"Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a “fool” so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”;and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.”
Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri reveals the name of the Messiah before he died! He was a renowned Mizrahi Haredi rabbi and Kabbalist who devoted his life to Torah study.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
MAY 21ST IS SAID TO BE THE END OF THE WORLD (Philadelphia Inquirer 1-17-2011). HAROLD CAMPING PREDICTS END OF THE WORLD, AGAIN "THIS TIME, HE SAYS THE REAL DAY OCT. 21ST 2011." (ABC News 10-11-2011. MATHEMATICS PROFESSOR SPEAKS ABOUT THE MAYANS AND THE 2012 APOCALYPSE (Pittsburg Morning Sun 9-16-2011). WILL THE WORLD END ON DEC. 21ST 2012? (Bangor Daily News 10-12-2011). All wrong!
Outline of events between now and the second coming of Jesus Christ.
According to the Bible:
• 6th Trumpet War -- Revelation 9:13-16
• Confirmation of The Covenant (Peace Treaty in the Middle East) Daniel 9:27, 11:22... This event starts the final seven year period before the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ.
*First 3 ½ years:
• Third Jewish Temple will be rebuilt on the Temple Mount. Revelation 11:1-2, 2 Thessalonians 2:4
• Jews will resume sacrifices Daniel 9:27
*Middle of 7 years:
• Abomination of Desolation Daniel 9:27, 11:31 and Matthew 24:15
*Final 3 ½ years:
• War in Heaven -- Revelation 12:7-10 and Daniel 12:1
• Antichrist is revealed - 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
• Reign of the antichrist begins -- Revelation 13:5 and Daniel 12:1
• Great Tribulation begins -- Matthew 24:15-21 and Daniel 12:1
• 5th Seal is opened -- Revelation 6:9-11
• Two Witnesses begin their ministries -- Revelation 11:3
• Mark of the Beast is implemented -- Revelation 13:15-18, 14:9-11 and 15:2
• End of 7 years...
• Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the Rapture -- Acts 1:10-12, Zechariah 14:3-4 and Matthew 24:30-31
7Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 8You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!
10Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
12Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned.
The following simple outline consists of God's plan of salvation. You can receive Jesus Christ into your life and know that your sins are forgiven and that you are His child. The promise of peace with God and eternal life is for those who enter into a relationship with Him through faith. Consider these ABCs of salvation:
A. Admit that you are a sinner and that you need God. The Bible says. " All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). God is serious about your sin because He is holy. We need to be serious about how we have broken God's laws by sinning against Him and others.
B. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (see Acts 16:31). To believe in God means more than simply acknowledging that He exists. The Bible shows us that true belief means to entrust yourself and give your life over to God. Jesus gave His all for us by dying on the cross for our sins. If we really believe, we will accept His forgiveness by giving our whole life to Him. The Bible says, "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord', and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).
C. Call upon the Lord. The Bible says, "Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13). To call upon the Lord means to cry out to Him in sincerity. If you truly see your need of God and believe that He can help you, you will call to Him. For example, if you were drowning in the middle of the ocean, and a boat came near you, you would cry out with all your remaining strength to be saved. That's exactly how we come to God...as those who desperately need His saving mercy.
Ask Jesus right now to forgive you and save you. Ask Him to come into your life -- and He will.
"No one wants to die; even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there." - Steve Jobs
He was a true icon of this generation. A creative genius, a visionary. A Cinderella man whose legacy will be remembered forever. A real pop star in every sense of the word. When Steve Jobs died, Apple's website announced that the world has lost an amazing human being. He had touched lives and essentially changed the world. A tsunami of praises heaped on him after his death doesn't seem to fade just yet. But if in his deathbed he still could not overcome his fear, then one can say, he was a scared man till he breathed his last.
Make no mistake, 'though I do not own an Ipad or an Iphone (I chose not to), I am a big fan of Jobs. I have read a lot about him - how his genius and innovation simply made life for people on this planet easier. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, given his monumental success was once a pundits' object of ridicule when he could not pull off a Job's charisma and spontaneity at a product launch. Even for brilliant techies and contemporaries, Jobs is someone who's being looked up to.
"What a waste to have lost such a genius at still a young age," others rationalize in deep resentment. Many fans just can't come to terms with the loss. Some complain that how in the world his billions could not save him from death. Others resent why a pancreas could not just be rendered redundant in this genetic age. It is unbelievable how people get so caught up with the things of temporal value that they forget there is one thing that lasts for eternity. Death for some is a hard fact to swallow, but sadly the tentacles of death taunting us is a terrifying reality one cannot just look over.
Even atheists at some point entertain the thoughts that what if indeed God exists. Certainly, we cannot lie to ourselves that death is a big hoax because at some point in our lives we have witnessed death happening - in the family, our closest friends, or even our beloved pets. We even hear those who have lost their loved ones saying, "we will soon be together in the after-life". Why so? One thing we can conclude though - they believe that there is life after death, and that they believe there is a place where people who died will see and join their loved ones.
Most of us feel doubtful about the things beyond us such as death, but the Bible is straightforward in its truth saying "For it is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27) Death is certain as we all agree, but where do we go after we die? Maybe we take the form of mist-like Casper and hang around in creeps yet with good intention? Or is it the perfect time to turn the tables on those vain fellows who had once made our lives miserable? Even our imaginations would sometimes take us to where we would choose to be - to some fairy tale realm, or us going through the process of reincarnating into a bird, a penguin or a dinosaur - yet none of this sort of things will ever come true.
The Bible is very clear about death and judgment. But how one can avoid judgment? Let us remember that God is a loving god and that He loves the world so much that He gave His one and only Son Jesus so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16). Therefore if one does not believe in Jesus there is a possibility that he will not have eternal life. And God speaks of those who do not believe that they are perishing into eternal damnation which is the lake of fire. But still God desires that everyone could get saved, and come to the knowledge of truth. (1Tim. 2:3,4)
Why is it important for humans to obtain salvation? God is holy and no sinner could get to heaven. But the Bible says we are all sinners, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3;23). "For there is none righteous, no, not one. (Romans 3:10) And if we all have sinned, what then do we deserve? The Bible answers, " For the wages of sin is death but God's gift is eternal life through Christ Jesus." (Romans 6:23)
But what about our good works? Don't they count as much? What about giving alms to the poor, giving money to the church, sponsoring a poor child's education, or giving a piece of hamburger to a beggar while your friend takes a photo of your generosity? Of course they are commendable. But God says, "we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteous acts are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). "For it is by grace that you have been saved, not by your works so that no man should boast (Ephesians 2: 8,9).
No matter how we many different roads we prefer to take for us to get to heaven, the Bible says there is only one way and that is through Jesus (John 14:6). But sadly, a lot of people prefer to take their own way only to fail when they get to the end. Not even Oprah, with all her wealth and influence could accept that there is only one Way and that is Jesus. The Bible says, it is Jesus who paid for our sins through His death on the cross. He took the punishment for our sins. Instead of us getting nailed on the cross for our sins, he took our place and made himself a sacrifice for us, so that anyone who believes in him will be saved.
God is love. That's true. That's why people refuse to come to terms that a loving God could put His creatures in hell, and that creates a heck of an argument. Yes, God is love that's why he sent Jesus His son to die for our sins, but let's not forget that God is also a righteous God. He cannot accept us sinners because He is holy that's why we are eternally separated from Him because of our sinful nature. But there is good news here. Jesus had bridged that gap between a holy God and a sinful man, so that all can get to heaven. And not only that, God himself calls us His own children if we accept Jesus into our lives because He is the one who sent Him (John 1:12), (John 12:44-50).
Yes, it is difficult to talk about death because it follows that you talk heaven and hell as well. Most people prefer to talk about the good things that a dead man had done when he was still alive. However, it is very sad to note that the tributes, the praises heaped on the dead cannot be appreciated by him because he had no awareness of what's happening on earth after he dies. A believer in Jesus after his last breath is taken to heaven while a person who dies without Jesus in his life goes to hell immediately, and this is the plain truth. (Matthew 25:46), (Matthew 13:41,50) The Bible is precise about the two destinations of man after he dies. The bad news is, there is no such thing as purgatory for those who have 'slightly' sinned. Clearly, salvation is by choice and not by destiny. Man has been given free will and intellect to decide. It's only two things. Whether we accept Jesus who died for our sins, or we reject Him and continue with our sinful deeds.
For us Steve Jobs' fans, I have here a thing to get excited about. If he had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ before he died, then we have something to rejoice for. He must be rejoicing in heaven now and have met the One who gifted him with enormous talent that impacted the world. But there's another to get sad about - if he died without Jesus in his life, he must be in a place of terrible torment now. To a rich and powerful person, it takes a great deal of humility before one recognizes that he is a sinner and that he needs Jesus. I hope Steve Jobs did just like that. For you wouldn't wish for anyone to go to hell, not even Hitler or Bin Laden, for it is a really really terrible place of torment. For a person who has been blessed to have known the truth, I wish that everybody should come to the knowledge of truth, and accept that Jesus is the only way for us to get to the place where everybody dreams to belong, for it is what God desires for us all. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus says, "Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me."
I am not a fan of this guy posting his thoughts on Steve Jobs' death, but what he had to say is something worth pondering about. You may also check out this blog by Daniel St. Pierre.
1If I speak in the tonguesof men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourself in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murder innocent men, who were not opposing you.
