a son and call his name Jesus.
32 “ “ He shall be Great(Megas), called the Son of the Highest, The throne of David
33 reign forever and no end to his kingdom
34 How? I’ve never had sex.
35–39 She went to see her cousin to confirm everything she had been told,
Matthew 1:18-25 The Conception
18 Now, the birth of Jesus Christ was like this: His mother was espoused to Joseph: legally committed to marry.
Before they had intercourse or consummated the marriage
she was found with child( at this point in time Mary must have told Joseph.)
19 Then, Joseph, when he found out was minded to put her away
Secretly or Divorce her; See De. 22:23
20 Then an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream
21 He shall save all people from their sins
22 Fulfilled Is. 7:14,15
23 Joseph took Mary to be his wife
24 But knew her not until after Jesus was born (Knew, had intercourse)
See Mt. 13:55 for his brothers and sisters
Then, we jump to Luke 2:1-17 In vs.12, 16 we have a babe, brephos, a newborn, that the shepherds found. Doesn’t say how many there were.
Now, back to Matthew 2:1-16 Now The Appearance of the Magi
( about 15 months or so after Jesus’ birth)
1 Wise men—Magos—-Oriental scientists thought to be from Persia
2 Where is he born King of the Jews?
See Is. 11:10; Dan. 2:48; 1:19,20
No one else in all Israel was looking for him. The last prophet before this was Malachi in 374 B.C. 400 years earlier. Daniel’s last record was 50 years earlier in 424 B.C.
The Magi had been waiting to see His star about 500 years.
7—Herod enquired of them diligently when the star first appeared
Vs. 8 young child—paidion, an infant around 15 months old, no longer a brephos.
11 They came into a house, oikia not a manger, phatne and worshipped him
12 They went home another way
13 Angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, again
14 Went to Egypt the next morning.
15 + 16 Herod killed all male children 2 yrs. and younger, approximating Jesus’ age from the time the wise men started their journey.
I hope you spend the rest of your Christ-mas holy day truly celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Make him the Lord of your life acc. to Romans 10:9 and search out those less fortunate than you are and help them in their time of need.
See Luke 4:18—–Preach the gospel to the poor, Heal the brokenhearted
Preach deliverance to the captives, restore the sight of the blind, set at liberty them that are bruised.
How Close is a Cashless Society?
RFID chip pulled from new credit card (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
As my habit is I pay cash for everything that is not business related and use a credit card for everything that is. My wife does the same. It makes our annual accounting a lot simpler. I go through a lot of Ben Franklin’s and at the end of the day give most of the smaller denominations to my wife. The older I get the less I see anyone else using cash for their transactions.
During my service in the United States Armed Forces from ’67-71 I was stationed in Bayonne, N.J. Whenever a bunch of us took Liberty (time off) we would usually go to Times Square or Greenwich Village. I can remember sitting on the can in a public restroom at the Port Authority reading a torn page from a magazine on the floor which had the Chase Manhattan logo on it. The article was about “The Cashless Society.”
The only thing close to credit card that I had access to then was my father’s telephone credit card number which I would use to call my mother from the Philippines or somewhere in the Mediterranean. (Who would have ever thought that someday I would work for a Merchant Services company processing credit cards!) In 1966, the ancestor of Mastercard was born when a group of banks established Master Charge; it received a significant boost when Citibank merged its proprietary Everything Card (launched in 1967) into Master Charge in 1969. Soon after this thousands of credit cards were mailed to people thought to be of good credit. The blanket mailing of these cards was ended in 1970 after 100 million had been sent out.
There used to be lines at the grocery store for “Cash Only,” but not anymore. It seems that as time went on fewer and fewer people carried any cash. Now, when I pull out my $100 bills I feel like a Dinosaur! The cashier looks at it, holds it up to the light, draws a line on it with a pen with special ink in it and eventually gives me the change. I use to be welcomed in the cash only line yet now am suspect in the regular lines.
Years back when the housing bubble first burst, we thought it would be a good idea to have some cash on hand. When we went to the bank to withdraw a large amount of money we were told that we would have to make an appointment at least a week in advance to make such a withdrawal. We were amazed at the scrutiny were were put through to process the transaction. They wanted to know why and what the intended purpose was. We even had to sign waivers releasing the bank from any liability when we walked out the door with it. I almost felt like a bank robber. Ha!
Someday the need for cash will become completely obsolete. Things that don’t get used are generally replaced by things that are used. How easy would it be in this day and age to be arrested as a suspected counterfeiter in your grocery or department store line? Very few people are using cash and counterfeiters are some of them. During the process of withdrawing money from one bank and putting it back in another a counterfeit $100 bill was discovered. And of course I was once again suspect. Cash used to be King as the saying goes but soon anyone who has it and tries to use it in a commercial application could find themselves in a bind.
Soon, no one will be able to buy or sell anything with cash. Sound far-fetched? Consider this: “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.” Rv 13:17 The mark, charagma, is something engraved, stamped or etched (in or on your body; most likely your hand or a fingertip.) Rv 13:16. This word is akin to grapho, from which the English word graphic comes. Basically this mark could be imprinted, encoded on your right fingertip. How convenient would that be?! You would never need a wallet again; never have to fumble through your purse again looking for your Visa ’cause they won’t accept American Express! What a relief it will be.
Receiving the mark of the beast is going to be subtle and most people are going to be standing in line to get it. It is going to be the newest, most technologically advanced payment and identification system in the world. People will be lined up around the block at the Apple Store and eventually Best Buy. It won’t be called “the mark of the beast,” that’s for sure. Most people will love the False Prophet who precedes the Antichrist by 3.5 years. Neither of them will be known by these names. The former will be known by the signs, miracles and wonders they perform.
See more in Chapter XI of my new book, pages 119-29, at http://www.fredswolfe.com
May God bless you and keep you.
God is Not in the Business of Picking Leaders
I can hardly begin to tell you how tired I am of hearing “God allowed it” as if it is somehow equal to “it” being God’s will. God gives us free will to do whatever we do. He gave us His Word to guide us in making the decisions we make. There is nothing He does not allow, since the Flood.
One could say He allowed Hitler to come to power, who is responsible for killing millions of people. The same can be said for Muhammed, Stalin, Mao, Ho, Kim II Sung and many others. Does that mean that God somehow put them in their positions? Not at all!
God is no more responsible for putting men in positions of power than he is for what men do with that power. Here, in the United States of America, the people decide who will fill the positions of authority according to how our government is set up. The citizens of this great nation just re-elected the previous President. I am sure that each of us who voted were praying for their candidate to win, just as many sports fan may pray for their team to win. But, God has nothing to do with who wins or who loses.
Should we then blame God if our team or candidate loses? Why didn’t He answer our prayers? If He were truly “in control” as so many people believe wouldn’t He have answered the prayers of the majority? This way of thinking is just plain absurd!
People say that God can do anything He wants to do. If this were true why didn’t He stop any of the previously mentioned leaders from killing so many people? Did He want to intercede? I can’t imagine Him not wanting to, but it should be obvious to anyone that He could not. Why couldn’t He or why didn’t He?
As I have said in many other posts, due to Lucifer‘s rebellion against God Almighty, he was cast out of Heaven and became God’s archenemy, Satan. When Satan successfully deceived Adam and Eve, he received that which Adam had, namely dominion over the world. He essentially became the “god” of the ages. Just as the true God endeavors to persuade us with His words, Satan does the same. And he is obviously pretty good at it.
Once God set everything up, like gravity, He was/is bound by His own rules. What He can do is keep giving us ideas by way of His spirit (inspiration) and His Word to direct our steps. We have the ball; it is up to us to run with it. If anyone is responsible for putting people in power I would have to say that Satan has more ability to do it, since he is bound by nothing but to steal, kill and destroy. After all, he is in control and has no problem overstepping people’s freedom of will.
God bless,
A Clear Choice between the Left and the Right.
A gold-standard 1928 one-dollar bill. It is identified as a “United States Note” rather than a Federal Reserve note and by the words “Will Pay to the Bearer on Demand,” which do not appear on today’s currency. This clause became obsolete in 1933 but remained on new notes for 30 years thereafter. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
America is in the deepest hole it has ever been in “debt-wise.” For every dollar our government spends (invests), about 50% is borrowed from China. Invests is the word our current administration uses instead of spending. When I recently bought a boat, I knew it was not a monetary investment in my future. When I published my new book I thought it might be an investment, but have learned that it will cost me as much as the boat, each of which will return little if any of my money. Americans know the difference between money spent down the drain and money invested. The government doesn’t seem to know the difference.
Without getting into the exact numbers of how indebted our nation is, especially to China, there is little we can do to turn the tide. There is little either candidate in this election can do to change things. This election is a clear choice between the Left and the Right. The Left wants more government and more spending while the Right wants just the opposite. The Left, represented by the current administration, will get our nation to its demise sooner than Governor Romney. At least with Gov. Romney we will feel like we have a fighting chance to stave off financial Armageddon.
China is the world’s number one superpower and the United States of America is responsible for the shift. China has 600,000 more active duty personnel in their military than the U.S. China owns more of our debt than all the debt of all the European nations combined. We all knows what happens when we, personally, don’t pay our bills, our mortgages, our rents; we lose our right to have electricity, or to have a place to live. Can you imagine what it would be like if we each had a secret source of money than would seemingly never run dry? Well, (npi) this is exactly what our government has: a Printing Press that can print money it doesn’t have.
I don’t know about you, but if I could use someone else’s money to pay my bills I would feel pretty guilty doing so and I would come to expect that to continue. The Federal Reserve, who seem to act completely independent of our government, makes most people believe that they are acting in our best interest. All they are doing is digging the hole we are in deeper and deeper.
In Larry Edelson’s blog “Uncommon Wisdom,” which I have been following for years, he states that the only way we can get out of the mess we are in is by the establishing of a new World Reserve Currency. Right now, the U.S. Dollar is the world Reserve Currency; every commodity in the world is priced in U.S. dollars. As the value of those dollars fall the price of those commodities rises. There are many factors that are affecting the value of the dollar to keep it bouyant or artificially higher than where it should be. Many countries like China and Russia are pushing to replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency.
The primary reason our government is pushing China to quit holding down the value of its currency, the Yuan, is not so our manufactured products, our exports will have a fighting chance to compete with China’s, but to devalue the dollar so our debts can be paid off (to China) with cheaper money. To help you understand this, let’s say we devalue $100 by 30%. We would now have $130, but that $130 would still only buy $100 worth of anything. This is what we are now experiencing at the grocery store and at the gas station.
Workers in China get paid an average of 6.5 times less than workers here in the U.S. China could double or even triple the value of the Yuan and still make its products cheaper than we could here! We still would not be able to compete with them. A good way see the value of the dollar as measured against a basket of major currencies is with the ETF symbol UUP. It is currently sitting at $21.93 a share and has seen a 52 week high of $23.10 on July 24th. It hit a low of $21.64 on Sept. 14th. On the other hand, the value of the Yuan as tracked by the symbol CYB is at its 20 year high! The yuan has risen 0.4% against the dollar since the start of 2012, following its 0.3% gain last week.
I hold out little hope for America returning to its once proud position in the world. But, if it has any chance at all of regaining that position it is with Gov. Romney at the helm for the next 8 years. Regardless of our financial condition, there is more godliness in its peoples than anywhere else on earth. No other nation exalts the One True God Of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the United States of America does. Keeping God first and loving our neighbors as ourselves in our individual lives as well as in our government, will go further to preserve and protect “this greatest nation on God’s green earth” (as Michael Medved says) than “all the tea in China!”
God bless you and God bless America!
Related articles
- Ron Paul: How Long Will the Dollar Remain the World’s Reserve Currency? (margotswebnews.wordpress.com)
- Why The U.S. Dollar’s Reign As World Reserve Currency Is Ending (etfdailynews.com)
- China To Challenge US Dollar Reserve Currency Status (blacklistednews.com)
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