The Presidential Campaign Has Gone From Bad to Worse, to Nightmarish, to Surreal!

Joel Rosenberg’s blog post should be read by everyone – especially Christians!  It is spot on in describing what the current presidential campaign has become!

Ironically, Dr. David Jeremiah mentioned Mr. Rosenberg’s expertise on the Bible and Bible prophecy in today’s sermon on Turning Point:  “The Apathy of America.”

Excerpt:

As the news from both presidential candidates goes from bad to worse to nightmarish to surreal (see below), I find myself grieving. There is no other way to put it. I’m not grieving as one who has no hope. But I am grieving all the same.

It is bitterly painful to see America arrive at this point, neck-deep in corruption and vulgarity, edging closer and closer, day by day, towards moral, spiritual, social and economic implosion.

We desperately need a revival, a sweeping spiritual awakening, to put us back on the right track. Will it come? I honestly do not know. I’m praying — pleading — for the Lord to give us one, and soon. I’m praying for each of the presidential and vice presidential candidates, and their families and advisors. I’m praying the Lord will supernaturally salvage this train wreck of an election and give us a surprise ending that will truly bless the entire country. Yet I’m also praying for His infinite, amazing grace and mercy if He chooses to let us proceed down this ugly path “as is.”

Unless we turn wholeheartedly to Christ our coming King and Redeemer, it could be a very dark four years indeed. But the Scriptures do offer us hope.

“If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.” (Jeremiah 18:7-10)

I have to admit that I seriously long for the Lord to set the Rapture into motion in the days or weeks ahead. Election Day would be just fine, though sooner would be better.

I am willing to preach the Gospel and teach the Word of God and make disciples and serve the poor as long as the Lord tarries, so as long as He continues to grant the grace and strength to do His will and forgiveness whenever I inevitably fall short.

But as darkness falls over America, as it is falling over so much of the world, I am growing weary. As the rich and powerful and corrupt seem to gain more riches and more power and grow more corrupt, I am growing weary. As I see injustice spreading like a cancer, and as I see so many people abandoning the faith and ignoring the Word of God and doing whatever is right in their own eyes, I am growing weary.

It is all foretold, of course. The ancient prophecies are coming to pass — all the apostasy, the corruption, the persecution and darkness that the Lord Jesus and the Apostles and the Hebrew prophets foretold about the “last days” — we’re seeing it all play out, just as the Word warned us ahead of time.

Consider just this passage and ask yourself if this doesn’t describe American culture and politics today? “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; avoid such men as these.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

The worse it gets, the more I find myself saying, “Maranatha, come, Lord Jesus!”

I’m not going to post anything new about the increasingly toxic and tremendously disturbing presidential campaign. If you’re interested, you can read what I posted on my “Epicenter Team” page on Facebook on Friday. Or you can scroll through the last several days of Tweets.

For now, let me just say this: regardless of how grieved I am by both nominees, I am 100% committed to genuinely and faithfully praying for the Trump family, and for the Clintons, as I have been throughout this campaign. I will continue to pray that the Lord Jesus Christ shows them great mercy, that they will seek Him with all their heart, and that He will supernaturally change them and bear much good fruit in and through them.

The God of the Bible is a change agent. All through the Scriptures we see God saving, changing and redeeming broken, burdened, troubled lives, and it is breathtaking to behold. The Lord loves to change hearts and minds and mouths. He alone has the power to change lives, and I truly pray He will show His great mercy and love to the Trumps and the Clintons. Meanwhile, I have great respect for those who feel called to provide either family and either candidate sound, Biblical, spiritual counsel. Both families need true, faithful believers around them speaking the truth in love, as do we all.

Indeed, whoever wins the presidency and is raised up to lead America for the next four years, I will pray for faithfully and respectfully. This is what the Apostle Paul commands of us. Thus, I hope you and your family and friends will be faithful in praying for the next president and all the Members of Congress, too. “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (I Timothy 2:1-4)

That said, I believe it’s important for all of us to realize just how much trouble we’re in. After killing 58 million babies, America now faces impending divine judgment. There is no way out, no way back. The blood of 58 million babies is crying out for justice and they will get it.

Only a true revival — a great, sweeping spiritual awakening — could possibly forestall such a judgment. In addition to such a great awakening, ideally the Lord will give America a leader like King Josiah, the Biblical leader who made big, bold changes to turn his nation around. Indeed, God saw Josiah’s humble heart, and his great love for the Scriptures, and his passionate commitment to help his nation make major reforms and get back on the right track, and therefore He gave Josiah much favor. Indeed, because of Josiah’s leadership, the Lord chose to forestall imminent judgement of the nation of Judah for some two decades.

Sadly, neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton nor Tim Kaine have demonstrated any of the characteristics of Josiah. But Gov. Mike Pence has. Perhaps the Lord will raise him up to provide the leadership we need at this time. I hope so. Time will tell.

In the meantime, prayer is really all we have as individual Christians at this point. Yet what more do we need? Prayer offers us a direct line to our Father in heaven, the Almighty God of the universe who could grant us a great awakening if He sovereignly chose to, or who alone can give us the grace to endure the suffering and hardships if He chooses to set His judgments into motion.

In these dark times, my friends, come what may, may you and I keep our eyes on Jesus and be “joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)

Hat tips:

Joel C. Rosenberg’s Blog: Some thoughts on a presidential campaign going from bad to worse to nightmarish.

David Jeremiah.org

The Lord Is Gathering His People

Today, on Yom Kippur (the Jewish Day of Atonement), Joel C. Rosenberg has shared a remarkable phenomenon whereas many Jews are now seeking the Messiah.

A big, untold story: Since last Yom Kippur, millions of Jews have begun searching for the Messiah, and for atonement for their sins. The media isn’t reporting this. But it’s worth examining.

The final blood moon of the 2014/2015 tetrad of blood moons is going to occur on September 28, 2015. There is much speculation regarding what significance these events (occurring on Jewish holy and feast days) may have, and many prophecy experts are saying that it MIGHT be a signal in order to prepare us for the great day of the Lord.

Joel C. Rosenberg is one such Bible scholar and prophecy expert. You can read about him on his ABOUT page at his blog.

On that page you will notice several books that he has written (including Jerusalem Countdown) which are labeled as fictional accounts of what COULD happen in the future; based on prophecies in the Bible. It has been interesting to see that in several incidences, his fictional accounts have become reality years later.

For instance, here is a 2013 video interview with Martha McCallum of the Fox News Channel where Rosenberg discusses possible signs of prophecies of the Apocalypse.

Interestingly enough, there has been an even more recent exodus of refugees from the war-torn regions, seeking asylum in several European countries, as well as requests to come to the United States.

One great thing about Rosenberg is that he isn’t a “date setter” nor does he try to be a modern-day “prophet.” He just shares the prophecies in the Bible and what is currently happening around the world. At that video link, he specifically states that there are Bible prophecies that have already been fulfilled (e.g. the State of Israel in 1945) and also the fact that some prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled.  It is amazing how current events are leading up towards their fulfillment!

One example of such leading up via current events is his book entitled “Damascus Showdown,” which is a prophetic novel that depicts the changes in Syria as well as the Iran showdown. It was written back in 2013, and since then, we have seen the rise of ISIS vs. Assad in Syria. We have the controversial “Iran deal” (terribly misguided and awful – IMHO) which could possibly end up in a showdown between the USA and her Allies (especially Israel) and the fanatical mullah leaders who, most likely, would not hesitate exploding a nuclear bomb to hasten in their Islamic Caliphate.

There is a brief article about the novel from March 2013 at CBN.com.

Way back in 2010, Mr. Rosenberg wrote about the connections between blood moons and the Day of the Lord.

I have written about the Four Blood Moons here at Talk Wisdom, and here is a link to those posts.

One of the more fascinating articles is the one entitled, Breaking Israel News – Latest News, Biblical Perspective [Note: I can’t take any credit for the information, but the links shared there are well worth your time to read.]

I have viewed the Four Blood Moons docu-drama several times. Each time, I have gleaned even more information and connections shared by the various scholars in the movie.

One huge observation presented in the movie is that these blood moon tetrads have been signs from God and how He has intervened in history.   Often, the blood moons tetrads are signals given after the Jewish nation,  or Her people,  have suffered a setback or terrible tribulation (i.e. the Exodus from slavery in Egypt, the expelling of Jews from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition, the horrors of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, the Six-Day War shortly after Israel became a nation again) and resulted in the Jewish people and the little (in size, not stature!) nation of Israel experiencing astounding victories in the face of very pressing odds where defeat might have been been considered the final outcome!

Today, on Yom Kippur (the Jewish Day of Atonement), Joel C. Rosenberg has shared a remarkable phenomenon whereas many Jews are now seeking the Messiah.

A big, untold story: Since last Yom Kippur, millions of Jews have begun searching for the Messiah, and for atonement for their sins. The media isn’t reporting this. But it’s worth examining.

Excerpt:

Since last Yom Kippur, millions of Jews have begun a quest to find the Messiah. For reasons I cannot fully explain, Jews are suddenly searching for answers to the deepest and most important questions concerning life and death and God and atonement and eternity, in numbers unprecedented in history. Some are searching through the Hebrew Scriptures for answers. A stunning number are actually reading the New Testament, most for the first time. They are searching on Google for information about the Messiah. They are even watching a new series of videos by Jews who claim to have found the answers. The videos — some of which have gone viral — were produced and posted on a new website called www.imetmessiah.com.

To me, these are fascinating developments. They certainly aren’t being reported by the media. But they are worth examining.

Well worth your time to read the entire post!!!

In a previous post written back in February, 2014, I shared portions of Fritz Ridenour’s book (published in 1967), “So What’s The Difference.” Go to that link, scroll down and read the paragraphs that I shared from the chapter describing the differences between Christians and Jews.

Weeks ago, I ordered several copies of Ridenour’s updated book, and in this new version (published in 2001), he shares how (starting in 1967) “Messianic Jews break the mold” regarding these differences.

Excerpt:

For more than 1,200 years it has been assumed on the part of Jewish and Christian communities that a Jewish person simply couldn’t believe in Jesus and stay Jewish.

[In] spite of these cultural barriers, throughout Church history there have always been some Jewish people who came to believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. But something really unanticipated and new began in 1967. At the end of the Six Day War, Jerusalem suddenly came back into Jewish hands after nearly 2,000 years under Gentile domination. Tens of thousands of Jewish people suddenly accepted Yeshua as their Messiah. Citing biblical prophecy (see Deut. 30:1-3; Hos. 3:4,5; Joel 2:28,29; Luke 21:24), some Messianic leaders suggest that the movement of Jewish people embracing Jesus as Messiah and forming Messianic synagogues may be an important fulfillment and indicator of end-time restoration of Israel as a nation. 4

[4 Note: David Chernoff, Messianic Judaism: Questions and Answers (Havertown, PA: MMI Publishing Co., 1990), p.8.]

Notice that the excerpt shares that this “sudden acceptance of Yeshua (Jesus) happened during the period and a tetrad of blood moons and after the 1967 Six Day War!

Joel Rosenberg’s post shares how since the last Yom Kippur, millions of Jews have been searching for the Messiah!. This is during the period of the current tetrad of blood moons! Coincidence? I don’t think so!

Mr. Ridenour continues:

Today it is estimated that there are over 350 Messianic Jewish congregations worldwide, with dozens in Israel. More Jewish people have put their trust in Jesus as their Messiah in the last 20 years than in the past 20 centuries.5

These Messianic congregations worship Yeshua and graciously welcome Gentiles, yet retain Jewish forms of worship, feasts, festivals, songs, customs and even humor. They are fond of reminding both Gentiles and Jews of the first-century Jewish origins of Christianity and that, after all, according to the New Testament, believing in Jesus is a very Jewish thing to do.

[5 note: Gary Thomas, “The Lord Is Gathering His People,” Charisma Magazine (April 1997, p. 54.]

[Note from Christine: As I was growing up, it was considered “impolite,” or “politically incorrect,” if not downright “offensive” to even attempt to witness to Jews who follow Judaism! Also, the divide between Judaism and Christianity back then was so great that even “associating” with one another could be a grave issue. Being raised in the Catholic Church by my mother (I am now a born-again, Bible-based Christian), she nearly “flipped out” (to use a term from the 70’s) when she found out that a young, handsome, teenage Jewish boy walked me home from a dance!! Ironically, the dance was held at a Catholic high school!!!]

Mr. Ridenour continues:

Gentile Christians should rejoice in the messianic Jewish movement as a possible indicator of the return of Jesus to the earth and (no less important) as an opportunity to put into practice what the apostles had in mind in Acts 15 and what the apostle Paul had in mind in Ephesians 2. Both of these passages speak of a Church in which the barriers of religious and cultural hostility between Gentile and Jew are boken down through the blood of the Messiah, a witness to all the earth that Yeshua is Lord. As the Messiah of prophecy, He stands ready to receive all who believe in Him. “For there is not difference between Jew and Gentile–the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him” (Rom. 10:12).

Hat tips to all links and excerpts.