Go Fish Ministries, Inc. News Letter Feb.1, 2011

Go Fish Ministries, Inc.  News Letter   Feb.1, 2011

Jesus said: Follow me and I will make you fishers for the souls of others.  Matthew 4:19

Sis. Kimberly Hartfield, B.S. M.S. Christian Counselor                   Contact or unsubscribe: gofishbooks@gmail.com

Counselors’ Corner

It’s February, the time of Love.  As Valentine’s Day draws near, I am reminded of the passages on love in I, II, and III John, which I read this morning in my devotion time.  “Love one another” is the theme of these books. I John 3:11 says, “This is what you heard at first, that we should love one another.” Then II John repeats this theme in verse five.  So how do we love one another?  I John 3:17 tells us what we should do, saying, “Whoever has this world’s goods and sees another Christian in need, and closes up their heart to them, how does the love of God live in them?”  This past month, I have seen a wonderful example of God’s love in action.  I had been experiencing great pain with two teeth that kept abscessing off and on for several months.  The dental insurance plan that we are on has high deductibles and co-pays that I just had no way to come up with.  Rocky couldn’t even find a dentist that would accept the insurance plan we have. But I managed to borrow left over antibiotics from several family members and was feeling somewhat better and went back to church after having missed several weeks.  In passing, I mentioned my dilemma to Susan and Randy at church, and told them of the trouble I had been having.  They got together later, unbeknownst to me, and called on a couple of dentists and got me an appointment to have my teeth pulled.  The were pulled last Friday, which was an answer to prayer as the last time they abscessed, it had swollen up the whole side of my face and I thought I would die with the pain and infection.  But God is so good and took care of my need through the love and care of His people.  Susan, Randy, and Dr. Belinda Lucas at Oak Grove Family Dentistry, all opened their hearts and showed true Christian love and I am so grateful and blessed to have been on the receiving end of it.  I pray that someday I can give back to the Christian community as I have received. 

After going to the dentist on Friday morning, I went to a wonderful women’s event at Temple on Friday night and Saturday.  I had already committed myself to work the bookstore table, so I had to make myself go even if I wasn’t feeling so great.  I’m so glad I did.  Lysa Terkeurst, the president of Proverbs 31 Ministries, was the speaker and I got to meet her personally.  She’s a very godly woman, who is not afraid to be real and vulnerable to others.  She spoke of going through childhood sexual abuse, as have I, and having had an abortion as an adult, and how God has healed her from the many heartaches in her life.  She is a woman after my own heart! She even quotes in her book “Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl” my favorite passage of Scripture, which states, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulations, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” This is the very verse that God used to call me into ministry to comfort other victims of sexual and domestic violence.  Revelation 12: 11 is also another strong verse that God used to call me, which says, “and they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they didn’t love their lives even to death.”   These two verses are the pinnacle of my calling.  I know that God will someday use my testimony to reach and minister to others who have experienced sexual and domestic violence, and show them that God can and will heal them if they will let Him.  Lysa is reaching those who have had abortions, Beth Moore is reaching those suffering from childhood sexual abuse, and I will reach those who are victims of domestic violence, because that is where we’ve been and that is how God has comforted us and enabled us to minister to others. 

I pray that God will show me how to better use my testimony to bring glory to Him and healing to His people.  I am certainly a flawed and sinful human being, but like King David, who committed adultery with Bathsheba, I am a woman after God’s own heart.  Sinful, but forgiven; Flawed, but full of God’s grace.  At Lysa’s conference, she spoke of a part of her ministry called, “She Speaks” that teaches women how to more effectively write and speak about their testimony for God.  It is my fervent hope and prayer that God will allow me to go to one of these conferences in the near future.  Pray that God will make a way for this to happen as I know I need a great deal of polishing to make this rough piece of stone shine.  I pray that God will make me presentable and acceptable to His people, so that I might be used by Him in a way that would be of great benefit to the kingdom of God, whether that is here locally or worldwide.  My writings online are already reaching even those overseas, so I pray that God will continue to bless that avenue of my testimony and work for Him.  Please pray with me on these things. 

January has been a poor month for us in many ways, but February is looking up. Both of the jobs I had last year fell through in January so I had no work the whole month practically.  Mr. Al, who I had been caring for got sick and so they didn’t need me there any longer, and I got no work from my other regular house-cleaning job either.  I don’t know how I could have anyway with the teeth problems I was having but I did much writing and published several new works online. My writing sites are beginning to make a little money now after three long years of publishing and hoping to get some exposure.  It’s still not much, but more than before.  It’s milk and bread money anyway. Also I got a tutoring job a couple of hours a week, and it could potentially lead to others, as I am qualified to teach English. In any case the light bill didn’t get paid last month, and is about to be cut off, but God’s word assures me that God is light and in Him is no darkness.  So whether or not the lights stay on, our true source of light is God and we’ll survive with God on our side. 

I still have Christian books for sale, and I’m marking them down to $3 each or 2 for $5 for hardbacks and $1.50 each or 4 for $5 for softbacks. If you want me to mail them to you shipping will be extra. My book inventory is listed below, so you can still let me know if you see anything you want.  Well, that’s all for now, so God bless to all and go fish for Jesus!       

Notes and Prayer Requests

• Pray for Amanda and my first grandbaby, Kylie Anne.  Amanda is battling with the cigarette habit and having a hard time quitting.  Kylie is nursing well and growing strong!
• Pray for Rose, my oldest, who had her baby early at 33 weeks on January 16. Evie was 3lb. 3 oz. and is doing well though she will be in the hospital quite some time.  She was moved from the hospital at Duke to the regional hospital there, and is up to 3lbs. 7 oz. now.    
• My son Jonnie broke his foot a few weeks ago and has had his surgeries.  Please pray that he continues to heal well. 
• My son Rock is back in college and is going to go to nursing school.  I’m so proud of him!
• My son Tommy is working hard at two jobs and trying to make ends meet.  Pray that God will lead him to a better job and to go back to school and get a degree to help him. He may be going to the police academy in the future.  He’s taking responsibility for his wife and baby, though, so I couldn’t be prouder!
• Merry is really struggling with her faith and has great anger towards me for leaving.  Pray that she will someday understand why I had to leave when I did.  My two oldest girls understand why I left because they saw much of the abuse, but the younger ones who didn’t see as much, just don’t understand. 
• Selah is having some potential health issues, so pray for healing for her.   
• I wanted to invite you to sell items through our BFAC.com garage sale to support Go Fish Ministries, Inc.. To join you just need to click on the link: http://www.bfac.com/garagesale/acceptinvite/garagesaleID/112585 If you want to just shop you can check out the garage sale at: http://www.bfac.com/garagesale/index/garagesaleid/112585

• I am a Christian Counselor and would be willing to provide services to those in need.  I have a master’s degree in Psychological Counseling and am an ordained Minister as well.  Please pray that I may be useful to God’s kingdom.  I can also mow yards, clean houses or anything else that needs doing.  I charge $50 for a yard or 3 BR house.  You provide the equipment.
• I have published all of my New Testament paraphrases on the Triond website.  You can see all of my writings by going to my main Triond link at https://www.triond.com/users/Mama+Heartfilled
• I’ve also began to publish my working drafts of the Old testament on my Blogspot at http://gofishministry.blogspot.com/  and http://mamaheartfilled.lifewithchrist.org I’ve done Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. 
• I would appreciate if you’d let me know of grammar, punctuation, and other mistakes I may have made.  My goal is to make the paraphrase as simple and clear as possible.  I know they still need much work, as they are drafts of a work in progress.  I don’t know of many other Bibles that use the Name of Yahweh (I am in Hebrew), so I have worked hard to get it right.  Please pray that God helps me in this work, and let me know of any mistakes you find.  Thank all of you who are praying for me on this.  

Unspoken Prayer Request - Do Protestants Need Confession?

Unspoken Prayer Request - Do Protestants Need Confession?


James 5:16 tells us to confess our faults to one another and pray for one another so that we may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much. So why then do we make unspoken prayer requests and is it Biblical? If we consider this verse carefully we will see that avails much basically means to get results. The Arabic word for avails means to bring forth or profit. So if we want to get results for our prayers what do we need to do? What kind of prayer should we pray?

If you look at the verse again, you’ll see that an effectual fervent prayer is the kind that brings results. So what makes a prayer an effectual fervent one? To be effectual means to work with efficiency or purpose. Fervent means with passion. So basically we are to pray specifically about certain persons or things. How else could we pray with purpose and passion? If we don’t know or understand the needs of one another, such as in an unspoken prayer request, we can’t pray with purpose or passion.

If we look at the first part of that verse again, it clearly tells us that we are to confess or tell our faults (sins or problems) to one another and pray for one another that we may be healed or have our prayer answered. Most Protestants have rejected the idea of confession simply because of the traditional Catholic idea of confession. Though this practice has long been neglected by most of the Protestant faiths, it is still needed to some degree in the church.

In the practice of confession, we do need to be careful at times who we confess to, but we still need to confess to someone besides just to God. We should always confess to God, but as the Word says, to one another as well. We should choose a person or group who is dedicated and mature in Christ, or possibly a pastor or Christian counselor if you’re not comfortable confessing to just another lay person.

Revelation 12: 11 says “and they overcame Satan by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony.” This passage of Scripture teaches us that we are to be open and real with one another in order to overcome the traps of Satan. Satan is never happier than when we keep our mouths shut and don’t tell others of our troubles or ask anyone to pray with us over a matter. Chonda Pierce’s new DVD “This ain’t Prettyville” is a wonderful example of how we can share ourselves with each other and grow together as Christians.

II Corinthians 1: 3-4 tells us that we are to comfort others who are in any trouble by the comfort we’ve received from God. So in essence, when we go through something in our own lives, we are to confess it to other Christians who may be helped by our testimony. If someone knows you’ve gone through something they are going through right now, they are more likely to seek help and understanding from you. On the other hand, if we hide ourselves in shame, as Adam and Eve did in the garden, both from God and from each other, then neither we are helped by others prayers for us, nor are others helped by our testimony and prayers.

Unspoken prayer requests are the results of our shame condemning us and our lack of trust for both God and others in the family of Christ. None of us are perfect. We all have faults. All those who surround you in church that you think don’t have any real problems are likely the ones with the most problems. They just hide it better. We will likely go on in our troubles until we learn to confess to one another and pray specifically for one another. I personally believe that unspoken prayer requests are unbiblical, though there may be times when we feel it necessary. I do believe we should check ourselves if we make this a pattern.

Wild Hearts

Wild Hearts

©12.30.2010 Kimberly Hartfield

In life we find fatality

Our hearts die from the day of our birth

In death we seek immortality

Ours souls fly away from the earth

Our hearts escape our wisest wisdoms

Our minds deny Your purest truth

Can we free ourselves from earthly prisons

Which enslave us all from our youth?

Can we remember who we are

When the devils tear us apart?

Can we heal from our fleshly scars

And find peace in our stony hearts?

Will we see the God who sees us real

And humbly call upon that Name

Will the God who sees us call us still

And our wild hearts seek to tame?

Yahweh God, the I Am that I Am

Whose voice the mountains quake

Yeshua, the Christ, silent as a Lamb

Whose call my will does brake

In love we find an object of worship

Till we know mere men for what they are

In worship we know the object of our love

And celebrate in the mighty God You are



God Speaks

God Speaks

©2010 Kimberly Hartfield

My tears run down

And God speaks

The rains cease

And God speaks

The sun shines in its strength

And God speaks

It’s as hot as hell

And God speaks

My sin is before me and God speaks; The fruit falls and God speaks

The flowers fade and God speaks; The grasses wither and God speaks

I pray for a drop of mercy and God speaks; Still no rain and God speaks

I strain my ear and God speaks; My tears run down and God speaks

I pray for forgiveness

And God speaks

A wisp of a cloud

And God speaks

A flash of lightening

And God speaks

A distant rumble

And God speaks

God’s grace pours down

And God speaks

The rains come

And God speaks

My tears run down

And God speaks

A commentary on The Bible as History

A commentary on The Bible as History
Has the Bible been proven to be Historically Accurate?
For some in the Christian community who may need a little proof to back up their waning faith, archeological discoveries that confirm the truth of the Scriptures may do just that. The Bible as History first published in 1955, and later revised in 1980 gives ample evidence to erase any doubts from your mind, if you choose to believe what God has laid bare before us in the pages of Werner Keller’s book. Keller’s book gives us a comprehensive review of scientifically established investigations of the discoveries of Biblical archeology.
For more than a century, American, English, French, and German Scholars have been digging up finds in Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Egypt. In Palestine, places and towns long buried in the sands of time, which have been mentioned in the Bible, have been unearthed and brought back into the light of day. Each of these discoveries are just as described in the Bible, and were found in the exact locations the Scripture places them. On many ancient inscriptions scholars have recognized the names of people and places found in both the Old and new Testaments.
Many of these discoveries, including ancient cuneiform tablets having Biblical names, transferred Biblical narratives, into the historical realm. One of the most important finds, the Dead Sea Scrolls, gave us our first pre-Christian Biblical text, with a complete text of the book of Isaiah, which proves the historical accuracy of the written texts we have today. Archeological scholars have awakened from eternal slumber the ancient Tower of Babel where the languages were confused, the cities of Pithom and Raamses where the Hebrews were enslaved, Gibeah, which was King Saul’s stronghold, and King Solomon’s horse stables, in Megiddo. From the new Testament, King Herod’s palace, the Pavement where Jesus faced Pilate, and the Babylonian astronomical tables showing the exact dates on which the star of Bethlehem was seen by the wise men.
The knowledge of these discoveries and many others should encourage most people to at least examine, but probably radically alter their views about the Bible. Many stories in the Bible can no longer be viewed as fanciful tales exaggerated from the past, but must now be considered historically sound. Often these archeological finds correspond perfectly with Biblical narratives, not only confirming them, but shedding new light on some obscure passages. The stories in the Bible are not just literary masterpieces of the past, but are true narratives of things that actually took place, though the languages of the past may have limited the transmitting of the facts somewhat. The events of the Bible are true historical facts that have been recorded with an astonishing measure of accuracy. Thanks to these archeological discoveries, many Biblical passages can be better understood than ever before.
No book in the history of the world has had as much influence and has so affected humanity as the Bible. Even after two millennia, there is no sign of its losing its power over the hearts and minds of those who read and study its pages. In view of the overwhelming mass of evidence The Bible as History presents and of the well attested and authentic archeological discoveries now known to us, the Bible can now be seen as the miracle it is, the Word of the Living God. These proofs have been preserved for posterity for millennia so that in these last days when doubts and loss of faith so threaten us, we can hold on to our hope and trust in the word of God as never before – with physical proof to boost our faith to new levels.
archeology, Bible, Christianity, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Mesopotamia, The Bible as History, Dead Sea Scrolls, Werner Keller.

Will Christians Suffer in the Tribulation?

Will Christians Suffer in the Tribulation?
I always believed I was a little odd, not knowing anyone else who has had dreams and visions as I have had, but I just recently read Corrie ten Boom – Her Life, Her Faith by Carole C. Carlson and found that maybe I’m not so strange after all. Corrie also had dreams and visions, some prophetic in nature. Corrie’s exceptional faith in the face of the fear brought by the Nazi holocaust of the Jewish people brought her through the most horrific of circumstances. At times in her life when most people’s faith would have long since died, her faith carried her through great suffering. She continued to proclaim to all those around her the love of Jesus Christ, even bringing to faith some of her Nazi captors.
Corrie believed forgiveness to be the most important part of the Christian’s walk of faith. Not unlike Corrie, I have experienced great fears in my own life, being a victim of Domestic Violence for over 20 years. To have forgiven the ones who hurt me so much was an act of faith, not in my own ability to do so, but in Christ’s power to help me to do so. While my own experiences pale in significance when compared to Corrie’s horrendous experiences in a Nazi death camp, her story has been a faith building exercise for me as I read through the pages of her biography.
One of the most important messages in this books was that Corrie belied her ministry was to prepare Christians for future suffering. Now many Christians today believe that they will be raptured out of the earth before they will come to any suffering, but those who have suffered for our faith may have a little different perspective. There are many arguments over when the rapture is to take place but even the best of theologians have not resolved the questions at hand. We do know that Christ himself told us that just as he suffered, so must we suffer. In John 15:20 Christ tells us “If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you…” Persecution necessarily includes suffering.
Like Corrie, I know what it means to suffer, having at times in my life been threatened with physical harm, beaten, betrayed by family members, and having faced death with a gun put to my head. Coming face to face with death and miraculously living through it, puts you on a whole different level of suffering and faith. But again, like Corrie, I also believe that many Christians in these last days will suffer. Regardless of when the rapture may happen, I believe that like the Jews, Christians will also go through a time of great suffering which will test their faith. Maybe not all Christians will suffer, but many of them will.
In any case I believe that the Christian community should hope for the best (pre-tribulation rapture), but prepare for the worst (post- tribulation rapture). Rev. 7:9-14 tells us of a great multitude of people from all the nations of the world who will come out of the great tribulation. These are Christians who will suffer through the persecutions of the tribulation. Though Christians won’t suffer the judgments God sends on the unbelievers, they will suffer persecution from the anti-christ and his followers, those who have denied Christ.
Another important message Corrie shared with us before her death was a vision she had in which Christ proclaimed to her that after her death, He would very shortly return. Like Corrie, I have also had dreams and visions that lead me to believe that Christ’s second coming is in fact very near. In one dream I saw myself and a daughter in a Christian concentration camp surrounded by guards with dogs. Could this be possible in my life time? Could the world possibly allow another holocaust of Christians, like it did of the Jews? I believe it’s not only conceivable but very possible. Just as the world hated the Jews, so the Christians will be targeted with hatred for Christ’s name sake (Matt. 10:22).
In closing, I would say to Christians today not to be surprised by persecution and suffering, but to be prepared when it comes to us. Christians in other parts of the world are already suffering persecution and even death for their faith, so we in the U.S. will likely eventually face that kind of suffering ourselves. But like Corrie and myself, God will watch over those He loves. So trust that God will be with us, whether He chooses to remove us from suffering or whether He chooses to bring us faithfully through suffering. And like an angel in a vision once told me when I was about to come into one of my hardest times of suffering, “The angels will be with you!”

Key Words:
Corrie ten Boom, Revelation, tribulation, rapture, Carole C. Carlson, Jesus, Christ, God, faith, domestic violence, holocaust, Nazi, Jew, life, suffering.

Do Children and Others who die without the Knowledge of Christ go to Heaven?

Do Children and Others who die without the Knowledge of Christ go to Heaven?

The question was asked in my Sunday school class whether children who died would go to heaven if they were under the age of accountability. Later in the week, I was doing my Bible study when I ran across Romans 5:13 which states that until the law came, sin was in the world, but sin was not imputed when there is no law. I believe this verse answers the question at hand.

In the reference to that verse, it was explained that before the Law (The Ten Commandments) was given, there was no sacrifice for a sin offering. But after the Law was given, the sin offering was sacrificed for the personal sins of human beings. Before the Law personal guilt was not imputed. The word imputed according to the Strong’s concordance means “set to one's account.” So before the Law was given, personal sin was not counted against those who didn’t have the Law.

So I believe that in the case of children and those who are not mentally capable of understanding the Law, which since New Testament times is the grace of Jesus Christ by faith, they are not held accountable for their personal sin or their sin nature. This would also apply to those who have never heard of Jesus Christ or the Law of God, which is the ten commandments. I also believe that if a person can’t understand, or has never been told of God’s Laws, nor of Jesus Christ, then God will not hold that person accountable for personal sin and that person will by God’s mercy and grace enter into heaven, which is consistent with God’s character.

This would also apply to those of other faiths who have never been told of Christ, nor been given the Law of God, though Muslims and Jews have both been given the Law and most have been told of Christ. If they have been given the Law and have been told the gospel of Christ and rejected its truth, then they are held accountable for that choice.

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there is no more sacrifice for our sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and the punishment of fire which will burn up the enemies (of God). Someone who has made the law of Moses to be nothing dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. So how much worse punishment, do you think, will those be judged worthy of, who have not accepted the Son of God, and have counted the blood of the covenant with which we are sanctified as an unholy thing, and have insulted the Spirit of grace? Hebrews 10:26-29

Jesus himself spoke these words which tells us that those who have no knowledge of Christ will not have sin counted against them, but that those who have the knowledge of Christ and reject him will have no excuse for their sin.

If I hadn’t come and spoken to them, they wouldn’t have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me, hates my Father also. If I hadn’t done among them the works which none other did, they wouldn’t have had sin. But now they’ve seen and also hated both me and my Father. John 15:22-24

For example, if Muslims or Buddhists have been told of Christ and they reject the gospel, then they will have no excuse. But if they are never told the Law or about Christ, then it is not counted as sin against them by God, and they will go to Heaven by God’s grace. Even if they are not told about Christ, if they have the Law, they will be judged by the Law. As Christians, who have been given the awesome responsibility to go into all the world and preach the gospel, we will be held accountable for those we don’t tell about Christ. We must be like the watchman on the wall and warn those who are in danger and let God take care of those who aren’t reached before their death.

Are the End Times Here and Who is the Antichrist? Part II

Are the End Times Here and Who is the Antichrist? Part II

According to I John 4:2-4 the antichrist will also not accept that Christ came in the flesh and that the spirit of antichrist that will come, is already in the world today. II John 7 tells us that there are many deceivers, who don’t believe that Jesus came in the flesh, who are antichrists. So we know that there are many antichrists that will ultimately lead to the one final antichrist of the last days. So the question now is does the Roman Catholic Church actually believe that Jesus Christ came in the flesh? And what kind of flesh did Christ have?

Hebrews 2:14 says, So then as the children are one, who have shared in the body and blood, Christ, taking part of the same humanity through death, overcame the one who had the power of death, that is, the devil; And delivered those, who through fear of death, were enslaved their whole lives. The truth is, Christ didn’t take on the nature of angels; but Christ took on the human nature of Abraham. In everything Christ was required to become just like humanity, in order to be a compassionate and faithful leading priest in things concerning God, to bring others back to God for their sins. Since Yeshua the Christ has suffered being tempted, the Christ is also able to help those who are tempted. These verses tell us that Christ became fully human with the same human nature as Abraham, and had the same human nature as we do.

The Catholic Church has a doctrine called the Immaculate Conception, which is not about the birth of Jesus, but actually concerns the birth of Mary. According to Pope Pius IX, Mary, by a miracle of God was born without sin. This is a Roman Catholic dogma which holds that from its creation, the soul of the Virgin Mary was free from original sin. The Roman Catholic Church has confessed the Immaculate Conception and has celebrated it in festivals in the Eastern church as early as the 5th century and in the Western church from the 7th century. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was opposed by the famous Italian philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas. Finally in 1854, Pope Pius IX declared the Immaculate Conception to be a dogma essential for the belief of the universal church.

The Catholic Church confesses that Jesus, who was born through Mary, took on her sinless nature, not Abrahams fallen flesh, not our fallen flesh. Catholics believe that Christ had a human nature of the same substance of hers (sinless), so that we can’t go directly to Jesus, but must go through Mary, a saint, or a priest as an advocate. In essence, this doctrine says that Jesus couldn’t have sinned, if he had wanted to, and so was not susceptible to any temptation and that we can’t approach Jesus directly. In essence, they deny that Jesus had the same flesh (human nature) that we do. This is clearly not what the Scripture teaches. Scripture teaches that Jesus had the same human nature and fallen flesh as we do, but without sin. Hebrews 4:14-16 says: We don’t have a leading priest which can’t understand how we feel in our weaknesses; but the Christ was tempted just like we are, yet without ever sinning. So let’s come without fear to the throne of grace, so that we can find mercy and grace to help us in our time of need.

Revelation 17:9 further identifies the antichrist with a city that sits on seven hills. It states: Here is wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman (city) sits. Rome is commonly known as the city of seven hills. According to tradition, Rome was founded on one of the Seven Hills, a term used to describe the Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, Aventine, and Palatine hills surrounding the old community. It is today not only the capital of Italy but, as the seat of the Roman Catholic church and the headquarters of major international agencies and multinational corporations, a city of worldwide importance with a population of over 2,500,000 people. (According to Microsoft ® Encarta ® Reference Library 2005. © 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation.) In addition, Rome has become the site of agencies like the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and World Food Program, which could potentially give Rome power over the world’s food supply, and in turn give it power over the economies of the world. For centuries, Rome has been called the Eternal City, earned through its importance as one of the great cities of Western civilization, as the capital of the Roman Empire, and as the world center of the Roman Catholic Church. This title God gave to the city of Jerusalem, but Rome has usurped it.

Revelation 13:16-17 tells us that the antichrist will be in control of the global economy. It reads: And it causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and not free, to get a mark to identify them in their right hand, or in their foreheads. And no one could buy or sell anything unless they had a mark, something like a computer chip with the name of the creature or the number of its name. With computer chips now being placed in our pets to identify them, we’re not far from getting them put in our kids to identify them. We’ll be told it will help us to find them if they get lost or kidnapped. Maybe it’s just a matter of time before the antichrist gains enough religious and political power to also control economic matters worldwide.

Daniel 11:37 gives us another description of the antichrist of the end times. It states: He will not respect the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor any god, but will exalt himself above them all. The popes of the Roman Catholic Church certainly fit this description with the Church’s prohibition of marriage by its male priests and its claim to be the Vicar of God (the voice of God).

Finally Revelation 13:18 clearly identifies the antichrist of the end times. It states: Let those who understand count the number of the creature’s name because it’s the number of a human being; and the number is 666. Pope Innocent III (r. 1198-1216), was the most important person, secular or religious, in the European society of his time. He was the first pope to make consistent use of the title “vicar of Christ.” The Popes of Rome have many titles, another one being the Vicar of God or in Latin “Vicarivs Filii Dei.” With the Roman Numerals being I for 1, V for 5, X for 10, L for 50, C for 100, D for 500, and M for 1000, the title adds up to equal 666.

Vicarvis Filii Dei
V=5+I=1+C=100+I=1+V=5=112 I=1+L=50+I=1+I=1=53 D=500+I=1=501 = 501+53+112= 666

Could the next Pope or some other future Pope from Christendom possibly be the antichrist? Some other non-biblical prophecies give us clues as to the reign of the popes. According to the Papal prophecies, there will only be two more popes, the last one having the name of Peter. Both Malachi O’ Morgan and Nostradamus agree that the last Pope will be named Peter, the Roman. Maybe we need to watch who the next Pope is, to see whether or not he is named Peter.

Revelation 13:11-15 says: And I watched another creature coming up out of the earth; which had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon. And this religious leader uses all the political power of the first creature that came before it, and causes the earth and those who live in it to worship the first creature, who had come back to life. And this creature does amazing things, making fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of all humanity, and misleads all those who live on the earth by the things which it had power to do as long as it rules with the first creature. It told all those who live on the earth, to make a clone of the creature, which had been beheaded, and yet lived. And it had power to give life to the clone of the first creature, so that the clone of the first creature could both speak, and cause whoever wouldn’t worship the clone of the creature to be killed. Could this clone of the beast that suffered the fatal head wound in the Revelation be a future Pope who is killed and resurrected by cloning? Could one of the Popes be resurrected in mimicry of Christ’s resurrection? We almost have this kind of technology today, and soon man will be able to recreate man, which is certainly exalting ourselves against God.

Daniel 7:7 and Revelation 13:1 also prophesies of a ten nation confederation. Daniel says: After this, I saw in the dream a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, who was very powerful. It had teeth of iron that ate and broke everything in pieces, and it trampled what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts before it and it had ten horns. Revelation says: Then I stood on the seashore and saw a beast coming out of the water having seven heads and ten horns and on his horns ten crowns, and on his head a name that disrespects God. Could this be the Western European Union of 10 nations in existence right now? Could it give its power to one man at some time in the future? It has become much more powerful in recent years.

The Western European Union (WEU), is an association of European countries focused on defense and security issues. The original aims of the union were collaboration in economic, social, and cultural matters, and collective self-defense. The WEU grew out of the Brussels Treaty, a cooperative agreement made in 1948 between the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The treaty was amended and modified in 1954, creating the WEU, at which time Italy and West Germany (now part of the united Federal Republic of Germany) joined the organization. Portugal and Spain were admitted in 1988, and finally Greece in 1995.

Its role was further enlarged in 1992 by the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty) that created the EU. The Maastricht Treaty incorporated the WEU as the security arm of the European Union. Since that time, the WEU has strengthened its relations with NATO, and the EU and has taken back European defense planning from NATO. With NATO assistance, the WEU has conducted military exercises and increased its operational capability and readiness to perform as the defense arm of the EU. The principal administrative body of the WEU is a council, which is made up of the foreign and defense ministers of the ten member nations. Could this ten member union give its power to the beast (Rome)? This may be one entity we need to watch for future changes.

I believe the time period of 70 Weeks in Daniel could also reflect a contemporary time ending in the great tribulation, as well as its historical elements of prophecy. If you count 70 years from the time Israel became a nation in 1948, the year 2018 comes into view. If it includes an intense seven year tribulation, you would subtract 7 years, which could begin some time around 2011. Yet it still could be counted from some other event concerning a call to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem or some other world renown Christian Church, like St. Peter’s Basilica, commonly called The Church of the Popes. Pope Julius II first gave the commission to Donato Bramante, in 1506. Bramante envisioned a church based upon a Greek cross (a cross with all four arms of equal length) and surmounted by a great dome. If you count the 490 years from 1506, you come to the year 1996. Nostradamus predicted the arrival of the Antichrist around 1999, along with new plagues and famines. Could the antichrist have been born in 1999? But our calendar is off by about 4 years, so 1999 would actually be around 1996. If we say that the antichrist was born some time between 1996-1999, then he would be about 30 years old in 2026-2029. Christ began his ministry when he was about 30 years old, so it would make sense that the antichrist would come to power about that same age, in order to mimic the Christ. Nostradamus also predicts a meteor coming close to the earth in 2027, which could be cataclysmic. Could this be the cosmic disturbances of the Tribulation? The time of tribulation could even be calculated by the historic Jewish calendar, which could be another 200+ years into the future, but I doubt we could last so long with the upheavals in nature and humanity we are now experiencing worldwide. The Bible does tell us that we cannot know the exact day or hour of Christ’s return, but it says we can discern the signs of the times. I Thessalonians 5:2 tells us Christ will come like a thief in the night! But I Thessalonians 5:4 goes on to tell us: but you, Christians, aren’t in darkness, so the Day shouldn’t sneak up on you like a thief! As Christians, we are called to watch and pray!

In my own dream, which I had in 1997, I dreamed that I was in some kind of Christian concentration camp with my daughter and I heard the Lord speak to me saying, “Even the Bibles will be taken away within 20 years.” If that dream was actually prophetic, and the 20 years are counted from the time I had the dream then that would be around 2017, just one year before the 2018 mark, which is 70 years from the 1948 establishment of the Jewish state of Israel. But the 20 year point when Bibles are taken away could be from the time the events in the dream occur as well, and not when I actually had the dream, which would put us at some other time in the future. And this was not the first prophetic dream I have had. When I was a very young child, about 5 years old, I had a dream that showed Christ coming back immediately after our generation of people, likely during my own lifetime. Since I could potentially live to be eighty to a hundred years old, that would be sometime around 2044-2064. Needless to say, I believe the end times are nearly upon us and it is a lot closer than many of us believe. Just when it is, I’m not sure. In any case, if the Word of God is taken away from us, what would there be to restrain evil then? Not much. But in Matthew 24:14 we find that the Good News of Christ must be spread all over the world before the end comes. Then when this New Word of the realm of God is told in the whole world for a witness to all nations; the end of time will come. So we Christians best get busy spreading the Word of God in every way we can to everyone we can!

Antichrist, Martin Luther, Protestant Reformation, Roman Catholic, Pope, church, Christ, God, end, time, October 31, Rome, Jerusalem, escatology.

Are the End Times Here and Who is the Antichrist? Part I

In Math. 24, Mark 13, and Luke 17 and 21 Jesus tells the followers about a time when the world will be in chaos with wars, famines, disease, tsunamis, earthquakes, persecution of Christians and Jews, lack of love, lack of interest in the church, cosmological chaos, and so forth. This time period is described as being like birth pangs which get stronger and closer together as the time draws near. In the gospels, there appears to be two time periods involved in these prophecies. The first time period described is the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, which is the beginnings of the birth pangs. Then another time period seems to come with increasing intensity in which all these other devastations occur around the world. If you’ve been watching the news lately, you’ve probably noticed things seem to be getting worse.

Daniel 12:4 tells us another indication of the end times: But you, Daniel, close up the words and seal the book until the time of the end when many people will be traveling back and forth, and knowledge shall be greatly increased. Has there ever been a time in the world but now when people could travel the world in a few days, and when people can access information at the click of a button? Not until the last few years. So are the end times prophesied by Daniel and others in the Bible nearly upon us? Possibly so.

Isaiah 66:8 prophesied the rebirth of Israel in a day. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in a day? Or shall a nation be born in a day? For as soon as Zion (Israel) was in labor, she gave birth to her children. Boatloads of Jews escaping from the horrors of Hitler’s Nazi Germany came to back Israel and the modern day exodus of the Jews out of the nations back to Israel has not yet ceased. The country of Israel was reestablished as a nation on May 15, 1948 as a Jewish state in the historic region of Palestine, as was prophesied in the Bible many years ago. Israel became a nation again in just one day. Is this not proof positive of a prophecy being fulfilled in modern day times? As was also prophesied in Zech 12:3, Jerusalem is a burden to the whole world and has been fought over since Israel became a nation, though God has preserved it to this day. It shall happen in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all that trouble themselves with it shall be greatly wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it. The General Assembly of the United Nations has never recognized Israel’s sovereignty over Jerusalem, which is considered an international city to this day.

So according to these passages the end time is probably very near. If so, then what can we know from the scriptures about the antichrist? According to II Thes. 2:3 , which states, Let no one mislead you by any means, because that Day won’t come, unless a great loss of faith comes first, and that Soul of Sin becomes known, the one of Hell; the antichrist is called the one of Hell or the son of perdition in traditional translations. The only other instance of this title in the Bible is in John 17:12 and speaks of Judas Iscariot. In Matt. 26:47, Judas is said to be one of the twelve. So we know that the antichrist will be like Judas, who was one of the inner circle, and will come from within the church and/or possibly from the Jewish peoples or both. He will likely be a trusted and loved member of the Christian and/or Jewish community and will appear to be like one of us.

II Thes. 2:3 also tells us, Let no one mislead you by any means, because that Day won’t come, unless a great loss of faith comes first, and that Soul of Sin becomes known, the one of Hell; Who opposes and praises them self above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that as God, they will sit in the place of worship of God, believing them self to be God. The phrase sits as God, according to Mathew Henry’s commentary, means that this antichrist will usurp the authority of God and will be in a position of supreme authority in the (Christian) Church. The world Temple in this verse is Naos in the Greek, and is used to refer to the Temple at Jerusalem, or possibly can refer to the Church of Christ, since I Cor. 3:16 tells us that we (Christians) are the Temple of God (Naos). So we see that the Temple in this verse may refer to a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem or possibly a Church of Christendom. Matt. 24:15 tells us of an abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, and tells those who are in Judea, to run to the mountains. So we know this is clearly speaking of Jerusalem, but is this abomination of desolation the antichrist or just one of many antichrists? And since the gospel prophecies speak of two separate time periods, the first being the destruction of Jerusalem and the second being the final tribulation, could this Temple be a new rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem or possibly another Christian Church, such as St. Peter’s Basilica, located in the Vatican City in Rome? Since rebuilding the Jerusalem Temple has not yet happened, could this temple possibly be from Christendom?

Look at II Thes. 2:1-12, so that we can look at the context of the passage: Now, Christians, about the coming of our Christ Yeshua, and about our gathering together to be with Christ, we beg you not to be quickly upset in your mind, nor to be uneasy, not by spirit, not by word, and not by letter, as if from us, as if the Day of Christ had already come. Let no one mislead you by any means, because that Day won’t come, unless a great loss of faith comes first, and that soul of sin becomes known, the child of Hell; Who opposes and praises them self above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that as God, they will sit in the place of worship of God, believing them self to be God. Don’t you remember that when I was still with you I told you this? And now you know what is keeping this from happening, and that they will become known in their own time. Because the secret of sin is already working, only the one who now lets this happen will let it happen, until that one is taken out of the way. And then that evil one will become known, whom God will burn up with the blast of Christ’s breath, and will destroy with the brightness of Christ’s coming. This is the one, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, amazing signs, things without truth, and all the ungodly lies in those who are to be destroyed; because they didn’t accept the love of the truth, in order to be saved. And for this reason, God will send a strong sense of false belief on them, so that they’ll believe the lie, and that they’ll all be damned, who didn’t believe the truth, but enjoyed ungodliness.

So we see in this passage that there is someone or something that keeps the one of Hell from gaining power for a time. Now this restrainer is commonly believed today to be the Holy Spirit in Christians. But theologians from the past had a very different view of this restrainer. If we read the above passage carefully, we see that Paul had already told the Church about this restrainer, but that he couldn’t write it in the letter to them for fear of the punishment of the Christians, who were under persecution at the time by Rome. Paul states that they know what the restrainer is. The early church fathers Jerome, Augustine, Tertullian, and others all believed this restrainer to be the Roman Empire.

Some of the historical Biblical prophecies in Daniel may also give us a clue to the end times. The popular belief is that Daniel 9:20-27 describes a time period of 70 weeks, which is divided into 62 weeks (434 yrs.), 7 weeks (49 yrs.), and 1 week (7 yrs.). The 49 years is believed to be the time period of the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s Temple, which is then added to the 434 years till the Messiah. The first part of 62 is usually added to the seven weeks for a total of 483 prophetic years. Some scholars believe this to be the time period between the call to rebuild Jerusalem by Artaxerxes about 445 B.C. and Christ’s first appearance and ultimate crucifixion. Some argue that the last week cannot be separated from the first 69 but is actually the time of Christ ministry, which was three and a half years, and the crucifixion in which he was “cut off” in the midst of the week. Some argue that the last week (7 years) is separated from the 483 by an unknown time period ending with the final seven year tribulation in the future. Daniel 9:26 states that after the 62 weeks the Messiah will be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The Roman General Titus destroyed the newly finished (A.D. 64) temple in A.D. 70, which could be the 1 week of 7 years. But could this 7 year period which led up to the destruction of the Temple, and was certainly a great tribulation for the Jews, be repeated in some later time period? The first 70 year period began with a call to rebuild the Temple. Since Israel has become a nation again, has there been another call to rebuild the Temple there? I don’t know, but I have heard over the years that there are preparations being made to rebuild it at some time in the future and to begin animal sacrifices once more.

Daniel 7 talks about four beasts, a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a dragon, which are commonly known to be the kingdoms of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Dan. 7:7 says, After this I saw in the dream a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and very strong. It had huge iron teeth chewing and eating everything up, and trampling what was left with its feet. It was different from all those that were before it and had ten horns. And another horn, a little one, came up among them, which plucked out three others by the roots. And this horn had eyes like a man and spoke pompous words.

Now this little horn was believed by the early church fathers to be coming into power when the Roman Empire fell. The Roman Empire fell from power around 476 A.D. With Pope St. Leo I, the Great (440-61), the sanctions of the papacy were forcefully spoken. By this time the canon of apostolic succession, clearly proposed as a norm for orthodoxy and legitimacy at the end of the 2nd century, was fully developed, and Leo was able to promote the papacy as successor of Peter, as the “vicar of Peter”, backed by the civil authority of the Western Roman Empire. Shortly after that time, around 538 A.D., the Roman Catholic Church gained both religious and civil power when Justinian gave the Pope full political power. Pope St. Gregory I, the Great (590-604), made the papacy a major political force. According to Daniel 7, the three and a half year period is the same as 1260 days or 1260 prophetic years. Could the papal authorities of the Roman Catholic Church be this little horn? Did the power of the papacy last 1260 years? Martin Luther was the first to identify the papacy with the antichrist and proved it by Scripture. This was a clear doctrine of the protestant reformation. The two foundational doctrines of the Reformation was salvation by grace, and the papacy is the antichrist of Scripture. According to Revelation 13:3, this antichrist will have a deadly wound and be healed. Will the Papacy at some time in the future gain political authority once again? (Please note that this is not about the people in the Church, of whom many are precious saints of God, but the political system of the Roman Catholic Church.)

Dan. 7:25 tells us that the saints will be in the power of this entity for three and a half years, which is 1260 days. If the Papacy gained political power some time around 500 A.D. and you add 1,260 years to that number (with a year for each prophetic day) you come to around 1760 or so. The Protestant revolution was initiated in Germany by Luther on Oct. 31, 1517, when he published his 95 theses challenging the theory and practice of indulgences by the Catholic Church. This began to erode the Catholic Churches stronghold on the people. The French Revolution, which was a major transformation of the society, religious, and political system of France, lasted from 1789 to 1799. With these events and others, and the incorporation of the church into the political power of the states, the papacy lost much of its power. The states incorporated the church, stripping clerics of their property and special rights. So from this evidence we see that the political power of the Roman Catholic Church fits the time period in question. In 1797-98, when Napoleon’s troops entered Rome, the papacy lost its stronghold of political power, exactly 1260 years from when it first received political authority in 538 A.D.

What other entity has had more power and has persecuted and murdered more Christians and Jews down through the ages than the Catholic Church? Rev. 13:7 says It was given power to govern all the families, languages, and nations. During the Dark Ages, the Kings of the Earth literally gave their power to the Roman Catholic Church. In Dan. 7:21 it says that this little horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them. Also Revelation 17:1 says that the woman (city of Rome) is drunk with the blood of the saints. Beginning with the Crusades, some crusaders from the Roman Catholic Church savagely attacked the Jews in the name of Christianity, who lived in the Jewish communities along the Rhine. Later, the Crusades of the Roman Catholic Church turned to Protestant opponents. From the Crusades to the Protestant Revolution, the Roman Catholic Church slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Protestants and Jews.

Martin Luther rejected the papacy as an integral part of the Reformation. He denounced the pope as the Antichrist, not only for the worldliness and corruption of the papacy, but for its failure to proclaim the doctrine of justification by faith. Emperor Charles V attempted to halt the spread of his Protestant doctrines by public burnings of Luther's books. The Counter Reformation began with the establishment in 1522 of the Inquisition, of which the Jesuits were known for their blatant cruelty toward Protestants. Consequently, many Lutherans were burned as heretics. (Bloody) Mary I attempted to restore Roman Catholicism as the state religion of England as well, and during her reign many Protestants were also burned at the stake at the bidding of the Roman Catholic pope. In St. Bartholomew ’s Massacre, Catherine de Médicis, of the French Roman Catholics, killed close to 100,000 protestants. If you haven’t watched the movies Luther, and Elizabeth, you may want to get them!

During the Dark Ages and the Reformation, religious literature, especially Bibles, was prohibited because it was written in the languages of the people, rather than in Latin, as the Roman Catholic Church demanded by threat of execution. The popes of the Roman Catholic Church are known to have ordered the Jesuits to torture and murder those who dared to try to translate the Scriptures of the Bible into the language of the people. The Catholic Church also had a list of books that were forbidden to even be read, on pain of death. One of those forbidden books on their list was actually the Holy Bible, in any language but Latin, which few understood. Christians were taught at that time that they had to do all sorts of things to earn God’s favor, including the buying of Indulgences by the poorest of the poor. The Church was making too much money to allow the truth to be known. Church history supports this.

During this time, a Jesuit named Francisco Ribera in 1590 wrote a doctrine to defend the Catholic Church against the accusations of the Reformers. He claimed that there was a single evil person who would come at the end of time and rebuild the Jerusalem Temple and be accepted by the Jews. He made a gap of time between the 483 years of Daniel and the final week, being the 7 year tribulation. His doctrine was a partial deception of the truth that there is a system of political and religious power, which has many antichrists, and that one would eventually be the beast of the end times. This Doctrine has now infiltrated the Protestant Church, by means of several teachers who incorporated Ribera’s ideas, culminating in the Scofield Reference Bible, which was used in Bible Seminaries in the 20’ and 30’s. This Futurism concept is also seen in the Left Behind series, many of us have read in our time. But the Historicism of the Protestant Movement is what has been left behind, and the history of the atrocities of the Roman Catholic Church against Protestants and Jews has all but been forgotten. This doctrine could be the strong deception spoken about in Matt.24:24, and Mark 13:22, which tells us that false Christs, and false teachers will come and do many amazing things; so that they would even mislead the chosen ones of God with their teachings, if it were possible.

But Rev.13:1-10 tells us that this beast was wounded in the head but would recover the deadly wound, which probably means that it will once again gain back both its religious and civil power: Then I stood on the sea shore, and saw a creature come up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on the horns ten crowns, and on the heads a disrespectful name. The creature that I saw was like a leopard, with feet like a bear, and a mouth like a lion. Satan gave it its power, and its government seat, and great control. And I saw one of the heads wounded to death; but the deadly wound was healed. So the whole world was amazed at the creature and worshipped the dragon which gave power to it: and they worshipped the creature, saying, “Who is like the creature? Who is able to fight against it?” And the creature was allowed to speak great and disrespectful things against God; and it was given the political power to rule for forty-two months. It spoke disrespectfully against God, to dishonor and disrespect God’s Name, and place of worship, and those who live in heaven. And it was allowed to fight against the Christians, and to overcome them. It was given power to govern all the families, languages, and nations. And all who live on the earth will worship it, whose names aren’t written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that is, of the Christ, who was to be put to death from the beginning of the world. Whoever will listen, let them hear. Whoever takes another’s freedom will have their own freedom taken away and whoever causes another to be killed, must be killed themselves. The patience and the faith of the Christians wait for God’s justice.

Rev. 13:11-14 goes on to say, And I watched another creature coming up out of the earth; which had two horns like a lamb, but spoke like a dragon. And this religious leader uses all the political power of the first creature that came before it, and causes the earth and those who live in it to worship the first creature, who had come back to life. And this creature does amazing things, making fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of all humanity, and misleads all those who live on the earth by the things which it had power to do as long as it rules with the first creature. This passage says that the beast has two horns like a lamb, which symbolizes its religious authority. It also says that it speaks like a dragon, which symbolizes it political power. So this little horn will lose its effectiveness for a time and then regain its strength. The popes of the Roman Catholic Church have lost their political power for the time being, but could they resurrect that power again in the future with an unusually charismatic pope of Christian and/or possibly Jewish decent?

To be continued…