ECCE

It is vital for the Church to understand the importance of the Feasts of the LORD, especially at this time of year. The preparation for the fall feasts begins with the month of Elul and continues into the month of Tishri. This evening begins the Day of Atonement, one of the LORD's fall feasts by commandment: "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same day: for it is a day of atonement for you before the LORD your God. For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted...he shall be cut off from among his people...the same soul will I destroy from among his people. Ye shall do no manner of work...It shall be to you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls." (Lev. 23:25-32, excerpt). The feasts were not created by man, but comman...

The feasts of the LORD deal with end time things. This weekend was the Feast of Trumpets, or Yom Teruah . The shofar (ram's horn trumpet) is blown daily. This time of forty days, from the beginning of the month of Elul until the Day of Atonement, is called Teshuvah , a return to the LORD. There are three facets to these forty days of Teshuvah return to the Lord: repentance, reconciliation, and helping the needy. There are three facets to the Feast of Trumpets: crowning the King, the wedding of the Bride, and the resurrection of the dead. Regarding the wedding of the Bride, and the return of the Lord (the Bridegroom), Jesus told the parable of ten virgins. Five were wise, having oil in the lamps, and five were foolish, being found unprepared and lacking oil. All ten virgins slept, when suddenly, at midnight, there was a cry made: "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him; Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Giv...

There have been many discussions lately on social media regarding heaven and hell, and life after death. Statistics tell us that 305,000 people pass into eternity daily. There have been many books written about NDE: Near Death Experiences. Some of those experiences happened to medical professionals, including a book written by our dear friend Dr. Richard Eby. Some of the recorded experiences describe the glory of heaven, and the presence of Jesus Christ, and some of the Near Death Experiences describe the flames and uncrossable gulf of hell. Scripture attests to the reality of heaven, hell, and life after death, although many refuse to believe in their existence. Because of this unbelief, they also immediately reject the evidence of it, such as the Shroud of Turin. We will see examples of this kind of unbelief depicted in scripture as well. Jesus told of a rich man, and a beggar named Lazarus, who begged crumbs from the rich man's table. Both of the men died, but had very different...

I chose this title because it represents how problems are most often dealt with, even spiritual problems. In our yards, undesirable weeds are usually dealt with by using a weed-wacker. However, the weeds grow back again, because the weed-wacker doesn't deal with the root of the plant. If an artery is cut, and gushing blood, the application of a band-aid is not going to solve the problem. The Titanic, at the time of its sail across the Atlantic, was called "unsinkable" by its builders. The captain sailed through a field of icebergs, confident that his ship would come through it unharmed. Once the Titanic started sinking, without enough lifeboats to hold all of its passengers, you can't solve the problem by rearranging the deck chairs (credit Randy Alcorn). Looking at the severe problems faced by our nation and society, these problems also can't be fixed with "weed-wackers, band-aids, and the rearranging of deck chairs". The people of God must be prepare...