More Signs of the Times to Ponder

It is not often that we can report on some good news, so will begin there with this blog.  I have been following the General Conference of the United Methodist Church which closed their meeting last night in St. Louis.  Of particular interest to me was the decision on whether to continue the policy regarding same-sex marriage and the ordination of homosexuals that had been adopted in 1972.  This policy became known as the Traditional Plan.  Last night, by a vote of 438-384, the Conference affirmed that 1972 decision, stating that "the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching."  Now the question will focus upon those United Methodist churches that have affirmed same-sex marriage and the ordination of homosexuals.  Tom Berlin, who pastors a church in the Washington suburb of Herndon, Virginia, told Reuters that "with the new plan in place, some church members would risk losing their credentials to practice their belief in LGBT rights." 


Personally, I applaud the delegates who affirmed that same-sex marriage and the ordination of homosexuals violates scriptural principles.  One wonders if this will cause a fracturing within the United Methodist Church.  As we witnessed a few years ago when the Anglican Church was debating a similar position, the strength of the African Church and their holding to traditional orthodoxy became evident.  It is not often that we witness "good news" in the debate between the Church and contemporary culture.  So, thank you delegates to the General Conference of the United Methodist Church for standing strongly upon biblical truth. 


This past Monday I read an article posted by the Jerusalem Post, one of the leading papers within Israel.  The article was written by Herb Keinon and can be found at: www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Sis-if-Jews-return-to-Egypt.  The article begins, "If Jews are interested in establishing a Jewish community in Egypt, the government will build synagogues and other communal institutions, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi told a US delegation during a two-hour meeting last week."


"President Sisi spoke fondly not only of Egypt's past vibrant Jewish community, but also said that should there be a resurgence of the Jewish community in Egypt, the government will provide every religious necessity required..."  The article continues "that Sisi also promised to clean up the ancient Bassatine Cemetery in Cairo, a cemetery dating back to the ninth century and believed to be the second-oldest Jewish cemetery in the world.  In December, Sisi also announced a multimillion dollar project to restore Jewish heritage sites in Egypt." 


As I was reading this article, my mind was drawn to those prophetic words from Isaiah as recorded for us in Isaiah 19:19-22, which reads, "In that day (a reference to the end times) there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border.  It will be a sign and witness to the LORD Almighty in the land of Egypt.  When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them.  So the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD.  They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and keep them.  The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them.  They will turn to the LORD and he will respond to their pleas and heal them."  Could this invitation by President Sisi to the Jews be a prelude to an even greater work that God is going to do in Egypt?  Could this invitation to the Jews be another sign that we are nearing the sounding of the trumpet?  I do not believe in coincidences.  I believe God is at work. 


On February 4, a meeting was held in Abu Dhabi that really "traveled under the radar screen" for many of us.  Yet this meeting held great prophetic significance.  At that meeting Pope Francis signed an historic interfaith covenant with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, one of the most important Imams within Sunni Islamic world.  The document includes this statement: "In the name of God and of everything stated thus far, Al-Azhar al-Sharif and the Muslims of the East and West, together with the Catholic Church and the Catholics of the East and West, declare the adoption of a culture of dialogue as the path, mutual cooperation as the code of conduct, reciprocal understanding as the method and standard.  We, who believe in God and in the final meeting with Him and His judgment, on the basis of our religious and moral responsibility, and through this document, call upon ourselves, upon the leaders of the world as well as the architects of international policy and world economy, to work strenuously to spread the culture of tolerance and of living together in peace; to intervene at the earliest opportunity to stop the shedding of innocent blood and bring an end to wars, conflicts, environmental decay and the moral and cultural decline that the world is presently experiencing."


Friends, this is not new thinking.  Pope John Paul II was committed to the creation of a "big tent" in which all the religions of the world could be gathered.  This would create some type of panacea for the world.  This one-world religion will happen.  A careful reading of Revelation 13 will reveal that truth.  It will be a religion that has bent backing and strong support of the Antichrist.  This is just another sign that the sounding of the trumpet is near.  One can only begin to ask this question: Is the false prophet alive today, and just who might he be?


One final news item, and this one grieves my heart to report.  On Monday evening, within the sacred halls of the United States Senate, a vote was taken that stunned many of us.  A bill, sponsored by Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse, had been introduced.  Senator Sasse's bill would protect with full constitutional rights any child who survived an abortion.  In other words, this bill would protect a baby, a little boy or little girl.  Under Senate rules, it would take 60 votes to bring this bill forward for a vote.  You would have thought that 100 Senators would vote in favor of this bill.  But, 44 Senators actually voted against allowing this bill to be brought for a vote.  As Tony Perkins writes, "Last night on the Senate floor, we saw with gut-wrenching clarity what we really are: a nation where 44 of our most powerful men and women would order America to back away from a table where struggling newborns cry out for help.  It was the birth of a new extreme: Democrats for infanticide." (www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WA19B55&f=WU19B18). Senator Sasse urged his colleagues to vote in favor of the bill: "We've heard speech after speech after speech that have nothing to do with what's actually in this bill.  I urge my colleagues to picture a baby that's already been born, that's outside the womb gasping for air.  That's the only thing that today's vote is actually about.  We're talking about babies that have already been born... We're not talking about Roe v. Wade." 


President Trump responded to the vote: "Senate Democrats just voted against legislation to prevent the killing of newborn infant children.  The Democrat position on abortion is now so extreme that they don't mind executing babies AFTER birth.  This will be remembered as one of the most shocking votes in the history of Congress.  If there is one thing we should all agree on, it's protecting the lives of innocent babies." 


Tony Perkins continues, "These are not 'choices' writhing on a metal table.  They're not 'medical options' being thrown away in a heap of dirty towels.  These are innocent human beings, as real as any son or daughter smiling from the picture frames in Senate offices.  But in a party beholden to a powerful abortion lobby, only three Democrats - Senators Joe Manchin (W.Va), Doug Jones (Ala), and Bob Casey (Pa) - had the moral courage to say that infanticide is wrong.  The others, including all five Democratic 2020 hopefuls, are so committed to killing that they'll allow it after birth."


What a sad day for America!  Abortion is one thing, infanticide is another.  Both are morally reprehensible.  If Congress so quickly turns its back upon innocent children, one can only wonder what they will do when it comes time to turn its back upon the growing population of seniors.  It is just a small step from infanticide to euthanasia - a very small step. 


But all of these are signs that we are nearing the great staging of the rapture of the Church.  What a glorious day that will be.  Friends, keep looking up; yet also keep pressing forward with the business of the King.