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September 13, 2005

Do you discern the times? Are you a child of Issachar?

1 Chronicles 12:32 -- "...the sons of Issachar ... had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do."

Does this verse in 1st Chronicles describe you? We Christians talk a lot about the Tribulation, the Time of Jacob's Trouble, but are woefully unprepared to survive such an event if it were to overtake us today. We are not ready because we have not realized that there are other things to do besides study and prayer. The Bible says that "the bride has made herself ready." What does that mean? If we, the Church, are the Lord's bride, we need to find out.

Below are several resources that will help you prepare for what is ahead. I hope you will read them and see the wisdom in doing what the writers suggest.

 

 


 This sculpture of Moses carrying the
10 Commandments is on display at
the United States Supreme Court.


KEN RYLAND'S COMMENTARIES:
Commentaries on the issues of the day for the Christian reader:
Prophecy, persecution, the commitment to excellence. Read commentaries on

-- Who Is My Enemy?
-- Israelites, Gentiles, & the New Covenant
-- On the Cusp of Extreme Evil
-- Prophecy Basics -- The Antichrist
-- The Great Thanksgiving Day Disappearing Act
-- Is New York City the Babylon of Rev. 17 & 18?
-- When Will the Tribulation Begin?
-- Recapturing Excellence
-- Why Study Prophecy?
-- Great Joy in Tribulation

WHAT WE BELIEVE:
Contains articles on Christian Living, links to Christian Web sites, and Bible-study aids.
**Artículos en español**

NEWSPOINT:
Preparedness for the end times. Information and links.

HOME-SCHOOLING: Many resources for successful home-schooling

 


Are you ready to run with horses?

Jeremiah 12:5: "If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?"

How ready are we indeed when we are really put to the test? Which one of us would have been ready if we had been in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001?

May the Lord grant each of us His strength to pass our test and His mercy when we have done all and still come up short!

Yeshua, Yashua, Ye'Hoshua, Jesus -- Who Cares?

The Judaization of the Church over the past few years has done more damage to the body of Christ than any direct attack by Satan himself. In fact, Satan could not have devised a better plan for pitting one Christian against another than to create hostility over the use of words. Truly, if the Church appears to be impotent in spreading the good news of the Kingdom of God, it is not Satan's fault. It is our own. We are too busy fighting with each other over how to pronounce the name of the Father and the Son to bother ourselves with bringing the life-giving message of the Son of God to a dying world.

My disgust for this sort of thing is that this insistence on using just the right words portrays God as petty and small-minded. If God's righteousness demands only the use of certain names to address the Father and the Son, what does this say about, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life," and "while we were yet sinners, he died for us."

The apostle Paul, himself a Pharisee, fought hard against those who tried to force new Christians to become "more Jewish." One of the great sins of the Pharisees was that they tied heavy religious burdens on the backs of the people. These same Pharisees are alive and well in the Church with their sacred names and Jewish rituals. If a man or woman is Jewish by birth, then let them be Jewish to the full. As natural Jews they can still love Christ. But stop trying to convert Christians into Jews. Rather, we should be trying to make God-fearing Jews into Christians. Is that not the commission that our Lord gave us?

One of the most shameful examples I have heard of recently was the demand of a pastor that his congregation give up the usage of the word "Jesus" and use only "Yeshua." The woman lated this experience was so stunned that she did not know what to do. During a church meeting the pastor asked all those who "named the name of Jesus" to come forward to the podium. After these unsuspecting people reached the stage, the pastor told them that they had to renounce the use of the name "Jesus" and use only the proper Hebrew name, "Yeshua." My first thought when I hear this was, "If you deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father." My other thought was to rebuke the idiot pastor for his crass and blasphemous use of the person of Christ.

The pastor's rationale was to say that the Greek word "Iesous" was pagan. Of course, there is no scholarly proof of such a statement, bu ells well with the everyone-is-out-to-get-us crowd, and there are some very poorly written and researched papers (mainly on the Internet, not in scholarly journals) that make such a claim. They are generally written by people who have little or no knowledge of Greek or any language other than English, and their knowledge of English is dubious in many cases (just check their mistake-ridden, so-called research). Most would not know a dictionary or a spell checker from a hole in the ground.

Trust me on this: God understands Greek, Hebrew, English, and several other languages. He knows what you mean when you are on your knees pouring out your heart to Him in English or Russian or Vietnamese -- even if you use the word "Jesus," or whatever its transliteration may be in another language. Do these people really think that some poor martyred African nomad who only knows Christ as "Jesus" will be rejected when he stands before the Lord in the resurrection simply because no one bothered to teach him the word "Yeshua?" I tell you the truth; such a person will be received into the Kingdom long before someone who puts stumbling blocks of words and rituals before the people.

The really silly part of this whole thing (actually there are several really silly parts) is that these people can't agree on whether Jesus should be called Yeshua, Yashua, Ye'Hoshua, or any of a dozen other take-offs on the pronunciation. But remember; only one of these pronunciations will give you entry into God's Kingdom (I hope I'm in the right pronunciation group).

My admonition to any Christian is to put away such foolishness. Just call upon the Lord with a pure and sincere heart, and He will hear you. The plea of our hearts should be the same as that of the apostle Paul, the Pharisee: "... Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee;  concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death (Philippians 3:5-10).

The essence of Christianity, as the apostle Paul says, is to "know him, and the power of his resurrection...:" Let's put our faith in that, and not in mere words. Anything beyond this is simply babbling high-sounding syllables devoid of the music of faith in Christ alone. --Kenneth Ryland


1. Israelites, Gentiles, and the New Covenant

A new, thought-provoking perspective on the New Covenant.

2. Sunday Roots

Dr. Sidney Davis lays bare the roots of Sunday worship and how our current custom finds its origin in anti-semitism.

3. Rome's Challenge to Protestants

"I am going to propose a very plain and serious question to those who follow 'the Bible and the Bible only' to give their most earnest attention. It is this: Why do you not keep holy the Sabbath Day?" (excerpt from a Catholic publication)

4. The Saints on the Sea of Glass

Not long ago I was in a church service where I heard something brand new -- a "new truth." The topic being discussed centered on the great tribulation and the protection that God will afford His people during that period of time. This is one biblical theme whose interpretation has always been in flux since 1) it is future, and 2) the Scripture is not at all clear as to the exact nature of the safety that God will give His people during that future period of trouble.

This new doctrine regarding God's protection of the saints during the great tribulation is based on a (partially) literal interpretation of Revelation 14:1-5 and a couple of other passages.

5. A Call to the Churches in America

A modern exodus. The story of how God led His people through the wilderness of twentieth century Russia and China to a new home in the New World. The lessons that were learned and a warning to the people of God in America.

6. The Dreams, Visions, and Prophecies of Dumitru Duduman

Apart from the prophetic nature of these messages revealed to and related by Dumitru Dudumam, there is a very powerful and consistent declaration to the Body of Christ contained in these prophetic utterances: Jesus is coming very soon to judge and make war. The judgment will begin at the House of God. The bride of Christ must make herself ready and become without spot or wrinkle. To do that, we Christians must first repent of our fascination with the world and its "lifestyle." If this message is taken to heart, it will change your life.

7. Preparing for the Underground Church

Richard Wurmbrand (Voice of the Martyrs) spent many heroic years working in the underground church in the communist country of Romania, one of the most brutal dictatorships the world has seen. Eleven of those years were spent in Romanian prisons, three of which were in solitary confinement. Pastor Wurmbrand shares the wisdom he has gained from those years serving God's people in the underground church, and tells us how those lessons can be applied to us in the days ahead.

8. George Washington's Vision

Read God's vision to George Washington at Valley Forge. God Revealed to our first president a vision of the future of the American republic.

9. Prophetic Warnings: Beware of Seducers!

This short article was exerpted from The Overcomer, the monthly publication of The Overcomer Ministries of Walterboro, SC. For the complete article, contact the Overcomer Ministries at the address given at the beginning of the article. The prophetic warnings contained in this article were spoken through Stanley Frodsham in 1965. They are more relevant in 1999 than they were in the day when they were spoken.

Check out the article on whether the Jews are really from the tribe of Judah.
Steven Collins, author of
The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel... Found!, draws on his background of many years of historical research to answer the question: Are the Jews of today really the same people identified as Jews in the Bible?


Don't hesitate to give us your comments. We'll look forward to hearing from you.


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