biblical prophecy according to....me!

OK, so to those you who know me at all you must be wondering why I have't commented on the Middle East conflict.
It's taken some restraint to not be all over it and preachy about it, let me tell ya.....it's been, what?....16....17 days now.....it's time for my commentary.....don't ya think????
I'm probably talking to myself, which I'm fine with, however, this blog is a ministry for me and I want to be a good steward of my "air time" so, here goes.....
I believe, based on what the bible says in Ezekiel and I Thessalonians and Revelation, that the conflict in the Middle East is setting the stage for much larger events stated in biblical prophecy which I believe is the invasion of Israel by Gog and Magog(Russia and China).
Those events, I believe will bring the Anti-Christ onto the scene only after the Restrainer(Holy Spirit) is removed( the Church) and that those events will usher in the Tribulation and the false peace spoken of in prophecy.
At the end of the Tribulation, Jesus will return with the saints(those who have been saved by God) to judge Satan and his demons and they will be thrown into the pit for 1000 years in which we will then reign on earth with Jesus during that time.
After 1000 years on earth, will be the Great White Throne Judgment in which God will judge man and those who chose God's free gift of savation will go to heaven and those who rejected God's gift of salvation will go to hell along with satan and his demons.
I have no idea of a time-line for these events, I would not presume to know what is not to be known, but, even Jesus spoke of being aware of the signs of the times just like when the buds appear on the almond tree, you know that spring is near, so we should look for the signs of the times.
I believe the signs are pointing to the Lord's return for His Church very soon and that is very exciting!!!!
If you are reading this and are fearful of these events, then let me tell you how this can be a hopeful time for you.
First of all, God says that He does not want anyone to perish, but for all to have eternal life.
But, God is a holy God and we are sinful man.
Romans 3:23 says:
For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Acts 3:19 says:
Repent therefore and return that your sins may be wiped away in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.
I John 1:9 says:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
And so, God made a way for us to have eternal life with Him by sending His Son, Jesus, to be the ultimate Sacrifice for all our sins to be cleansed.
John 14;6 says:
Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by me.
John 3:16 says:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him will have eternal life.
Acts 4:12 says:
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.
By choosing to believe that Jesus is God's Son and that He died for you and me, then you will be saved from your sin and live eternally with God in heaven.
Romans 10:9 says:
...if we confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.
It's that simple, really, but you must confess Him as your Savior and Lord.
Matthew 10:32 says:
Everyone therfore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven.
Simply pray these things to your heavenly Father and you will be changed.
2 Cor. 5 : 17 says:
In any man be in Christ , he is a new creation, the old things pass away, behold all things will become new.
If you have trusted Jesus as your Savior and Lord you can be sure that:
...your sin is forgiven
You are a child of God.
...God will always be with you.
you will go to heaven when you die.
Now, get plugged into a church that preaches the bible as God's Truth and read the bible every day to get to know God and know His ways.
Tell others what God did for you.
Live for Jesus!

you did good.....

Unbelievable, but true......
....the Supreme Court of the state of Washington did the right thing!!!!!
They overturned a lower court ruling stating that our state DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) was unconstitutional and that makes 22 or 23 states to uphold their DOMA's.
Yeah!!!!!!!!
Thank you to our Supreme Court for their non-legislating approach to our Constitution and for upholding the sanctity of marriage.
You ROCK!!!!!!

Hedgehogs hiberhate......

OK, so, it's been awhile since I've posted......you know....I've been busy.....GOSH!
I did 2 weeks of camp, which was awesome.....and fun....and exhausting and....truly wonderful.
Every year I always say to myself that I will never do 2 weeks of camp again and, yet, I find myself doing it....again and it's always a good thing.
God does amazing work in the lives of those who are there and I feel blessed to be part of it.
This year had a wholly different feel to it.....almost like we were all of like minds and all anticipating.....something....change?....maybe.
It was really cool.
The pastor was awesome and really challenged the kids to be totally transformed into who God wanted them to be.
My favorite pastor phrase this year was this:
"I apologize to you if your pastor says to you that you are the future generation of the Church when, in fact, you are the Church of the here and now."
Loved that.....
My second fave pastor phrase was this:
"People are more important than projects."
Diggin' that.....
I guess, for me, going into the camp thing with all the Mid-East stuff going on gave me this very fresh perspective of the fact that God is in control and His word is Truth and it is happening before our very eyes and we, as Christ followers, need to be more purposeful about evangelism and loving people.
I have a tendency to get caught up in thoughts of eternity when, in fact, God's Kingdom is here and if heaven was the only plus in salvation, then why would Jesus tell us to love one another?
Why would that matter?
It would be like getting all ready for a great vacation and having all the bags packed and the snacks prepared for the trip and all your books and games and toys to make the journey more bearable and then getting in the car and never leaving the driveway.
Ya know????
I'm in for the total life that God has for me and I can't wait for heaven, but, in the meantime, I will serve at the feet of Jesus by serving at the feet of His children.
I'll close with this story told by a summer missionary from Texas that had all of us rolling in the aisles.
"When I was about 8 years old I had a hedgehog for a pet and one morning I got up to find him not moving.
I thought he was cold so I put him outside to "defrost" in the Texas heat.
I forgot about him until my parents came home and asked why my hedgehog was outside?
I told them and they, patted me on my head and softly told me that he was dead and that we needed to bury him.
"No!" I cried.
"He's dead, honey." they responded with firm resolve.
"No, look, he just moved, I swear."
My parents then took a few moments to watch for any movement and there was none, so we buried him.
Years later, when I was at college, I took a Biology class and we were studying hedghogs and guess what?
Hedgehogs hibernate and when they are in hibernation they only breathe once every 6 seconds!
The realization that I had buried my hedgehog alive overwhemed me and I began to cry very loudly and, of course, everyone wanted to know what the matter was so I told them and they met me with reassurances that hedgehogs are excellent diggers and that he probably dug his way out and lived a nice long life.
"Nooooooo," I wailed.
Yes, they reassured me over and over.
"NOOOOOOOO, I killed him!"
No, he dug his way out, it's what they do, they soothed.
"Nooooooo, he couldn't have gotten out." I cried.
Why, they asked.
"We buried him in a coffee can........"

P.S. Hedgehogs hibernate......

just stuff.....

OH MY......LANTA!!!!

We saw the best movie this weekend, "Ringer", it is about a guy(Johnny Knoxville) who rigs the Special Olympics by pretending to be "mentally challenged,"........it is hysterical!!!!!!
Anyway, we just got back into town from Seattle, we went to a Mariner game and then I got to stay at Kim's while Con went home and then came back up with the girls on Tuesday for the best 4th of July celebration ever!!!!
Kimberly has been raving about this production that the church down the street from them does every year for the 4th.
It's a drama, its music and then parachuters land right on the stage and then a huge fireworks presentation....it was a blast!!!!!
We had a grand time with our friends....love, love, love being with them.
Now we're home and I am frantically getting ready for girls camp next week.
I am not only a counselor, but, also I am the drama director which will be fun once we get there, but in the meantime, YIKES!....busy, busy.
Did anybody hear that huge storm the other night????
It was the LOUDEST thunder i'd ever heard and then it started hailing!!!!!
HAILING!!!!!!
In Tri-Cites!!!!!!
I love storms....they make me feel small....isn't that weird?????
More later....

:0)