Saturday, March 29, 2014

MEET ANNA ZIELINSKI, CHRISTIAN MOVIE PRODUCER OF GOD'S NOT DEAD

How does a young woman born in Harvard, Massachusetts who graduates from Louisiana Technical University; then ends up as dancer for the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs and bikini girl for Amazon.com’s Kindle Paperweight end up as the producer for the biggest Christian movie in a decade? Answer - dedication, talent and sticking to truth!


Forty year old Anna Zielinksi has stepped huge into the limelight as producer of the surprise movie and Faith-based hit “GOD’s NOT DEAD”, which has taken the Christian world by storm. God's Not Dead has eclipsed all the Hollywood hype over Paramount's Epic Film "NOAH" which is now out in theaters. Not much is said of Anna Zielinski at this time, but her growth from NBA San Antonio (Texas) Spurs cheerleader to trying her hand at acting has lead her on a curiously wonderful journey. This journey has produced an increasingly well put together body of work in Christian Film Production Company PURE FLIX, which keeps improving constantly.

Secular audiences may know Anna from "How I met Your Mother" and several other roles. She has been active on stage and other solid roles, including the terrific End Times action-packed drama JERUSALEM COUNTDOWN. Zielinski first broke into the Christian Movie genre with a movie called Marriage Retreat, which had a personal connection to her own life. Since that time, her portfolio has become stunningly successful.

What impressed me the most was her movie - DANIEL (Pure Flix 2013), which is based accurately on the great Old Testament prophet who impacted not just the Babylonian King, but the conquering Persians, down to the so-called "Wise Men" or magi of the Christmas story. Anna Zielinski's reasoning for this fantastic portrayal of the gentle prophet of God, Daniel, is in marked contrast to the recent vitriol and controversy surrounding those who made a big budget epic on the Great Flood. From her post-Daniel interview, it was obvious from whom the Godly leadership to make this gem emanated.

She has also recently produced a heart-warming romance, which you can actually allow your kids to see, called FINDING NORMAL (Pure Flix 2014) which stars Candace Cameron Bure (Kirk Cameron's sister).  This was her last offering before the blockbuster GOD's NOT DEAD which will one day soon, make Anna Zielinski, of Mexican and Phillipino heritage, the Premier Woman Movie Producer of not just Christian movies, but quality blockbuster film!

Thursday, March 27, 2014

GOD'S NOT DEAD - MAN'S PHILOSOPHY IS!

The surprise hit movie of 2014 is not the coming big budget NOAH movie from Hollywood, but the offering from some wonderful folks at PURE FLIX and actor Kevin Sorbo. Their sleeper hit "GOD'S NOT DEAD" surprised the mainstream movie industry when it opened in only 780 screens across America on Friday March 21 and ended up at number 4 in the Box Office that weekend! The average Hollywood production launches in 3000 or more screens (just as a gauge).

What makes this movie the potential blockbuster not seen since 2004's Passion of the Christ is quality production combined with inspired solid professional writing. The main story revolves around a freshman Christian student Josh Wheaton who finds himself in a Philosophy class run by the vitriolic atheist Professor Radisson (played by the popular actor Kevin Sorbo). Radisson begins his class by telling all 80 plus students that they must disavow God, write on a piece of paper that "GOD IS DEAD" and sign their name to it. Josh is a Christian and comes face to face with this Faith or what his cultural "christian" (and soon to be ex-) girlfriend calls "his future".  As the only student in his class to refuse to go against his belief, Radisson immediately dislikes Josh Wheaton, yet gives him 20 minutes over three classes to prove the existence of God. This leads to several sub-plots which make this one of the best movies I have ever seen.
Kevin Sorbo is outstanding as "atheist" Professor Radisson
Before getting to those, as a personal point of privilege, I must recount my only encounter with Philosophy in college in the early 1980's when it was one of my electives at Acadia University. Watching Professor Radisson in this movie made me harken back to the absolute hogwash man made philosophy really is.  It was not clear why I dropped out of Philosophy class after one day until I got older and more mature in Faith. Some of the same dead atheists listed in that movie - from Albert Camus to Descartes were some of the people I studied in my teens, before God blocked out all of that atheism and saved me completely in 1988. I have since seen, up close, the kind of arrogance and absolute evil present on the modern campus which is turning the majority of young people against God and their own salvation in chance meetings with men and women like Radisson, in real life.

The reality of the sheer slipping away from the Faith of some from our own youth groups was never more evident than Josh Wheaton's girlfriend in GOD'S NOT DEAD, who pressures him to sign "the stupid" paper and be done with it. The thought that kept coming to my mind, as I watched student after student sign their name to their scribbled (and forced) God is Dead, is that this thing is real! These kids represent the millions of many others doing the same all over North America and Europe and meaning it - to their eternal regret one day.
The film also has a serious glimpse of what happens to any person who is saved out of islam into the liberating spiritual freedom, which Jesus Christ provides.  The testimonies of several former moslems whom Christ redeemed are full of the same violence we see used against "Ayisha" (Hadeel Sittu) in the movie by her islamic father, who throws her literally out of the house when he discovers she has become a Christian. Humor also is a big part of making this 112 minute movie so dynamic, fast-moving and inspiring. We all know that the God Who created a sense of humor, also uses circumstances to line up and lead up toward the outcome He has in mind. In the movie, God's timing is perfect as He uses some humorous situations to lead to the ultimate salvation of the Kevin Sorbo character, moments away from his sudden death in a hit and run accident.

There are several other relationship interactions which are all too prevalent in this corrupt dog-eat-dog world. We get to glimpse the cold pursuit of the good life which people give everything to get (including walking over others and ultimately their souls and more). We see the interplay between a Communist Chinese official and his searching son, who eventually gets saved. We also see the well known NEWSBOYS, a group to whose music I was first introduced in 1996 in a small water park here in Illinois. I had never before seen long-haired Australians banging out heavy metal and calling it Christian music. Fast forward 17 years and I am in the dressing room with them at the pre-concert dinner hanging out as they prepare to go on stage to preview a trailer for some movie called GOD's NOT DEAD and sing their hit song of the same title from years ago!

Apart from being the best movie I have seen in movie theaters in years, it is also the best production from PURE FLIX, a Christian movie group with which several of us Christian ministers have a relationship as part of our ministry. The movie is a MUST for ALL YOUTH GROUPS and especially any teen who is about to go to college in the Fall. God's Not Dead will give any such teen the courage and a sample of the methods he/she can and must use to defend our Faith in God, through Christ our Lord and Savior.
GOD'S NOT DEAD - THE PHILOSOPHY OF MEN IS!
                                          
NEXT POST: MOVIE PRODUCER ANNA ZIELINSKI

Sunday, March 23, 2014

THE REALITY OF THE FLOOD (#NOAH'S ARK, SCIENTIFIC PROOF")

The new Paramount Hollywood version of NOAH, starring a fifty year old man who is supposed to represent an almost 600 year old Noah, is so off based that the real reason the Great Flood ever happened is lost - as was intended. The context of sin, corruption and the evil of man is not mentioned by those who saw the various previews. As a result, we have people like Bill Maher and even Russell Crowe himself (who played Noah in the most recent movie) blaspheming God to the vilest extent. They and those who believe like them do not understand original sin, the Holiness of God or the Fall of man. 

This post looks more at the result of the Flood which legitimate scientists are finding in the fossil record and more, as God reveals more and more of Himself to His people, in these last days! Therefore, we start here briefly with the Biblical context from Bible Gateway (NKJV)

Genesis 6

The Wickedness and Judgment of Man
Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah Pleases God

This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

SCIENCE AND THE FLOOD:
Next, here from the Edinburg, Scotland Creation Group is Dr. Marc Surtees who apart from looking at the Fossil Record, disintegrates the various theories of Darwin and others. This is a fancy special effects multi-million dollar production from a man-made studio in California. What Dr. Surtees does is follow some recent historical false concepts before laying bare, the Truth and Reality of the Post-Noahic Flood for the majority of this video.

One theory which is not fully developed here, and which will not be proven in this corrupt age is the air we breathe! There is a theory out there that pure oxygen extends life and was more in existence pre-flood, thus enabling mankind to live to 300, 700 and 900 years old. Post-flood atmosphere reduced the purity of the oxygen due to the present of all that water, which altered it. Oxygen dissolves naturally when it comes into contact with water. The presence of a planet-wide huge flood pulled in and basically sucked in all the pure oxygen which had existed since God created the Heavens and the Earth almost 6000 years ago. All of this will be revealed by the Savior Himself in the Milennial Kingdom as we go up to Mt. Zion to be taught by Him - Isaiah 2:2-3 "
Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it.And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths." 



DOES SCIENCE PROVE NOAH'S FLOOD?
Evidence of flood hydroplate theory cited to support biblical account
by Michael F. Haverluck
For decades, science books in America’s schools have taught that the earth is 4.6 billion years old, with the Big Bang bursting the universe into existence 13.7 billion years ago. They teach children that bacteria has been around for a few billion years and that the “Cambrian Explosion” launched some of Earth’s earliest forms of life.
But what if the evidence doesn’t support that? What if scientific observation suggests that the Bible’s literal account of thousands of years is right?
That is the position of Walt Brown, director of the Center for Scientific Creation in Phoenix. His own scientific credentials are impressive. He holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Mechanical Engineering, is a West Point graduate and a National Science Foundation fellow, served as a tenured associate professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy and was chief of Science and Technology Studies at the Air War College.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

HOW WE REGAIN FAVOR WITH GOD, PART 2

1. Come, and let us return to the Lord;
For He has torn, but He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
2. After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.
3. Let us know,
Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
His going forth is established as the morning;
He will come to us like the rain,
Like the latter and former rain to the earth 
                                            HOSEA 6:1-3
Come let us return to the Lord – this acknowledges how far we have moved from Him, that we have to make a solidly sincere effort to come to our senses (just like the Prodigal Son); relent and repent (change directions from destruction to restoration) and seek reconciliation. This is the first step to genuine and permanent reunion with the Holy One of Heaven.

He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken but He will bind up – we are a wounded people, with 100% self-inflicted wounds. God had nothing do with the poverty, evil, cultural sleaze and church corruption. God had nothing to do with perverting justice, 55 million abortions and same-sex “marriage” and whatever else. It was all unsaved men and women who sought to satisfy the flesh because their spiritual eyes are not open. 

So if God had nothing to do with any of this sin, how are we “torn” and “stricken” by Him? Simple -  our sin violated His statues and we are torn apart and AWAY from Him in Spirit. The corporate soul of the people is terminal unless miraculous divine intervention takes places. God is the Repairer of souls; the Healer of broken hearts and spirits and the Restorer of the Nations. But He will only be all of that to a people whose heart is repentant and are seeking Him on His terms.

After two days He will revive us and on the third day He will raise us up – This is a prophetic reference not just to the Resurrection on the Third Day after Passover of 30AD but the coming Resurrection of the saints at the Rapture. This is the event that we, who are called by His Name, look forward to!

The Father has given all of this in His Word to show us the Way back to Him. He has given us His Son and His Grace.  Those who are not born again reject  and refuse any or all of it their own eternal peril. 

Therefore, as Verse 3 instructs, do the following: 
Pursue the Knowledge of the Lord: do this by not just reading the Word of God (the Bible) with intention and passion. 
Key into a real small group Bible study or better yet, meeting with a more mature believer. 
Develop relationships with some person(s) who can assist in discipleship and mentoring so the man or woman of God can before more acquainted with the Greatness of our God, through His Love Letter to Mankind- The Bible!

This is the ONLY way we can know Him.
This is the only way we can recognize His work in our lives.
This is the only way we can learn of His goings-forth into the Kingdom realm
This is the only way we can receive healing and living water which He offers to those who repent and seek Him with longing and thirsty hearts.
This is the only way we regain favor with God.
Amen. 

HOW WE CAN REGAIN FAVOR WITH GOD, PART 1

Two main  passages of Scripture demonstrate the current condition of the American soul if it wishes to avoid a fate worse than Sodom on Judgment Day. Today, we examine 2 Chronicles 7:14 to begin our journey back to the Throne Room of God

Everything in Scripture, as we know is given for our personal edification. 2 Timothy 3:16 says all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. That means ALL. You either have to believe and accept ALL of it or you believe none. I know people who say they believe in Jesus, but not the Old Testament or the Book of Revelation etc..."just the Beatitudes, man...just the Beatitudes".....

Therefore when Scripture says that in the days of the Judges (Judges 21:25)  there was no king - there are lot of similarities. We know there are government leaders, what Scripture means - there was NO spiritual leader! Can you name the "spiritual leader" of America? The closest thing we have had to a prophetic voice calling for Repentance is the late great David Wilkerson. His warnings are from the Lord and directly out of the Bible. The living legend Billy Graham is 95 and in ill health.

No one will ever call Andy Stanley, Steve Furtick, Joel Osteen, Copeland or others the spiritual teacher of America, as Jesus called Nicodemus. Actually a lot of modern day celebrity preachers are more like Nicodemus than they would admit, because the majority of them do not preach on sin, repentance, the total depravity of man and the coming Judgment. The words "rejuvenation" "born-again" "transformation" and "new creature" in Christ hardly fill their words as they balance keeping tithing flocks in their seats, with pop psychology or prosperity gospel mindless pap passing for powerful preaching.

As a result of this modern day evangelical slide away from Biblical truth, and the century old abandonment of the Pure Gospel by the almost-defunct mainline protestant churches, we have the current generations of milennials walking away from churches and embracing the modern day philosophies of the flesh and New Age mysticism ("Christian Yoga" and other such deviations from the Gospel).

We are now at the point doing your own thing (what is right in your own eyes). Everything seemingly, is now considered "spiritual" and the sky is the limit. Apart from the very obvious remnant, it is extremely difficult to distinguish between the corrupt Hollywood/New York driven pagan culture and some of the crazy things you see in churches these days. Biblical discernment is a premium with less than 9% of the country with a Biblical worldview.

BUT, GOD HAS GIVEN US THE ROADMAP AND THE GPS COORDINATES TO GET THERE:
2 Chronicles 7:14-15:....and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15"Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place".

Now remember to WHOM God the Father said this - HIS people - Israel in the Old Covenant and Church in the New Testament. For American, and other Christians in the west to halt or slow down this slide into oblivion, we must follow His instructions in the order He prescribed! 

Briefly, here are the steps from 2 Chronicles 7:14:
#1 - Answer the call. If you call yourself on of His people, and if you are truly saved, you will KNOW you're His as His Spirit lives in you. Thus, you will immediately know when He is calling you to intercession, repentance, prayer and fasting for such a time as this.
#2 - Humble yourself. God resists the proud (especially religious pride) and gives grace to the humble. Pride and especially misplaced spiritual pride such as the evil pharisees had is a horribly fatal thing. But this is not just for the ancient pharisee however, but for the puffed up worship leader with his or her new cds and tours; celebrity preachers with their books as well as the successful Sunday school teacher or head usher or greeter...everyone is susceptible to pride! So check yourself - before you wreck yourself!
#3 - Pray. God’s people know they should pray, but prayer services are now done in less than 1% of churches and what passes for prayer in the rest of them is a laundry list of requests which take up most Sunday school classes or Wednesday night services, at the expense of teaching and worship. God is calling His people back to prayer – which is the only way to maintain a real relationship with Him!
#4 - Seek My Face: Seeking the Face of God is more than just perfunctory prayer and intercession. It is active and intentional pursuit of the Holy.  Apart from the small portion of the Remnant, the majority of even church folk have no idea what “seeking the Face” of God is about. So let's now begin the process of reaching up to our Life-Giving Creator. 

Please start here: "In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears...", Psalm 18:6 

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?

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

THE PULPIT IS RESPONSIBLE.....


Some extremely horrible surveys have been coming out since December 2013 which continue to confirm the declining state of the American soul into oblivion. How does this even begin to happen? Who is responsible? 


Well, way back in 1873,  evangelist Charles Finney discerned the times and called it! His proclamation was both prophetic and precise. Mr. Finney said:
“The error that lies at the foundation of this decay of individual and public conscience originates, no doubt, in the pulpit. ... Brethren, our preaching will bear its legitimate fruits. If immorality prevails in the land, the fault is ours in a great degree....
If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it.
If the public press lacks moral discrimination, the pulpit is responsible for it
If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it.
If the world loses its interest in religion, the pulpit is responsible for it.
If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it
If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it.

“Let us not ignore this fact, my dear brethren; but let us lay it to heart, and be thoroughly awake to our responsibility in respect to the morals of this nation."


NEXT: "VLAD THE INVADER AND AMERICA'S SOUL"

Friday, March 7, 2014

RAY COMFORT'S NOAH, THE MOVIE....& SEA SAND DISCOVERED IN MIDDLE OF MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN ILLINOIS

Popular (and sometimes controversial) Evangelist Ray Comfort has done it again! Hot on the heels of his life-changing (and popular to millions of viewers) Pro-life movie "180" and the even more controversial "Evolution vs God", Ray and his Living Waters ministry has gotten out in front of the upcoming multi-million dollar Paramount "Biblical Epic" Noah movie- NOAH AND THE LAST DAYS.

Using his now trademark modus operandi of releasing fast moving and unique docu-interview movies which are released FREE and directly to YouTube with videos financed by supporters as evangelism tools, Ray Comfort has not only filled in the glaring gaping holes left open by the Russell Crowe NOAH movie, but given the TRUE lesson of the Flood.

After viewing the just released movie (soon to be out free on YouTube), it is clear that Ray has now become the True Voice of One Crying in America. The prophetic proclamations are evident as these modern days are even more corrupt and evil than those in the Days of Noah.  There is absolutely no difference between the depraved state of mankind from over 2500 years ago as recorded in Genesis 6, and the perversion predicted in Romans 1:18-32 (click here to read).

Genesis 6:5-8 carries the basis of the LORD destroying the earth with the Flood  Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

We are living in days where it is so horrible that everyone does what is right in his/her own eyes. Ray Comfort has listed 10 signs which every believer should be on the alert for, in such days as we have now, to avoid sin and reach the lost. This is basically the message which the massively expensive Hollywood version of Noah misses. These ten signs are:
  1. Love of money (2 Pet 2:1-3)
  2. Wars, earthquakes, famines (Matt 24:7)
  3. Moon will turn blood red (Acts 2:20)
  4. Blaspheming God's name will be common place (2 Tim 3:1-2)
  5. Increase of acceptance of homosexuality (Lk 17:28-30)
  6. Religious hypocrisy will be prevalent (2 Tim 3:5)
  7. People will deny God as Creator (2 Pet 3:35-6)
  8. Fear of the future (Lk 21:26)
  9. Scoffers will mock the end times saying warnings have always been, but nothing's happened (2 Pet 3:3-4)
  10. People won't take the end times prophecies seriously (Matt 24:37-39)**
Everyone of these ten prophetic proceeds unashamedly in 21st Century America, where even people inside the church are committing some of these same atrocities against the Holiness of God. Each of the ten Biblical prophesies stand on their own and came alive when Ray interviewed (on camera) ordinary Americans. These people exhibit such a lack of biblical influence, knowledge and discernment, that they are living examples of each of those ten points/bible-based prophesies of these last days.

While the interviews are bad enough, the most stunning segment of Comfort's NOAH THE
MOVIE, was the interview with Professor of Geology and Oceanography, Rich Behl of California State University-Long Beach. Professor Behl argument against the Flood was so disjointed, wrong and just plain stupid that it will leave you scratching your head when you see it! He is the living example of the the Lord s word that says in 1 Corinthians 1:27 "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong."

A couple of years ago, during a visit to Starved Rock State Park in Northern Illinois, something caught my eyes in a ravine about 100 plus feet ABOVE sea level that threw me, a man who has seen a fair share of different types of beaches. There was SEA SAND everywhere in certain parts of Starved Rock! It was clean, perfect, down to the nitty gritty sea sand. It was high up in a  ravine halfway up the mountain. It was down at the bottom of deep gorges, which had layers that genuine HONEST scientists and geologists would see was carved completely out by a flood. I spoke to two local man, who said that years ago, the local native Americans told of a BIG FLOOD which caused a shift in a lot of things on Starved Rock!! (SEE PHOTOS ATTACHED HERE)

It was almost as if...and it was indeed, the Lord confirming to a man who is not a scientist
or a seminary trained preacher, that He had been there and His flood took the sands off a regular beach and dumped it in mountains and gorges in the middle of a landlocked state of a huge continent! Only my God, the God in Whom I put my trust and Faith, can do this sign and wonder! Doubters and unbelievers abound in these last days, but God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. This stunning discovery in Starved Rock by a nobody like me and Ray Comfort's love for the Truth with Noah the Movie are but two small examples of the depth and width and scope of the Love of Almighty God, the Creator of the Heavens and the earth.

                                                                                CREDITS:
Photos of sea sand shot with telephone camera.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

ARE YOU FRIEND OF GOD?

Who am I that you are mindful of me?
Who am I that you hear me when I call?
Who am I that the King would bleed and die for?
Who am I ...just who am I and...who do I think I am anyway?

One thing I know is the Biblically-based self-esteem is a lot different from that of the world.  Another thing I know, all those "Who am I...” phrases above would make some good Christian songs! The Holy Scriptures tell us that Abraham, the father of the Hebrews and Christianity - was a friend of God. (James 2:23 ...and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS," and he was called the friend of God.")

The great prophet Daniel was well thought of by the God of Heaven and Jesus Christ Who sent him as a messenger. He was just doing what he was called to when God sent an angel to tell the Prophet how important he was to the Kingdom of Heaven....we pick up the account here:

(Daniel10:10-12) Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said to me, "O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you." And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, "Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words..."

These two powerful men of God have similar traits - the Lord Himself thought the world of them...yet in different ways. We see above how much Daniel was respected in Heaven, even more so than Abraham, for God did not say those same things to anyone else in history! Daniel was a humble, lowly, sold out, committed servant of the Great God of Heaven.

Jesus did appear to Abraham right before He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the Messiah said in Matthew 8:11 that ""I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven". The pre-Resurrection "heaven" or paradise was known as the "Bosom of Abraham".

So where do we, in the 21st century fall into, in these two categories? Well, there is absolutely no reason why we cannot have the traits of both these Bible heroes!

The Book of James tells us what being a friend of God IS NOT! James is the half-brother of the Lord Jesus and was the head of the Church in Jerusalem before the high priests murdered him. He said in James 4:1-4 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this that your passions are at war within you?  You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

So, you want to be a friend of God like Abraham? Well, Mary’s son (and the son of Joseph), James gave you the steps here in James 4:7-10Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you”.

Here are these same steps in bullet points:
1. Submit yourself to God. That is – surrender your entire life to Christ and His leading, through the Holy Ghost. Don’t follow any man, philosophy, thing or even yourself. But follow God.
2. Resist the devil. That is – turn against everything James said above in James 4:1-4…adultery, gossip, backstabbing, ungodly passions, longing for things that you can’t have, can’t afford.
When the devil tempts you to look at that bad stuff in movies or the internet, say NO.
When he tempts you to go out and get drunk with the boys and girls, say NO.
When he tempts you to date that married man or woman, say NO….say NO NO NO and tell him to get lost. Rebuke him and tell him to back to the hell he came from and is going permanently.
Then call on Jesus. The devil can’t stand any of this standing on the Rock of Christ!
3. Draw near to God. This is Daniel –like.  Abraham did what he was told…sometimes to a fault as we found out when he agreed to sleep with Hagar and gave us the current Middle East problem. Daniel prayed and prayed and prayed and obeyed. Among all the Bible heroes, in the face of persecution, Daniel is the humblest and most loved by people like us. So be like Daniel – and pray!
4. Do NOT be double-minded. You and I cannot indulge in watching things like the Satanic performances of Katy Perry or Beyonce at the 2014 Grammy awards and the abomination which took place during that program, give our affirmation to it by even viewing it and then switch back to a mind full of the Spirit of Christ.  This is double-mindedness. When this happens, immediately seek purification, cleansing and repent of that, while staying away from any future things like that. There are so many other worldly things we can be double-minded about, but if we follow the Word of God about the Seven Things He hates as well as ANYTHING which the Holy Spirit checks us on, we can avoid a whole lot of regret.

These are the four basic things to being a complete friend of God – like Abraham and having real significance in Life, like Daniel had.  There is absolutely no reason why you and I cannot be a friend of God and a person whom God favors. This is something which nothing and nobody in this corrupt world can take away from us. This defines both our humanity and our spiritual condition, because such a person walks with the Fragrance of Christ that few possess.

So, now…who am I that You – oh My God in Heaven, would even consider?
Answer – GRACE….GREAT GRACE!