Category Archives: Tribulation

July 31, 2021 · 3:13 pm

Jason, Come Forth.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/adamja01.shtml

Yes, it’s been quite a while since I’ve written a new article. But it’s not like I haven’t had some ideas, it’s just that I ended up deleting all of them before finishing a first paragraph.

Did I suffer from “writers’ block?” No! I suffered from “Holy Spirit block?”

Holy Spirit block?

I use this term to explain how my inner man feels when the Holy Spirit does not show up while I’m writing. It’s taken years to develop this inner sense so that it now feels like a gigantic STOP sign, halting my progress. So far, this block has kept me out of major writing problems.

As some of you may remember from an article I wrote in January 2020 (Ride #955), I drive for a ride share company. Every problem I mentioned in that article is still a thorn in my flesh today, but now, I’m 75 years old and still dying daily as the Apostle Paul wrote in his first letter to the Corinthian Church.

My block ended with Ride #5795. (That’s not a typo. I now have over 5,800 rides!)

I picked up a tall, well-built, good looking young man named Jason in Scottsdale, Arizona. My app showed his destination as being the Cubs Baseball Park on Rio Salado Parkway in Mesa.

That address was too much for me to contain my curiosity. “Are you a baseball player?” I asked.

“Yes,” he answered.

“Major league or minor league?”

“I’ve been up and down over the years.”

“Infielder, outfielder or pitcher?”

“Pitcher. I’m on rehab assignment right now and hoping to get another chance in the major leagues later this year.”

“Arm problems?

“Even though I’ve suffered through arm problems in the past, this time I injured my ankle.”

We talked about him being drafted out of high school by the Kansas City Royals. His trades to other teams and how he ended up with the Chicago Cubs and other things.

“Hey, did the Cubs trade Craig Kimbrel?”

“Yes, they traded him to the Chicago White Sox, which I think is the perfect trade for a player.”

“Really, why?”

“Then, your wife and children don’t have to pack up and move to another city.”

This one answer touched my heart. You see, Jason has his priorities in the right place. Family first. Career second.

It wasn’t until later when I checked Jason out on the internet that I learned he was a devoted Christ follower. You can check him out on Twitter here, or read about his accident here.

Okay, so what’s the big deal about Jason Adam, the baseball player?

I really believe the Lord has His hand on Jason’s life. I really believe the struggles Jason has suffered through for almost ten years has been allowed by the Lord so He can mold this almost thirty-year old man into a Major League Baseball star. Why? So, Jason can be a witness to God’s faithfulness and an example of what God can do for those who persevere.

My prayer for Jason:

Lord, do the same for Jason as You did for Lazarus when you called him out of the grave by saying, “Jason, come forth.” 

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February 2, 2020 · 12:57 pm

We Need Heroes (Part 1)

 

Most people have seen the movie, Titanic, and its fictional love story about a poor boy, Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio), and a rich girl, Rose (Kate Winslet), on an ill-fated ocean voyage. The movie won the 1997 Oscar for Best Picture. Its box-office sales of over $1.8 billion rank it as the second most successful movie of all time, behind Avatar.

Hollywood created its own fictional heroes for the movie script, but on April 14, 1912, there were many real heroes. One of them was named John Harper.

John Harper, a thirty-nine year old widower and a Baptist preacher, was traveling to Chicago aboard the R.M.S Titanic on its maiden voyage with his six-year old daughter, Nana. He was scheduled to preach some evangelistic meetings at the Moody Church.

At 11:40 p.m., the Titanic hit an iceberg on the starboard side of the ship. As soon as Harper realized the ship was going to sink, he took his daughter to a lifeboat and placed her aboard. “Nana, I’ll see you again someday,” he said to her.

Then, while flares lit up the sky, he marched up and down the decks yelling, “Women, children and unsaved into the lifeboats!”

At 2:20 a.m., a rumble arose from deep within the ship as it broke in half. Hundreds of people, including Harper, jumped into the 28-degree (-2 C) water as the Titanic slipped into its watery grave.

As soon as Harper hit the surface, he frantically swam from one person to the next, leading them to Jesus before the people succumbed to the icy waters and hypothermia. He asked one young man who clutched a piece of wood, “Are you saved?” The young man answered that he was not.

Harper tried to convince the young man, but the man refused to listen. Harper took off his life jacket and threw it at the man. “Here then, you need this more than I do,” said Harper as he swam off to other people.

A few minutes later, Harper returned to the man and successfully led him to Christ. Then, Harper attempted to swim to other people, but the icy waters were too much for him. “Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved,” he shouted before he sank under the waters.

Of the 1528 people that went into the icy waters that night, lifeboats rescued only six. One of them was the young man who later recounted how Harper had led him to Christ.

Declaring the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure and purpose (Isaiah 46:10)

Maybe some will believe John Harper ran into some bad luck by being on the Titanic, but don’t believe that for even a second. You see, our loving Father looked into the future and knew the Titanic would sink on that fateful night. He could have stopped Harper from being aboard that ship by any number of ways if He had wanted to do that. But instead our Father used John Harper as His representative in the midst of a terrible tragedy. A man willing to fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith all the way to his last breath.

I truly believe John Harper represents the type of hero the Lord will be raising up in the days ahead as our nation seemingly heads toward its disastrous finish.

(Continued in Part 2)

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May 31, 2019 · 3:06 am

Friday End-Times Bible Study (Conclusion…for now)

 

I have enjoyed writing this series and hope you have enjoyed them, too. If you’re interested in the End-Times, there’s plenty of room for new revelations from all of us. No one has it all figured out. So let’s start studying.

My advice is to read over the more than 150 chapters scattered throughout the Bible on End-Times prophecy. Mike Bickle has already provided us a list of these chapters. You can check them out here. And who knows? You might even find more chapters that aren’t mentioned by Bickle.

I have also listened to numerous End-Time teachers and read countless articles by such teachers as Mike Bickle, Mark Biltz, Chauncey Navarro and others. Bickle and Biltz are well-known, but Navarro happens to be my favorite. He’s fun to listen to and teaches the End-Times from a Jewish point of view.

So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation, spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— (Matthew 24:15)

And those of the people who understand shall instruct many… (Daniel 11:33)

Jesus admonished us to understand the End-Times. Why? So we can instruct those believers who will have no understanding when the End-Times hits this world.

None of this is above our pay grade. So, let’s go for it!

(Conclusion for now…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.)

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April 26, 2019 · 6:47 am

Friday’s End-Times Bible Study (Part 6)

 

How do we know the tribulation will last seven years?

27 And he [Antichrist] shall enter into a strong and firm covenant with the many for one week [seven years]. And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and offering to cease [for the remaining three and one-half years]; and upon the wing or pinnacle of abominations [shall come] one who makes desolate, until the full determined end is poured out on the desolator. (Daniel 9:27 AMP)

This is one of the few verses that most End-Times theologians and scholars agree upon. Their thinking is that the word “week” refers to a week of years, or seven years. It was an old Hebrew phrase used in that time period, obviously not a modern English one.

What’s also important is the phrase “in the midst of the week.” There are numerous verses to back this up in the Old and New Testaments —

But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.(Revelation 11:2)

And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he [Antichrist] was given authority to continue for forty-two months. (Revelation 13:5)

Forty-two months is three and a half years. Matthew refers to this time period as the Great Tribulation because it will be much rougher than the first half of the tribulation.

Revelation 11:3 and 12:6 use the number “one thousand two hundred and sixty days” to describe this three and a half year period. If we divide 1260 by 30 days in a Jewish month, we will end up with forty-two months or three and a half years.

Daniel 12:7 and Revelation 12:14 use the phrase “time, times and half a time.” Once again, this is an old Hebrew phrase with a “time” equaling one year, “times” equaling two years and “half a time” equaling six months. Altogether, they add up to forty-two months or three and a half years.

So, there we have the reasoning for a seven year tribulation time period.

(Continued in Part 7…but if you want to read all of the parts to date, you can go here.

 

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