HAS THE MOON TURNED TO BLOOD?

(Eurodollar: “My Final Thought”)

There’s been plenty of talk in some Christian circles over the most recent lunar eclipses, particularly among Pentecostals. The claim is that the latest “Blood Moons” not only coincide with Jewish feasts-a rare occurrence-but are also likely to be, as they have been in times past, harbingers of important events affecting the Jewish nation. Therefore, the reasoning goes, this is that which is spoken of in Bible prophecy:

“The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord” (Joel 2: 31).

Well, so far, the sun hasn’t “turned to darkness”, a necessary accompaniment to the Biblical “Blood Moon.”

The book of Revelation describes the moon turning red (Revelation 6:12-14). It occurs upon the opening of the sixth seal, when the earth will really be “in the thick of it”: world-wide war, earthquakes, famine, plagues, persecution of believers, and the sky itself rolling up, and “every mountain and island” being removed from its place. The blood moons we’ve witnessed so far surely pale (excuse the pun) in significance to the apocalyptic events which will produce the real blood red moon.

Anyone who’s looked at my blog before will know that I believe the times spoken of in Bible prophecy regarding the return of Jesus Christ are approaching, and I’m more and more convinced as I see the ongoing trend of events in the Middle-East. Most significantly, the nations of the world reject Israel’s determination to retain its ancient capital and to defend itself against perpetual aggression.

However, I’m very skeptical about “cut and paste” fulfillments which probably aren’t fulfillments at all, but are more likely normal, naturally occurring phenomena. In my more cynical moments, I can’t help wondering if they aren’t opportunities for more book royalties, DVD sales, and TV specials.

EXPERTIUS WRONGIMANUS AND THE BIG BANG

There’s a certain disease which has reached pandemic proportions, and I’m not talking about the one being imported to the West from Africa (why is the President not stopping flights from the affected nations?). I mean the one which affects “experts” negatively, so that they get the most simple facts mixed up or just plain wrong. How often, over the years, I ‘ve heard of new “conclusive” evidence for evolution being discovered, and then quietly retracted later.

In March, the world’s news media reported that “smoking gun” evidence for the Big Bang had finally been found (again). The BBC’s “Today” program reported that the US BICEP team said it had found a pattern on the sky left by the rapid expansion of space just fractions of a second after the Big Bang.

Professor Steven Hawking remarked that the finding was “another confirmation of inflation”, the idea that the Universe experienced an exponential growth spurt in its first fraction of a second.

However, in June the Institute for Creation Research, in an article titled “‘Smoking Gun’ Proof of Big Bang Already In Doubt” written by Jake Hebert, Ph.D., reported that “only two months after this ‘discovery’ a number of secular scientists have become increasingly skeptical” http://www.icr.org/article/8177/

The Beeb has just reluctantly admitted “…new data has found that the group may have underestimated the confounding effects of dust in our own galaxy”.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29326918

In September,  in an article called “Another Big Bang Blunder”,  ICR, commenting on the over-exuberant March pronouncement,  reported:

“One prominent theoretical physicist even called it a “Big Bang blunder” and noted that the BICEP2 researchers made their dramatic announcement to the world before their paper had even been peer-reviewed by qualified scientists. This was a serious breach of scientific ethics and protocol. Worse yet, researchers from King’s College London are now claiming that accepting the BICEP2 results as legitimate would imply that the universe should have collapsed back in on itself shortly after the Big Bang, so that our universe should not even exist!” (see the article for references): http://www.icr.org/i/pdf/af/af1409.pdf

EXPERTIUS WRONGIMANUS AND THE RAPTURE

This very day I heard a famous preacher on the radio, answering a question on whether or not the Church would go through the Tribulation. He pointed to the book of Revelation for his “conclusive” evidence for the “Pre-Trib.” Rapture, saying that the first three chapters are all about the Church, the fourth is about the Rapture (funny, I can’t see the Rapture of the Church there), then, said the “expert”:

“…the Church is never mentioned again in the whole book”.

Hmm. He must have a different version of the Bible, because mine says this in chapter 22 of Revelation:

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches…” (Revelation 22:16).

The entire book of Revelation, says Jesus, is a “testimony for the churches.”

I’ve written in a previous post that “saints” are seen throughout Revelation, with the word having the same meaning as it has throughout the Bible, and that “those who hold to the testimony of Jesus” are seen to be persecuted at a time when, according to our “experts” the Church is supposed to be in heaven.

I have one little bit of advice: test the experts, and don’t blindly trust everything they say.

A WORLD BEING TURNED UPSIDE DOWN

A Lincoln, Nebraska middle school staffer gave teachers training documents advising them not to use “gendered expressions” by calling students “boys and girls” or “ladies and gentlemen,”

Unfortunately, this is a far-from-unique occurrence. You may want to check whether your daughter’s school is allowing boys into the girls’ locker rooms and rest rooms.

http://watchdog.org/174768/gender-inclusive/

WHEN BAD IS REALLY GOOD

Places named “badlands” in the US are, as far as I’m concerned, some of the most beautiful places on earth. I call them “goodlands”.

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