Showing posts with label eternity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eternity. Show all posts

Friday, September 11, 2015

AMAZING FREE CHRONOLOGICAL TIMELINE OF BIBLICAL HISTORY

This amazing timeline, from Creation to End of the 1000 Year Reign of Christ (or the Milennial Reign) takes us through Biblical Historical events and figures from "In the Beginning" and then with chronological precision, brings us to the Second Coming and a proposed timeline after this. This chart is from the Book - THE CHRISTIAN'S GUIDE TO THE BIBLE by Robert Nicholas (2015) and the chart is FREE for download if interested.

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE BIBLE TIMELINE FROM CREATION TO ETERNITY

ABOUT "THE CHRISTIAN'S GUIDE TO THE BIBLE":
(Click here for more info.....)
"This book explains the intended purpose of the Bible. From scripture you will discover how God's original calendar is calculated and how He is using it to set His prophetic feasts that Jesus is fulfilling.

A complete Biblically based chronological time line from creation to the end of the age is included which is linked directly to our Gregorian calendar. You will discover the true understanding of the prophesies yet to be fulfilled as well as explaining ones that have gone before.....click here to read more and purchase the paperback version.

Saturday, September 5, 2015

A GREAT MAN OF (NO) FAITH - CYRUS THE GREAT

Archeaology proves the Bible again
It is amazing how, when, why and for what God uses a man (or woman).  Do you know what is even more incredible? God, in His infinite, grace, mercy and long-suffering, does so even when He knows this person will reject Him! But such is the case with the Great Amazing God of the Universe. 

One such person is Cyrus, the great Persian King,
King Cyrus the Great
who overran Babylon a generation after Nebuchadnezzar was saved and went on to be with the Lord. His grandson Belshazzar had just ignored the prophet Daniel’s interpretation of the famous “handwriting on the wall” which had told the corrupt final king of Babylon that God had weighed him in the scales and found him wanting. Less than 24 hours later, Cyrus’ men ingeniously pierced the fortress that was the city walls by diverting the river and coming in under the gates, eradicated Belshazzar and assumed control of Babylon.

The Cyrus Cylinder with
Rich  history written on it

In effect, Cyrus had accomplished the work of God in one  fell swoop to end the pre-ordained 70 year old Babylonian captivity of the Jews, for the latter’s disobedience to the laws of the Holy One of Israel. Over 150 years before this, the Prophet Isaiah predicted this event and even named the person who would thus emerge!  In Chapter 45, Isaiah wrote in verses 1-3: "This says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whom I have seized by the right, to subdue nations before him. Yes, I will open the loins of kings, to open the two-leaved doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut. I will go before you and make hills level; I will tear apart the bronze doors and cut the iron bars in two. And I will give you the treasures of darkness, even treasures in secret places, that you may know that I am the Lord who calls you by your name, I the God of Israel.” 

The great God of heaven called Cyrus by his name and even called him “His anointed”! Yet, God Himself says of Cyrus (and TO Cyrus) 150 years before in the next four verses (4-7): "For Jacob my servant's sake, and for Israel my elect, I have called you by your name. I named you but you do not know me. I am God, and there is no other, there is no God except me, I will clothe you, even though you do not know me, that they may know from sunrise to sunset that there is none except me; I am God and there is no other who creates light and forms darkness; makes peace and creates evil. I God do all these things"

Cyrus did NOT “know” the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel because He was a like a lot of Persians of the day and believed in many gods. Even when he was
Excellent book about
God's Hand in Persia
told that the God of the captive Jews had prophesied him by name 150 years before the event, Cyrus in his pride, attributed his success as a might

y warrior and king to his “great military prowess”, and even wrote about himself in the third person. These can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus and in Cyrus’ Cylinder, which archaeologists discovered years ago. A book which I have read and which details all of this and the special relationship Persia had with the one True God is the book “PERSIA AND THE BIBLE”  There are photographs of Cyrus’ Cylinder (seen here), his tomb and some of the pagan temples he set up there

So we know how great this king was. In fact he is known as Cyrus the Great and his Declaration of Human Rights predates the Magna Carta by 1700 years. It was so great a document, that the UN had it translated in 1971 into modern English. With all the great things he did- from his military conquests to his tolerance and all, Cyrus never acknowledged the God Who prophesied him by name, spared his life as a child and was the one who gave him all the power, wealth and honor he received. Even when told about the Prophesy of Isaiah, he never changed his view of God and prefered the unknown gods of the Persians. Marduk and Nebo were his favorite pagan idols. He set up temples to gods and sought prayers and worshipped everything except Yahweh, the One True God of Heaven. Cyrus was the fore-runner of the Bahai Faith.

Are there lessons for us today in the account of this amazing man who freed the Jews from 70 years of Captivity in Babylon? You bet there are:
1. The Bible is true and God knew us before we were born as He told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5. He knows our names and how we will turn out. He knows those who will believe and trust in Him and those who will never bow the knee.

2. Just because a person is ordained for worldly greatness by God, does not mean that said person will actually believe and love the Lord with all heart, mind, body and soul. America and the west are full of people calling themselves "Christians" who know there is a God, know there was a man named Jesus Who lived and preached and was nailed to a Cross. They believe He may have risen from the dead on Resurrection Morning. They even tell folks "you are in our thoughts and prayers" when something goes wrong, yet never pray or even know how to. Our western churches are packed with these cultural Christians, in name only. The proof is in their lack of a testimony of their conversion, from a child of wrath to a child of the King.

3. The wealthier or the higher position in this life that a person occupies, the more difficult it is for him (or her) to give all the credit and glory to God. We see it in self-made millionaires, celebrities, politicians, most athletes and especially Kings and Queens. The common denominator is both pride and self-reliance. Sure, they worked hard and earned that fortune, or in some cases, inherited it, but the life and breath and good health to become successful - you guess it - came from God! Both the uber-rich, and everybody else, are just one breath away from eternity, yet very few really recognize that and live accordingly.

Cyrus is really an intriguing personality and it is sad to read about his fishing around for some non-existent God to "worship". But what a great King Cyrus the Great was! He not only freed the Jews from Babylon as he was prophesied about 150 years before, but he ruled such a huge part of the known world around his time, that Alexander the Great made a pilgrimage to his tomb, when the latter rampaged through the Middle East less than 300 years after Cyrus. The main takeaway from this - our God, Yahweh, is Sovereign and His Word (the Bible) is always TRUE!!

Credits:
Slideshare.net (Clay brick photo above)
Ancient Origins (Cyrus Cylinder)
Amazon.com (Persia and the Bible) 

Thursday, March 13, 2014

VLAD THE INVADER & THE AMERICAN SOUL (New Poll Reveal Decline in Beliefs)

Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863-1930) - The First Sermon Ashore at Plymouth Colony, Spring of 1621, Philadelphia, ~1910.
Back in 2001, a famous American leader said he looked into the eyes of Russian President Vlad "The Invader" Putin. Then that American politician declared that he "found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country.” This is what happens when people look at spiritual things with completely humanistic eyes.


Putting aside the spiritual and theological folly of that, the question remains - can you look into a person's eyes and see their soul? Yes and no...as an evangelist who has encountered maybe thousands of people in the past two decades, from witnessing about the Gospel to handing out gospel tracts in massive parades, I can state for a fact that a spirit-led Christian CAN discern the lost nature of a person. 

If you first set your mind on God and pray as King Solomon prayed in the beginning (1 Kings 3:11b but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right), God WILL grant you that extra dispensation to see things the average person constantly passes over.  It is absolutely scary to look into the dead eyes of scores of wasted twenty and thirty somethings in front of bars at 11 in the morning of a St Patrick's Day Parade...or a stinky tavern during the three mile long State Fair Twilight Parade or witnessing to this current lost generation. It should scare the daylights out of people like you and I, because we do something more about it, these people are all going straight to hell as more and more people do not seem to care. It is almost a reflection of the American soul! 

What is really the true state of the American soul? Can a nation have a soul, in the first place...or....a continent...and western civilization? The answer is yes. However, when taken as a whole, facts are starting to show that we have lost our way. Briefly, here are the latest relevant numbers from the Harris Poll on what America believes: 

--68 percent believe in heaven, down from 75 percent;

--68 percent believe that Jesus is God or the Son of God, down from 72 percent;

--65 percent believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, down from 70 percent;

--64 percent believe in the survival of the soul after death, down from 69 percent;

--58 percent believe in the devil and hell, down from 62 percent

There are a lot more numbers, but these are just a sample from just two months ago and every single important category is down from an already declining number in 2005. (Read the rest of the Harris Poll here)

The main draw from this is to examine the Spiritual Condition of the Country. The diagnosis is CRITICAL. Second and third opinions have confirmed this. Instead of wondering about wondering about Vlad the Invader (of Ukraine etc) and his soul; we had better wake up from the self-induced soul sleep which the powers of darkness have successfully lulled this country into!


While we are losing scores of unsaved people to eternity daily, the corrupt leftist culture of sleaze from music, film and social media is extending its tentacles into formerly safe homes and churches. We are losing the very future - our precious millennials and our grandchildren to the world, and no one seems to have a clue or a passion to do anything about it! Citizens of the wealthiest and most blessed nation in the world care more about using their electronic gadgets and temporal self-aggrandizement than eternal things.

To combat that, the western church (England, Europe, North America etc) in a sign of their theological background gone soft, has been discovering more and more that they're now part of the cultural landscape. Sunday morning in too many of our top churches in most of the major population centers of the west (and that includes Australia) have become entertainment centers with rock star preachers...some with multi-campuses on the jumbo-tron TV screen and everything else that goes with their multi-media industry. 

As a result, they spend so much time trying to maintain that level of whatever-they-call-that kind of ministry, they have almost no time for the real work of the true church - raising up disciples; outreach and true service. The upshot of all of this is - the church is now mirroring the culture! Divorce, pornography addiction, alcohol and drug abuse and all the junk of society are playing out inside the walls of the church building. Is it any wonder we get the poll numbers of the rapid Decline of the Faith in the God (and therefore Christianity) we just saw being released by Harris and other polling outfits?

It is so bad now that the sign over the door of the church of our fathers that used to read "YOU ARE NOW ENTERING THE MISSION FIELD" is now inside the church sanctuary. So what is the condition of the American soul? - SICK!
NEXT: WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

Saturday, June 23, 2012

A FORTNIGHT OF PRAYER

DAY 3 
WHERE ARE YOU MEN OF PRAYER? - LIFE'S TOO SHORT!


As life accelerates to a speedy conclusion, we should do well to consider its brevity, in light of Eternity! Personally, we do not have as much time as we think we do. If we live to a ripe old age, it is only by the Grace of the Good Lord. Yet, you and I, work and worship alongside people who conveniently ignore the Truth that "NOW is the Hour of Redemption...that TODAY is the Day of Salvation"!

How many times you've heard this "I have time, I am only 24 years old....I need to make some money first, get married and have some kids....then I would go to church"...or "I said the Prayer"....or "I walked down the aisle at the WorldChangers Block Party 5 years ago"....or "why should I read my Bible, the pastor reads his off a Blackberry and they put it up on the screen every Sunday"....or "my wife prays enough for all of us!"



That last one is horrible. I led a two city ministry-wide "31 DAYS OF PRAYING THE NAMES OF GOD", with some involvement from individual church members from January 1-31, 2012. I know of three men who actually finished with me and most of the reaction were from women on Twitter! Since 2007, I have led the Prayer Committee when Business Men in Christ launched the first Iron Sharpens Iron Men's Conference in Springfield, Illinois. I was able to take the stage a couple times during the 2008 Conference and just remind these men before me, that if their wives were the ones under spiritual attack, they were not leading at all. Sticking with it, challenging men and sometimes shaming them have been bearing fruit!


The 2012 Conference was the first year of the six, where I have had more men than women in the two Prayer Rooms I manage. Sure, our main speaker- Dr. Voddie Baucham had something to do with the capacity crowd of men hungry for Truth, but we also ministered to more men who were suffering from depression, attempted suicide, bi-polar disease, adultery and more.


Take a look at our passage from Ezra today and today, men and women of God and then, pray it with me: "But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love..."(Ezra 9:8-9 ESV)


Father God, in Jesus' Name, I realize now that my life is but a vapor! I have come to my senses and through seeking Your forgiveness daily:
I now know that Life is NOT meaningless. 
I now know that my pride and stupidity is vanity - not the days You have given me. 
I now know that Your Grace will not last forever. 
I now know that if I don't listen when You knock on the door of my heart that I may not have another chance if my soul is demanded of me before I make THAT CHOICE!


You, my God and my King will judge righteously. 
You have offered me the Chance to be part of Your True Remnant. 
You have offered me something which the world cannot offer - a room in Your Holy Mansion. 
You have offered me true peace, security and the peace that passeth all understanding. 
I was a slave to my iniquity. 
I was bound to my past.
I was held captive by the chains of my own prison.
I was walled in depraved warfare of my own choosing. Now oh God, brighten my heart, visit me in my despair, SAVE MY SOUL!


I forsake those chains. 
I abandon that albatross. 
I pull off those ropes around my wrist because Your mercy and love and compassion - they never fail! 
Great is Your Faithfulness to those Who seek You. 
Great is Your Faithfulness to those who seek You with a repentant heart. 
Great is Your Faithfulness to those whose lives You pull from the pit. 
Great is Your Faithfulness, Lord unto me!


Thank you for brightening my eyes. Thank You for brightening my heart. Thank You for brightening my Eternal status, because I can now leave this world behind in Great Anticipation of the Hope that is to come - Life in the Kingdom with You and my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For it is in His Name, I pray - AMEN!


(image courtesy google)

Saturday, October 22, 2011

THINK ON THESE THINGS - SATURDAY


Think of the word "FOREVER" and we think "never-ending" or infinity.We like to write love songs which tell the object of our true love "I will love you forever"....or the old country song asks, tongue in cheek "How long is Forever....this time"!!


If you look at the last few words of the LORD's PRAYER, you may understand why I am spending so much time on one sentence. We are in Day 4 of this one phrase! Today we look at what modern readers call "FOREVER" but which the English translators of the Bible recognize as literal...and these are two words: "FOR EVER"!

Matthew 6: 8-13:
Our Father in heaven,
      Hallowed be Your name.
      Your kingdom come.
      Your will be done
      On earth as it is in heaven.
      Give us this day our daily bread.
   And forgive us our debts,
      As we forgive our debtors.
    And do not lead us into temptation,
      But deliver us from the evil one.
      For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen.


We see here, the Lord Jesus actually used two words "for ever" and not "FOREVER".  While they are synonyms, the literal phrase has more impact for the following reason:
FOR: EIS (The Original Greek) ...meaning into, in, unto, to, upon, towards, for or among.
EVER: AION (The Original Greek)...meaning an age, a cycle (of time), especially of the present age as contrasted with the future age, and of one of a series of ages stretching to infinity.


Jesus is more intentional about the Majesty, Mighty and Mystery of His and our Father in Heaven than just a flippant throwaway line in a song about "forever". Get this again - EIS AION - the Lord MEANS that all of these awesome attributes of God are for a cycle or period of time, from Eternity past and not just NOW, but into the future as far as infinity...AND BEYOND! (Incidentally, we get the word 'eon' or 'aeon' from this Greek word, to describe a long period of time.)


Wrap your mind around this for a few minutes and it will but thrill and awe you, just how long and GREAT GOD really is! This is why, when we evangelize, we had better show the unsaved person, the need to  realize how long Eternity away from God really is...and that they really don't want to go there!


LET US PRAY:
ELOHEY KEDEM - oh God of the Beginning, You are the Beginning and Genesis of all things and all mankind! Before there was time, You were there. The creator of Time, You are here, Jehovah Shammah. The God of future Time, You see us there. With You, there is no end. Many will go into everlasting judgment, Father, but You, oh Eternal God, see Your saints from the viewpoint of perfection outside of the realm of time.
Father You have caused Eternity to be built into the very souls and fiber of the human soul. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says You set eternity in the hearts of men. You know our innermost thoughts and leanings, because You have created us. Come now, Lord Jesus, in the Name of Abba Father, and fill us with a sense of Awe and Power of just how Perfect and Magnificent You are that we may grab just an inkling of what all of this really means....just how meaningful the word Eternity is! Give wisdom and understanding of this one true attribute of our Father in Heaven, in Your Name, I pray, Lord Jesus, amen and amen!





Tuesday, September 20, 2011

THINK ON THESE THINGS - TUESDAY


HEBREWS 11: 10 - THE NEW JERUSALEM  

Part 1


We are all looking, with nervous anticipation, to Heaven! If someone tells me they are not the least bit anxious etc about Eternity, they are not telling the Truth. Revelation chapter 21 (which we will flesh out tomorrow) gives a small glimpse about what the new Heaven and Earth will look like!  The Bible calls this "New Jerusalem" - the City of our God...where there is no day or night because the LORD HIMSELF will shine so brightly in His Glory, we won't need a sun or moon!


So then, you imagine this - two thousand years BEFORE Christ was born, His servant Abraham already envisioned the Eternal City, Which dimensions are already set and ready to roll after the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth! This was around 2000 BC! This also tells me that Jesus gave Abraham the same vision which Apostle John had in Revelation.  

As we move on to our next installment in the Faith Chapter of Hebrews 11:10, I put back up verse 9 to show the context of verse 10. This has to be so since the way Abraham and his descendants lived at first - as strangers/foreigners in pagan land, was a recognition of their temporary earthly status. These were a people whose vision was clear about WHOSE they were - God, and their fallen, forgiven condition. Many say, "well Christ was not born yet, how could these Hebrews be saved?"


Good question - "Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness" (Romans 4:3)! He was saved by Faith. When the bible said he was made righteous - it means exactly that: Abraham was made right before God because he believed and then obeyed. ALL Old Testament saints were saved by Faith and NOT the blood of the animals they sacrificed at an altar. It was only when Christ was killed on the Cross and the first Drop of Divine Blood hit the tree He was nailed to, that retroactive and FUTURE Atonement was made for ALL mankind! This may sound confusing, but I can explain this at a future date.



Here are both verses 9 and 10 of Hebrews 11 (NLT):
9:  And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith--for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.
10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.


Abraham KNEW Christ! You say - WHAT?! 
Who do you think was walking in the cool of the evening in the Garden of Eden (which He created)....way back in Genesis 3, asking Adam where he was hiding? 
Who do you think was in the Pillar of Cloud and the Fire Which led the Israelites out of Egypt? 
Who do you think appeared to Samson's mother in the book of Judges...and His Name was Wonderful and on and on....!!!!! HIS NAME IS JESUS! KING OF THE UNIVERSE! 


Christ and two of His top angels (Genesis 18) visited Abraham just before He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah! Abraham tried to make a deal with Jesus to spare Sodom as Lot lived there! 
It was Jesus Who constantly spoke to Abraham as He led him out of Southern Iraq at age 75. 
It was Jesus Who showed Abraham His Face in Genesis. 
It was Jesus Who gave Abraham the vision of the Eternal City where you and I will live forever with Him! 
RIGHT NOW: I had such a download of Holy Spirit and am still slain in Him right now, while writing this, I can't believe God would choose to allow someone such as I to write these Truths! Glory to His Name! My entire body is on Fire -literally - for Christ at 3:28am writing this! I had to stop a  few minutes ago and just thank and worship Him and say Hallelujah!



I hope you know Christ - deeply and personally. You can know Him as Abraham does - just let yourself go! Loose yourself in Jesus. It is Christ and Christ Alone! Faith is only the beginning of the Journey with Jesus. 
Love HIM NOW! LIVE HIM NOW! LIVE WITH HIM - FOREVER!
AMEN