The US and the End Times

My Pastor said last week that the US of America will not be involved in the War of Gog and Magog. I had heard that said before, possibly by Dr. David Jeremiah and also in Joel Rosenberg’s book, Epicenter.

Why?

Why would America not be involved?

I was thinking about this and came up with some possible reasons.

1-We’ve destroyed ourselves from the inside–our current economic problems make that a believable option.

2-We’ve been destroyed by some country that hates us– this too is a believable option.

3-We’ve all been raptured.

I wish the third option to be the one, but probably the most unlikely. That would mean America had seen a great revival and a majority of the people were taken with Christ (I am making an assumption that the rapture will occur prior to the war).

Mark 13:6-8 (New International Version)

⁶Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. ⁷When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁸Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

Mark 16:14-16 (New International Version)

¹⁴Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

¹⁵He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. ¹⁶Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 (New International Version)

⁹for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, ¹⁰and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

1 John 2:28
[ Children of God ] And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

Joel Rosenberg’s book, Epicenter, is based on the book of Ezekiel Chapter 38 and  Ezekiel Chapter 39.

Forced to Worship

Just so you know:  The True God would not force anyone to worship Him. He will not have to—for all will know.

The anti-Christ will one day force people to worship him and the consequences for not bowing down to him will be grim.

2 Thessalonians 2:4 (New International Version)

⁴He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

One day the truth will be revealed and the one true God will reign. No one will be forced because his majesty will be obvious.

Romans 14:11 (New International Version)

¹¹It is written:
” ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God.’ “^[a]

Riches in Glory

I started my first completed novel, Finding Riches(formerly called Riches in Glory), with this Bible verse:

Philippians 4:19
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

If you are hurting because of financial stress due to job loss remember those words.

Let me repeat them in a different way:

But my GOD

Shall supply

ALL

my NEEDS

according to HIS

RICHES

in GLORY.

Meditate on His word. Even if you don’t have a Bible, you can meditate on His word here.

The teens in my life outside the Greensboro Coliseum before Winter Jam.

Tammy Fay

I never cared for Tammy Fay and Jim Baker. I felt they were fake–they were in the “ministry” for the money.

I remember one time I flipped to their show and one of them was celebrating a birthday. He or she(I can’t remember which one it was) received an expensive music box. I thought it was too extravagant and inappropriate for a show of its nature–especially considering where they were getting their money–people living on a fixed income who thought they were giving to God.

But one day as I commuted with my sister to my summer job a long time ago when I was still in college I came across this scripture:

Philippians 1:18 (New International Version)

¹⁸But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

From that moment on I rejoiced because while I didn’t care for them, they did preach Christ.

Inspirational Movies

I want my child to excel in school. He did at one time. And sometimes I don’t know if the reason he no longer excels has something to do with his seizure disorder or just that he is a teenager. Many people tell me it is because he is a teenager. Well then, this too shall pass as they say to people with kidney stones. But in the meantime it can be painful.

There are two movies that  I find inspirational and Iwant to recommend them to you parents out there: Akeelah and the Bee and Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story.

I don’t know if Akeelah and the Bee is based on a true story, but I know that Gifted Hands is. I had read a book about Ben Carson and am amazed. You see, he was the “dumbest kid in class” and rose from that status to become one of the most well-known neurosurgeons in the country and heads the neurosurgery department at Johns Hopkins University. What made the transformation in his life–reading. His mother turned off the TV and made him go to the library instead.

It will come on again on February 21st on TNT at 9/8 c.

I am not a cook.

Picture me at a podium behind a presidential-type seal proclaiming, “I am not a cook.”

I am not a cook. Well, I’m not.

It’s not that I can’t cook, but that I just don’t like doing it. I’m slow at it, I have to clean up afterward and  it gives me no time to do what I enjoy most–writing my wacky fiction pieces.(If you are a publisher/editor/movie producer, I would love to share my ideas with you).

This weekend I embarked on what I thought would be a life-changing event– once a month cooking.

You see, there are times I’m slightly embarrassed that I don’t cook especially when I cannot help  someone in need like when my branch manager’s wife was in the hospital for two weeks(for which she received no diagnosis) and others were preparing meals for him and his children.

So, I got out a cookbook I’ve had for a long time–Once a Month Cooking, did the shopping for ingredients with the notion of cooking all day on Saturday. And I did. And I was somewhat miserable (except for the many episodes of  The Doctors on my DVR that kept me company while I cooked). By two in the afternoon my feet were killing me, but I had all this meat that I didn’t want to spoil. (The premise of the book is to make the dishes ahead of time and freeze them until the night before you eat them).

By 7:00 pm I had not completed the cooking and I was exhausted (and it was Valentine’s Day and I wanted to feed my husband one of the dishes I cooked–which he liked, by the way). I decided I’d finish what I started on Sunday(the whole ox in the ditch concept–I didn’t want the meat to spoil), so I woke at 6:00 am and fixed two more dishes, then went to church and my parents’ house  for lunch. I’m so lucky to have two wonderful nieces who were more than willing to come home with me and help me cook. They did and were a big help. We made a few more dishes together and then I got out the hamburger meat to start the beef dishes. Unfortunately, when I pulled out the ground beef, it was all brown and truthfully made me sick to think of cooking it, so I threw it away (which my husband thought was wrong–but he wasn’t the one gagging over it).

Anyway, we’ve had two meals and both were delicious. This cookbook will definitely work for the person who works fast in the kitchen and is too busy during the week to make a made-from-scratch meal.

The dishes I cooked: Heavenly Chicken and Poulet de France — both very good and I will probably fix again–just not all day on a Saturday.

Ponzi Scheme

I’ve heard of Ponzi schemes before but never has one been talked about with so much interest as the Madoff scandal. The truth is, this Ponzi scheme probably would not have toppled at this time had the stock market not toppled even though Harry Markopolos provided evidence in 2000 of such a scheme.

A Ponzi scheme lures investors with promises of high returns ( if someone offers unbelievable returns or guarantees, beware).  But instead of investments, the big returns come from other peoples money. The company falsifies statements and pays out the returns by luring other victims into the web. Unfortunately, it must stop somewhere, and in this case it should have stopped in 2000, not eight years later. Maybe some of the investors could have been made partially whole. Maybe.

Anyway, my purpose in writing this blog was to highlight something I heard on Dr. Phil the other day. I had never thought about it before, but our Social Security system is one big Ponzi scheme. I’ve been told that I possibly might not be getting social security upon my retirement because the funds won’t be there even though I’ve paid into it for the last 20 years. Definitely a big Ponzi Scheme.

GMC – Goal, Motivation and Conflict

If you’re serious about writing fiction, then the book Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Debra Dixon is the one book you must read before anything else.

Without those three elements your story is, well, not a story.

Hint: Don’t buy it through Amazon. Go directly to the publisher (click on the book or the title above).

While you’re waiting for it to arrive, watch these movies:

The Wizard of Oz

Ladyhawke

The Client

Star Wars

Casablanca

The Fugitive