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End Times 1 – Revelation 1

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Subject. End Times 1 – Revelation 1.

Part I. Introduction.

A. At this time in our world’s situation with the Coronavirus (COVID-19), it has become my strong belief that I should veer from my intended course of writing, and explain the prophetic events of the end times. There are voices in the Christian world that have attempted to place the things that are affecting our world in the “yet future tribulation.” The events of Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 are said “to be happening now,” without making any mention of Israel, or of Christ. Israel is key throughout the tribulation. Christ will cause the tribulation events to occur. So, what can we say about the things of COVID-19? Is God aware of the world’s…

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What is a Bible Church – in the Bible?

Today we are posting a Multiple Choice Test put together by a friend of ours –Randy Amos

A. 
Mega Style. 
The Bible is used but more with select phrases on a screen than all reading their Bible.  Biblical relationships with psychological counselling are emphasized.  A Bible phrase is used, not so much for its contextual meaning, but as a nuance proving the concept of a dynamic ‘pastor’.  Not a lot of the Bible warnings are stated for help, hope and happiness is the goal. The church’s methods come more from popular ‘likes’.

B. 
Denominational Style. 
The Bible is used, but its headquarters determine its doctrinal understanding.  If one agrees with the headquarters then the local church will mirror that teaching.  You know what you’re getting here.  It’s like a food franchise; its message and methods (recipe) are pretty much the same wherever, as it draws its menu from the tradition of headquarters.  Its chef (‘pastor’) must also be approved by headquarters. 

C. 
Independent Style. 
This style is independent from a main human authority for its doctrine.  So its ‘pastor’ has liberty to find his own style for worship and methods. The Bible is used to emphasize the gospel of the Lord Jesus that saves.  The deeper teachings of Scripture are not the first goal but more seeing people saved or restored – again.   

D. 
Reformed Style. 
The literal Bible is used for matters of salvation and godly living.  But Israel and future events are often spiritualized matching the Protestant reformer’s understanding 500 years ago.  So, depending on the trained ‘pastor’, the teaching can be deeper and thought provoking.  Its methods of order and worship are more formal.

E. 
Charisma Style. 
The Bible is used to tell about Jesus and highlight the Holy Spirit’s apostolic miracle power as normal.  So besides the Bible they have “a word of prophecy”.  Direction is given that doesn’t come directly from the completed Bible but from this further revelation of the “Spirit” that the prophet or ‘pastor’ says they got or dreamed. 

F. 
Messianic Style. 
The Bible is used but more from the OT Mosaic law (Torah).  Its Jewish religious tradition is taught as relevant for today (as much as is possible without the Jewish temple that the Lord Jesus prophesied would be removed – and was in 70AD).  Their ‘Rabbi’ uses the NT Bible not as much for congregational policies and doctrine but to mainly verify that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Jewish Messiah who matches the OT prophets.

G. 
New Testament Style. 
The gospel has graced all believing nationalities equal in Christ.  All believers are called brothers with no titles in front of their name. The only one with a title is the Lord Jesus Christ.  No human receives glory in the presence of the Lord – for He alone is the Spirit’s wisdom to be glorified.  Their reason for meeting is in remembrance of their Lord and Savior at the Lord’s Supper, and to edify the body by the liberty of a plurality of Spirit-gifted ones – in an orderly way with love.  Different roles for men and women (with the symbol of head covering) are upheld with the women silent in the church – for it is God’s holy temple where His Spirit is.  Its church authority and wisdom are the written commands from heaven’s Head (Lord Jesus) via Paul His apostle.  

Which prescription, do you think, fits a Bible teaching church according to God’s word?


Some things in A-F might have value but the Bible book of 1 Corinthians
instructs in “G”.

THE FOUNDATION OF REPENTANCE

How important is it to repent?
How often should we repent?
When did repentance begin?

Malachi 2:16a; 3:1a  
For the LORD God…says…   
“Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me.”

The Gospel According to Mark begins with John the Baptist fulfilling the prophecies:

Mark 1:1-8  
THE beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets: [Notice the plurality Prophets.] “Behold I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.” [Malachi] “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.’” [Isaiah 40:3] John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission [forgiveness] of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.

The prophets Malachi and Isaiah were led by the Holy Spirit to prophesy that God would send the Lord’s messenger {John} to prepare the Lord’s way for people to come to him with a contrite, broken, ashamed, repentant heart—to apologize for offending God when they had been disobedient to His Commandments. In other words, John’s baptism was preparing the hearts for people to take the first step to being saved. When a baby is first conceived and then born, that child is innocent for never having broken any of the Commandments. So the child is accepted by God—justified to be viewed by God as having the righteousness of God—totally sinless. Therefore God welcomes the child to be with Him in His kingdom. However, when the child matures and, even unknowingly, breaks a Commandment—like even telling a falsehood—a lie, then, since God does not accept sin, God separates that person from Himself and keeps that separation until the person comes to admit he has sinned—that is to repent and asks to be forgiven—and to believe without any doubt that God is who He says He is and will, indeed take those sins away. At that moment, the sinner is brought back to no longer being separated from God—for all eternity future—freely given eternal life—totally redeemed, bought back with a tremendous price.  

How does this happen? When we say “God is who He says He is,” we read that He redeems us with His blood. That eternal life is in His Blood:

Continue reading “THE FOUNDATION OF REPENTANCE”

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Let it Snow Sign

Posted by Elfriede

Friday again! It’s been snowing since last night and all day today. The forecast is for snow until tomorrow. Reminds me of: “Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!” Happy snow shoveling!

[I wrote the above yesterday but couldn’t post it because, due to all the snow, we experienced a power outage. So posting today.]

We love the winter, no matter how much snow we have to shovel. We also live in a place where we can cross country ski for miles directly from our doorstep. We feel blessed!




[Woke up to about 40cm of more snow this morning -Saturday-]

Snow Ghosts



Winter brings us snow ghosts in an artistic way, it’s a joy to the eyes and what a creation!
God the Creator of the universe, everyone and everything in it.




Mike and I would like to wish all our followers and readers a MERRY CHRISTMAS.

We are celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! What a wonderful occasion, knowing that His birth and His sacrificial death on the cross brought us the gift of eternal life!

Our prayer is that many would find the truth this Christmas season and beyond.
The time is near!

10 COMMANDMENTS for BIBLE STUDY

We received our Cornerstone Magazine and feel blessed by the below article written by Rick Morse in the Nov-Dec 2019 issue (pg 4+5).

We hope you enjoy it too and find the teaching helpful to rightly divide God’s Word.

10 COMMANDMENTS for BIBLE STUDY

“Be diligent to present thyself approved to God –
a workman irreproachable, rightly dividing the Word of truth.”
2 Timothy 2:15, (Young’s Literal Translation)

In His wisdom, our God has placed what we might consider three “sentinels” in His Word – one at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end (Deut. 4:2; Prov. 30:5- 6; Rev. 22:18-19). It is to warn all who read it to neither add nor take away from what He has chosen to reveal. He also inspired Paul to exhort Timothy to study the Word of God with diligent care, to pursue an orderly and consistent approach to discovering its truths (2 Tim. 2:15). Out of gratitude to those have mentored and nurtured my own interest in Bible study, I offer these ten “rules of thumb”. If observed, they will enable the eager Bible student to rightly divide the word of truth, and to avoid many popular but harmful bypaths which are so readily available today.

1. Observe What The Text Says

Forcing a preconception on what is written usually leads to error. Reading and re-reading a portion slowly, and out loud, is the best way to take in every word. Notice every detail, verb, order, progression, pattern, etc. God does not do things haphazardly. Before we even begin thinking about what the Bible teaches, we need to first establish what the Bible says.

Continue reading “10 COMMANDMENTS for BIBLE STUDY”

Publicity Update on DIGGING DEEP INTO THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST Study Guide

Posted by Elfriede Copple

Today we would like to share some exciting and encouraging news with you regarding the publicity campaign of our Study Guide “DIGGING DEEP INTO THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST”.

A Press Release was sent out on September 16, 2019 and has been picked up by

Continue reading “Publicity Update on DIGGING DEEP INTO THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST Study Guide”

WHO IS THE COUNTERFEIT JESUS?

Posted by Elfriede Copple

Today our post is about a book with the title COUNTERFEIT JESUS by R.P. Amos who lives in Oregon City, Oregon.  Randy Amos is an itinerant Bible teacher who has blessed us with his messages and books.

It is a book relevant to today’s times and an eye opener to who the Counterfeit is and how he got his foot in the door to deceive many.

In the introduction Randy states:

“In this book many authoritative statements are made. The authority for these statements does not come from some man-made council, some creed of a denominational headquarters, or a majority vote on certain issues. The authority for the many statements comes from no less a source than the Holy Scriptures (Bible) which is the Word of the living God.”

Continue reading “WHO IS THE COUNTERFEIT JESUS?”