Apocalypse soon - Strange days - Chronicles of the end of the age

In the continuing saga of the "Politically Correct" madness engulfing the "civilized" and "enlightened" West, we issue the absolute top place for 2005 to the Red Cross organization, the Geneva-based humanitarian association, which, in a frenzy of unmitigated self-righteousness and hypocritically ridiculous distancing has seen fit to change their beloved and world-wide known symbol, a red cross, as their name implies, with a nondescript red something (a square, a rhombus, a dart target, a thing).

Gorgeous isn't it? Surely the good folks in Geneva don't want to offend anybody, mind you but I think that in order to please a few, they are offending the most.

A few questions come to mind:
1) surely they will have to change their name as well, as the offending word is still present in it. "Red Square" won't do since the Kremlin would object. "Red Rhombus" is a bit pompous and anyway it sounds weird. Maybe the folks in Geneva should institute a prize winning competition to find their new name. It should be fun.

2) How much of their donated millions $$$ wil they have to spend in order to publicize their new symbol? Surely they can't have people shooting at their personnel just because they are flying a target practice flag.

They will not be getting one single penny from me.

And second place prize goes to those other busy bodies in Brussels for their "innovations" in euro speak. Listen to this: a proposal has been put forth to de capitalize the word "Christ" since it is not a proper name. The word "Christ" means "anointed" and more generally, messiah.
While this newspeak guideline does not make a linguistic wave, one cannot avoid to think that with all the unemployment, terror threats, financial scandals and corruption, continuous bickering among member states, pollution, drug dealings, hi tech and low tech criminal orgs, avian flu (I am going to stop here for brevity's sake), there are people holed up in Brussels and paid by euro citizens taxes, that have nothing better to do than to vent their anti-christian views and instruct us in the proper use of language.

Do not be fooled: it's NOT a question of grammar and semantics: it 's the euro anti-christian agenda at work. As in the Red Cross case, and in dozen others, the euro elites do not suffer Christianity and don't lose any opportunity to belittle and denigrate it. Their work is made much easier by the fact that in Europe 2005, Christianity at large, is merely a name with an appearance of religiousness, with considerable economic and financial branches but with no spiritual power to speak of. How sad that the continent that saw the birth of the Reformation and the launch of the great Christian movements that have spanned the globe, in less than 500 years has slowly returned to its former Dark Ages.

Of course there are true (Bible believing and Christ honoring) Christian churches in Europe, but we have to look away from all the main denominations and find them in the relatively small evangelical groupings. Truly God has always His remnant. How true and prophetic are the Words of our Lord Jesus Christ (ahem! we will write it the old fashioned way):

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide [is] the gate, and broad [is] the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Because strait [is] the gate, and narrow [is] the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Matthew 7:14-15

September 23, 2005

And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;
men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken.
Luke 21:25-26

The very purpose of this web site and of this column in particular is to document the final moments of human history as it unfolds and to announce the return of Jesus Christ on earth. But we are not doomsayers per se, although doom and terror is part of the message, but we are rather motivated by the best hope ever given to human beings. Just imagine (not as the anti-Christian John Lennon song) a world really at peace in which living will be pure joy. Well, this is coming up too, and our purpose is to make people aware and ready to enter it.

Our documentation of the so-called "Last Days" is carefully examined in the light of the Word. No other text but the Word.

We have entered into the final moments of human history and God has begun to shake the earth in judgment. Really, one must not be a rocket scientist to deduct that we (as in humanity) are in big trouble. I think Western society has become numb and confused and therefore unresponsive to what is happening in the world. We are becoming more and more fatalistic and passive in our view of life and in our reactions to it, the que sera sera ... syndrome.

This happens to those who have ears to hear but do NOT want to hear and to those who have eyes to see but do NOT want to see, preferring instead to loose themselves in artificial lifestyles of many kinds, creating illusions upon delusions and ultimately dropping out altogether through drugs, alcohol and other mind-messing techniques.

God has warned us that the Last Days will be a very difficult time period to live in, comparing it to the labor before the birth: it is a necessary step.

I wrote in a Strange Days in a year 2000 article, that I felt we were entering into a new and dangerous time. Since then, we've been having the explosion of worldwide terrorism, unprecedented disasters, and a host of diseases which are threatening entire nations, not to speak of exceedingly unusual climatic events and worldwide financial and economic upheavals which are driving prices of some commodities to unprecedented highs. And that's just for a beginning.

The great day of the Lord is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out.
Zep 1:14

Scoffers will continue to scoff and they will proceed unaware to their doom. Reasonable people will add two plus two and admit that something is out of kilter.

Let's just examine the recent Katrina hurricane (and the new one, RITA).
New Orleans is known all over the world for its jazz music, its Mardi Gras orgy and its general everything-goes attitude. Less known is New Orleans deep flirting with vodoo or the fact that New Orleans is (was) probably the most violent city in North America with untold numbers of murders, rapes and violent crimes. See statistics here!

Or look at this incredible video-newsreport

We have also received some mail comparing Katrina to the Jewish withdrawal from the Gaza strip. To put this in perspective, please understand that the End Times prophecies rotate around Israel. The Gaza withdrawal was demanded by the US and to some, Katrina is the retribution God is sending to America for removing the Jews from the land He has given them. Personally, I need to stop and meditate on this, but the comparison of the two events is nothing less than uncanny. I am reproducing a small version of newspaper headlines of the two events , so as it was sent to us. There are more extended versions of this chart which I have not had the time to review yet but that you can search on the Internet. I must add that there are comparisons charts as well for precedent US impositions on its "friendly ally" Israel which have also resulted in retribution to America. There is much to be said why only America needs to bear the blows of imposing its will on Israel. The easiest answer being that America is the ONLY friend Israel has and God wants us to notice that He is keeping tabs. The other nations will get theirs at the appointed times.

Kat-if

Kat-rina

9,000 Jews Expelled-Homeless Hundreds of thousands of Americans expelled by Hurricane---Homeless

Expulsion of Jews will "stabilize" Oil prices Katrina---Oil prices up over $ 3.00 per gallon

Jews required to re-bury their dead Katrina flooding---dead popping out of the ground

Jews helplessly standing on roofs Victims of Katrina helplessly standing on roofs

Jews of Gush Katif expelled so Casinos can be built Casinos along Gulf coast utterly destroyed

Homes of Jews Destroyed in Gush Katif Katrina destroys tens of thousands of homes

I have a more comprehensive answer to Katrina, Rita and whomever. I have been saying this since 9/11 and I will continue to do so:

America has lost its way. Immorality, evil, greed, violence, and I am keeping a short list here, have become the norm. Righteousness is ridiculed and all sort of abominable behavior is legislated and encouraged as to make one's head spin at how incredibly fast this society has changed. The Church is either compromised with the powers that be or self-absorbed and self-deluded. Few are those who are keeping watch at what is really happening. I know I should not be surprised neither dismayed, but in a measure, I am. I just can't believe that as Rome (America) is burning, the leaders (political, religious and so forth) play their harps. Thank God that He forewarned us about it:

For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:39-40

August 25, 2005

The sad, false and illogical politically correct policy in which western countries have fallen in viewing and naming events in the last few years, (while the rest of the world has been laughing and taking advantage of their liberal and naive disposition) is bringing its deadly fruits right on our doorsteps, much to the chagrin of those who are at-all-costs committed to a multi-ethnic, permissive and hopefully peaceful society.

It is amazing to see how even a reputed news organization as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has totally fallen in this foolish game to the point of not daring to call "terrorist" or "bombers" the maniacs who have recently poured their infernal hate on London's buses and metro, preferring more neutral and undescript words to describe these evil beasts.

Now lets get something really really clear: I understand that violence has been a part of the human baggage. Men, (unregenerate men, mostly), use violence as a mean to get what they want and more recently, to get attention to their cause. This has been a steeple of history, and actually history itself is a continuous sequence of violent acts variously named as battles, wars, revolutions, persecutions and the like. Why, we could safely say that violence is a way of life with man. The history of every country is marked by violence and much blood has been shed to reach the present level of freedom that we, in the West, enjoy.

So, violence per se it's no big shocker: we kind of expects it in one level or another. But it is a shocker and an infamity to target civilians, women, children and old folks to make a statement as the London bombers (not to mention others as Palestinian, Iraquis etc) have done. The only statement these people really make is one of total revulsion for the cause they supposedly support. So, shame on you BBC, for your lack of responsibility and for your much evident bias. Shame on you, liberal hypocrites: your "doublethink newspeak" makes George Orwell a prophet of sorts.

The BBC has stripped the words "terror" and "terrorist" from their website reports of the bombings in London.

Apparently, the bombings are now just "bomb attacks," as if the bombs simply decided to attack London commuters without any help from terrorists. In 24 hours, the BBC has determined that terrorism is not an effective description for the actions that caused the deaths of more than 50 people.
Meryl Yourish - more...

At Apocalypse Soon, we are proudly politically uncorrect.

Someone wrote in complaining that we do not cover a lot of happening stories. We are not a news agency. We report and comment on what we feel helps our readers understand better the moment in time we are living in relation, first of all, to the End Time prophecies. Politically correctness, is an evil tool which an immoral society uses to give itself a semblance of fairness and justice. It is doomed from the beginning for the simple fact that everybody's concept of correctness varies from one another. I see a distinct parallel to the tower of Babel: humanity trying to be raise itself to a higher morality and greatness without God, and it will meet the same fateful end as Babel did.

Those who do not learn from history are obliged to repeat it.

On another front, I had some hopeful expectations from the new pope Benedict XVI. He sure is well versed in the Holy Scriptures and, coming from Germany, has been described as being particularly attentive to the "Protestant Brothers" positions. I saw him interviewed on Italian Television and I was particularly touched by the way he explained his faith and of the way he spoke about Jesus. Well, I must confess that the honeymoon is over. I guess I was expecting too much. Pope Benedict has just submitted to the auspices of the "Virgin Mary" the current World Youth Day which is taking place in Cologne. What about Jesus, Bemedict? How disappointing in seeing the ever second-place Jesus of the Catholic Church displaced once again by Mary. I thought this pope would do a better balancing act, Well ...

June 26, 2005

While we do not enter the political arena unless we are faced with an event that relates to prophecy, just as in this case, so, with tongue firmly placed in cheek we proclaim that the Second French Revolution has just taken place whose reach and consequences will extend far beyond France and whose aim will be no less impacting to the world than the celebrated and historical first one. Mind you, you will not see the term Second French Revolution in any news account, but make no mistake, a revolution is taking place.

European leaders and Brussels bureaucrats have been left dazed and confused by the recent French referendum results by which voters have soundly rejected the proposed European Constitution, regarded by the Eurocrats as the foundation declaration and stepping stone for the hoped-for politically united Europe.

United Europe ha been in the making for a few decades (some will say for centuries). It is not our aim to chronicle the various passages which have led to the present situation. Fact is that the French people have had the courage to say out loudly what most others were thinking. A few days after the stunning blow, the Dutch, maybe emboldened by the French results, have as well, rejected trough their referendum said Constitution by an even greater margin than the French. The rejection by France, one of the founding members of the European Community, has practically spelled the end-of-the-line for the much decried document, with little hope of a replacement in the near future.

It was amusing to observe the embarrassed resignation of the bureaucrats and makers and shakers of this much fabled European unity, notwithstanding the fact that the polls had for weeks given clear signs of a nay-sayer victory. To a discerning eye, this shows how much remote these "leaders" are from the real people. My, the rarefied air that blows in Brussels sure plays bad jokes. They ought to get out from their glass-and-steel towers more often and mix with the ordinary people, who, rightly, have a healthy suspicion of nameless bureaucrats who spend their time creating absurd and downright ridiculous laws to lay upon the ignorant masses. Oh, I could write for hours about this subject, but it would be lost in the translation, eheh! And talking about translations, there is an army of translators constantly at work translating in each member country's language the Brussels follies.

Even understanding the thoughts behind the move toward a United Europe, one must honestly declare that it is a "mission impossible" feat. Sure it would be a good thing, geographically, socially and financially, and to my humble opinion they should have stuck with those issues and no more. Political Europe is a beast (pun intended) of another kind. And this brings us to the imminent future. In prophecy, Europe (parts of it) has always been regarded as the "Renewed Roman Empire" of Daniel's celebrated world empires prophecy but in the last few years the numbers have not been adding up.

The prophecy verses which refer to this end-time alignment are to be found in Daniel 7:7-8

After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it [was] diverse from all the beasts that [were] before it; and it had ten horns.
I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn [were] eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

There are other verses which can be quoted, but these are the most basic and quite explicit: they speak of the 10 horns and of the little horn which uproots three of them to install itself. This has generally been referred to 10 kingdoms (states) from which Antichrist (the little horn) will emerge and in the process he will get rid of 3 kingdoms (states). The European Community has for a little time numbered 10 but it has grown to 25 (member and candidate states). That's why the numbers do not add up. In this article we shall not examine the meaning of the 10 horns (states), but we observe how this rejection of the European proposed political underpinning has certainly crushed the dreams and hopes of the Eurocentrists and globalists. It seems ordinary people are none too happy with these plans and are increasingly prepared to fight it.

So, prophetically the "magic" number of 10 comes into play once again. It could turn out that when all has been said and done, only 10 nations will agree to remain united and forge the famous alliance the Bible speaks of. Or maybe, as new possibilities are emerging, Europe is only partially involved in this 10 kingdoms revival. One thing is certain: the French vote represents somewhat of a turning point in matters prophetic. We shall closely observe the inevitable consequences of this referendum which is shedding more light on the approaching future.

On another subject and to reprise on our former tsunami articles, please read the following report on some events transpiring after the Southeast Asia tsunami upon which we have previously reported:

"... stories of suffering, death and privation flooded the news media for months. As never before in recent memory, the Western world reached out to aid survivors and their families.
Not widely reported was the heroism of Christian believers who live in the hardest hit areas, particularly in the Aceh region of the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.

The province of Aceh is nearly 100 percent Muslim. Missionaries in Indonesia say that Muslims have used Aceh as a terrorist training ground for years. Whatever Christians were there suffered intense persecution, particularly after Muslim sharia law was introduced in January 2002.

As in so many other places where believers are severely persecuted, the world looked the other way; and the cries for help went unanswered. But in Aceh, amid the death and devastation, a miracle of grace took place that stunned and confused many a Muslim tormentor. The principle stated by the apostle Paul went to work: Being reviled, we bless; being Persecuted, we endure.

The tsunami had struck a bewildering blow to the faith of Muhammad's followers who so strictly adhere to the laws of Islam. They began to ask why Aceh the most devoted of all Islamic areas in Indonesia, would become the center of the catastrophe. Was Allah angry? What had they done? To say the least, the tsunami shook Muslim theology as violently as it did the island's landscape.

One victim reportedly lamented, "I don't if this is a punishment or a warning and I don't know if God loves us or despises us ... No one knows what God is up to. ... This disaster has left us with nothing."

But while the devout were wondering, they began witnessing what they never expected. The Christians whom they despised and persecuted were extending hands of help to them. The persecuted has suddenly become those who blessed their enemies. Equally stunning was the influx of Christians from Western countries; they came asking no more than to help these people to recover.

When one radical Muslim group came to warn tsunami victims not to accept aid from the "infidel" Christians, a number of local Muslims leaders had an answer for them: "You come carrying your flag, but they (Christians) have come carrying rice, medicine and tents, and we have been greatly helped."

The Baptist Press reported that Kompas, Indonesia's leading newspaper, quoted a State Islamic University instructor who expressed a similar feeling:

A number of community groups in Australia, Canada, America and other western nations are unceasingly raising funds for the tsunami victims on their own initiative. While many western nations are pouring forth dollars, sending soldiers, heavy machinery and military, we hear little about such action from rich Muslim nations."

When we find ourselves at a loss to understand or explain why believers are persecuted, these wonderful glimmers of light break out. To which we say, "And we labor, working with our hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure."

By Elwood McQuaid (Israel my Glory, May-June 2005)

March 14, 2005

In a discussion with some Christians, the point came up that the Tsunami is just a physical event, caused by a natural happening and that God has no direct or indirect responsibility in it. This is hard to accept and brings us to the old heretical thought that God created the universe and then left it to itself. Such a god is not the God of the Bible which instead presents us with an intensely personal God:

Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.

Psa 121:4

He, Who "keeps His eyes on the sparrow" cannot be indifferent to His creation. Just because He applies physical laws, it does not mean that He cannot overrule them. He IS God.

I understand that the image of God judging humanity through a physical event is unacceptable to most, even Christians, but it would be foolish to ignore it. Some have said that certainly there are places in the world in need of more urgent chastisement that the South East of Asia which was struck by the Tsunami. Surely California for example, is more sinful that Sri Lanka, what with all the sexual perversion and its Hollywood propaganda machine for everything unrighteous and blasphemous. Well, California is awaiting its "Big One," and who knows, it may come sooner than fatalistically expected. The point here is not who is more sinful. Let me remind the reader that if we want to look for causes, I can point a few: the area interested by the tsunami is widely known for its sexual trade and of a kind which is best left unspoken. Other areas which were affected by the tsunami have had a recent history of persecution of Christian missionaries. In Band Aceh, hundreds of churches were ordered shut by the Islamic authorities in the months preceding the tsunami. The Maldives, a Sunni Moslem group of islands, have in the past few years outlawed all Christian activities and kicked out Pastors and Missionaries. The region of India which was affected has, in its recent past, exhibited a notoriously aggressive anti-Christian stance, and I could go on, but this is not the way to look at it, because, if we start to pick and choose, the whole world is sinful and has it coming.

Only God, in His Wisdom and plan knows the correct answer. We must accept the fact that we are impotent to give an accurate explanation because we lack the total view. We see in part and we know in part, therefore our judgment of these events is at best, flawed. This is not a cop-out, however. We reaffirm that God is in perfect control of time and space and the tsunami tragedy has its reasons which escape us. The correct attitude, when faced with giving meaning to these events is to sober up and evaluate OUR OWN life. It's very easy and handy to find faults with others, and much harder to remove the beam out of our eye. As Christians we have the ministry of reconciliation not of judgment. We are to reconcile a lost world to God, through the Savior Jesus Christ, not judge it. The unbelieving world is already under God's judgment and it certainly does not need us to pileup our motivated judgment upon it. While we must speak out against sin, we must extend to the sinner the same God-provided amazing Grace, of which we are beneficiaries.

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love
1Cor 13:13

Jan 16, 2005

Since Christmas day 2004, the world has been living some very particular moments, shadows of what is yet to come.

Described (but in another sense) by many newscasters as "Apocalyptic" or "of Biblical proportions," the Tsunami that struck South East Asia on December 25, 2004, may well reveal itself an important part of the End Times sequence of events. While we have had all the scientific explanations and computer simulations of the whats and whys, few have attempted to explain the spiritual side of it, at least those who believe in a Superior Being.

I have read some comments from the most disparaged religious leaders (Christian, Jewish, Moslem, Buddhist, Hindu etc.) that, amazingly enough, concurred in assigning a "pay-attention" signal to the tragedy. "God is angry with man's wickedness and this is a warning punishment" seems to be the general message. Some have even seen the name of Allah spelled out by the tsunami waves in a satellite picture (the one in our front-page). "God signed His name in the tsunami that battered Sri Lanka and other countries on December 26, and sent it as punishment because humans have been ignoring His laws," according to Mohamed Faizeen, manager of the Center for Islamic Studies in Colombo. Well, I see strange things too when I look at clouds.

First of all, let me state clearly and unequivocally that God has not been taken by surprise by this event. The God of the Bible is in perfect control of not only this earth and everything in it, but of all the universe and everything in it, down to the last atom and neutrino. If otherwise, He is not Almighty. The fact that He is indeed almighty causes several problems to the human mind and even many Christians are challenged when asked to explain "Why Did You Do This, God?" (as an attention-grabbing headline was accusingly asking Him).

God does not need to excuse or justify Himself with anybody. As the Word clearly states,

"But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?"" Rom. 9:20

So, from an exquisitely legal point of view there is no fighting the fact that God is Sovereign over His creation and He can do as He pleases. Fortunately for us, the God Who has created space and time is good, full of mercy, long-suffering and of unsurpassable love. How do we then reconcile something like a Tsunami to a loving God? The answer is not as baffling as it may seem but it does take some effort to arrive at.

When disasters happen, we must always stand up and meditate. There are reasons and I am not talking about tectonic plates and continental shifts. In the Old Testament we see disasters befalling cities and whole countries. We observe that some of these were brought about by a swift judgment by God Himself (the great Flood, the plagues of Egypt and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorra are some immediate cases in point). Here we see that God Himself initiates the action and we are given reasons as to why He did. We see also cases of disasters which were caused by Satan (the sudden ruin brought upon Job). Let us remember that God, however, allowed Satan actions for He was working a greater good in the life of Job. So we are faced with direct and indirect actions of God, the result of which was sheer disaster.

In the New Testament of course we are presented with the prophecies of the book of The Apocalypse, which in scope and magnitude leave us breathless. So we are obliged to think that God, being all powerful, initiates or allows any and all happenings, including disasters. Of course, this does not sit well with the politically-correct crowd. Why, God is love (He surely is), He would never do such things (He surely would). The notion of a bonarious white robed and white bearded older being who sits on a throne and pats everybody on the shoulder and who looks the other way over sin and unrighteousness is not biblical but only carnally human. Man retracts from Judgment. Man does not want nor does he like to be criticized or measured by a higher standard. Therefore his first line of defense is to deny the existence of God or else to make Him to his own specifications. That of course is an illusion and illusions are followed by rude awakenings.

To Be Continued