THE ANTICHRIST:
A question arose this past week about the "mark of the beast" and chips being implanted in people. The timing of the end is very clear in II Thess. 2
vs. 2 "Don't be upset or troubled by ANYTHING when people say the day of Christ is at hand" (saying the tribulation had already started).
vs. 3 "Don't let anyone deceive (to lead out of the right way into error) you"--2 things must happen:
1. a "falling away"--apostacia--great apostacy. Zodhiates says, "does not refer to genuine Christians who depart from the faith, but mere professors, who without divine grace, succumb to the Satanic deceptions of the Antichrist".
2. the "man of sin"/the "son of perdition" must be revealed.
Perdition here refers to someone who is determined to remain spiritually lost. Revealed is the same word used for the book of the Revelation--apokalupsis--meaning to remove the veil exposing to open view that which was hidden ( as a person would reveal a new staue).
vs. 4. the antichrist opposes everything God stands for and exalteth himself--arrogant and insolent.
vs. 7. the mystery of iniquity doth already work--everything for the revelation of the antichrist is in the works--was in Paul's day. The only reason Satan has not revealed him is because God has not allowed it to happen. vs. 7b "He Who now letteth, will let, until He be taken out of the way"--"letteth"=suppress, restrain, hinder. In other words, the antichrist cannot come until the One Who is "hindering" him is taken out of the way. Many theologians have tried to make this "hinderer" a lot of things, but I agree with many who believe this ONLY fits the Holy Spirit. WHEN the Holy Spirit is removed out of this world--at the rapture, since He dwells in Christians--THEN the Antichrist will step forward and "explain" to the world what happened. Dr. Henry Morris has some interesting statements about this: "The son of perdition will be the leader and icon of the global religion of pantheistic humanism, which will finally triumph in the last days. There will be a great amalgamation of religions combining the eastern, ethnic pantheism and modern New Age scientific and occult religions with apostate monotheistic religions ( including the pseudo-Christian denominations and cults left behind on earth after all true Christians have been removed by the rapture) under the charismatic, but despotic, reign of this great man who will seem to be the very apex of the age-long process of evolution." After he has full control of the world he will setup the "mark of the beast" discussed in Rev. 13:16-18 and 14:9-11. "Mark"=a mark cut in or stamped on.
SO, WHAT SHOULD WE DO IN THE LIGHT OF THIS INFO?
vs. 15 "STAND FAST"--don't backslide
"HOLD THE TRADITIONS WHICH YE HAVE BEEN
TAUGHT"--the teachings of Paul and the other apostles--not the traditions of the Pharisees that Jesus condemned.

"EARNESTLY CONTEND FOR THE FAITH...."
This great verse in Jude 3 is packed full of URGENCY!!!!!
"I gave all DILIGENCE...it was NEEDFUL...and EXHORT you...
EARNESTLY CONTEND..."
DILIGENCE=speed, urgency, earnest effort
NEEDFUL=compelling, necessary
EXHORT=encourage
EARNESTLY CONTEND (one word)=to fight for
So, Jude tells us that we should really give our attention to the matter of fighting for the faith that was given to the saints. Fight to keep the Word of God from being watered down in this day of apostacy. Most of us do absolutely nothing while the devil succeeds in tearing the Bible apart page by page. The devil has been doing this since he met Eve in the Garden of Eden and asked her that deceitful question, "Hath God said...", or, "Did God REALLY say you would die?"--then says, "Ye shall not surely die." The devil uses the same lie today--"Does the Bible REALLY say that creation took place in 6 literal days?"--"BUT, you cannot deny the overwhelming evidence of 'science' that the earth is millions of years old." Timberly and Leroy gave us a set of 13 DVDs from Answers In Genesis. Ken Ham does a great job of refuting the devil's lies in this area.
Another area that concerns me greatly is in the acceptance of the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) as being CHRISTIAN. At the Council of Trent (1545-1563) the RCC stated: "If anyone says that the sacraments of the New Law (Catholic Rituals) are not necessary for salvation but...men obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification..let him be anathema."
On Dec. 31, 1995, honoring the 450th anniversary of Trent, Pope John Paul II declared: "Its conclusions maintain all their value."
YET--Charles Colson claims in his book "The Body" that the Catholic church no longer offers indulgences. Dave Hunt sent to Colson the 17 pages on indulgences from VaticanII, including Pope Paul's anathema on those who deny indulgences today. Colson never acknowledged his error. The Billy Graham Ev. Assoc. published a special edition of Halley's Bible Handbook for its crusades in '62, '64, and '69 and boldly removed careful documentation of the evil of the popes and the slaughter of true Christians. Zondervan published a revised edition of Halley's Handbook in 2000 and likewise eliminated references to RCC's heresies and killing of evangelical Christians by Rome. When questioned about this, the president of Zondervan stated: "the purpose of the rewriting was...to give a more balanced portrayal of the history of Christianity." For decades Billy Graham has declared that his beliefs are essentially the same as those of orthodox Roman Catholics. He has praised the Pope as a preacher of the true Gospel, hailing him as "the greatest moral and spiritual leader of the past 100 years...He and I agree on almost everything."
Pat Robertson praised the Pope.
Jack Van Impe hailed him as a "defender of the faith."
J.I.Packer called the Pope a fine Christian man.
So, what is behind all this covering up for the RCC? Could it be that we are near the end of the age and the devil is programming the world to accept the RCC? In Dave Hunt's book, A Woman Rides The Beast, Dave gives some compelling reasons for believing that the woman riding the beast in Revelation 17:3-6 is the RCC.
She is "drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." Perhaps the end is nearer than we think.
LET'S DO ALL WE CAN TO CONTEND FOR THE FAITH !!!!!!!

Sorry, pictures are ABOVE, not below. I still don't have this all figured out!!!!

BATHROOM UPDATE IS (almost) COMPLETED!!!!!
We used a dresser that Petra left here for the new sink; we bought the sink on a clearance table at Home Depot, hung a 3'x5' mirror that we got at a yardsale, papered the upper walls with paper from an outlet store in Louisville, built a half wall between the commode and sink, with a new tissue holder, framed the mirror with some molding Leroy gave to us, hung a needlework with elephants that Petra made for Mom several years ago, hung a framed puzzle (of which we have about 50--either framed or put together ready to frame--we have 16 puzzles hanging throughout the house), and added a rug runner on the floor. So, it looks a little different than it did. See pictures below: (I still need to cut down the top drawer of the dresser, and we want to get nice curtain from floor to ceiling in front of the tub)

We tiled inside the patio doors, put in three counter cabinets and tiled the top like the floor. This is right behind the new sofa. Makes the entry a little small, but we hope to add a new room on the outside to use as an entryway--maybe this Spring.

Mom tiling the upstairs bathroom. We used an old dresser that Petra was going to throw away,built a half wall at the end and put a new sink in the top, then tiled around it. I'll post some better pictures when it's done. Of course, it has taken us about 6 months to get this far, so who knows when it will be done. The big mirror we got at a yard sale for a couple of dollars.

WE BOUGHT A NEW SOFA BED FOR THE FAMILY ROOM WITH A QUEEN SIZE BED IN IT.

WE'RE STILL USING THE DECORATIONS THAT WE BOUGHT FROM PETRA WHEN SHE WAS IN THE 5th GRADE.

I REARRANGED THE SHELVES ON MY BIG BOOKCASE SO I COULD HAVE READERS' DIGEST CONDENSED BOOKS ALL THE WAY DOWN. I NOW HAVE ALMOST 300 OF THEM.

THE TREE IS UP!!!
Doesn't look bad for being 19 years old. We have friends coming over for dinner on Christmas day after Church, so we decorated a little.

HERE'S AN INTERESTING ONE:
One morning a husband returned after several hours of fishing and decided to take a nap. Although not familiar with the lake, his wife decided to take the boat out. She motored out a short distance, dropped the anchor and began to read her book. Along came the game warden in his boat. He pulled up alongside the woman and said, "Good morning, ma'am. What are you doing?"

"Reading a book," she replied.

"You're in a restricted fishing area," he informed her.

"I'm sorry, Officer, but I'm not fishing, I'm reading."

"Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up."

If you do that, I'll have to charge you with sexual assault," said the woman.

"But I haven't touched you," said the game warden.

"That's true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know, you could start at any moment."

"Have a nice day, ma'am," he said and left.

Moral of this story: Never argue with a woman who reads. It is likely she can also think.

JESUS SITTING ON YOUR SOFA......
Kendra, in her "sermon" about movies said something about Jesus sitting on your sofa watching what you watch. I get a paper called "Do Right" from Bob Jones Univ.--quotes from Dr. Bob Jones Sr., the founder of BJU. I thought this month's fit this situation. Here's the quote:
"I was reared down in the South and was brought up rather
formally in religious training; and I am honest with you when I say
that the first time I ever heard Billy Sunday pray it shocked me.
He was preaching. He stopped preaching and began to talk to Jesus
as if Jesus were right there. While he was talking to Jesus he turned
around and said to the song leader Homer Rodeheaver, "Rody, what is
the fellow's name who came to see us yesterday and wanted us to hold
a meeting in his place?" Then he went on, "Yes, Jesus, Mr. So-andSo,"
and he continued to pray. It did shock me. I am honest with you. But
you know, men and women, I knew one thing: Jesus Christ was real
to Bill that night.
The trouble with most of us is that Jesus Christ is not real to us.
What this country needs is an old-time, ever-present real God. You
need a God, Brother, when somebody is dead and the hearse backs up
to the door. You need a real God when you come to where the road
parts and you do not know which way to go. I am glad I have that
kind of God."
Which reminds me of a great old poem"
If Jesus came to your house to spend a day or two--
If He came unexpectedly, I wonder what you'd do.
Oh, I know you'd give your nicest room to such an honored Guest,
And all the food you'd serve to Him would be the very best,
And you would keep assuring Him you're glad to have Him there--
That serving Him in your home is joy beyond compare.

But--when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door
With arms outstretched in welcome to your Heavenly Visitor?
Or would you have to change your clothes before you let Him in?
Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they'd been?
Would you turn off the radio and hope He hadn't heard?
And wish you hadn't uttered that last, loud, hasty word?


Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymn books out?
Could you let Jesus walk right in, or would you rush about?
And I wonder--if the Saviour spent a day or two with you,
Would you go right on doing the things you always do?
Would you go right on saying the things you always say?
Would life for you continue as it does from day to day?

Would your family conversation keep up its usual pace?
And would you find it hard each meal to say a table grace?
Would you sing the songs you always sing, and read the books you read?
And let Him know the things on which your mind and spirit feed?
Would you take Jesus with you everywhere you planned to go?
Or would you, maybe change your plans for just a day or so?

Would you be glad to have Him meet your very closest friends?
Or would you hope they'd stay away until His visit ends?
Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on?
Or would you sigh with great relief when He at last was gone?
It might be interesting to know the things that you would do,
If Jesus came in Person to spend some time with you.
THAT'S THOUGHT PROVOKING, ISN'T IT?

ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS:
A bumper sticker in Berkeley: "Animals are little people in fur coats".
These people are really CRAZY!!!!!!!!!

GOALS......
Troy has a great subject on his blog--"do you have a plan to reach your goals?"
Peter gives us a great plan for us to reach our goals. II Peter 1 says we should ADD to our faith--the faith has to be there first. (You can't teach a dead man how to walk, and you have to be saved before you can begin to grow in Christ.) 7 things are listed for us to add:
1. virtue--having the right standards in our lives--purity must come before growth
2. knowledge--not ONLY knowing about the Lord, but, also, knowing HIM
3. temperance--we say "self-control", but, actually, we CANNOT control ourselves--we need
SPIRIT control
4. patience--bearing up under persecution; allowing the Lord to DO with us whatever HE pleases
5. godliness--being made conformable to Christ; being like HIM
6. brotherly kindness--loving other Christians; I John 3:14 "We know that we have passed
from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother,
abidth in death."
7. charity--loving like God loves; see I Cor. 13
THERE'S A GREAT PLAN FOR REACHING OUR GOAL OF SERVING HIM.