The problem is that babies dirty diapers for just one reason: they are babies, and that’s what babies do. It’s the nature of the beast. We are sinners. We screwed up the wonderful country that God gave us because we are sinners. If He restores America again, should anyone in his right mind think that we, or some future generation of Americans won’t do it again?

The history of man shows us over and over again that what man controls, man corrupts and ruins. I heard a preacher once that said that God gave each of Noah’s sons the opportunity to rule the world. It was Ham’s turn first, with Egypt. Then was Shem’s turn. The Arabs and Israeli’s are all Semites. The world experienced the glory of Babylon and of the kingdoms of David and Solomon. Then, ph-t-t-t. For the last two millinnea, Japeth has been ruling the world. In giving America to humanity, God gave a greater gift than He has given any other people, for we had the finished work of Jesus Christ under-girding our nation — not a promise, as David and Solomon had, but a finished work.

The purpose of human rule of the earth is to demonstrate for time and eternity that man without our Lord Jesus Christ can’t rule himself or his world. Those who are praying for the restoration of America are praying “Give us another chance.” Why should He? Haven’t we proven His point? Indeed we have.

One other point. Many of those who pray for God to give America another chance are not praying so because they want the glory of God exhibited in their lives and in the life of their nation, but are praying a prayer of repentance because they fear losing their toys. They want God to lavish the blessings on them that He has lavished upon our forefathers. Those who pray for America’s restoration do not have a vision for our Lord’s soon return. Otherwise, they would not pray as they do.

I’ll continue to pray with increasing earnestness, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” If there is time before the rapture to (re)establish a nation that fears Him and He wishes to do so, I’ll be grateful and will want to move there. But my focus is on His promised return.

At our breakfast table this morning, my wife and I were discussing how a man who has been regarded as responsible for his company’s success for thirty years said something he shouldn’t have said. People contacted the company and said, “I’ll never buy your product again.” The offender was fired. The offender was wrong. He should not have said what he did. He has been judged. But those who demanded his “execution” — are they not aware that they have set themselves up before the Almighty to be condemned for one misstep after years of good behavior?

Have you determined that a person in your life doesn’t deserve to be forgiven for pain they have caused you? Then God will judge that you don’t deserve to be forgiven for pain that you have caused.

It is not by your standard — “I’m as good as the next person.” — that you will be judged. It is by God’s standard — “For whoever shall keep the whole (Ten Commandment) law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all”.

When you are about to judge someone, whether that person has offended you, or whether you have read about that person in the papers, ask yourself whether you are willing to have God judge you in the same way.  If you would not be condemned, then don’t condemn.  You are probably already guilty of having condemned others.  Pray to Him who paid the price for your sins on the cross.  Ask His forgiveness.  Acknowledge Him as your Lord.  Then, go and sin no more.

O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.

How many centuries, millenia really, did the Jewish people look forward to the coming of Messiah? Some (the Sadducees) had ceased believing that He would literally come. The leaders among the Pharisees knew that He’d come, but they had fixed ideas of how He would come and what He would be like. Jesus did not fit their preconceived ideas, so they rejected Him.

The simple people, who heard and believed God’s Word every Sabbath continued to hope for Him, but they didn’t have the Pharisees’ preconceptions, so they were open to Whomever God might send. Still, under Roman oppression, they feared that He would not come or that He would not come in time to deliver them.

Imagine the joy of the shepherds when they were told that the Object of their hopes and fears was fulfilled in Bethlehem. That He was lying in a manger meant that He was accessible to them, the lowest caste of Jewish society in that day. The Lord said nothing to the spirit of the High Priest, but He did to the spirit of Simeon, who had been promised that he would see the Lord’s Messiah as well as to Anna, an otherwise unknown prophetess. (Reference Luke 2)

In the years that followed, people received Jesus on the flimsiest evidence. Nathaniel acknowledged Jesus because the Lord saw him before Nate was within Jesus’ vision. People rejected Him who got the strongest evidence. The Pharisees, who could not deny the resurrection of Lazarus, thought to deal with the situation by killing Lazarus.

Fast forward two thousand years (give or take a few years) — to now. There are great theologians who deny that Jesus will come again. Do you think that the pope or members of the college of cardinals are sitting with baited breath waiting for Jesus to come and occupy St. Peter’s throne? These and other amillennialists aren’t looking for Him. They have things under control. Evangelical leaders who teach that the Bible is God’s Word aren’t looking for Him. Pre-tribs believe that He’ll come some day, but they have no idea when. Mid-tribs and post-tribs know that we’re not in the Great Tribulation, so He can’t come now. They exercise their ministries as though He weren’t coming.

So, who is looking for Him? The nobodies. The simple folk. Those who believe that something is true just because it’s in the Bible. Those who long for God’s righteousness to rule in their world. Those who love Jesus as a bride does her groom. We know that He will come. We hope that He will come soon. We fear that He won’t come soon. The world that we know is so much like the world that Jesus came into. Some things just don’t change.

Maranatha!

We wrote a letter that we distributed to our friends, business contacts and social contacts.  We asked them to receive Jesus as Lord, so that they might be raptured and thus avoid that terrifying period called by the Bible, the Great Tribulation, the Big Trouble.  Some folks replied saying that we were crazy.  As far as I know, none turned to Christ.  But their blood is not on our hands.  We did what we could.

Now, we’re at a point almost a year later.  The conditions that made us think He might come last year are even more pronounced this year, namely the fact that Israel stands alone, with no friends among the nations, but with many enemies who have every intention of destroying God’s people, if they are able.

We think that there’s a good argument to be made that the time of Jesus appearance will be at this time of year, but that’s not what I want to discuss now, for arguments are, in the final analysis, useless.  We should all be ready now.  We should be ready, not in order to escape the terrible time to come, but because we love our Lord and Savior!

One of the things that many believers are doing is to put references on the Internet so that those who are shocked into reality by the disappearance of their loved ones will have some idea of what they might do.  Here is a video that addresses itself to people left behind.

I have some understanding of why my marriage is successful and I’ve heard my friends say things that really should be addressed. I decided to write to them, because what I have to say is generally applicable to both.

I found these words very difficult to write because I don’t like to put myself into a position where my words, and perhaps, myself, may be judged or rejected. Nevertheless, brotherly love requires that I share what I believe that God has taught me.

As you ask the Lord for a wife, immediately a question comes up. Why should He answer your prayer? What are your reasons for making such a request? An obvious, and very general, answer might be, “To meet my needs.” It is true that God created man to need a wife, but is this a good enough reason for a Christian man to request that His Lord give him a wife?

To ask this question another way, consider the admonition in Ephesians 5:25,

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,…

“Lord, give me someone for whom I might lay down my life.” Can you, from your heart pray this prayer? I might remind you (for you’ve already been taught this), the admonitions of Scripture are not suggestions; they are commandments. I, as a married man, am subject to judgment in ways that single men are not, and I tremble, for I know my failures. (My wife does, too.)

I saw a cartoon when I was young, where a teen-aged boy was boasting to a girl, “I’d die for my faith!”. To which she replied, “Then why don’t you live by it?” One of the things that made this exchange memorable is that time has shown me just how very good women are at reminding men of their shortcomings.

One of the things I’ve noticed about those admonitions in Scripture that relate to Christian maturity is that they seem to tell people to do the opposite of what our sinful, human nature would direct us. The natural thing to do is not necessarily sinful in the normally accepted sense, but it causes us to fall short of what our Lord would call on us to do, which is the Biblical definition of sin. Here are examples:

It is the natural tendency for men to find their interests outside their homes and to use their homes as places of rest and refreshment before going out again. Most men do that. But, if a man is going to love his wife, giving himself for her, he’s going to have to focus much more on his home for that is her primary sphere of interest. He’s going to have to be pro-active in showing his love, i.e. in cleaning up messes and taking out the trash. Women are wierd, I know, but they actually see those things as expressions of love.

Remember the cartoon where a hubby is reading the newspaper and his wife comes down the hall behind him asking, “Honey, does this dress make me look fat?” Without taking his eyes or mind from the paper, he answers, “Yes, dear.” As he digs his way out of his crumpled paper, he asks his furious wife, “What?” You must not do that.

Women need communication. Sharing information at the emotional level is something that is a part of female human nature. She wants to talk with her husband. She needs to explain her viewpoints even when she and her husband are agreed. She needs him to listen to her and to engage her sincerely.

Conversation is something that men are almost universally poor at. Can we do it? Yes, but it’s easier to say that we can’t, for if we can get our wives to accept that as a fact, we can park in front of the TV or computer and forget our homes and families. Let me ask this: You are church and you need to share your heart with your Lord and Saviour. Our faith tells us that He is always there to hear our prayers. Suppose He was available for us in the same way that most men are available for their wives. Would your faith be the same as it is now?

Brothers, I’ve suggested that you write blogs to get practice in sharing what is on your mind and heart. To say that you can talk about the Lord, but not about yourself, doesn’t cut it for that makes you a lecturer, not a communicator. If you cannot tell people of any practical experience you’ve had with the Lord, how can you convince anyone else that our Lord is ready to minister to them? One thing I know. If you keep your thoughts and feelings bottled up now, you are not going to open up to your wife as soon as you stand before the preacher and say “I do.” I’m certain that it is more difficult for some than it is for others. You cannot meet your wife’s need if you refuse to make the effort. The question that you need to answer is how important it is to you that you meet the needs of the wife you want God to give you.

Some men, when considering a woman that would be acceptable to them as a wife, eliminate from consideration certain categories of women. I once said that I’d never marry a woman who was older than I. The Lord gave me just such a woman and our marriage was a Heaven on Earth, thanks to her. Had I stuck to my guns, I’d have lost so much! (I lost her to cancer.) Do you not want any woman who already has children? It could be that the woman the Lord has for you does have children and by refusing to consider her, you eliminate God’s choice. Will you examine yourself and see whether your refusal of such a woman might be because of what such a marriage might cost you? If “self” is the reason, why would you expect God to give you anyone?

The English word “husband” is loaded. To suggest that I am my wife’s husband is completely different than saying that I am her man. Those familiar with the Authorized (King James) Bible have seen the word “husbandman” and understand it to be “farmer”. Observe the farmer at work. He does whatever is necessary for that over which he is responsible, be it crops or cattle, to become the best that it can become, sometimes at great cost to himself. So is the husband to be toward his wife. He is to do whatever is necessary so that his wife and family might become the best that they are able to be. Will they always cooperate? As one who has cared for goats, I can affirm that they do not.

As I was growing up, I often heard Ephesians 5:22-24 preached:

Wives submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church; and He is the Saviour of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

I have heard men excuse themselves from loving their wives as they ought because their wives were not subject to them.

The fact is that most women today see the whole concept of submitting themselves to their husbands as some sort of oppression and respond with an implied, “Dream on, big boy.” I had a wife once who declared that she could not be subject to me because she judged me to be an inadequate husband, so this is a two way street. (That marriage didn’t last.) Are there any women who practice a life of submission to their husbands? I can say unequivocally, “Yes.”, but it takes a special grace for a woman to be one, just as it takes a special grace for a man to love his wife as Christ loved the church. Would we want our Lord to excuse Himself from caring for us because of the degree to which the church is, in practice, subject to Him? My question for guys is, “Dare you ask God for a wife who will be subject to you, if you will not love her as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her?” Mind you, if you can declare that you will be a Christ-like husband by creating your own definition of what that means, then your wife is entitled to create the definition of what being in submission to you means. To have a wife that will bring you joy, you must be a man who will bring her joy.

When God brought Pirjo into my life, it soon became apparent that He had been working for a long time to prepare us for one another. We needed to do very little “adjusting” to one another’s ways, for we fit each other as though we’d been reared in the same village, even though we had been reared one third of the way around the world from each other. These “ways” include some very important things, but also many little things that make life together pleasant but would not make or break a relationship.

Now, go and tell God why He should give you a godly wife.

Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes when she pulled open the florist shop door, against a November gust of wind. Her life had been as sweet as a spring breeze and then, in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a “minor” automobile accident stole her joy. This was Thanksgiving week and the time she should have delivered their infant son. She grieved over their loss. Troubles had multiplied.

Her husband’s company “threatened” to transfer his job to a new location. Her sister had called to say that she could not come for her long awaited holiday visit. What’s worse, Sandra’s friend suggested that Sandra’s grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. “She has no idea what I’m feeling,” thought Sandra with a shudder “Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?” she wondered. “For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended me? For an airbag that saved my life, but took my child’s?”

“Good afternoon, can I help you?” Sandra was startled by the approach of the shop clerk. “I . . . I need an arrangement,” stammered Sandra.

“For Thanksgiving? I’m convinced that flowers tell stories, ” she continued. “Are you looking for something that conveys ‘gratitude’ this Thanksgiving?”

“Not exactly!” Sandra blurted out. “In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.” Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the clerk said, “I have the perfect arrangement for you.” Then the bell on the door rang, and the clerk greeted the new customer…

“Hi, Barbara, let me get your order.” She excused herself and walked back to a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and what appeared to be long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly s nipped: there were no flowers.

“Do you want these in a box?” asked the clerk. Sandra watched – was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed.

“Yes, please,” Barbara replied with an appreciative smile. “You’d think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn’t be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again,” she said, as she gently tapped her chest.

Sandra stammered, “Ah, that lady just left with . . . uh . . . she left with no flowers!”

“That’s right,” said the clerk. “I cut off the flowers. That’s the ‘Special’. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet. Barbara came into the shop three years ago, feeling much as you do today,” explained the clerk. “She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had just lost her father to cancer; the family business was failing; her son had gotten into drugs; and she was facing major surgery. That same year I had lost my husband,” continued the clerk. “For the first time in my life, I had to spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too much debt to allow any travel.”

“So what did you do?” asked Sandra.

“I learned to be thankful for thorns,” answered the clerk quietly. “I’ve always thanked God for the good things in my life and I never questioned Him why those good things happened to me, but when the bad stuff hit, I cried out, ‘Why? Why me?!’ It took time for me to learn that the dark times are important to our faith! I have always enjoyed the ‘flowers’ of my life, but it took the thorns to show me the beauty of God’s comfort! You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we’re afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others.”

Sandra sucked in her breath, as she thought about what her friend had tried to tell her. “I guess the truth is I don’t want comfort. I’ve lost a baby and I’m angry with God.”

Just then someone else walked in the shop.

“Hey, Phil!” the clerk greeted the balding, round man. “My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement . . twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!” laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.

“Those are for your wife?” asked Sandra incredulously. “Do you mind telling me why she wants a bouquet that looks like that?”

“Four years ago, my wife and I nearly divorced,” Phil replied. “After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord’s grace and guidance, we trudged through problem after problem, the Lord rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she had learned from “thorny” times. That was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific “problem” and give thanks for what that problem taught us.”

As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, “I highly recommend the Special!”

“I don’t know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life” Sandra said to the clerk. “It’s all too . . fresh.” “Well,” the clerk replied carefully, “my experience has shown me that the thorns make the roses more precious. We treasure God’s providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember that it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love….Don’t resent the thorns.”

Tears rolled down Sandra’s cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on her resentment. “I’ll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please,” she managed to choke out.

“I hoped you would,” said the clerk gently. “I’ll have them ready in a minute.”

“Thank you. What do I owe you?” “Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart…The first year’s arrangement is always on me.”

The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. “I’ll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first.”

It read: “My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant.”

Praise Him for the roses; thank Him for the thorns.

One of the tests for a prophet in Scripture is that of earlier prophecies he’s made that have been fulfilled.  Pastor Matutis prophesied the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1988.  It was so remarkable that a newspaper in West Berlin made note of it, for no one expected it.  It was a very short time before this prophesy was fulfilled.

Personally, I’m trying to live as close to my Lord as possible and anticipate His soon return.  I am constantly trying to find out what He wants me to do with these days.  I believe that the Lord is guiding me and speaking to me, but not in any way that approaches prophecy.  This word is consistent with the way I believe the Lord to be directing me.

Those who read my blog know that I have had things to say about the direction I think America should take, now that the Obamanation is upon us.  I have lately come to believe that the direction should be spiritual, not political.  Still, I don’t take issue with those who are working for a better America.

The Finnish word for trumpet roughly translates to trombone, but is the long trumpet you see heralds holding in medieval Europe.  A man could hardly hold a trumpet or trombone that would be much longer than that.  The tone of such an instrument is lower than what we Americans call a trumpet.  So, how long would be a trumpet that an angel might hold, and how deep it’s tone?  Maybe Pastor Matutis has given us a clue.

Here is Pastor Matutis message:
_________________________________________________________________

The Lord gave me a very important vision. I must inform you of them. Perhaps it is important for you and helpful?

Pastor Joh. W. Matutis, (Berlin / Germany)
http://www.nnk-berlin.de (English menu)

While praying this morning, God gave me a vision. He showed me a great, world-wide “mobilization”.

I saw myself strolling along a beach. Suddenly, there sounded a loud boom, which became stronger and more massive. It was not the noise of the sea or of the wind. It was completely still outside. The sea water was as smooth as glass. The deep booming sound which was like the sound of the mountains about to cave in, a banging sound which I had up till now never heard in my whole life, came from the other side of the ocean, from far away. It became so strong and mighty, that the earth began to quake and shake. It sounded  like the blasting of a deep bass trumpet. I had never heard this sort and depth of bass sound before now. The whole air vibrated. I holed myself up in the dunes of the embankment, face down, and waited to see what would come out of this natural spectacle.

When the booming refused to stop, and instead became stronger, I saw myself begin to pray in the vision, and to speak with my God. Then I heard a voice saying, “my child, fear not. That is my mobilization call, a signal, from the other world. I am calling my people out from all peoples. I myself am shaking the earth and the sea. The sinners and godless will pass away for fear and the fearful expectation of the things which are to come. Understand, my child, that all these have been initiated by the financial crises. That was just the beginning of ruin. The foundation of today’s society will be so shaken that the people will lose all that they have acquired, and saved up til l now.  Every infrastructure and welfare will collapse with time. Life will be very difficult for very many people. The general security will get out of control and there will be a proliferation of crime such that life on earth will be massively threatened.  But you, who fear my name will I save from ruin. I am holding my arm of protection over you.”

Although not even a silent wind blew, and not even a small wave was seen on the sea, the booming was so mighty, that my heart threatened to stop beating. Then I thought to myself, “I will now also die.” And then the Lord said to me, “My child, do not fear. You are to live and continue to declare my works. Arise, go home and tell your loved ones. Let them know that the coming of my Son is very close at hand, at the doorstep. I am setting everything in motion in order to take my people home, and I am now stripping them of everything that is holding them back, or blocking them.”

As I stood up to obey God’s voice, starting to make my way homewards, I saw very many people, lying in the dunes. They had come out from their houses, racing towards the sea to see and experience this extraordinary natural spectacle. They lay on their faces as if paralyzed, exactly as I had lain a few minutes before now. As I passed by them on my way home, despite the continuous distant booming sound, these people called to me saying: “You are crazy; you cannot make it home in this situation. It is too  dangerous”. They then buried their heads even further in the dunes, because they feared what would happen next. They no longer wanted to hear or know of anything.

And then said the Lord to me: “for you, my children, who fear my name, this is the day of my ‘mobilization.’ For you my “sun of salvation” arises, with which I gather my true children, and bring them together. Go, my son, and tell this everyone you can reach.”

Then I asked the Lord “What shall I tell them?”

“Tell my children,” He said, “they are no longer to occupy themselves with perishable things, but rather, much more with the immortal, the eternal things. They are to seek me and study my word. They should forgive one another, so long as there is still time, and make peace with one another.  They should stop being envious of, and pointing fingers at one another.  They should neither accuse nor suspect one another. Everyone should do what he is supposed to, and can do. Tell them to free themselves of every  unnecessary thing, and to stop fighting spasmodically (intermittently) for their rights. From now on, I will ensure your rights, and provide justice for you. Great changes are about to occur all over the world, in every area of life. Adjust yourselves therefore and be prepared. Nothing is going to be as it has been before now…”

The further I moved from the beach, the less of the booming sound I heard, even though I was of the opinion that the sound had become stronger and even more massive. I felt as if I had been secured in a glass case.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying “I will bring my children into safety in my own way. You will see everything I will do in the world, which will experience all the “plagues of Egypt” before I withdraw my children unto myself, before Pharaoh releases you forever. My people hold together!  Stay with one another, encourage one another. Soon, you would have made it!”

That was the last thing I took with me from this vision.

As I thought about all that I had seen, and what I should do with it, the Lord spoke to me saying “spread this revelation I have given you this morning about my ‘mobilization’ further to all my children, and encourage them to do likewise, for I am at the door (I am coming soon). And tell them, especially my people, that they should be serious about their relationship with me (God), before it is too late….”

Do help me spread this message overall. Send it to your friends and acquaintances. Spread it your churches and house fellowships.  Translate it into other languages.

Maranatha! Our Lord comes.

Pastor Joh. Matutis

http://www.nnk-berlin.de (see the English menu.  Here you’ll find more about me and my ministry.  And even more prophetic words.)

E-Mail: pastor@matutis.de
Write me a few lines.  I would like to pray for you, and bring your name to God’s throne.

Postal Address: Pastor Joh.W.Matutis
Postfach 65 06 65
D – 13306 Berlin (Germany)

Lord, make me aware of any sin that I commit.

It’s a bit much to ask the Lord to live a sinless life here on earth.  It is written (in I John 1:9) that “If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  But if I have deceived myself into thinking that I was right in the sin that I committed, I will not confess it and will not avail myself of God’s cleansing.  Therefore, I pray that the Holy Spirit will always convict me of my sin.

Lord, I acknowledge that, because I am just a man, that I will never get to know You fully and completely.  But this one thing I ask.  Whatever I do learn about You, Your nature, Your desires and Your expectations of me, please let it be accurate.

There are a lot of people who have a lot of opinions about Who and what kind of Person God is.  To some people, He’s that great overindulgent grandpa in the sky Who likes to give us toys, but doesn’t care about our character or our behavior.  To others, he’s the stern, scowling parent Who is waiting just out of sight for us to make a misstep so He can clobber us with His club of judgmental tragedy.  And there are all shades of opinion in between.  Many people claim to get their view of who God is from the Bible.  If they did, they’d all have the same view of Him, but they don’t.  I’ve heard it said that we view God as an extension of our father.  Having known of some fathers’ behavior, I shudder to think of people getting their sense of who God is from them.  My ability to use my intellect to discern truth from error is just as faulty as anyone elses and my experience with father figures… Well, let’s just take a pass on that one.

How then, can I get to know what kind of Person God really is?  Can I honor or glorify Him if I don’t know the real Him?  No.  If I am going to give Him what He really wants from me (my love, my obedience and my worship), I must get to know Him as He is.  He reveals Himself in the Holy Scriptures, especially in the life of the Lord Jesus.  While His revelation of Himself is perfect, my receptor is tinged with sin.  Therefore I pray that His Holy Spirit reveal Himself to my spirit.

Lord, we (my wife and I) acknowledge that the love we have has been and still is a gift from You.  Therefore, we dedicate it to You, that you might have glory and pleasure in it.

I wonder what would happen if every Christian couple prayed that prayer every day and each time that they sensed a conflict coming?

God has announced a coming period of seven years when He will play hardball with rebellious and self-centered humans to get their attention to His claim on their life and loyalty. He knows that many people will turn to God in desperate times that will not turn to Him when things appear to be going good. If that’s what it takes, that’s what they’ll get. During this time of trouble, some will turn to Him. Other people will harden themselves against the Holy One, blaming Him for their troubles. They will be hardened in their rebellion, so that their condemnation at the last judgment will be seen to be just. But there will be no need for those who acknowledge Christ during this so-called Age of Grace to go through the Great Tribulation.

There is the Biblical promise that Jesus will return to “rapture” His church. Some of us believe that this will occur just before the beginning of the Great Tribulation. But this coming will be so sudden and so quick that no one will have a chance to change his mind at the last second.

Skeptics like to point out that the word rapture doesn’t appear in the Scripture. What we are told is that those Christians who have died will be resurrected as immortals in preparation for what He has planned that is to include all who are Christians in their hearts. Then, those Christians who are alive will have their mortal bodies changed into immortal ones and we shall “be caught up together with” the resurrected Christians to be forever with our Lord. This phrase caught up is the meaning of rapture. It’s not an emotional thing, but a physical reality.

My wife and I have the desire to see as many people as possible turn to Christ before the rapture. Because we believe that this time is immediately upon us, we feel a sense of urgency to get the word out. But here’s the problem. If we wait until we are sure of when the rapture will occur to warn anyone, it will be too late to warn anybody. We’ll be gone. But, by warning people when we think it might be soon put us in the position of possibly being wrong. Technically, we weren’t wrong, because we only said that He might rapture the church at the time we speculated. But, I know that many thought we were nuts for even speculating about something that we weren’t sure of.  One thing we are sure of is that Jesus will return and that every knee will bow to His Majesty — even the knees of His enemies.

Because I thought that my Lord might return on Rosh Hashana of this year, and the stakes are so high, I put myself in a position where I might be ridiculed. My wife translated my speculation in the post “World’s Greatest Crisis – Next Week?” into Finnish because we live in her country. Other voices expressed the same ideas in English, but we saw nothing in Finnish, so we filled that gap. She, too, was ridiculed. A Christian radio network ignored our plea that they consider letting people know of the possibility. I understand that people want to play it safe. Had they known that He would come on the Feast of Trumpets this year, they’d have said something. But nobody knew for sure.

We let all of our contacts: family, friends, business contacts, everyone know. It was actually an afterthought to publish it on my blog, but then we sent SMS messages to everyone in our address lists here. Some people responded by suggesting that we see a doctor. One doctor told us that the Finnish translation was so poor that it looked as though it had been done by a machine. Finnish is my wife’s native language. She is college educated, licensed as an adult education teacher. I don’t read Finnish, but I’m sure that the translation was good. By believing as I do and supporting me, my wife was subjected to ridicule also. I feel badly about that.

Some folks said that by being wrong, even though we were conditional in our speculation, we damaged our credibility and cannot say anything any more and expect to be believed. But those who are not saying anything about a particular time, but are only saying “soon” in terms of our Lord’s return for His Church, are not communicating the sense of urgency that is appropriate for this time.

Had our Lord come on September 29 or 30, no one would have ridiculed us, whether or not they believed us. We still believe that His coming is imminent. It could still happen tonight. Oh, I’d like to be vindicated in my message of urgency, but this whole business is not about me, it’s about Jesus, His Word, and His desire that all turn to Him. He will receive those who turn to Him in the Great Tribulation, but I’m sure that He’d prefer that people respond to a gentle entreaty and a warning.

We feel that if only one person turned to the Lord with his or her heart as a result of seeing that blog post, the ridicule was worth while. I told my wife that I’m a little discouraged because I know of nothing positive from our sticking our necks out. She replied, “Yeah? So?” I think she’s right.

What is your opinion?

My wife and I believe in the soon return of Christ for His church.  We believe that His return might be this week.  We have prepared an explanation for our family and friends here in Finland, so that, if it does happen this soon, they will understand what has happened and not be subject to the deception of the antichrist.

I am putting this text here in this post, just in case any of my readers want to take it, modify it and give this message to your friends and relatives who are not committed to Jesus Christ as their Lord.

Last Warning…

I am Alan Lake, an American believer in Christ.  I came to faith in my Lord Jesus at the age of seven years and have had a close walk with Him these sixty years.  I came to Finland in January of 2006 to marry my bride, Pirjo.  I have always felt that there was more reason for me to come here than just for our marriage.  I think I know this reason now.

I knew nothing about your country until shortly before I came. I soon learned some Finnish history.  I learned of the day in November 1939 when Finns listening to their radios heard that the Soviet Union had bombed Helsinki. My wife’s aunt was a teenager who had ridden her bicycle from her childhood home in Vihti to Helsinki about six months before. The bombing was a total surprise to her as it was to most Finns.

It was not a surprise to all Finns. The government officials who had rejected Moscow’s demand for Finnish territory probably figured that Stalin would do something. If they had told the Finnish people of Stalin’s demand and Finland’s rejection, some people would likely have moved out of Helsinki that did not move because they didn’t know. Perhaps the authorities didn’t tell the people because they didn’t know for certain that the Soviets would attack and they didn’t know when.

There is another event that is going to change life in Finland and in other countries to a greater extent than did the Winter War and the Continuation War. We don’t know when it will happen, but we can make an educated guess. My guess is very soon. Rather than to let it be a total surprise, I choose to share what I’ve observed and what I know so that when I’m not here to give an explanation after the fact, you will know that I said something beforehand. This event is the promised return of Jesus Christ.

Some theologians say that you cannot believe the Bible as it is written. You must have experts to interpret it for you. Others of us choose to accept the Bible text at face value, that is as it appears that the writers intended for us to take it. There are books written about Christ’s second coming. What I am sharing with you is a bare bones short version, so you can know what to expect.

Most people ignore God until they get into trouble. Then they cry out to Him. God hates to be ignored. If trouble is what it’s going to take, then trouble is what man will get. In the Bible, the prophets of God have said that there is coming a time of trouble on the earth that is more severe than any that has ever come before. It is His last call. This time will be seven years long, divided into two 3 ½ year periods.

Last summer, I was in a park in Jyväskylä talking to my wife about the last days that the Bible predicts. We were discussing the fact that natural disasters have been happening all over the world with greater frequency and greater intensity, like a woman’s labor pains. Jesus used that exact simile to describe the end of the age. Could these be a sign that the world as we know it is about to end?

A young Finnish man came from his nearby group of young men and asked me if I knew anything about 2012. I did not. It appears that there are some who believe that it will mark the end of the world. The planets will all be in a straight line from the sun for the first time in 26,000 years. The Mayan Indians of southern Mexico once had a great civilization. They created a calendar. This calendar ends suddenly in 2012.

A news article from the United States said that the year 2015 is a time when there will be great disturbances in the sun, moon and stars that will cause great trouble on earth.

Those who read the news know that there has been an economic collapse in the United States due to foolish decisions by politicians and financiers. When a similar collapse occurred in 1929, the ordinary person didn’t come to feel it until 1933, about three years later. The people who are in charge of minimizing damage over there are the same people who caused the problem in the first place! There are tough economic times ahead. You Finns know that when America stubs her toe, Finns often feel the pain. It’s not fair, but that’s the way it is.

Let’s look at the years we’ve mentioned. From some time in 2012 to some time in 2015 is 3 ½ years. Three years earlier than 2012 is 2009. Three and a half years could well be in 2008 – this year!  These two time spans of 3 ½ years each could well be the aforementioned seven years, the years of the Great Tribulation. The events in the economy and in natural disasters, not to mention the threats from terrorists in the Middle East, could well be the predicted time of trouble.

Your writer is among those who believe that the Bible teaches that Christ is going to catch those with a personal faith in Him up into Heaven shortly before the Great Tribulation begins. With them will be those who are too young or too mentally challenged to be able to be held responsible for their sins. In other words, millions of people will just vanish from the face of the earth. If you choose to wait and see what happens without putting your life into the Hands of Christ, you need to know who it is that has disappeared and what the disappearance means. It means that you can still turn to God, but that you will see more trouble than you can now imagine.

When might the believers disappear? It may be as soon as the morning of the twenty-ninth of September 2008! But, it may not be this year at all. We don’t know for sure. If it does happen this year, we want you to understand it.

Why 29 September 2008?

When God was organizing the Jews into a nation thousands of years ago, He had recorded in the Torah seven holy days, or “feasts”. (Some of these were more than a day long.) There were four in the spring season and three in the fall season. These holy days were to cause the Jewish people to remember things that God had done for them. They were also shadows of things that God planned to do.

One example is that Passover was to be observed as a memorial of God’s deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery. But Christians note that Christ is our passover, as He has delivered us from the control of sin. Each of the four spring holy days had a fulfillment during Christ’s first advent. He fulfilled them on the very day of the Jewish calendar that the Jews remembered what God had done for Israel in the past.

We don’t know what year He will come, but considering the years 2012 and 2015 and the trouble that has already started to happen, this day may be Rosh Hashana 2008. The calendar date changes each year, because it begins with the new moon. This year it begins at 11:12 A.M. (Jerusalem time) next Monday, 29 September.

I am not predicting that Jesus is coming within a week. The signs indicate that the likelihood is high that He will. I’d rather tell you that He might and have Him not come until later, than to tell you nothing and have Him come sooner.

It is only reasonable to think that a fulfillment of the three fall holy days will occur on the exact day of the feast. The first fall feast is called the Feast of Trumpets, or Rosh Hashana. If the pattern of fulfillment in the past continues, the Lord will come for his own on this feast day.

I Thessalonians 4:13-17 reads:

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from the heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

There will be a reign of evil and terror after the Believers are caught away. You will be lied to about what happened. But you will remember that it was explained to you before it happened.

P.S.
After I posted this, my brother shared with me the fact that there are many who expect the Lord very soon.
http://www.lamblion.com/articles/articles_second8.php
http://www.lamblion.com/articles/articles_second10.php