Blacksheep Speaks

Welcome back!

When Jesus told us that no man would know the day or the hour, he meant it. But then he proceeded to give us a specific point to look for, so that we WOULD know when, as the “when” became nearer. BUT… and you are just gonna love this… to understand the “when”, you must first have at least a rudimentary knowledge of what it is like to be a woman WHO HAS GIVEN BIRTH. This is important knowledge in understanding not just one but TWO levels of the “when” question. Let me explain.

In Matthew, there is a point where Jesus is talking about the time of the end, and he references “wars, and rumors of wars, and earthquakes” among other things (I give that as a reference point in case you want to look up what I am saying). The most important part of what he is saying is at the END of that passage… “These are the beginnings of sorrows”. Um, wait a minute. Sorrows is a problem. It is also why there are so many misconceptions about what Jesus said. You see, in at least one popular version of the Bible, the word is rendered as “sorrows”. But THAT is a direct mistranslation of the original. ACCURATELY translated (check your Strong’s) the word comes across as BIRTH PAINS, and THAT is a whole different kettle of fish.

You see, as any woman who has ever had a child can tell you, when giving birth, it isn’t the contractions (birth pains) themselves that are important. It is the space in between. The shorter the space, the closer the birth. So, if you take the list of events Jesus gave (and HOW many times have I heard people say that since we have ALWAYS had those things, they don’t matter) and make a timeline list of all known occurrences of ANY of them, you will find that while these things have indeed been around the whole time, their RATE OF OCCURANCE is coming more and more often. In other words, the contractions are now about two minutes apart… time to head for the hospital, folks.

Well, maybe not quite. You see, for the REST of what Jesus said to happen, the third Jewish temple must be rebuilt on it’s original site. (There have been many books written about this. I’m not getting into it. Trust me, it has to happen.) The antichrist also has to rise in power, not that I think most of the world will recognize him. If you are interested in hearing more about the Jewish temple and the role it plays, let me know. I will do an entry on it sometime. For THIS study, all you need to know is that the antichrist must be in power, the temple must be rebuilt, and you must also know that the center of the Jewish temple is a holy place that no person should go except the high priest, once a year. This place is called “The Holy of Holies”. Okay, now, moving on….

Jesus references a prophecy in the passage we have been talking about, saying that when you see the desecration spoken of by Daniel, RUN. All heck is about to break loose. Well, He didn’t use those words, but He’s pretty clear. He is speaking to people who are IN THE HOLY LAND at the time of the end. The EVENT he is talking about is the day that the antichrist enters the Holy of Holies and proclaims himself to be the messiah. Jesus says at that point to run for the hills. At this point, the rapture is about to happen. Why, then, did He tell them to run? Well, He is speaking here to the Jews, not the Christians, and being a Christian is kind of a prerequisite to being raptured, you know.

HOW do we know that THIS is the point of rapture? Because Jesus said something else (prepare to be a pregnant woman again!). He said that at this time, woe unto all pregnant women and nursing mothers. Now, THINK about that. He said ALL (non-Christian) mothers. What is the ONE thing that will ALWAYS cause a mother anguish? Losing their child. And the ONLY event that could take ALL THE UNBORN CHILDREN AND NURSING BABIES ON THE PLANET is the rapture. Remember, children below the age of consent belong to God, no matter what.

The “Countdown to Rapture” starts the moment the antichrist enters the Holy of Holies. From that point, we may have seconds, hours, or days. Don’t count on having months or years.

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The Bible does not use the word “rapture”. That simple fact, all by itself, has been used many times to claim that the rapture is not going to occur. The Bible calls it something else, a “catching up” of the faithful, I believe (and here I should point out that, while what I am saying is based on scriptural reference, if you want it, look it up. I am not lying, but paragraphs laced with reference notations are boring and distracting).

I have heard many very well thought out arguments that say the rapture will happen, and will occur before the onset of the final seven years, known as the Tribulation period. I have heard just as many arguments that it will occur AFTER that, as Jesus returns. I am about to show you that it is neither. Both of these theories are based on “old church” teachings, from before the books began to unseal. Read your Bible, especially Revelation, with “new eyes”. Forget what you thought you knew and just READ it. These are not parables. There is some symbolism here, but not as much as it used to look like, and the timeline is also pretty clear.

Revelation makes reference to a group of people UNDER the throne of God. It calls them martyrs, and they are told to wait a while longer. They are described as already being dressed in white robes.

Also in Revelation, not far from the above referenced passage, there is a reference to a whole DIFFERENT set of people. For some reason, a lot of teachings contend that these two references are to the same set of people. However, this second set is described as being IN FRONT OF, not beneath, the throne of God. It also says that they were given white robes, and that they were the ones who had come up OUT OF THE TRIBULATION. Different set of people.

In regards to the martyrs, the “under the throne” crowd, God makes it clear that things on Earth aren’t over yet when he tells them to wait.

The second set of people, by the words God used to describe them (they came out of the Tribulation) are the people caught up in what is commonly referred to as “the rapture”. This does not occur AFTER the Tribulation, obviously. Nor before.

So, the answer to the question is… yes, there will be a rapture. It will exist. But the next question, the obvious question, is “when”? Well…. Jesus says that no man will know the day or the hour. But he DOES pin it down to within a couple weeks of one certain event. Which event? Stay tuned…. back later.

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Do your church leaders really have any clue whether or not we are nearing the time of the end? Well, that depends on each unique individual, but by and large, probably not. Why? Because organized churches have been around way to long to GET it.

Wait, before you get mad at me, hear me out. I am not saying your church is a bad thing. What I meant was… churches as a whole made their rules a long time ago, in deference to what they believed the Bible meant. Most churches have a set of limits they use in teaching, church wide beliefs that have been unaltered since the beginning of that particular church. This holds especially true for end-time predictions.

In Revelation, God SEALED several of the books in the Bible, making them impossible to understand. They were to be unsealed near the time of the end. Churches, as a whole, do not take into consideration that the books that were not understandable before (which was usually chalked up to “parable form” or some such, and explained away) are becoming more and more understandable as the world and time catch up with them.

The fact is, that while we do not know “the day or the hour”, we should, as Jesus told us, be aware of the season, and the season is fast approaching. Yes, I CAN prove it. Look for posts later today regarding when the rapture is to occur, WHETHER it is to occur, and why there is such a huge controversy regarding this seemingly simple issue.

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A day or two ago, in a public forum, presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was asked a couple of very religion based questions. I find his answers interesting, if not very helpful. I also find it interesting that the questioners are still resorting to religious belief questions to try and knock down candidates… which is probably the reason for the answers given.

Please bear in mind that I am paraphrasing, not quoting directly. I heard this report on the radio, and so have no notes to refer to. Anyway, the first question was, do you believe that the Bible is the literal truth. His answer stated that, as the only one present with a theological degree, there were parts of the Bible he did not understand, but that this was a good thing, because we have an infinite God, and if He were completely understandable, He would be too simple a God. Er, sure, Mike, whatever you say.

The second question was asking how Jesus would have handled something or other, I don’t remember what. The answer? “Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office”.

Hmm. You know, I actually support Mike Huckabee for president. I am a resident of the state of Arkansas, and as such, know he has some very good agendas. But with answers like these, will anyone ELSE ever know?

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This is what I want for Christmas. I hope my husband is taking note. And just in case he is, this incredible necklace AND all of it’s diamonds are from James Allen Professional Jewelers. I didn’t include a link to this exact necklace, because I figured that if my husband wanted to choose something more expensive, that was his perogative, and I shouldn’t meddle. I rarely meddle! However, I AM planning to point out the great selection of diamond engagement rings and wedding rings to my daughter’s boyfriend. That’s not meddling. THAT is just being helpful, don’t you think? And, for rvrtyone else out there, be sure and chek out this site for yourself. Tell them Blacksheep sent you!

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I know I spend a lot of time on this computer, but my husband… sheesh. I spend a lot of time here. What I do NOT do is eat, breathe, and sleep it. I actually do talk about something other than blogging occasionally. Even when I AM blogging.

My husband, on the other hand, has rediscovered the Flight Simulator game he got last year for Christmas. I NEVER hear about anything else. He is driving me insane. Maybe it’s because I fail to understand why anyone would want a game that, well, doesn’t DO anything. You fly a plane from point a to point b. There are a lot of bells and whistles, but essentially, that’s it.

I have a better time clipping my toenails.

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If you like to play slots online, you have probably been there before. It’s one of the oldest sites of it’s kind on the web. You might not recognize the place, though. They have done a really excellent job of revamping the site. You should see the slot machines now! You won’t FIND better graphics. Hey, with over a hundred thousand players who keep returning to the interactive games, you KNOW they have to be good! And if you DO have a problem, tech support is RIGHT there. So come on over, pick your favorite slot machine, and have some fun!

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I love Christmas. I love the overall good will that most people seem to have at this time of year. I love the decorations all over town, the store displays, even the tinny Christmas carols blaring too loud from various speakers. The only thing that would make things better is if there were a way to get people to act this way all year long.

What I do NOT love is when someone takes Christmas tradition and turns it into something else. (WARNING: rant about to occur) In Los Angeles, one of the malls has hired a different kind of Santa. This guy is somewhere in his twenties, I am guessing, and apparently what my daughters refer to as “built”. He’s being billed as the “Hunky Santa”, walking around in a Santa hat and an open, sleeveless red robe that shows his bare chest. He has a whole entourage of miniskirted elf dancers. They have taken a night club act and thrown it out in front of kids expecting to sit on Santa’s knee. This is just NOT right.

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This post is mostly for my daughter Wendi, who had, up until seeing this post, no idea who Nermal is. You remember Nermal, don’t you? He was Garfield’s cutsie little baby cousin. He had an awful lot of… cuteness. He was always my favorite character from the Garfield comics. I could never really appreciate Darlene, who wore too much eye makeup even for cartoon, or Odie, who always made me think of someone who had been through too many alcohol rehabs with no success whatsoever. Nermal was cute, loveable, and I had a stuffed one on my dresser all the time. Boy, I miss cartoons the way they used to be!

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Well, I am severely disappointed. I took this survey to determine how addicted to coffee I am. Apparently, because I do not roast and grind my own beans, I do not get to be one hundred percent addicted. Hmph.

If you want to take the survey, you can click the thing showing my results below. Fair warning, though, if you DO want to post your results, the results include a link back to a dating site. It’s fairly easy to edit out, though. I find it disgusting that sites like that use things like this to wrangle freebie links:)

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