Friday, March 25, 2011
400-408 – • Christian Post (3/25/2011) Most Evangelicals Blame Disasters on End Times, Poll Finds. According to a telephone survey of 1,008 US adults between March 17-20, 2011, done by the Public Religion Research Institute and Religion News Service, evangelicals and Republicans believe natural disasters are evidence of the end times.
Yes, natural disasters are evidence of the end times: Evangelicals 67%, Catholics 31%, Mainliners 34%.
Yes, natural disasters are evidence of climate change: 58% all respondents, 52% of Republicans, 52% Evangelicals.
53% of white evangelicals believe God punishes nations for the sins of its citizens.
413-423 – Calls – Since natural disasters are indeed a sign of the end times, what should we expect to see as evidence we're nearing the end? Higher frequency? Greater intensity? Greater loss of life? Greater property damage? The global warming alarmists have certainly fueled a lot of propaganda, how much of it do you believe? How much of this is due to a larger population in general, and those many millions living in clustered urban areas or on coastal plains subject to flooding and tsunamis? How much is due to our better technology? What is a balanced view?
• Matthew 24:4-14 (New American Standard Bible) Is this about the Tribulation or the "present age"?
4 And Jesus answered and said to them, "(A)See to it that no one misleads you.
5 "For (B)many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.
6 "You will be hearing of (C)wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
7 "For (D)nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be (E)famines and earthquakes.
8 "(F)But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
9 "(G)Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and (H)you will be hated by all nations because of My name.
10 "At that time many will (I)fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
11 "Many (J)false prophets will arise and will mislead many.
12 "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.
13 "(K)But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.
14 "This (L)gospel of the kingdom (M)shall be preached in the whole (N)world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
• United Nations Environment Programme (2005) Trends in natural disasters. Gotta promote that global warming hysteria, right?
// Much of the increase in the number of hazardous events is probably due to significant improvements in information access and also to population growth, but the number of floods and cyclones being reported is still rising compared to earthquakes. How, we must ask, is global warming affecting the frequency of natural hazards?
• Steven A. Austin and Mark L. Strauss (ICR, 1/14/1999) EARTHQUAKES AND THE END TIMES: A GEOLOGICAL AND BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE. (pdf)
CONCLUSION
A number of prophecy teachers say that a pronounced increase in frequency and intensity of earthquakes has occurred in the latter part of the twentieth century, a worldwide trend fulfilling a prophecy made by Jesus. Contrary to these prophecy teachers, no obvious trend is found indicating an abnormal increase in the frequency of large earthquakes during the last half of the twentieth century. Neither is there a noteworthy deficiency of earthquakes in the first half of the century. Graphical plots of global earthquake frequency indicate overall a decreasing frequency of earthquakes through the century. The decades of the 1970s, 80s and 90s experienced a deficit of larger earthquakes compared to earlier decades of the century. The 70s, 80s and 90s are precisely those decades that many prophecy teachers suppose, erroneously, show a dramatic surplus of larger earthquakes. Regional earthquake data from California and Japan also do not argue for increasing earthquake frequency in the latter decades of our century.
At the time of Christ the Jews had a heightened anticipation that wars, famines, pestilence and earthquakes communicated signs having apocalyptic significance. Jesus responded to apocalyptic expectations in the Olivet Discourse. Whether one interprets Matthew 24:4-14 as (1) events which will occur during the tribulation period, or (2) general signs of the present age, there is no clear scriptural warrant for the claim that earthquakes will increase dramatically prior to the return of Christ. In the former interpretation, these earthquakes would be part of the tribulation period and so of little significance for any increase in earthquakes during the present Church age. In the latter interpretation, earthquakes are seen as recurring catastrophic events common to the present age - events that must not be misinterpreted as "signs" of an immediate end. It is ironic that a passage that intentionally teaches that earthquakes are not indicators of the "end of the age" should be so frequently interpreted as teaching exactly the opposite.
Jesus' statement, "all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs" (Matt. 24:8), has been misunderstood to imply that pain would increase steadily in time. The birth image associated with such signs does not point (necessarily) to an increase in pain with time. Paul's understanding of creation's pain (Romans 8:18-25) is not that pain will grow steadily worse, but that the present period of suffering provokes eager longing for the new birth and the consummation of the coming age. The author of Hebrews sees a similar hope, not in anticipating a future "sign" of increasing earthquake activity, but in the coming of a sudden cosmic cataclysm producing a "kingdom which cannot be shaken" (Heb. 12:28).
428-437 – Calls –
443-452 – Calls –
458-508 – • Daily Mail (3/24/2011) Secret shame of Egypt's army: Women protesters were forced to have 'virginity checks' after being arrested in Tahrir Square.
• AFP (3/25/2011) Israel ready to react with 'great force': Netanyahu.
• Fox News (3/25/2011) Tens of Thousands of Anti-Government Protesters Rally in Syria.
• Charles Krauthammer (3/25/2011) The Professor's War: America is led by a man determined that it should not lead.
512-523 – •• Peggy Noonan (3/25/2011) The Speech Obama Hasn't Given: What are we doing in Libya? Americans deserve an explanation.
528-539 – John Blandford, Regional Director for GMO (globalmediaoutreach.com), the Internet arm of Campus Crusade, is here to share some great news! Yesterday they passed a big threshold – they reached one-million people with the Gospel! – in just one day! – and over 111,859 indicated they had prayed to receive Christ!!
Here's how it happens. About 2 million people a day are "looking for God" on the internet (Googling terms such as "God," "Jesus," "prayer," "heaven", "hell," etc). When they do so, about 10% of them are directed to over a hundred different evangelistic websites in the top 12 languages in the world, where they read or hear the Gospel via the 4 Spiritual Laws and are given an opportunity to pray to receive Christ. Should they choose to do so, they are then given the opportunity to request follow-up, which is where the "online missionaries" at GMO come in.
To watch this happen in "real time," go to greatcommission2020.com. GMO is on track to see 15 million decisions in the next 12 months.
To get more information on how you and your church can get involved, contact John at gmojohn@gmail.com or call their office at (310) 370-2627.
544-554 – LIFEsocal's first major LIFEevent will be this Sunday at the Rose Bowl, and it's called "Walk4Life." It's purpose is to proclaim a simple message, "all babies deserve life, and life begins at conception." They hope to inform and motivate teens and young adults in Southern California to believe in LIFE, stand up or LIFE, and fight for LIFE, with the hope of ending abortion. Register now at "walk, the number 4, life so cal dot com" for only $10 (walk4lifesocal.com). All proceeds will go to local pregnancy help centers. After the Walk4Life, there'll be the LIFEfest on the grass of the Rosebowl, featuring live music, information booths, food trucks and video entertainment. Here to talk about it, the organizer Carol Golbranson, and St. Monica Academy Junior Will Boles.
558-608 – The CEO of Thru the Bible (ttb.org, 1-800-65-BIBLE) Leo Karlyn (Karla), their General Counsel Bob Kern (Marci), and their Host Steve Shwetz (Sheryl) join us, along with Bob's son and daughter Michael and Heather. TTB is heard on KKLA at 600am and 800pm, and on over 800 stations in the United States, and in over 200 countries in 100 languages around the globe. J. Vernon McGee is starting his NINTH 5-year journey thru the Bible next Friday, April 1, with a Guidelines Series that first teaches you how to study the Bible – so now's the time to get on the Bible Bus! Don't forget, there's free downloadable print resources to use along the way, including every single broadcast of the 5-year program – again for free, right off their website at ttb.org.
• We've got 5 sets of the complete five-year series, with all the pdf's, in CD form to give away, along with a copy of J. Vernon McGee's biography, The Whole Word for the Whole World: The Life and Ministry of J. Vernon McGee.
John Vernon McGee – Born June 17, 1904 (Hillsboro, Texas). Died December 1, 1988 (Pasadena).
B.D. Columbia Theological Seminary, and Th.M. & Th.D. Dallas Theological Seminary.
Pastored Church of the Open Door from 1949 to 1970.
Chairman of the Bible Department at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (currently Biola).
The 5-year Thru The Bible lessons were recorded 1970-1975.
612-623 – (:49) TTB 9 Make up
628-639 – (1:25) TTB 5 How to be right
644-656 – (:44) TTB 14 Geiger Counter
(:55) TTB 16 Mrs. McGee
• AP (3/25/2011) Man dies trying to revive dead wife. Calls: What is the most loving or sacrificial thing your spouse has ever done for you?
