News

I just had to share the excitement around here.

Our first grandchild is on the way!

We will be a country-length away from that precious little life, but we are thrilled that a new eternal being is growing, developing in our family!

It's Jim and his wife, having a baby later this year.

Please pray with us for the healthy start to its life.

We couldn't be more pleased.

Ed has a spinal tap tomorrow morning, and he is going to try it without anesthesia!
There will be a anesthesiologist present, in case things go awry. We are hoping that it goes well, because it would be so much easier on Ed to avoid the side effects of anesthesia each spinal tap.

Would you pray with us that it goes well?

Our leukemia journey continues, but it seems easier at this time. Please pray with us that it continues to be easy, that Ed can be healthy, that his counts stay in the prescribed window for chemotherapy.

We are still reminded of his condition daily, as he takes his oral chemo and we watch for any sign of sickness developing.

Joe's wife has started a beautiful jewelry business "P.31" #morepreciousthanrubies.

Her work is really lovely, and the jewelry very durable and sport-friendly. I am one of those people who puts on a necklace for months at a time, swimming and all, regardless. This is exactly the type of jewelry that I needed!

Check it out on Etsy.

We are always reminded of our fleeting presence on this earth. As we live in our new house and experience a new sort of country life, with grandparents right next door, we are struck with the whimsical nature of our existence! Who could have thought we'd be where we are today?

I am amazed.

I enjoy the lilies that the previous owner planted, her color combinations and her thought into beautiful views. I thank her daily, and think of her.

It seems a twist of nature that we are in this place, in this time.

How quickly life changes!

This Golden Morning

It's beautiful here today. 

What a week it was, last. Our friends had a wedding, and since they are from out-of-town, we helped with many various tasks including the rehearsal dinner.

So much fun! Everyday was filled with joy and expectation, moving the bridal pair's belongings into the new apartment, celebrating, shopping, and ultimately the lovely, sweet, Christ-centered wedding.

It was July 4, too, but we hardly noticed.

Somehow, as this old land passed another Independence Day, I felt little elation regarding the holiday, and it wasn't for distractions.

As you know, my two oldest sons serve our country in the Army, and we are as conservative and patriotic as anyone. Yet I feel a sorrow, and a different expectancy this July. 

What has happened to America? Land of the Free! Home of the Brave!

We have all turned to bondage and cowardice.

Our free speech is threatened. We are afraid to speak our minds, fearing firstly being labelled bigot or homophobe, but also fearing the specter of legal ramifications now possible with the new Supreme Court ruling.

Can I say that homosexuality is sin? Can I say that the world benefits from biological marriage, male/female, and suffers from any aberration?

Perversion. Abomination. Anathema.

Well, I'll say it, and I hope you do too.

We have seen a separation of the sheep from the goats over this single issue, and I think it truly is a brightening light for eternal implications.

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the Creator, the One in charge. He makes the rules, He makes it all.

To go against Him is to rebel, and that is entirely human.

Those of us who cling to His salvation plan are entirely justified in our fears of rebellion against Him. We are concerned about obedience, pleasing Him, and living as light in this sin-sick world.

He chose us, we decided to follow Him, at all costs. Life, reputation, friendships, relationships. 

There is this insidious confusion about what it really means to be a Christian in these last days.

I think that we have seen the true demarcation line after this latest political change.

Either you are IN or you are OUT. 

Either you believe that God's Word is truth, or you don't.

Either you repent, or you live in your sinful human nature.

Choices.

We have seen people lose their heads for Christ in the past year. Their choice cost them their earthly lives. 

The ruling powers that be are dead-set against Christ-followers. They are completely in the hands of the Imposter, Lucifer.

Now is the time to choose. Choose carefully.

God is patient. He is not willing that ANY should perish! He has provided a way to salvation----ONE way, Christ alone.

Let the sheep separate from the goats, and let it be suddenly clear who will follow the narrow path, through the straight gate, and into the courts of LOVE.

Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

 

http://dailysignal.com/2015/07/06/sorry-slate-oregon-did-put-a-gag-order-on-those-christian-bakers/?utm_source=heritagefoundation&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=morningbell&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRogvaTBZKXonjHpfsX67u8vUKG%2BhYkz2EFye%2BLIHETpodcMRcRjNq%2BTFAwTG5toziV8R7jHKM1t0sEQWBHm 

A Warning against:

https://youtu.be/z_FzStAOUh4

Bird Watchers

Timing

I love history, and I particularly enjoy timelines that put things together for me chronologically.

Were you one of those people who were tripped up by Biblical genealogies and apparent mistakes in the Bible?

I was. I did some research several years ago, and I was able to resolve that issue satisfactorily for me.

Since then I have enjoyed watching documentaries and listening to lectures that unpack historical events accurately according to real time.

What I have found is that there can be mistakes made archeologically, and the most consistent and accurate time teller is really the Word of God.

It is reliable to an unheard-of degree.

Consider this recent documentary:

http://shop.patternsofevidence.com/

And this one:
http://www.bethlehemstar.net/

This professor's work:
https://www.unwsp.edu/web/academics/faculty-listing/-/asset_publisher/7EmHmFRs4Mum/content/charles-aling/402531

And this book:
http://www.amazon.com/A-Childs-History-World/dp/8882870286

These are all credible historians and historically sound---yet they are all in conflict regarding some dates.

The lesson learned is that God knows the exact dates, man set the timeline, and everything really does add up---even exactly.

Among prophecy people there is talk of the 70th Week of Daniel.

Do you know what that is?

I will try to summarize it briefly.

Daniel was a prophet. He saw things far into the future. He accurately predicted the reign of King Cyrus, Alexander the Great, and the coming of the Jewish Messiah. He even gave an exact time frame: 483+7 years.

Lo and Behold, that time passed and Jesus Christ was born on the earth, grew up and entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

That date, (disputed by historians) halted the timeline set up by God. So began the age of Grace, the Church age.

I am no pastor, no theologian, so if you want to get more complete understanding of this you'll have to do your own research.

I tend to lean toward the date of March 29, 33 AD, bringing the death of Christ to April 3, 33 AD.

Differing timelines can be confusing.

Isaac Newton calculated dates, as did Pope Gregory (the Gregorian Calendar fashioned by his minions) --also different monks in the middle ages worked endlessly on this topic.

The truth is that it doesn't have an effect on the whole picture of God's timeline.

I find the dates Jonathon Cahn calculates on the Jewish calendar to be rather convincing, as one cannot deny the historical record of recent years!

The 29th of Alul is coming up this September on the 13th. This one is a Shemitah, a time of blessing or a curse. This calendar is apparently correct according to God's timeline as it matches up a recent historical pattern of every seven years and significant dates that fall precisely onto that time frame.

Interesting, to say the least.

So when does the last week of Daniel's prophecy begin???

That last week is known as the Great Tribulation, Jacob's Trouble, the Last Days.

It will be a time of God's wrath falling on the earth. (Think Noah's Flood, but fire, this time)

Jesus told his followers that they would see birth pangs, that certain events would happen leading up to this terrible time, that we would be warned.

Celestial events would occur (blood moons, astronomical signs, changes in atmosphere). Earth-changing events---volcanic and seismic---with increased intensity.

Plague and death. Mass Animal Death
That has started already.

Political upheaval, social demise, economic hardship, and HISTORICAL EVENTS will be signs for us.

Israel. There is no other sign more convincing than the nation of Israel.

Ezekiel prophesied particularly regarding Israel.

But Daniel's prophecy also regarded God's people. I love to turn to Daniel 12:1, where it says we, those with our names written in the book, will be delivered from the trouble to come.

That is my hope, and that can be yours too.

Timing is significant. Time exists as God created it, wholly and fully at the dawn of creation. He sees its beginning and its ending. Time, as we can understand it, can be understood better as a finite creation rather than an agent of creation itself.

Time is running out for us.

The concept of eternity is beyond our comprehension, but that doesn't negate its existence. To go beyond and out of time and into God's presence is not completely unimaginable, but it is difficult to grasp.

To spend eternity (timelessness) in hell is anathema.

I think the 70th week of Daniel may be starting this September. The Times are hinting at this.

Hope in Christ. He is coming soon.

Maranatha!

Palestine

http://www.raptureready.com/soap2/ungurean53.html

Signs Everywhere!

http://amos37.com/sote/