Free Republic

Are you looking for current events to identify the “biblical last days?” If so, you are reading your own presuppositions into the text. Theologians call that “eisegesis.” That’s an illegitimate methodology for biblical interpretation. Instead, we should be trying to glean the meaning intended by the biblical authors themselves―and the understanding of the original audience, i.e. “exegesis.” Let’s avoid newspaper-eschatology and go to the Bible to define the “last days” or “end times.” The Bible never speaks about the end of the world―only about end of the AGE. The King James Version of the Bible has misled readers for 400...

By 2050, 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities, up from 54 percent in 2020, according to a new report by the Institute for Economics & Peace. This increase is being driven by both population growth and a continued shift towards urbanization, particularly to so called ‘megacities’ - metropolises that have a population of 10 million or more.As Statista's Anna Fleck details below, urbanization takes place because of both push and pull factors. The IEA describes how in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital of Kinshasa, factors pushing people away from rural areas include issues of violence...

MessageToEagle.com - Normally, as a matter of personal preference I don’t get into politics, but when we have a presidential campaign that begins to cross over into the strange twilight zone of religious weirdness that centers on the one person who’s going to control the most powerful government and army on the face of the earth, well, it brings up some unusual scenarios to wonder about. It is being reported in the media today that former presidential candidate Mitt Romney only wrote a victory speech for Election Day; presumably a harried, last minute scramble to revise his speech was being...

Excerpts: Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Kings 13:18 The old prophet answered, "I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the LORD: 'Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.'" (But he was lying to him.) Jeremiah 23:16 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their...

Every time some maverick like Camping decides to go off the reservation and promote a prophecy like this, scorn is brought on all of us who believe Jesus is coming again. The mockery factor will be quite high come Monday the 23rd. I do not know what Camping is going to do. He has closed every door on his options. He has said the Bible guarantees it. There is no plan B. This is it, plain and simple, no question marks after May 21, 2011? or the like to fall back on. I have thought he might spiritualize it, like...

I used to spend a lot of time on the subject of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. It was the second major group I tackled and studied. I still have a huge number of their old, old books, shelves of them, actually. I also have a whole set of what are called "bound volumes," yearly compilations of all of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines. Of course, much of this is now available digitally on the Watchtower Library CD Rom (which isn't easy to get hold of, but not impossible). Anyway, I just checked the dark corner of one of...

Jesus informs John that Gentile pagans will have their diabolical way in Jerusalem for the last half (42 months divided by 12 equals three-and-a-half years) of the about-seven year Tribulation period, the latter closing out the Church Age. The Church Age began with the First Coming of Christ. The Church Age will conclude with the Second Coming of Christ. The “trampling” includes the AntiChrist desecrating the next Temple to be constructed as well as laying low by his armies’ might the city of Jerusalem.

ANAHEIM, CA - Episcopal Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori says it's "heresy" to believe that an individual can be saved through a sinner's prayer of repentance. In her opening address to the church's General Conference in California, Jefferts Schori called that "the great Western heresy: that we can be saved as individuals, that any of us alone can be in right relationship with God." The presiding bishop said that view is "caricatured in some quarters by insisting that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus." According to Schori, it is heresy to believe that an individual's prayer...

Chuck Pierce and Kabbalah: The Month of Iyar Last week, I posted an article exposing the occultic origins of Chuck Pierce's so-called "ministry," explaining that most of what he claims are "Words from the Lord" actually comes from astrology and Kabbalah (a New Age form of Jewish Mysticism). The latest post from Chuck Pierce is just more evidence that "Dr." Chuck Pierce is not a Christian minister, but an adherant of another religion, Kabbalah. According to him (and Kabbalah), we have just entered the Hebrew month of "Iyar." Here's a comparison of what Chuck Pierce and Kabbalah have to say:...

If you’ve ever read any of Chuck Pierce’s so-called prophecies, you will have undoubtedly noticed that the man seems to have a vocabulary all his own, using words which, to the uninitiated, make absolutely no sense at all — at least in the Christian context in which Mr. Pierce chooses to frame his words. I’m talking here of words like shift, atmosphere, earth realm, energy, alignment, pillar and so on. Many of his writings also seems to place an unusual emphasis on colors, sounds and vibrations. It is tempting to just dismiss him as a nut and not give him...

Learn what American attitudes toward current events and Bible prophecy are in this exclusive new poll.Are We Living in the Last Days? We asked: "Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: 'Events such as the rebirth of the State of Israel, wars and instability in the Middle East, recent earthquakes, and the tsunami in Asia are evidence that we are living in what the Bible calls the last days.'"* 42% of all Americans agree * 44% disagree * 14% say they don’t know Last Days—Gender* 50 percent of women agree; 37 percent disagree; * 14 percent don’t know...

A Case of Anti-War False Prophecy? Fanatical mullahs have been let loose to issue anti-war fatwas in the mosques and madrassas of the city of Pasadena! The Pasadena First Congregational Church (UCC), the Pasadena Neighborhood Church, and the All Saints Episcopal Church have opposed the I.R.S. warning that an anti-Iraq War sermon by the Rev. George Regas may have jeopardized the tax exempt status at All Saints Church a year ago (see "Politics vs. Pulpit - All Saints Church Sparks IRS Investigation," Pasadena Star News, November 8, 2005, page 1 http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/search/ci_3193295). The substance of Regas' sermon was that it is...