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Can’t buy or sell because of Conservative beliefs?

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Tucked within the Book of Revelation, a vision of the end times given the Apostle John, he saw a time coming when people would not be able buy or sell if they did not take the mark of the beast. 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:17 NASV) Though there have been books written on the mark of the beast, we still have no idea what it involves, certainly I don’t. Some suggest it will be computerized chips that are inserted in our hands, but it’s doubtful a chip would be put on our forehead which is where John says it will also appear (Revelation 13:16). I don’t believe the mark of the beast has made its appearance yet, but the idea that people will not be able to buy or sell because of a person’s beliefs is already starting to show up. It involves the story …

Why did it take five centuries for the cross to be embraced as a symbol of Christianity?

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You may have seen the images circulating of how Notre Dame’s alter and cross survived the devastating fire that destroyed much of the church on Monday, April 15, 2019. Though this cross is making history, it is interesting to note that the cross was not fully embraced as a symbol of Christianity until around the fifth century. In his article, Jesus and the Cross, historian Steven Shisley states that the first sign that the cross had finally gained public acceptance as a symbol of Christianity was in its appearance on the doors of the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome in the fifth century. Until then, the cross had for the most part been down played and the reason for this Shisley claims is because of societal views on the cross. For the Romans, that cross was associated with the deaths of criminals and slaves, the despised of society. They used the cross as a form of execution because it was particularly brutal and painful. And it was also favored because it often took days …

Ultrasound of dangerous Mo-Mo pregnancy reveals two sisters fighting in the womb

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A video out of China has caught the attention of millions of people worldwide. According to an article in the Daily Mail, Mr. Tao, 28, provided a video that showed his identical daughters fighting with each other in the womb. The couple, from the city of Yinchuam, were at the doctor’s office for the wife’s prenatal check and Mr. Tao took a video of the ultrasound that showed the two babies in their fourth month seemingly kicking and hitting each other. When Tao uploaded the footage it went viral and within days had 2.5 million likes. The two identical girls had a very rare and dangerous pregnancy. They were sharing the same placenta and amniotic sack. In these type of births, referred to as Monoamniotic-Monochorionic or more commonly Mo-Mo pregnancy, there is a 50% chance one of the babies will die after 26 weeks because of the increased risk their umbilical cords will become entangled causing the mother’s blood supply to be cut off for at least one of the babies. In this instance both …

Catholic relics of Christ’s crucifixion saved from Notre Dame fire

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The world was captivated by the burning of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris yesterday, April 15, 2019.  It is unquestionably one of the world’s most famous Christian landmarks and it was not lost on many that it burned during the start of the Roman Catholic Holy week leading up to Easter. It is now believed that the fire was accidental, caused by the extensive renovations taking place in the Cathedral. But there was room for doubt because there have been dozens of attacks on churches in France in recent months including the setting of fires. In mid-March, 2019, a fire was purposely set at the Saint-Sulpice church shortly after morning mass. It is one of the largest churches in Paris, and the fire caused damage estimated at several million Euros. RELATED: Twelve French Churches Attacked, Vandalized in One Week: Breitbart Last year, nearly 875 churches were vandalized and it is continuing unabated in 2019. Perhaps the most vile, was the smearing of a cross made of excrement inside Saint-Alain Cathedral in Nimes on February 6th, …

Three Crosses

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On Easter we focus on Jesus and the cross. This is awesome and good. However there were three crosses that Good Friday. The middle cross has Jesus on it and you can’t do what he did on that cross. No one can. But the one on the right and the one of the left each one had a thief hanging on it. The Bible doesn’t say much more about them. If you were there, you’d just think three men were being executed. The reality is much different. Jesus was paying the price for us all. He chose to hang there and to die out of love. He became the sacrifice so we could be set free from the consequences of our sins. So this wasn’t just a bad guy dying. This was the only person who never sinned dying so everybody who did sin could live! The two thieves represent us. It’s hard to believe our lives can be summed up by two thieves I know but hear me out. The guy on the left …

Is Che Guevara Like Jesus?

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When I was in high school, some of my fellow students were radical leftists, or at least they tried to be. We always knew them because they wore army surplus clothes, and raised their fists and shouted words like “Che, Che, Che!” They were referring to Che Guevara, the communist revolutionary who fought in Cuba, as a comrade of Fidel Castro. Che was a doctor, born in Argentina, who joined the communist guerrillas in Cuba, led by Fidel Castro. After the successful Communist take-over in Cuba, he travelled to several countries to promote Communist revolutions. It all ended when he went to Bolivia and formed a guerrilla force to overthrow the government there. The Bolivians did not support him, including the Bolivian Communist Party, and he was betrayed, and then captured and killed by the Bolivian army. RELATED: Che Guevara: Wikipedia The face of Che Guevara as a popular icon, almost a religious symbol, is still popular on t-shirts and posters, and tattoos. It was the great symbol of youthful rebellion among my friends. Recently, …

Natan-Melech’s rise from obscurity: Archaeologist discover his bulla

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It was a remarkable find, mostly because of its obscurity. Archaeologists working in Old Jerusalem found a small, burnt, clay bulla with the name “Natan-Melech, servant of the king” estimated to be 2,600 years old. Signet rings or seals were used to impress the owner’s official stamp in clay or wax to seal a document. It not only spoke of the person’s status, but verified the item’s authencity. Archaeologists discovered it beneath a parking lot in an ancient administrative center of Jerusalem. The building that they were working on was two stories high and had suffered extensive damage due to fire probably during Babylon’s attack on Jerusalem in 586 BC. What is particularly amazing about this bulla is that it refers to a man mentioned only once in the Old Testament.It was like finding a needle in the haystack. Incredibly archaeology is verifying the existence of the most obscure people in the Bible. Though they are not absolutely certain that this is the same man, archaeologists working on the site are convinced it is. Even …

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Mysterious plague arrives in New York?

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According to an article in the New York Times (NYT), a new and dangerous illness has arrived on the east coast of the US.  Called Candida Aurus, it is a fungus that has been showing up in other countries such as Venezuela and Spain, but has now hit America with deadly consequences. The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported that there are 587 people with the infection including 309 in New York, 144 in Illinois and 104 in New Jersey. The disease is a bacteria and is considered both dangerous and mysterious. It is dangerous because there is no known cure. Antifungal medication typically used to combat this type of disease are ineffective. It is one of those superbugs that are resistant to modern drugs. Its symptoms that include fever and fatigue are particularly dangerous for  those with compromised immune systems. This can include newborns, the elderly, smokers and those with other health complications. One elderly patient who showed up at a Mount Sinai hospital in Brooklyn, New York died within 90 days. And …

Minature Greyhound Credit: Opus Moreschi/Flickr/Creative Commons

Dogged Dog

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Ever hear that expression: “like a dog with a bone?” It is used to mean focused perseverance. To keep your eye on the prize and to work until you achieve that goal. In my house though it would be more like dog with my shoe! My little guy, Spot, prefers shoes to bones. So if you come over to our place, you will find him walking around with your shoe on his head! I am not making this up! He is an Italian Greyhound and they have long skinny faces. He literally sticks his nose right into the shoe and carries it to his dungeon of destruction. One time a guest had rather smelly feet and shoes. After Spot put his head into the shoe he sat in the middle of the floor and just grinned, drunk on the smell! Not sure if that was his goal but he achieved it. We can learn a lot from dogs. Cats too and I am even more of a cat person but please don’t tell Spot that. …

Church in Germany Credit: Bernard Blanc/Flickr/Creative Commons

Bad News for Organized Religion

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Where I live, we are a few days away from an election. A few night’s ago, we had a leader’s debate, with all the usual personal attacks and petty bickering. The reaction today is that no-one won the debate, and the voters haven’t changed their minds about how they will vote. It was all a required exercise before the vote, with no results. In all the arguments, there is a story about someone who preached a sermon at a Baptist church. I wasn’t there for the sermon, but apparently he talked about sexuality and morals, and he described some similarities between homosexuals, and pedophiles who molest children. I don’t know what he said, but someone found a record of the sermon, and noted that the preacher is a candidate in the election. That has produced angry demands to fire the candidate, and he has apologized. The debate last night included angry words about “homophobia” but I predict that preacher will win his local election by a landslide. People in his small-town region don’t have a …

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What is the most important thing you can do in spiritual warfare?: PODCAST #18

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PODCAST NOTES: Hi my name is Dean Smith and in this podcast I want to talk about the most important thing you can do in a spiritual warfare. So what do you think is the most important thing to do? Some might say putting on the armour of god. Another might say prayer. And certainly these things are important, but I believe there is one fundamental principle that we need to embrace first in spiritual warfare and it will make our prayer and spiritual armour powerful and effective. And make no mistake we are involved in a spiritual battle. A few weeks back I read an interesting story about Greg Gordon. For those of you who don’t know Greg, he runs a website called sermonindex.net which is a collection of thousands of sermons of pastors and Bible teachers from different church backgrounds and nationalities. He also has a YouTube channel with over 145,000 subscribers and 7,000 sermons. These sermons have been viewed in excess of 35 million times. This is a significant ministry. But recently …

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Finding your rhythm through ‘yes’ and ‘no’

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Many times when we turn our cares and worries over to the Lord, I believe we must let go or drop something in our lives as well. There are many things we can be doing and saying ‘yes’ to because they are good and worthwhile plans and causes. But, I often end up dragging myself before God asking Him to take my worries and cares from me, that only I can remove by saying ‘no.’ There many good plans and activities that are often difficult to say no too and many times we feel guilty if we don’t step in and help.  We must find our rhythm and set the pace for ourselves so that peace and rest emanate from us not frustration and anger. If we do things out of a sense of guilt, a constant stream of ‘yeses” will create a current of anger in us that will interrupt the flow of God’s presence in our lives. Lysa Terkeurst from Proverbs 31 Ministry talks about saying ‘yes’ to too many things and by …

Chinese Communist Party's hammer and sickle appearing along side McDonalds Credit: Phillip McMaster/Flickr/Creative Commons

Just in time for Easter: Chinese city offers a Judas’ reward for citizens turning in Christians

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I have written several articles in the past how China has taken a sharp turn to the left under its latest president Xi Jingping. The communist trademark hammer and sickle is showing up in public displays around China. Now Asia News is reporting that the Chinese city of Guangzhou is offering rewards of as much as $1,500 US for people to turn in Christians to authorities. Over the previous couple of decades China entered an unprecedented time of prosperity and freedom. During this time, Christianity, that was flourishing in the underground church, moved above ground and this resulted in the construction of several mega churches. However, under Jingping this is all changing. The government is now cracking down on these churches. In early December, police demolished one of the the country’s largest church, The Golden Lampstand Church in Shanxi Province, using dynamite and heavy machinery. As a result of this crackdown, Christians are heading back underground where they flourished before Jingping gained tyrannical control of the nation. Now the leaders of Guangzhou want its citizens …

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The stones are crying out

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One my favorite stories in the Gospels involves what would be Jesus last trip to Jerusalem. A week later, the Romans would crucify Christ. Many churches celebrate Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem as Palm Sunday. In preparation for the trip, the Lord sent His disciples to Bethany to look for a donkey colt telling the owner that the Lord had need of it. As Jesus slowly rode into Jerusalem, people began throwing their cloaks on the road before Him while others threw down palm branches. This was an act reserved for royalty as we see happening when Jehu was declared King and people put their garments on the ground as he walked down the steps (2 Kings 9:13). Then people began shouting “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord” (Luke 19:38 NASV). The pharisees in the crowd understood what was happening and became very upset by what they were witnessing. They yelled out for Jesus to rebuke His disciples. But Christ answered them: “I tell you, if these become silent, …

"And the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, 'You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.'” (Luke 3:22 NASV) Credit: David Campbell/Flickr/Creative Commons

Peer-reviewed medical study reveals that God heals even if you don’t believe in divine healing

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A study published in a peer-reviewed medical journal, Complementary Therapies in Medicine, reports on the miraculous healing of a 16-year-old Christian boy. Even the title, Case Report of gastroparesis healing: 16 years of a chronic syndrome resolved after proximal intercessory prayer, reveals the key role that prayer played in this Divine healing. It is interesting to note, that though his Christian parents believed Jesus healed people in the Bible, they did not believe God still healed today. So what happened? Within a couple of weeks of his birth, the unnamed boy was diagnosed with gastroparesis. This is a condition where food is not properly moved out of the stomach and through the intestinal tract and as a results stays inside the stomach for an extended period. This can result in a number of symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain and bloating, lack of appetite because your stomach feels full after eating little food, and malnutrition. There is no known cure and medicine can only help alleviate the symptoms. After being diagnosed as an …

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Don’t Get Caught With Your Pants Down!

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Mistakes, I’ve made a few.  Sorry Frank but I made those mistakes doing things my way and not the right way. I used to be an athlete. If you saw me you’d be able to see my chiseled abs and bulging muscles. Okay, so the bulges are not in my biceps and the chiseled looks have faded into my memory where they remained exaggerated to this day. After all I am a story teller.  At one time I was a ranked tennis player…but only on those hot summer days. Yet I made mistakes. Yup, I admit that I was not perfect in either my game or my life. During a tennis match one day I was having trouble putting the spare ball in my pocket. You see in tennis for some reason players stash a spare ball in their shorts. Weird.  When I played hockey I was never allowed to carry an extra puck. The same when I played football. The refs would get really mad if you had your own ball. This one day …

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Make Yourself Healthy With the Bible

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Have you heard of LKM? Me neither, until today. The letters mean “Loving Kindness Meditation” and it’s one of the newest health fads. Apparently it’s right up there with KETO diets and Yoga and fruit smoothies. Who knew? Apparently, this meditation helps with migraines, depression, and possibly aging. LKM is even recommended by the Mayo Clinic: RELATED: Mayo mindfulness: Can sharing kindness help your health? Kindness, or some expression of God’s love, is highly recommended in the Bible. Really, I don’t think it’s recommended; kindness is required. There is no other lifestyle for a Christian. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32) These words are instructions, not one more fad to think about. So does that mean the Bible had LKM first? Can the Bible make us healthy? Yes. And this is important for the Christians I know; kindness is an action, not a feeling. Kindness is not warm and fuzzy, and sentimental. You can be kind when you are not in the mood. The …

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God who sees me

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A few days ago, I was on my knees praying at my bedside. I needed to get rid of the weight of expectations I had put on myself and as well some other emotional baggage I was carrying. I know what it’s like to pick up a weight that is too heavy for you because two weeks earlier I had done exactly that while at the gym. I used a weight that was just to heavy for me. Well, my body has been recovering from that incident for three weeks now. I felt crunched from head to toe. And, that is how I felt that night as I knelt at my bedside, crunched, overloaded and hurting in my spirit. Too much emotional weight had piled itself on me and I was feeling overwhelmed in many areas. I am not much of a kneeler when it comes to prayer as I like to walk while I pray.  But that night I went to my knees because I desperately needed to transfer everything over to Jesus. It …

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Britain can be a dangerous place for Christians

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A stunning story out of Britain reveals how dangerous it is for Christian in that country. It involves a Christian from Iran wanting to immigrate to Britain. Now to be sure it is not only dangerous for Christians in Iran, but particularly for any Muslims who convert to Christianity because they face the death penalty if they don’t renounce their new faith. But the British newspaper, The Independent, recently reported that an Iranian Muslim man who had converted to Christianity was denied asylum in 2016 by the British Home Office for a reason that can only be described as bizarre. While being interviewed by the British Home Office, the man explained that he had converted to Christianity because he was tiring of the violence of Muslim extremists.  In comparison, he described Christianity as a peaceful religion. However, when the bureaucrat in Britain’s home office rejected this asylum claim, the person brazenly stated that the man was being rejected because Christianity was not a peaceful religion and cited several passages as evidence. The bureaucrat wrote: “These …

Balaam confronted by Angel of God by Gustav Jager (1808-1871): Wikipedia

Archaeology confirms the existence of Balaam

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Despite the best efforts by secularists to discredit the Bible, archaeology continues to confirm that it is in fact an accurate record of historical events that took place in ancient Israel. Perhaps the most curious involves an archaeological dig that took place in 1967, when Dutch archaeologists discovered an ancient text on a wall in the Jordanian town Deir Alla confirming the existence of a seer called Balaam. For those unfamiliar with the story, Balaam, a pagan seer, was hired by King Balak of Moab to curse Israel as the nation sat on the other side of the Jordan river preparing to make its first unsuccessful attempt to enter the Promised Land under Moses (Numbers 22 – 24). However, when Balaam went to curse Israel, he instead blessed them saying he could only deliver the message he was given. Though unwilling to curse Israel, Balaam eventually gave the Moabite king the necessary information to defeat Israel. He told Balak to send women to entice the Israeli men into sexual sin. They probably did it in …

Greenland in 2012 Credit: aquartier78/Flickr/Creative Commons

Whoops this wasn’t supposed to happen, massive Greenland glacier is now regrowing

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There was stunning news about a glacier on Greenland. It has been happening for the past couple years, but kept quiet until the news was released in an article in Nature Geoscience. NASA is reporting that the massive Jakobshavn Glacier is growing. Some consider it the king of glaciers because it was once one of the fastest shrinking glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere and scientists are admittedly shocked by the recent development. Because of this melting, the glacier became the poster child of man-made global warming enthusiasts who warned that unless we stopped CO2 emissions the rising oceans would wash away New York City and other coastal  cities. Now it is true that since 2012, the massive glacier shrunk about 1.8 miles per year and those in the man-made global warming camp immediately attributed it to the rising CO2 emissions. But that melting suddenly stopped in 2016 when the glacier started re-growing at the same rate it was shrinking. Yes, it is now growing at a rate of 1.8 miles a year. But here is …

Dutch tulip field Credit: Cor van der Waal/Flickr/Creative Commons / www.fotografiecor.nl

Nicer Than Me?

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I’m excited! No, it’s not because the cinnamon buns are just out of the oven! I’m excited because I just had lunch with a friend. The kind of friend who knows how stupid I am and still loves me. Can you imagine that? This guy, who will remain anonymous lest anyone of you tries to steal him from me, is a genuine loving guy. God put us together as friends before we even knew each other. He is so nice that if he had a twin and both arrived at a door at the same time it would turn into a bad knock-knock joke!  “Knock knock.” “Who’s there?” “Nobody because they still can’t decide who’s going first!”  “After you.” “No, after you.” It would never end! People actually think I’m nice. Except my granddaughter who knows the truth. Being nice is a gift that some of us truly have. Some people who aren’t nice act nice in public. Then they go home and yell at their kids or steal their kid’s candy when they’re not …

Christchurch, New Zealand Jon Sullivan/Flickr/Creative Commons

Guns, Bombs, Muslims and Christians

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A few days ago, someone attacked a mosque in New Zealand and killed fifty people, by the most recent count. Now, the entire nation of New Zealand is in shock, and the Prime Minister has vowed to never say the name of the killer. This news moved quickly around the world, and now, a week later, a detailed account is available in Wikipedia: RELATED: Christchurch Mosque Shooting When I heard the news, I waited for the information that we all dreaded. What was the name of the killer? In crude terms ‘One of us or one of them?’ Did a Muslim kill other Muslims, or did the killer have a grudge against that religion? Even worse, what if the killer identified as a Christian and tried to pull the rest of us into the fight? I’m a Christian; is someone dragging me under the bus? Fifty people died in Christchurch New Zealand, including children, and that is very wrong. If this mass killing generates enough payback anger, more wrong will grow from the first incident, …

What in the world are territorial spirits? PODCAST #17

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PODCAST NOTES: Hi my name is Dean Smith, and in this podcast I ask the question: “What in the world are territorial spirits?” Territorial spirits involves the controversial Biblical concept that Satan has set demonic angels over each country, who the try to influence and control both the political and spiritual life of that nation. Several years ago, I read an unusual story in World Map, a missionary magazine, which caught my attention. It involved a missionary who was ministering in Uruguay near the Brazilian border. He was doing some tract distribution one Saturday morning in a town where the main street sat on the actual border between Uruguay and Brazil. The missionary started out on the Uruguayan side of the border and found people very resistant to the Gospel. They either refused the tract or if they took it after quickly reading it tossed in on the ground. But then something very strange happened! Since the missionary had spent a couple of hours with essentially no response, he decided to cross to the Brazilian …

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Shining a light on authentic Christianity

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A few weeks back, my daughter and I went to a Saturday-morning woman’s brunch.  The temperature was -40 degrees with blowing wind and snow. It was one of the coldest days, in one of the coldest winters in recent memory. I walked in the front door where the tables were set with white tablecloths and serviettes that reminded us of spring to come.  The women in the room ranged from 26 to 75 years old. There were mothers with babies, young adults and seniors. Three older women who sat behind me came from a care home. I asked them how they got to the church. One women said she went to the window of her suite, pressed the button on her command start and to her surprise the car started, even though it hadn’t been plugged in. The speaker that morning talked about her six-year journey of raising four children while also caring for her husband who had bowel cancer. During this difficult time, she worked hard to make it appear she was doing OK.  …

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Is momentum building for the next great wave?

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When my husband showed me Cindy Jacob’s recent prophetic word posted March 15th on Charisma News, I was stunned because I had seen a similar vision and shared it the same day on opentheword.org. For those who don’t know Cindy, she heads Generals International and many consider her a strong prophetic voice in Charismatic circles. In her article, Cindy wrote about a vision she recently received: “As I was praying, I saw a vision of a huge wave, and the Lord spoke to me that there is a momentum gathering of the power of the Holy Spirit. A wave gathers power and goes towards the shore, and I see that there’s going to be many, many people working together.  There’s going to be many groups working together.” What I saw was very similar. It involved a large wave rising up and Jesus riding on the crest of the wave with outstretched arms and He was ready to fall on the church. What was interesting in Cindy Jacob’s vision is that she saw that many groups …

Photo of the Milky Way from Argentina Credit: Luis Argerich/Flickr/Creative Commons

The silence was deafening, but not the explosion

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According to a report by BBC, around noon on December 18, 2019, a large meteor/small asteroid exploded over the Bering Strait. The Bering Strait is the body of water separating Russian and Alaska and the explosion took place closer to the Russian side near the Kamchatka Peninsula. It was first reported by the US Air Force who caught the explosion with a military satellite and passed the information on to NASA, that was given the responsibility of tracking near-Earth asteroids by the US government in 2005. However, this one had completely escaped NASA’s notice. The asteroid, that was several meters in size, was traveling at 20 miles (32kms) per second and exploded about 26 kilometers above the Bering Strait. Though it safely exploded over water, there was concern because it was near commercial airline routes. The explosion, estimated at 173 kilotons, was ten times the power of Hiroshima and was described as “historic” by Lindley Johnson who works with NASA’s planetary defense division responsible for tracking asteroids. Johnson said it was the the second largest …

Tornado touches down near Elie, Manitoba In June 2007 Credit: Justin1569/English Wikipedia/Creative Commons

40 pre-schoolers sing “Jesus Loves Me” as violent tornado slams into their church

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After a tornado ploughed through Paducah, KY on Thursday, March 14, 2019, Sheriff Matt Carter told the West Kentucky Star: “The Almighty hand of God has provided safety to our community. The destruction path is approximately five miles long… This could have been an extremely high fatality rate and we’re very fortunate and blessed to only report that one minor injury.” That one injury involved a man who received a small cut when a grain bin hit his vehicle flipping it over in the ditch. But easily the biggest miracle involved God’s protection of 40 children and their teachers attending a Christian pres-school at Mt Zion Baptist Church as the tornado ripped off most of its roof. When the storm erupted, the teachers rushed the children into an inner room which in the end was the only area of the church not damaged by the massive tornado. While the children waited out the storm, they sang worship songs including “He’s got the whole world in His hands” and “Jesus loves me.” It reminds me of …

Sundial in Glasgow, Scotland Credit: AskMeAboutLoom/Flickr/Creative Commons

Was Jesus referring to another time dimension?

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I am not going to pretend for a moment I understand this, but researchers from the US and Russia claim they have reversed time. No this did not involve Back to the Future’s DMC DeLorean time machine, it was part of an experiment involving the bizarre world of quantum physics. We live in a linear world. We all chug down the same path getting older. We can’t stop that process. We can’t reverse time and get younger. But it seems that the rules that govern our world don’t apply in the world of Quantum physics involving the bizarre subatomic world inside atoms. Their experiments, published in Scientific Reports, involved “wave” study. Basically subatomic particles travel out like waves do on water when you toss in a rock. The more time that passes, the further away the waves are from their original starting point. This same rules apply to particles. However, in their experiment the group was able to reverse this process, and have the particle appear at its starting point instead of where it should …

One of tens of thousands of uses that men have for duct tape Credit: Mike Carroll/Flickr/Creative Commons

Don’t Do This!

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What is wrong with some people! I give them a thoughtful gift and I get flack for it! All you men out there, I’m going to need you to take warning here. Apparently giving duct tape to a new-born man-child is against the law! Here’s the story. A long time ago I worked with Insight for Living Ministries, a radio broadcast program. There were only a few guys and a flock of women. I’m not sure if flock is the right term here. But the women decided to host an at-work baby shower. The men tried valiantly to remove themselves from this trap but since it was at work only the quicker thinking boss managed to escape. Knowing it was a baby boy I had one of those aha moments. You know like when the clouds part and a ray of light hits you on the forehead with inspiration. Only I think the ray may have hit me a bit harder than it should have that day. “I am a man. A boy is a …

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Narcissism and Religion: PODCAST

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  Group narcissism can happen in religion; most of us are guilty. Imagine a peaceful and quiet nursery for mothers with new babies. Everyone is resting, and happy, with excellent medical care and a regular feeding schedule. Suddenly, the door bursts open and the room is filled with many, very tall, alien creatures. They take the babies from their mothers and squeeze and rub the babies, and disrupt all the peace and order in the nursery, including feeding schedules, and possibly they transmit infectious diseases from outside. Then they give the babies to the wrong mothers and leave. Imagine the crying babies and the hysterical mothers, and imagine if some of the babies died. That horror story happened recently, in England. Really. If you missed the news story, I left some details out. The nursery was a pig farrowing barn and the mothers were sows, the tall aliens were about one hundred animal-rights activists who invaded to cuddle and pet the piglets, to comfort them. And yes, some of the piglets died. RELATED: Vegans accused …

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The Time I Felt God’s Glory Show Up

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This past weekend I attended  a conference, Ask for Rain, in our city designed to bring churches together to create relationship and community. During these sessions I believe God’s glory showed up. Pastors, intercessors, prophets and teachers from various churches in our city taught, shared, prayed and prophesied during the planned intervals between worship sets that were two to three hours long. An hour before the two-day Ask For Rain event began, I met with a group of intercessors to pray. As I stood with them, I saw a massive wave rising up out of an ocean of waves and I saw Jesus being lifted up on the crest of this giant wave.  His arms were stretched out and He was positioned to fall upon the church. I had seen this same image many times in the past few weeks and as I stepped out and prayed what I saw, this passage came to my mind: ”Where I saw the brightness of the glory of Israel’s God coming from the east.  The sound I heard …

Byrde's whale off the coast of Thailand Credit: morningdew/Wikipedia/Creative Commons

Jonah, Rainer and the whale

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Rainer Schimpf, 51, is a diver and tour operator from South Africa who for nearly 15 years has filmed the ‘sardine run’ that takes place off the Agulhas Bank located off the Southern tip of Africa. Billions of sardines gather at this point and begin a northern run along the eastern coast of African continent. Of course, the sardines attract hundreds of predators including sharks, dolphins, birds and whales. This year as Schimpf was photographing a shark in the feeding frenzy, a Byrde’s whale accidentally swallowed him. Named after Norwegian whaler Johan Byrde, the whale can grow to nearly 50′ in size and weighs up to 28 tons, but tend to be more elongated than other whales. Because they eat fish as well as plankton, these whales gather at the annual “sardine run.” A photographer on a nearby boat caught the whale swallowing of Schimpf (see video below). Schimpf told Barcroft TV, that he knew the whale had swallowed him when everything went completely dark and he felt pressure around his hips. Schimpf said: “Nothing …