ECCE

We hear it often said, "God is good - all the time", but "good" does not always equal God. Religion is man's futile attempt to reach God, and Jesus had trouble with the religious people of His day, and told them so. There is a deception that will come in the last days that would fool the very elect if possible, and we are seeing one form of it. This deception also tempts the Church to sleep, as all of the virgins did before the cry of the Bridegroom's arrival, as told by Jesus in a parable (see Mt. 25:1-10). In the parable, for those who are found to be unprepared, the door is shut to them and the Lord tells them that He never knew them. Jesus also had an encounter with an earnest young man: "And behold, one came and said unto him, "Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter unto life, keep the commandments....

Things are crashing in on us, and the signs of the end times are all around, but as in the days of Noah, people are going about life as usual, not considering the things that will soon occur. However, we will see an example in scripture of what we are to be in these times - like David, whom God called "a man after My own heart" (Acts 13:16-22). In prophecy, the LORD talks about how all of the nations will gather around and against Judah and Jerusalem: "Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it." (Zech. 12:1-3). We see this in the news today, as Israel is continually attacked by missiles, as the world is either silent, or sympathetic towards those who are attacking Is...

Our choices have consequences. Some of those consequences are immediate, and some come later, but they will come. A choice made in the beginning of man brought consequences to all of mankind. After Eve and Adam had eaten from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, from which God had forbidden them to eat, their whole perception changed. Their relationship with God changed, and other consequences followed their choice: "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden." (Gen. 3:7-8). As the LORD spoke to Adam and Eve, He knew immediately that they had eaten of the Tree which had been forbidden to them. In their explanation to the LORD, Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent saying that it ha...

Tisha B'Av, or the Ninth of Av, is a date on which Israel, or the Jewish people, repeatedly suffered great tragedies and the judgment of God throughout history. Both temples in Jerusalem were destroyed on Tisha B'Av, for example. This date is observed by the Jewish people with fasting, prayer, and repentance. In history, there have been only two nations on earth which were established on the foundation of the true and living God: Israel and America. Both nations at the present time are going through a crisis. How will these two nations deal with the crises they face? Are we able to see America in these verses from the Book of Proverbs? "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn...The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it." Prov. 29:1-2, 4). America does no...