Reviews and Views

…in my opinion.

Vanished

What do I mean by “vanish”? The term’s meaning is to “disappear suddenly and completely.” Most of us have said or heard the phrase like “vanished into thin air”. But why write about it? Doesn’t vanishing bring to mind scary thoughts and for some folks tragic circumstances? Of course, it does for some.

But the day that I’m referring to will occur sometime very soon across the face of the earth. Family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers will be there one moment and gone in the next. Do not be surprised or deceived by false explanations of alien spacecrafts taking problem-makers away or out-right denials that the vanishings even happened. If this event occurs before your eyes or you hear about it briefly on the national news, that event is known as The Rapture of the Church.

The Rapture (this snatching away) will occur without any advanced notice to the general population. Believers in the Christ will be looking for it to occur, but will not know when. Christ comes to remove His Church from the earth to be at home with Him in heaven. This change will happen in the “twinkling of an eye” or as someone has estimated as eleven one-hundredths of a second (0.11 second). In that moment, the dead in Christ will rise first being transformed perishable (being dead) to imperishable. The body’s condition doesn’t matter whether buried six feet under, or buried at sea, or cremated, or never found. I have parents and grandparents who are waiting in death for this trumpet call of Christ as well as my wife’s parents and grandparents whose lives were wonderful examples of faithfulness in their lives and relationships with others.

No true believer in Christ will miss out on this event; not even the Christian who is in sin – though they may miss out on some of the rewards that follow. Then we who are alive will be caught up with them and changed from mortal to immortal. May I refer you to I Thessalonians 4:13-17 in the Bible.

Bill Wyler – 03/31/2019

March 31, 2019 Posted by | Last Days | | Leave a comment

Regrets The Shack

Artist ‘Deeply Regrets’ Designing ‘Shack’ Cover, Says A Loving God Must “Judge”

Apr 10, 2017 by Will Maule

The graphic artist who played a central role in designing the cover for the controversial novel ‘The Shack’ has said he deeply regrets working on the project, now disagreeing with the book’s contentious theology.

“[O]ver 10 years ago, I was captivated by the story and felt honored to be part of the graphic creation of the book. I was so drawn into it, wanting to know the God it portrayed,” Dave Aldrich of Aldrich Design posted on Facebook. “The Shack’s story wonderfully painted this picture to me of an incredibly knowable and loving God, one full of forgiveness, but without being judgmental.”

Aldrich began to read Rob Bell, Brian McLaren and others, and quickly realized he was on a path to holding universalist beliefs. “I thank the Lord that He pulled me back from that edge,” Aldrich wrote. He realized that if God is full of love, he must also be a righteous judge.

“The fact is that there are two inseparable sides to God. He is both love and judge,” he said. “The movie release of ‘The Shack’ has brought all this back to my mind and I felt the need to apologize to all who I may have led astray by my promoting the book,” he wrote. “I look back and see how little discernment I had. And I regret and apologize also for waiting this long to publicly share this.”

“Many will still say that the book was intended as just a work of fiction, but the author himself, William Paul Young, is quoted as saying, ‘The Shack is theology. But it is a theology wrapped in a story,’” Aldrich noted.

This article appeared on the website Hello Christian at https://hellochristian.com/7153-artist-deeply-regrets-designing-shack-cover-says-a-loving-god-must-judge

April 12, 2017 Posted by | Culture, Religion | | Leave a comment

The Unavoidable War?

You might want to listen to Edwin Starr’s lyrics from “War” as you read this post. Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv5BYEOQYLo

Tensions rise and fall in all parts of the world. But the tumultuous Middle East has seldom seen much peace. Now prideful boasting is heard in the streets, on the airwaves, and in the halls of governments. The main players in the drama on center stage are Iran and Israel. Side players wanting a larger role are the United States and Russia along with their allies.  http://www.geographicguide.com/pictures/maps/israel-map.jpg

Many around the globe are wondering if this coming conflict is the one prophesied in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, chapters 38 & 39. Though reluctant to rush in with men, Russia is drawn into a growing conflict supporting Iran. At some time in the near future, those in power in Iran (the old Persia) will see this as their time to act. War will be started with a confederation of nations composed of Iran and Russia along with others in the Middle East; their common purpose: to eliminate Israel and plunder it and all of its inhabitants. The size of this confederation will be immense; causing others nations to stand aside out of fear basically leaving Israel alone. Russia already has a naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus. Assad of Syria would eagerly join Russia in an invasion of Israel; if for no other reason but to change the focus from internal conflicts at home in Homs to wiping out the Jewish homeland.

However, the Jews have one ally, GOD. He uses this invasion to show all of mankind that He is holy before the eyes of an astonished world. What happens next has not been seen before in modern times or in the history of modern warfare.

a) A great earthquake occurs in the land of Israel. This is a country familiar with earthquakes. Running through this area is the African Rift, which cuts through the Red Sea, Dead Sea, and into the Jordan River valley. The last major quake to hit Israel was in 1927. On average, a major tremor occurs every 80 to 100 years which indicates to us that a major earthquake is now overdue. The damage from this event will be unprecedented and immense to the extent that mountains move, cliffs crumble and every wall falls to the ground. So great is this earthquake that every creature and all people will tremble in fear.

b) In the panic that ensues from the earth shaking and splitting open, these invading armies will turn on each other in the confusion. These armies will misinterpret the situation they are in and start killing each other by the tens of thousands, but not Israel. Somehow they are protected by the hand of GOD.

c) A vast number of the great horde will be cut down. Some type of a rapidly spreading plague or sickness will weaken the remaining numbers as ongoing bloodshed continues. Of all the gases that could be released from a powerful earthquake & exposure to escaping magma is hydrogen sulfide (H2S).  http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hazards/gas/index.php. It’s a colorless, flammable gas with a strong offensive odor. It can act as a depressant; causing among other things headaches, dizziness, excitement, bronchitis and a diminished functional mental activity. Whether this is the plague referred to or not, this type of environment will disrupt all of the plans of the invading armies. They will probably have only one thing on their mind and that is how to get out of there as quickly as possible.

d) The remaining forces of that once invading army will then face torrents of rain and flash floods in the land with huge hailstones. Some of the largest hailstones on record were less than 6” in diameter and weighed about 2 lbs. When the Bible speaks of “hailstones”, we generally understand chunks of ice weighing up to 100 pounds. One of these hailstones could be hitting the ground in excess of 370 mph depending how long it takes to descend. Not much survives that type of destruction.

e) To eliminate any remaining opposition, GOD sends a burning sulfur to wipe them all out. One wondering if this is related to the massive earthquake and potential lava flows mentioned earlier or as others have speculated this is an indication of atomic weapons being used, but we are simply not sure. A fire will burn even to the cities of the invading armies in the far North.

But Israel survives it all and will plunder what is left by the invading forces in the fields and land. Russia and their hordes will be buried there and will not see their homelands again. The aftermath will take Israel 7 months to clean up. The wood or combustible materials left will provide enough fuel for 7 years. The sheer size of this invasion of troops and equipment will be nearly incalculable. They all perish and are buried in a tiny nation called Israel only a mere 8,000 sq. miles or less than the size of New Jersey.

This subject have already been debated for years.  When we get there, we will know the right approach, but will we have the will to do what is right?  That remains to be seen.

Bill Wyler

March 22, 2012 Posted by | Security & Safety | , , , , , | 1 Comment

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