Be Strong and Courageous Lessons From Joshua 1:9: 2011 in Review

Showing posts with label 2011 in Review. Show all posts

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Top Faith Stories of 2011 By Jan Markell

www.olivetreeviews.org

January 10, 2012

The church was in the news in 2011, perhaps like never before. Some of the news was good, some of it was shameful. What I took away is that God is terribly patient with us!

So why even reflect? I think we can learn from reflecting. It encourages us to be thankful and to correct our course. Maybe the same mistakes won't be made this year. Or, there may be fewer of them! Trends are interesting. I have compiled the top 15 stories of faith from 2011 by gathering information from other ministries, perusing news stories on my own, and talking to fellow leaders in ministry. Here goes. And the list is not in any particular order.

#1: Rob Bell's attempt to legitimize Universalism.

#2: The Arab Spring's darkest side: The destruction of Christians in the Middle East.

#3:. Tim Tebow's demonstration of faith and thankfulness to God no matter how much scorn he came under.

#4: The rise of Chrislam: The merging of Christianity and Islam on the part of foolish Christians who believe the two faiths can share "common ground."

#5: Evangelical leaders saying we are putting our trust in nuclear weapons and not God so America must disarm! Doesn't get any stranger than this.

#6: The Presbyterian Church U.S.A. allows non-celibate gay pastors to remain in leadership prompting defections from the denomination.

#7: A new nation is born: Christian South Sudan...an ally of Israel.

#8: The rise of lawlessness manifest in the 'Occupy Wall Street' (OWS) movement which is now a foreshadowing of the lawlessness outlined in the Tribulation spoken of in Matthew 24. The OWS movement has a sinister anti-Semitic undertone.

#9: Global debt, which feeds into the longing for a "man with a plan;" a global Mr. Fix-it. Only a man with the name of Antichrist can solve the world's economic problems.

#10: Harold Camping's antics: His Rapture date-setting put the event on the map but led to the further mocking of our 'blessed hope.'

#11: Three "New Agers" in the pulpit of Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, all of 2011. They put on a year-long health seminar. Warren allowed in well-known occultists, Drs. Amen, Oz and Hymen, to help his congregation "get in shape." They may have destroyed some spiritually.

#12: Glenn Beck's "Restoring Courage" event in Israel. According to many attendees who were evangelicals, the hidden agenda--and not so hidden at that--was the Mormon-promoting aspect of the trip.

#13: a) The evangelism program of the Catholic Church to bring folks 'home to Rome'; b) Vatican's cry for global government back in October.

#14: The rush to the predicted globalization system of the world and the continued silence of the church on such urgent last-days' issues.

#15: The continued rise of the paranormal and the sanctioning of that by many Christians who supported the final Harry Potter film in 2011.

Many significant stories have been left out, but I find those 15 to be of great importance last year. Almost all stories were covered on "Understanding the Times" radio in 2011.

Watch the Bible continue to come alive in this new year. Because it is an election year, it will be a significant time. Watch for liberal evangelicals to continue to pound the global warming mantra when they should be preaching the gospel. Already we see Leftist evangelicals suggesting environmental issues are 'pro life.'

And since the predicted turn against Israel is taking place daily, only a little band of Christian Zionists will remain staunch allies of God's land and people. This ministry will be among them.

It's unlikely that the Mayans had any inside info on the 'end of the world as we know it.' If so, they could have stopped their own 'end of the world.' And there is way too much yet to happen to wind things down this year! So, Olive Tree Ministries will be here in 2012 to help you understand the times, contend for the faith, and become watchmen on the wall. We're getting a new Web site soon. In the meantime, please be patient with us. God isn't finished with us yet!

Since we're a year closer to 'going Home,' share the gospel while there is time!

Awaiting His return,
Jan Markell

Get acquainted with Understanding the Times radio, now heard in 416 radio outlets and around the world electronically. The weekend one-hour program is posted here and here on Sunday. For info on podcasting, visit this link. We air Saturday, 9 to 10 a.m. CST out of Minneapolis/St. Paul on our home stations, AM1280 The Patriot and AM980 KKMS. You can always 'listen live' there. We are heading into our 12th year of broadcasting.

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Blessings,

**I want to thank Jan Markell for her permission to post the Understanding the Times Newsletter here.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

THE PROPHECY CLOCK RACED IN 2011 By Jan Markell

www.olivetreeviews.org

December 28, 2011

As we exit 2011, some things are certain in this age of uncertainty. Most readers will acknowledge that the end-time clock is racing. The year started with violence as a deranged gunman shot and killed or wounded many in Arizona. One of the victims was a U.S. Congresswoman. As 2011 winds down, chaos and violence rage around the world. The 1960s are being relived as angry young people demand that world governments bow to their anti-capitalist ideas. Violence and instability are everywhere, however, and particularly in the volatile Middle East.

So what else do we see? The world is riddled with war and rumors of war. Our churches are no longer sound. True Christianity is under attack from all sides, and Christians are being marginalized as intolerant bigots. In far-away places, Christians are being slaughtered in the name of Allah. Nature seems out of control as we observe record-setting disasters everywhere. Greed and corruption are the engines that run just about everything. Israel and Jerusalem are blamed for most of the world's problems. Allow me to expand on some of these.

War is on the way in the Middle East. Muslim nations are determined to force a showdown over the future of Israel, observes Ronald Reagan's Assistant Defense Secretary Frank Gafney. He warns of a "cataclysmic regional war and it will be over the future existence of the state of Israel. It may involve all of her neighbors, as they want to drive the Jews into the sea. It may include the use of nuclear weapons."

So much for the benign purposes of the "Arab spring." Consider Egypt. Under Hosni Mubarek, Egypt was the anchor of regional stability. Now, thanks to the Muslim Brotherhood, instability emanates to all other Mideast nations from that hub. A united effort to annihilate Israel is underway.

America is assisting in that endeavor as the Obama assault on Israel continues. Secretary of State Clinton is warning that any American action towards recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel must be avoided. It might jeopardize the peace process even though that process is a joke.

Add to this litany an emboldened and ascendant China, Russia once again under the absolute control of Vladimir Putin, a Mexico free-falling into civil war with narcotic traffickers and their Hezbollah allies on our southern border, and you get a world that is fraught with peril for the United States. Isn't it obvious that we are in the midst of the Bible's predicted "perilous times"? (II Timothy 3:1) Sure, times have always been rough, but it's the convergence of events that is so intriguing at this time.

"Occupy Wall Street" is nothing to ignore. Suffice it to say that it represents the lawlessness and debauchery that characterizes our times. Don't dismiss it as a silly circus of unwashed graduate students or fossilized 1960s nostalgists who can't even formulate a coherent platform. If they could govern, we would have the ideal Leftist agenda of Marxism, Socialism, and one-worldism. It would take a super-human person to blend those elements and make it work. His name is Antichrist and he is waiting in the wings.

In late October, the Vatican called for radical reform of the world's financial systems, including the creation of a global political authority to manage the economy. Read that again. The Vatican has called for a one-world economic and political system. Untold millions of Catholics have now been told that their leadership is ok with global government. Six billion more inhabitants of Earth must be persuaded but with record-setting global and individual debt, this process will likely be easy!

Many scenarios are yet to play out. The policies of the man we elected by a wide majority just three years ago seem to be designed to confiscate the wealth of most Americans and put an end to America's super power status by eliminating what little value our currency still has. More and more experts are warning us to be prepared for the hyperinflation that's sure to come when the rest of the world decides to stop lending us the money we need to fund our deficits. Already 70% of it is coming out of thin air, courtesy of the Federal Reserve.

America is not going away but a weakened America is necessary before someone can carry the globalist football into the end zone. The one-worlders know this and the world's rabble-rousers denouncing capitalism know this. As we often say in this office, "It's all coming together." On Monday, December 26, a prominent talk show host, with an animated voice said, "We need a world leader now!" He probably had no idea what he said or what the implications are. I noticed he didn't say that we need an American leader. We need a global Mr. Fix-it. Another host calls such a man a "spooky dude." He has no clue either. Only the Bible helps us understand these mysteries and a lot of churches today consider the Bible an inconvenience. The Antichrist will be both: A 'man-with-a-plan' and a real 'spooky dude.'

Perhaps one of the most profound prophecy-related stories in 2011 is global debt. We're another year older and deeper in debt! The whole world is in debt -- not just America! I could give you the stats but your eyes would glaze over. Worry not. The 'spooky dude' will solve it!

The early church longed for Jesus' return and thus greeted each other with "Maranatha!" Imagine how simple their lifestyle was. They knew nothing of the clanging noise of concrete canyons around the world -- big cities throbbing with violence and turmoil. Still, that simple word comforted them because it promised a better world someday.

As we see 2011 leaving us, know that a better world awaits you, too! But it is not of this world. It is another dimension, another location, another time. Yet it could be here in the twinkling of an eye! The heart-cry of millions in 2011, and even more in 2012, is this wonderful word: Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus! I'll say it over and over again. Some will get sick of it but I won't quit. It's the one word that offers hope as the world comes unglued!

Maranatha, maranatha! Keep looking up. With an eternal perspective, the headlines won't disturb you quite so much and you can focus on spreading the gospel while there is still time. And find a church that believes same!