I will be bringing some "LARGE" bluegill fillets, Home fried taters. Vidala onions, Hopefully AuntiE WILL HAVE SOME BLACK COFFEE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3tdFcN7Z9Y&list=RDMM&index=4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsALqGxkieg&list=RDMM&start_radio=1&rv=GGzj37OgQNI

This is my point. I agree with all the above. Jesus gave His disciples a shake the dust option if they were not received concerning His Word and teaching. WHY CONTINUE TO CAST YOUR PEARLS BEFORE THE SWINE?

The Bible tells us to PURSUE PEACE with all, not to have foolish disputes with one another. One thing for sure, we may now see through a glass darkly however, one day we all shall see the truth clearly. Then and only then will the Father of truth decide who is right and who is wrong. Why waste time trying to see who is smarter, wiser, or more powerful? No one can deny what John 3:16 says. It is a shame to dispute in front of people who may be on the verge of believing in God.

Amen

Amen

LIVING IN GOD'S LOVE.
EPH. 5:1-2

THE CHRISTIAN WALK IS SOMEWHAT OF A PARADOX. ON THE ONE HAND WE ARE TO BE LEADERS, BY THAT I MEAN WE ARE TO SET A GOOD EXAMPLE TO THOSE WHO ARE LOST.

WE ARE TO BE BOLD IN OUR WITNESSING OF THE GRACE, LOVE AND MERCY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

THEN ON THE OTHER HAND WE ARE TO BE FOLLOWERS. OBEDIENT TO THE WORD OF GOD.

SUBMISSIVE TO THE SPIRIT.

ON THE ONE HAND WE ARE LIKENED TO SOLDIERS IN THE ARMY OF THE KING OF KINGS,

WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST, EMPOWERED TO SPEAK FOR THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD.

THEN ON THE OTHER HAND WE ARE TO BE LIKE CHILDREN, TRUSTING, AND INNOCENT IN OUR FAITH.

HOW CAN WE KNOW WHICH HAT TO WEAR AND WHEN TO WEAR IT??

THE THING THAT MAKES THE CHRISTIAN DIFFERENT AND ABLE TO RESPOND TO WHATEVER SITUATION OR CIRCUMSTANCE THAT COMES ALONG, IS THE FACT THAT WE OPERATE, OR AT LEAST SHOULD BE OPERATING IN GOD'S LOVE.

THE ONE THING THAT WILL HINDER THE WALK OF A CHRISTIAN MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE IS TO LOSE SIGHT OF THE FACT THAT GOD IS LOVE.

IN WRITING TO THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS, PAUL REMINDS US TO BE IMITATORS OF GOD.

THE KING JAMES VERSION SAYS BE FOLLOWERS OF GOD.

THE ONE MESSAGE RUNNING THROUGHOUT THIS ENTIRE BIBLE FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION IS GOD'S LOVE.

SO IT CAN SAFELY BE SAID THAT THE ONE THING THAT EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD SHOW FOURTH IN HIS OR HER LIFE IS THE LOVE OF GOD.

WHO ARE THE OBJECTS OF GOD'S LOVE? WHO ARE WE TO SHARE THIS GODLIKE LOVE WITH? ROM 5:8 TELLS US THAT GOD DEMONSTRATES HIS OWN LOVE TOWARD US, IN THAT WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US.

LET US NEVER FORGET THAT GOD LOVED US WHILE WE WERE YET A LONG WAY OFF THE MARK, GOD LOVED US WHEN WE WERE CAUGHT UP IN SIN. AND IF WE ARE TO BE IMITATORS OR FOLLOWERS OF GOD WE TOO SHOULD HAVE A LOVE AND CONCERN FOR THOSE WHO ARE LOST.

HOW DOES GOD EXPRESS THAT LOVE?
WITH A LOVE THAT IS DIVINE, ALL EMBRACING, LOVE THAT IS STRONGER THAN DEATH, HELL, AND THE GRAVE.

GOD LOVES US MORE THAN THE FALLEN ANGELS, GOD LOVES US EVEN MORE THAN WE LOVE OURSELVES, GOD LOVES US MORE THAN EVEN THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN, BELOVED GOD LOVES US MORE THAN HE LOVES HIMSELF, HE WAS WILLING TO BE MORE THAN THE WORD, HE WAS WILLING TO TAKE THE FORM OF SINFUL FLESH, TO BECOME A MAN, TO GIVE HIMSELF AS THE SACRIFICE THAT WOULD PAY THE PRICE FOR OUR SIN.

WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE OF GOD'S LOVE?
PAUL TELLS US HE GAVE HIMSELF UP FOR US...V-2.MAN'S LOVE OPENS UP GRADUALLY, CAREFULLY, USUALLY MANIFESTING ITSELF IN GIFTS OF INCREASING VALUE.

BUT THE LOVE OF CHRIST GIVES ALL AT THE FIRST. ALL THE RICHES OF GOD ARE EMBODIED IN HIMSELF, THINK OF IT JESUS GAVE HIMSELF FOR US.

HE GAVE HIMSELF AS A VOLUNTARY OFFERING. HIS LIFE AND WORK TO GOD WAS AN ACCEPTABLE GIFT, WELL PLEASING IN HIS SIGHT.. TIME AND AGAIN AS JESUS WAS TRAVELING THROUGH HIS EARTHLY MINISTRY, GOD SPOKE AND SAID THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.

JESUS OFFERED HIMSELF WITHOUT SPOT, HE WAS TESTED AND TRIED IN EVERY WAY THAT YOU AND I ARE YET HE WAS WITHOUT SIN. GOD WAS INFINITELY SATISFIED WITH THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON.

HE GAVE HIMSELF AS A VICARIOUS SACRIFICE. THIS 16 CYLINDER WORD SIMPLY MEANS HE WAS OUR SUBSTITUTE. HE TOOK OUR PLACE. I KNOW THAT MAY NOT SEEM LIKE IT MEANS MUCH SINCE IT HAPPENED ALL THOSE YEARS AGO.

BUT LET ME TELL YOU WHAT IT MEANS. THE BIBLE SAYS IT IS APPOINTED UNTO MAN ONCE TO DIE, AND AFTER THAT THE JUDGEMENT

DEATH IS UNCERTAIN ENOUGH BY ITSELF. BUT,JESUS LOVED US SO MUCH THAT HE TOOK OUR JUDGEMENT AWAY.

SOME OF US, PERHAPS ALL OF US MAY HAVE TO STEP THROUGH DEATHS DOOR, IF THE LORD DOESN'T RETURN BEFORE. BUT NONE WHO ARE SAVED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB EVER HAVE TO FEAR BEING JUDGED FOR SIN.

THE BIBLE SAYS THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH, THIS IS DEATH IN THE WORSE SENSE. THIS IS CONDEMNATION TO THE LAKE OF FIRE, ETERNAL SEPARATION FROM GOD.

THAT IS WHAT JESUS DID FOR US ON THE CROSS. HE GAVE HIMSELF AS A FRAGRANT AROMA.

THOSE WHO FIRST READ PAUL'S LETTER WOULD KNOW WELL OF WHAT HE WAS SPEAKING. A FRAGRANT AROMA SPOKE OF A PROPER SACRIFICE OFFERED UP TO GOD AT THE TEMPLE.

BUT TO US IT IS SYMBOLIC OF THE PLEASING CHARACTER AND LIFE OF JESUS TO GOD.THERE IS A GREAT DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SAVOR OR SMELL OF OUR CARNAL LIVES AND THE CHARACTER OF JESUS.

PAUL THE GREAT APOSTLE WRITES, IN ME THAT IS IN MY FLESH DWELLETH NO GOOD THING. BUT
IN CHRIST, DWELLS ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD. WE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM.

THAT BRINGS US TO THE HOW OF THE MATTER. WE SAID IN THE INTRODUCTION THAT WE ARE TO BE LEADERS YET FOLLOWERS, SOLDIERS AND AMBASSADORS, YET CHILDREN.

THAT IS HOW WE CAN BE IMITATORS OF GOD. IT IS BECAUSE OF THE LOVE OF CHRIST THAT CONSTRAINS US TO BE IMITATORS OF HIM WHO LOVED US.

WE ARE TO IMITATE HIS LOVE, HIS PATIENCE, HIS PURITY, HIS DEVOTION, HIS SELF CONTROL, AND HIS ZEAL.

AT TIMES WHAT POOR IMITATORS WE ARE. MAY WE ALL ALLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT TO WORK IN US HIS OWN GOOD WILL, THAT WE MAY BE CONFORMED INTO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON. IT'S MY PRAYER THAT EVERYONE HERE KNOWS THE LOVE OF WHICH WE WERE SPEAKING of. THINK OF IT. GOD LOVES YOU EVEN IF YOU ARE CAUGHT UP IN THE VILEST OF SIN. HE HAS ALREADY PAID THE PRICE FOR YOUR WORST SIN.HE LOVED YOU ENOUGH TO DO IT WILLINGLY

HE LOVED YOU ENOUGH TO TAKE YOUR PLACE. HE HAS DONE EVERYTHING NECESSARY TO PLEASE GOD THE FATHER. HE WANTS TO USE YOU TO SHOW OTHERS HIS LOVE..HOW CAN YOU SAY NO TO ONE WHO LOVES YOU SO MUCH? JESUS IS WAITING TODAY FOR YOU TO COME ACCEPT HIS OFFER OF ETERNAL SALVATION. WON'T YOU GIVE HIM YOUR HEART TODAY.

Linda don't get Arch started.

Amen

Three Simple Metrics To Gauge If We Are In The End Times
News Image BY TODD HAMPSON/TODDHAMPSON.COM OCTOBER 07, 2021
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Various industries use key metrics to gauge the overall health and trajectory of trends that impact their health and stability.

Financial analysts check the various alphabet indexes. Farmers keep an eye on the short and long-term weather forecasts. Movie production companies, TV networks, and streaming services perform constant data analysis related to the audience's felt needs and entertainment preferences. You get the picture. Name the industry and it is guaranteed there are a handful of key metrics they keep an eye on to forecast the future and make decisions.

Christianity is not an industry (or at least it shouldn't be), but as believers, there are a handful of key metrics to keep our eyes on in order to understand where we are (generally speaking) on God's timetable. Before I get to those metrics, I want to argue the case that God does indeed have a plan--including a specific timeline that only He knows. I dare not date-set (Matthew 24:36), but God has. Here's the proof.

In Acts chapter 1--wedged in between the question from the apostles about Jesus if he was about to restore the kingdom to Israel and just before the familiar verse where Jesus gave his followers what is known as the great commission (1:8)--Jesus said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority (Acts 1:7)."

Did you catch that? By logic, Jesus implied that the Father has times (plural) and dates (plural) set--including the day Israel's kingdom would be restored (and by extension other specific end-time dates).

The word used for times is Chronos from which we get the word chronological. It has to do with sovereignly managed sequences. The word used for dates is kairos or appointed times. It has to do with specific opportune times when things have come to a head (kairos comes from the word kara or head).

Think of Chronos as the sequential time a stalk of wheat needs to grow. Think of kairos as the moment the wheat stalk sprouts its head and is ready for picking. God is sovereignly involved in both, but God-ordained Chronos events always ultimately lead to God-ordained kairos events--when things have reached their designated end.

If you think about it, that makes total sense. God is (among other attributes) omniscient--all-knowing. He is also outside of time, for He created it. In any case, God the Father knows ALL of the key dates (rapture, return, start of the kingdom age, etc.), but we do not. We walk by faith as we wait. But notice also, that Jesus didn't dissuade them from asking such questions about the timing of eschatological events.

We find the same phenomena when the disciples asked Jesus about end-time events in what is known as the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21) where Jesus provided his second-longest recorded teaching--and it was all about the signs and details of the end in response to the disciple's questions!

For the apostles, they were not to worry about either, because in the very next verse (1:8) they hear Jesus's last words before he left the earth that they would be his witnesses to the world--beginning where they were (in Jerusalem) and then ultimately to the ends of the earth. (By the way, Acts 1:8 also serves as the outline for the book of Acts--beginning in Jerusalem and ending in Rome.)

This "witnessing" would take time. We call that the church age. But following the church age will be the kingdom age. The Chronos of the church age would have a logical kairos end before the kingdom age can begin. We seem to be nearing the kairos moments related to the end of the church age.

Now back to those metrics. There are a handful of key factors we can keep an eye on to gauge where we are on God's timetable. We can't know the day or hour, but Scripture tells us we can know the season (Matthew 16:3, Luke 12:56, Hebrews 10:25).

This list of metrics is by no means exhaustive but is meant to provide an easy-to-follow, clear, and compelling list that can show us how close we must be. If you have never studied eschatology but are--perhaps for the first time--realizing that there is something different about the times in which we live, then this post is for you!

Here are 3 simple, clear, compelling metrics to evaluate for yourself to see if you think we are rapidly heading for the kairos moment of the church age as things seem to be coming to a head.

1. ISRAEL

Every Old Testament prophet except for Jonah predicted that Israel would become a nation again in the end times after a long period of time when the Jewish people were scattered all over the world with no homeland. This is exactly what happened on May 14, 1948. That was a kairos moment--an appointed date. In fact, one Old Testament prophet said that Israel would be "born in a day (Isaiah 66:8)."

The prophecies that foretold Israel would be reborn all describe this super-sign event in the context of the end-times. Joel 3:1-2 even provides time clues, letting us know that when Israel would become a nation again, that would be in the same general time frame that all end-time events would take place.

Joel 3:1-2
"In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will put them on trial for what they did to my inheritance, my people Israel because they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.

There are scores of specific details the Bible prophesied about Israel and the Jewish people both chronologically and in terms of special specific appointed moments that were prophesied in Scripture. If you have never taken the time to study this aspect of the Bible, I highly recommend it. Your faith will be strengthened and your eyes will be opened like never before.

2. GLOBALISM (vs. National Sovereignty)

When most people hear the term globalism, they usually just think of the modern interconnectivity of global trade, commerce, travel, and culture. But what I'm referring to here is the widespread, specific, and intentional efforts of the world's most powerful influencers (international bankers, political leaders, and global-scale business leaders) to bring about a one-world government.

Please fact-check me on this. Do not take my word for it. Dig into the founding documents, websites, articles, and interviews of people in (and/or connected to) these organizations and initiatives and you will see that it is an established fact that they are trying (more now than ever) to bring about a one-world global government.

It is important to note that this is not a left vs. right issue. Prominent people from both sides of the aisle are globalists.

The World Economic Forum
The Great Reset
The United Nations
The 2030 Agenda
The Council on Foreign Relations
The Trilateral Commission
The Council of the Americas
The Americas Society
The Forum of the Americas
The Institute for International Economics

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Those are what you might call open globalist groups and initiatives. There are many smaller entities that coordinate to assist the organizations and initiatives listed above. So, what does this have to do with eschatology?

Well, the Bible teaches that after the rapture the chaos will quickly lead to a one-world government (see Daniel chapters 2 and 7; Revelation chapters 13, 17) which will install a single leader whom we commonly refer to as the antichrist. Don't let the familiarity of those terms and passages breed contempt or form caricatured notions in your mind. Look around you as you research the various globalist initiatives.

In order for a one-world government to almost immediately form after the rapture--it is necessary that the plans and framework for such a thing must already be in place. And they are--along with all of the technology necessary to pull it off. These facts are out in the open for all who are willing to take a look. This explains why great lengths are currently being taken to weaken America's national sovereignty.

Our country is quickly becoming a shell of its former self. This fact is sad but true--and it lines up with Scripture as you see further below. Thankfully, our true citizenship is in Heaven. We can draw comfort from that even as our heart breaks as we watch our once strong country weaken at an unprecedented rate.

3. THE EZEKIEL 38 WAR

I'll make this section as brief as I can, but if you have never studied it or heard about it before, you'll need to take some time to process the details. Ezekiel 38 and 39 contain the most detailed account of any end-time battle. I have written about it extensively in books and articles, so I'll keep it brief and high-level for the purposes of this article. Ezekiel 38 and 39 detail an end-time battle that will take place after the people of Israel are back in their homeland having been scattered and mistreated all over the world for a long period of time. Check. That part of the prophecy is fulfilled.

After returning to their homeland and recovering from war (ie. WWII, Israel's War of Independence, The Six-Day War of 1966, the Yom Kippur War, etc.) and becoming militarily strong and financially secure (check/fulfilled), a group of nations that do not border Israel will be led by Russia, Iran, and Turkey to attack Israel specifically from her north--but Syria will not be one of them.

All of the nations listed are Islamic nations who currently want to destroy Israel--except for Russia who will be there leading the pack to take something valuable from Israel (oil, gas, natural resources, technology, et all). Russia will serve as a guard for the others, but the main partnership will be with Russia, Iran, and Turkey. This partnership is currently in place and Syria is merely a puppet state being run by those 3 nations.

On the opposite side of the equation, nobody will come to Israel's rescue (but God...and He will show up in a major way). Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, England, and "her young lions" (possibly America) will merely protest the invasion but will not come to Israel's aid in any meaningful way.

If this attack were to occur today--this is exactly what would take place. The stage for this end-time confrontation is almost fully set. I believe it will be a power grab in the aftermath of the rapture. Even the recent horrific abandonment of the people (and billions of dollars of US military equipment) of Afghanistan further set the stage for Ezekiel 38.

The Convergence of Events

Those are 3 metrics we can keep an eye on with relative simplicity to see how close we are to the events of the tribulation--and keep in mind that the rapture will occur prior to the tribulation period. This unprecedented convergence of events (and there are dozens more) HAS NEVER BEFORE OCCURRED IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. That should get our attention.

Before I close, I'd like you to read one more section of Scripture carefully and slowly and see if it does not describe our day exactly. These are specifically stated as end-time attributes. They have always been true in pockets and in seasons, but in our day these conditions are global and worsening--at the very same time, everything else is converging.

In 2 Timothy 3:1-5, we read, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--having a form of godliness but denying its power. "

Now For Some Good News

Lastly, some good news. God's appointed times are in His hands--and so is your life. You are here at this time on purpose and for a reason. We need not fear. I've been told that the Bible says 365 times not to fear--one for each day of the year, plus an extra one in case you need a spare! We can rest assured that God will act at the very time we are ready and his perfect timing has arrived. If you do not know Christ, now is the time to receive him as your savior. Don't wait. The massive convergence of specifically prophesied end-time events is upon us. Turn to Christ today.

Originally published at ToddHampson.com - reposted with permission.

2 Cor. 4:4

Amen