Last year on this day of March it was a lot warmer. As you can see, the ice on the river is thawed. And the geese are happy. So, it seems that we are at least a few week behind. Oh sun, oh warmer weather, please come. Melt all the ice away.
Netanyahu recently assured Christians and believing Jews that the Gospel would not be banned in Israel as it was feared to be by two Knesset members. I think Netanyahu is very wise and also not antagonistic against Christians as some are. Praise God for that. And because of this leniency, Christians ought to be praying for Israel now while the door of the gospel is open. You can read the following article for the updated news.
American conservative and Christian voices had decried proposed bill targeting “missionaries,” but it was largely much ado about nothing.
By Israel Today Staff, Mar 23, 2023
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday sought to calm Israel’s Christian supporters by reassuring them that neither his government nor any other Israeli government was going to pass a law prohibiting the preaching of the Gospel in the Jewish state.
Some Christian and conservative American media was in an uproar this week after MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) proposed a bill that would expand an existing law that prohibits proselytizing to minors or offering monetary incentive to convert to another religion (the obvious target of the law being Christians and Messianic Jews who regularly share their faith).
Gafni’s proposal would, among other things, ban Hebrew-language online videos that preach about Jesus, since they could be accessed by minors without a parent’s consent. Many local Messianic and Christian ministries have taken to sharing the Gospel online in recent years.
It would also give some teeth to the existing law by mandating jail time for anyone caught proselytizing a minor or offering monetary incentive to become a Christian. Some Christian and Messianic leaders worried that the vague wording of the bill could be used to prohibit preaching about Jesus in general since minors could be present in the church, congregation or gathering place.
I read the following verses this morning:
Psalm 7:15-16
15 He who digs a hole and scoops it out
falls into the pit he has made.
16 The trouble he causes recoils on himself;
his violence comes down on his own head.
Proverbs 26:27
27 If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it;
if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him.
These verses hold the biblical principle of Equal Retribution: that if a man digs a pit for another to fall into, or if he sets a trap for another, he will end up falling into it or being trapped by his own trap. I have read these verses over and over and they seem pretty definite. That is, the evil one who tries to trap or destroy another, it will spring back on him.
I immediately thought of what is being done to Donald Trump. It is wrong and evil. They are right now digging a pit for him to fall into—so that he won’t have a chance to be re-elected.
But I believe, and I pray, that this principle of Equal Retribution will be at work. That whatever evil they plan for a him will fall back on them. MAGA!!
There is so much we could say here. I think the following four points will give you a lot to work on.
Since true importune prayer is aroused and energized by the Holy Spirit, it makes sense that if you want to pray with importunity you must be filled with the Spirit and walk in the Spirit. You can begin to do this by meditating on the Word. When you get to know the God of the Word you will learn to trust Him and wait on Him in prayer. Soon you will not yield to discouragement and weariness when you pray. Likewise, you will say to God, “O my God, I trust in You” (Ps. 25:2). And you will keep praying persistently for as long as it takes to gain the answer.
Since friendship is a great motivating factor in…
View original post 401 more words
Trump thinks he will be arrested this Tuesday. Most good people think that this is a terrible thing–to see a former President be arrested for a misdemeanor. And they say it is all political, and they are doing it to try to prevent him from running for President again. Please I urge you to pray that the right thing will be done–that justice will be done according to what is God’s will. Please read the following article.
Trump Says He’ll Be Arrested Tuesday as DA Eyes Charges
By Eric Mack , 18 March 2023
Former President Donald Trump expects to be arrested Tuesday in a case brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office and called on his supporters to protest in a Truth Social post Saturday.
“Illegal leaks from a corrupt & highly political Manhattan district attorney’s office, which has allowed records to be set in violent crime & whose leader is funded by George Soros, indicate that, with no crime being able to be proven, and based on an old and fully debunked (by numerous other prosecutors) fairytale, the far & away leading Republican candidate & former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week,” Trump wrote.
“Protest, take our nation back!” Trump said.
Not all Jews are against Christians or the Christian faith. But there are a few liberals who are. Please pray for this situation in Israel that our religious freedom would not be hindered. Israel needs to hear the gospel like all others who are now blinded by the devil. Please read this article by Joel Rosenberg.
Former Trump-Pence official warns bill poses massive threat to free speech, human rights and religious freedom
Joel C. Rosenberg | March 19, 2023
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – Is it possible that the Israeli government this year could pass legislation making it illegal for people to share the Gospel message in the very land where Jesus was born, raised, preached, died, buried and rose from the dead?
Unfortunately, yes.
As Palm Sunday and Easter approach – the two most sacred days on the calendar for those who follow Jesus as both God and Messiah – two members of the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) introduced a bill last week that would ban any and all efforts to tell people about Jesus.
The bill would send violators to prison.
Bud Grant–Vikings Football coach
Today is kind of an off-day. I mean, I have some health concerns: a headache, numbness in my fingers, a little dizziness. But I am trying not to worry about it. I’m trying to get an appointment at the VA. Anyway, I’m just trusting the Lord in whatever happens.
Bud Grant. He was the Minnesota Vikings football coach for a long time, and he just died at 95. He was such a good coach. I recently heard that he was the only player ever to play both for the NBA and the NFL before going into coaching. And as a coach he was a real disciplinarian. He was all about doing everything right—no mistakes. I heard that he didn’t care much for celebrities. He didn’t care at all for Mohammed Ali—too much of a braggart. Grant was very stoic and a humble man. Such a good man.
What’s in the News lately. I am so fed up with President Biden. He is doing everything wrong. He is letting our country be overrun by drug pushers; He can’t shoot down a Chinese balloon; he does nothing about Russia and China getting together; he thinks ha can save the planet from climate change by shutting off our oil—and then buying it from our enemies; and he thinks his son is innocent. Thank God that a few things are being done—now that the House is run by Republicans. We will slow down a few of Biden’s mistakes. Lord come quickly!
To start this section, it is important to know that though commercial Babylon is different in that it deals not so much with religion, but with commerce, it is still linked with the old fallen religious Babylon and still has a strong foundation in its immorality and idolatry. I think we may capture this reality best by looking at what the angel said about the coming fallen Babylon in verses two and three.
And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 “For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”
I think John MacArthur comments well on these verses, pointing out the differences between the two Babylon’s.
Religious Babylon (chap. 17) lures the nations into spiritual drunkenness and fornication with false gods (17:2, 4); commercial Babylon (chap. 18) seduces the unbelieving world into a materialistic stupor so that the people of the world will become drunk with passion because of their relationship with Babylon.7
As for this Babylonian system of commerce; how is it run? Well, even before the Antichrist appears on the scene, the Scripture tells us that there will be ten kings with ten kingdoms. We don’t see this yet, but I think we will see it soon. And then, just as these kingdoms are put in place, a very powerful leader, who is the Antichrist, will come into power, and he will give authority to the ten kings. And with them, and with his prophet (the false prophet) leading, he will set up a government system by which no person on earth will be able to buy or sell anything unless he has a certain mark, a mark of the beast, on either his right hand or his forehead (Rev. 13:16-17). Hence, this Antichrist will control all commerce.
But even before this control system comes about, and even before the ten kingdoms are installed, we will see many global organizations come together in an effort to form a global government—and this will bring about these ten kingdoms and the Antichrist. But we don’t have to wait long. Most of these organizations are already in place and are making global plans with each other. There are probably over one-hundred of them, but here are the top seven.
1. United Nations (UN). It was established in 1945, and its mission is to ensure international peace and security.
2. United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It was established in 1945. Its mission is to promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, science, and culture.
3. World Health Organization (WHO). It weas established in 1948. It is an organization that specializes in international public health.
4. World Economic Forum (WEF). It was established in 1971. Their stated mission is to improve the status of the world by engaging commercial, governmental, intellectual, and other leaders of society to influence global, regional, and industry agendas.
5. International Monetary Fund (IMF). It was established in 1945. Its mission is to promote global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world while relying on the World Bank for resources on a periodic basis.
6. World Bank. It was established in 1944. This international agency lends and gives money to governments in low- and middle-income nations to fund capital projects.
7. World Trade Organization (WTO). It weas established in 1995. It is a multilateral organization that regulates and supports international trade.8
Most of these organizations on the surface look very good and helpful to the world’s people However, when they are used under the Antichrist system of government, they will be used for a evil.
One of the things that is progressing rather quickly is the idea of having digital currency dan a new cashless society. And it will be a currency that is programable by its leaders. In other words, we will be forced to buy and sell only the things that the Antichrist system approves of. They will control what we buy and sell.
But do not think that these things are ideas way down the road. There are actually many organizations that are presently discussing and working on these things. There is an organization called Digital Currency Governance Consortium, which is composed of 80 organizations to discuss these things. And this is all under the global organization World Economic Forum. And there are several of these groups that are promoting digital currency. Here are a few titles you should be aware of: Central Bank Digital Currency, The Digital Dollar Project, MIT Digital Currency Initiative, A New Era of Digital Money-IMF F&D. I think there is almost too many of them; too many ideas.
Big businesses will also be tied into the new Babylonian, Antichrist system. There will be nothing small anymore—no small businesses. It will be much easier to control big businesses. I’m sure that their executives will have no problem taking the mark of the beast and engaging in his evil system.
In Revelation 18:11-13 there is a list of all the “cargo” that the merchants of the earth are mourning over after Babylon falls. But that list should be updated and modernized for today. I have a list before me of one-hundred of the biggest global companies, having ten different categories (or sectors) of goods (“cargo”). Here is my revised tabulation, organized first by the ten sectors, then by the top three companies.
| Sectors | Top Three Companies |
| Technology | Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet |
| Consumer Discretionary | Amazon, Tesla, Walmart |
| Health Care | United Health Group, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly |
| Energy | Saudi Aramio, Exxon Mobil, Reliance Industries |
| Financials | Berkshire Hathaway, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America |
| Industrials | Visa, Mastercard, Accenture |
| Consumer Staples | Procter & Gamble, Pepsico, Philip Morris |
| Telecommunications | Cisco, T-Mobile, Verizon |
| Basic Materials | Linde, BHP Group |
| Utilities | Nextera Energy |
I noticed, according to verses 11-13 that this list of companies is in no way complete. There doesn’t seem to be a category for animals, vehicles, or slaves and human lives. Yes, apparently the slave trade will reappear in Antichrist’s commercial system!9
7 Ibid., notes on Revelation 18:3.
9 Visual Capitalist, “Ranked: The 100 Biggest Public Companies in the World.” At https://www.visualcapitalist.com/biggest-public-companies-in-the-world-2022/.
He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will suffer harm (Prov. 13:20)
Stephen Nielsen 