Choices, choices...

I get one FSM class this spring, and I've got it narrowed down to five:

• Zechariah w/Wes Hall (module 1)
• Biblical Models of the Forerunner Ministry w/Corey (module 2)
• Romans w/Matt Candler (module 3)
• Dreams and Visions w/Eddie B (also module 3)
• Daniel w/Allen (module 4)

First or second module would probably be better than third or fourth, but those classes sound really good! Suggestions, anyone?

I'm ready for spring

Seriously, I don't think I've ever really gotten warm since I stepped out the front door this morning....and it's only December....ehh....

Christmas Eve, 2004

So, for a while now I’ve studied the Day of the Lord theme throughout the Bible, and I seem to be having a bit of a conflict with the timing of it all . I'm focusing mainly on the braod Day of the Lord. So...

The main timing indicator verses (that I know of) are:

Joel 2--
30 "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth:
Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.

1 Thess 5--
2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.

Revelation 6--
12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood... 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

Mike places the starting point at the 3 ½ year mark, along with the releasing of the first seal. I’m not so sure about this, because as far as I know, the DOTL is never equated with the Great Tribulation in the NT. They aren’t two names for the same thing. Great Tribulation seems to be, in a nutshell, heightened trouble for everyone, whereas the DOTL has a very specific purpose in the heart of God. And I’m not convinced that the first seal is going to break the period of false peace (but it might—I may change my mind later). On the other hand, the peace and safety verse does make a lot of sense with this theory. It goes very well with the “as in the days of Noah” reality. It really does work, until you throw in the other passages.

The other option that I can see as far as starting points go would be the sixth seal. This goes perfectly with Joel 2 and Rev 6. Another awesome thing to note, if indeed this theory is right, is that the DOTL is brought on by the fifth seal:

9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"

You'll love the idea (and Jesus) even more after reading Psalm 18 =D. But anyway, to get off the bunny trail, even though I personally like this theory a lot, it doesn't really line up with 1 Thess 5 and the whole "days of Noah" thing. You have to seriously stretch the passage to assume that the world will be saying "peace and safety" at the time of the fourth seal, or even the second and third.

I don't know if any of that made any sense to anyone but me, but basically I have no conclusion. I still have plenty of study and think-pray time to do, and the book of Daniel to explore, but for the moment I just really want to know how it's all going to work! So...thoughts, suggestions, verses, theories? Anyone?

Oh yes...

As of today, I am officially a junior in high school. I am somewhere between a year and a year and a half away from graduating. Mwahahaha....=D

And to make things even better, I'm also on Christmas break for two whole weeks!!!

Interesting quotes

I've been writing a paper on the Holocaust, and even though I've researched it plenty before, I keep finding stuff I don't remember seeing. A few quotes for your ponderation and eschatolization =D (no but really, these are some sobering statements)...

"Anti-Semitism is exactly the same as delousing. Getting rid of lice is not a question of ideology. It is a matter of cleanliness."

--Speech by Reichsfuehrer-SS Himmler at Kharkow April 1943

"...every German down to the last man will, with heart and hand, join the ranks of those whose aim is to crush the head of the serpent Pan-Juda beneath their heels. He who helps to bring this about helps to eliminate the devil. And this devil is the Jew."

-- Leading article by Julius Streicher from "Der Stürmer" No.39, September 1936

As if that's not enough....

"[Streicher] told the little ones about the terrible times after the war, when the Devil dominated mankind. "Do you know who the Devil is?" he asked his breathlessly listening audience. "The Jew, the Jew," resounded from a thousand
children's voices."

-- Report of Streicher's address to 2,000 children at Nuernberg,
Christmas 1936, from Fraenkische Tegeszeitung, 22nd December 1936

"Boys and girls, look back to a little more than 10 years ago. A great war had...left in the end a heap of ruins. Only one people remained victorious in this dreadful war, a people of whom Christ said its father is the devil. That people had ruined the German nation in body and soul. Then Adolf Hitler, unknown to anybody, arose from among the people and became the voice which called to a holy war and battle. He cried to the people for everybody to take courage again and to rise and get a helping hand to take the devil from the German people, so that the human race might be free again from these people that have wandered about the world for centuries and millennia, marked with the sign of Cain.

"Boys and girls, even if they say that the Jews were once the chosen people, do not believe it, but believe us when we say that the Jews are not a chosen people. Because it cannot be that a chosen people should act among the peoples as the Jews do today."

--Streicher's speech to the Hitler Youth on the "Holy Mountain" near Nurnberg on 22 June 1935

It's kind of strange, for me personally, to think that this sort of thinking is coming again, maybe in our lifetime...but I guess in some nations it's already here...

My first optical illusion

If you look at it long enough, it's very hard to tell whether the footprints are in the ground or on top of the ground...

A couple weeks ago I read The Hiding Place for school. I wasn't particularly excited about it- I guess it's because of my pet peeve about overquoted, over-referenced books. I'm not sure. But anyways, I picked it up, trudged through the first few chapters (which were very slow), and eventually hit a turning point.


My point of conviction came about 3/4 of the way through the book. Corrie and Betsie are spending their first night at the concentration camp in an overcrowded, filthy, flea-infested barracks. They're praying, thanking God for each annoyance, inconvenience and opportunity. And then Betsie gets to the fleas. Corrie refuses point-blank to be thankful for fleas, and by this time I'm almost agreeing with her. I even had the fleeting thought, "Betsie, you've gone over the edge. Just chill out. You don't need to thank Jesus for the fleas. Just thank Him that He's dedicated to fashioning you into His likeness, and leave it at that."


Turns out that because of the fleas (and only because of the fleas), the guards never entered the barracks at all. Corrie and Betsie were able to hold nightly prayer meetings without ever coming close to being caught.


Not only was I a tad bit embarrassed, but it started me think-praying (or whatever it is I do)...and asking a lot of questions: Should I be that specific in giving thanks all the time? I've always understood "give thanks in all circumstances" to mean that our attitude is to be one of gratefulness towards the Lord in all situations, because of who He is, not necessarily because we are actually thankful for all the nitty-gritty details...I don't think I've reached a solid conclusion yet. So, I'm still in the process of assembling all my thoughts, but if anyone has any of their own to add, then go for it =D.

Did you know...

...that cactus (cacti? cactuses? cacteese?) grow in Florida??! I honestly had no clue, until I almost stepped on this one.

I just thought you guys might like to know that. More meaningful posts coming soon.

Would somebody please clean the sound booth?!

I don't even want to know how long it's been since someone dusted....

Pomegranate

I have discovered a new fruit. It's like eating gorgeous little gems full of juice...except for the seeds. I have to spit the seeds out. But really, besides that...pomegranate is awesome. And apparently it's really good for you (that's what I've been told anyway). And it's so fun to look at...yum...