Michael Bresciani
Will the Mayan calendar wreck your Christmas?
By Michael Bresciani
Using tongue-in-cheek for a title may lead you to believe that we are going to have a little fun with a very serious matter. It could be, if the Mayan calendar were something we should all be taking seriously — but it is not. The reason is simple; God Doesn't Use the Mayan, Julian, Gregorian or Jewish calendar.
Life doesn't always give us warnings and almost no catastrophe can be penciled into the calendar. Usually the possibility of sudden calamities is spoken of as common sayings, pet fears or rumors. In time most are dismissed as nonsense. When Jesus warned that the last days would be as the days of Noah, he seemed to indicate that nothing unusual would be afoot. Marriage, eating, drinking et al were mentioned, but little else. It would be life as usual, everyday stuff followed by more everyday stuff.
"But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Mt 24: 37–39)
The lack of any significant changes in the fabric of everyday affairs is what hardens the scoffers to dismiss the direst warnings. Huge disasters are seen as Mother Nature burping, but are never accepted as Mother Nature being guided by the hand of our Father God.
That is mistake number one. The Bible clearly argues against that lazy position since throughout time God has shown through his prophets that, drought, severe weather, pestilence, disease, warfare, economic decline and encroaching enemies are all quite within the realm of his influence and purview. God is the ultimate authority; he neither asks Mother Nature for her permission, nor refuses to use her as his right hand in the affairs of men, the indignant railing of modern man notwithstanding.
Changing Our Tune
After reading Rick Warren's 'The Purpose Driven Life' some years ago I realized that pop books are like most things pop-culture, they are well accepted and well hyped, but often they only serve to raise the once popular question — "where's the beef?" Of late I've had the good fortune of finding a book with a similar title written by Michael Horton, professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Seminary in California. Professor Horton's book is like a four course meal with dessert to follow, so I read and mark it, a little at a time.
In Horton's book entitled, 'The Gospel Driven Life,' he makes a real life comparison that shows how quickly the attitudes and disposition of the doubters, revelers and pleasure seekers can change.
Horton says, "No doubt, the passengers on board the Titanic would have had a lot of needs, experiences, interests, and plans just minutes before the luxury ship struck an iceberg. Yet on the other side of that fateful event, everything changed. No longer wondering if the stewards would pass by with another glass of champagne or whether it would be too cold to take an evening stroll on the deck, they rushed frantically to their loved ones and looked beyond the narrow horizons of their immediate felt needs for someone to rescue them. It is not surprising that the ship's orchestra, which a short time before was entertaining the passengers with "Alexander's Ragtime Band," concluded with "Nearer My God to Thee," as the luxury liner sank."
It suffices to say that the return of Jesus Christ will be one of those quick transitions between Alexander's Ragtime Band and Nearer My God to Thee, but one thing it will not be is — the end of the world.
Does The World Need a Timeline?
History Channel speculations about global endemics, meteors and giant volcanoes erupting, along with fears of Mayan Calendars, predictions from Nostradamus or any other much touted nascent prophetic voices, are pretty much in the realm of hyperbolic nonsense.
God actually has a timeline or a very specific order of events for the last day's occurrences. To be safe, let's start in the back end of these events and say what must be said. Neither Christ, nature or the interjection of objects from outer space are going to end the world. Christ has every intention of ending the kingdom's and governments of man, but not the very earth itself, for a very long time to come.
This means three important things for us all. First unless Christ chooses to return in the next few weeks and the ACLU and the atheists' have not wiped it off the map, you can probably go ahead and enjoy having your regular Christmas celebrations, and by the way — Merry Christmas.
The second very important thing to note is that since 25 percent of the Bible has to do with the second coming of Christ, if you don't know where these reference are, you might want to get cracking. In the information age these references and much qualified elucidation on them, is readily available.
The third and last point we must make is that many of the signs of the last days have already long begun. Some are so unusual that they could not, and have not, happened in any previous generation. They are for this time, and they are — right on time.
The World Has A Timeline!
1.) The world will get progressively more wicked in its approach to morality. In short morality will decline to the point of near extinction. As the world chills on all things moral the temperature of natural and manmade disasters, terrorism and warfare will heat up.
2.) Israel will become a nation again (1948) and will bring Jerusalem back to herself (1967) and the world will rage against her until the final day of history as we know it.
3.) The nations will posture, war and fume until the idea of uniting into a singular global entity takes root and is seen as the only hope of ending world strife.
4.) Religions of the world will meld together under syncretism, liberalism, ecumenisms and political correctness in general. The gospel will be hidden away, rejected and dismissed as too divisive and the apostate church will cheat with and finally figuratively — marry the world.
5.) The apostate church will eventually and suddenly be hated and cast off by the world and a secular leader who introduces a completely unheard of economic system will be heralded as the best stuff since sliced bread. He will emerge to rule the new world. Most prophecy experts believe he is undoubtedly alive today.
6.) After the new world leader (antichrist) is firmly in power he will cast off all allusions to religion, and actual religions, and present himself as the only entity that is worthy of adoration, adherence or worship.
7.) He (antichrist) will forward himself as the savior of the world, present an image of himself into the newly built Jewish Temple and demand all allegiance be given to him alone. From the day he begins to rule, to the day his rule comes to an end, will take exactly seven years.
8.) The great messenger angel of God will blow a trumpet heard around the world, the sun will not give her light and the moon will be the color of blood. In the eastern skies will appear the returning Lord Jesus Christ in great power and all the redeemed will be with him from every time and age to the present.
9.) Christ removes antichrist, those who followed him and the spiritual being (Satan) that empowered him. He then proceeds to re-build, refresh and rule the earth for exactly 1,000 years of time.
10.) After the one thousand years are finished Christ frees Satan for a very short season for the testing of those who re-populated the earth after his second coming and have never been tried. He then separates the sheep from the goats at what is called 'The Great White Throne Judgment.'
11.) God then rolls up the sun moon and stars like a scroll and proceeds to remove the redeemed to their new and permanent place of abode referred to as the 'New Heaven and the New Earth." Eternity has begun.
12. Sin, death, sickness, disease, crime, jails, warfare, calamities and all else that plagued man for generations has ended forever. Here is where we insert the final — Amen. (So be it)
The Timely Conclusion to the End of Time
It should be noted that the above list or outline does not include the fall of all Israel's enemies and the subsequent doom of all the forces gathered in the plains of Esdraelon at the Battle of Armageddon along with other details, it is a useful outline of things to come for the novice and the unsuspecting alike.
We who trust what God says (the Bible) also trust what he does. God has proven that he is a dispensationalist. He started with creation, went to the pre-flood antediluvian period and then on to the gathering of a people (Israel) for himself. He then proceeded to the age of law (Mosaic) before starting the age of grace (two thousand years +) when salvation is offered to all. Why would he not complete his projected and fully announced plan to bring in the Millennial Kingdom (1,000 years) and go on to eternity? This is not conjecture it is promise and it is more certain than the rising of the sun.
This writer has studied these things for more than forty years and that was long before the great information age, when getting the best materials was not so easy. Since the time between Alexander's Ragtime Band and the playing of Nearer My God to Thee is often no more than the fifteen minutes it took the titanic to sink, you may want to do as I have already advised — get cracking.
In this age of a million distractions Americans may think the controversy over the presidents fight with the congress and the so called, 'fiscal cliff' is the only thing coming down the pike, but nothing could be further from the truth. The destiny of men's souls is far more important to God than how much money is in their wallets. But every bit of that has to do with what is in their hearts. Christ is calling and you don't need a penny to respond.
"I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Rev 22: 16, 17)
© Michael Bresciani
December 7, 2012
Using tongue-in-cheek for a title may lead you to believe that we are going to have a little fun with a very serious matter. It could be, if the Mayan calendar were something we should all be taking seriously — but it is not. The reason is simple; God Doesn't Use the Mayan, Julian, Gregorian or Jewish calendar.
Life doesn't always give us warnings and almost no catastrophe can be penciled into the calendar. Usually the possibility of sudden calamities is spoken of as common sayings, pet fears or rumors. In time most are dismissed as nonsense. When Jesus warned that the last days would be as the days of Noah, he seemed to indicate that nothing unusual would be afoot. Marriage, eating, drinking et al were mentioned, but little else. It would be life as usual, everyday stuff followed by more everyday stuff.
"But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Mt 24: 37–39)
The lack of any significant changes in the fabric of everyday affairs is what hardens the scoffers to dismiss the direst warnings. Huge disasters are seen as Mother Nature burping, but are never accepted as Mother Nature being guided by the hand of our Father God.
That is mistake number one. The Bible clearly argues against that lazy position since throughout time God has shown through his prophets that, drought, severe weather, pestilence, disease, warfare, economic decline and encroaching enemies are all quite within the realm of his influence and purview. God is the ultimate authority; he neither asks Mother Nature for her permission, nor refuses to use her as his right hand in the affairs of men, the indignant railing of modern man notwithstanding.
Changing Our Tune
After reading Rick Warren's 'The Purpose Driven Life' some years ago I realized that pop books are like most things pop-culture, they are well accepted and well hyped, but often they only serve to raise the once popular question — "where's the beef?" Of late I've had the good fortune of finding a book with a similar title written by Michael Horton, professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Seminary in California. Professor Horton's book is like a four course meal with dessert to follow, so I read and mark it, a little at a time.
In Horton's book entitled, 'The Gospel Driven Life,' he makes a real life comparison that shows how quickly the attitudes and disposition of the doubters, revelers and pleasure seekers can change.
Horton says, "No doubt, the passengers on board the Titanic would have had a lot of needs, experiences, interests, and plans just minutes before the luxury ship struck an iceberg. Yet on the other side of that fateful event, everything changed. No longer wondering if the stewards would pass by with another glass of champagne or whether it would be too cold to take an evening stroll on the deck, they rushed frantically to their loved ones and looked beyond the narrow horizons of their immediate felt needs for someone to rescue them. It is not surprising that the ship's orchestra, which a short time before was entertaining the passengers with "Alexander's Ragtime Band," concluded with "Nearer My God to Thee," as the luxury liner sank."
It suffices to say that the return of Jesus Christ will be one of those quick transitions between Alexander's Ragtime Band and Nearer My God to Thee, but one thing it will not be is — the end of the world.
Does The World Need a Timeline?
History Channel speculations about global endemics, meteors and giant volcanoes erupting, along with fears of Mayan Calendars, predictions from Nostradamus or any other much touted nascent prophetic voices, are pretty much in the realm of hyperbolic nonsense.
God actually has a timeline or a very specific order of events for the last day's occurrences. To be safe, let's start in the back end of these events and say what must be said. Neither Christ, nature or the interjection of objects from outer space are going to end the world. Christ has every intention of ending the kingdom's and governments of man, but not the very earth itself, for a very long time to come.
This means three important things for us all. First unless Christ chooses to return in the next few weeks and the ACLU and the atheists' have not wiped it off the map, you can probably go ahead and enjoy having your regular Christmas celebrations, and by the way — Merry Christmas.
The second very important thing to note is that since 25 percent of the Bible has to do with the second coming of Christ, if you don't know where these reference are, you might want to get cracking. In the information age these references and much qualified elucidation on them, is readily available.
The third and last point we must make is that many of the signs of the last days have already long begun. Some are so unusual that they could not, and have not, happened in any previous generation. They are for this time, and they are — right on time.
The World Has A Timeline!
1.) The world will get progressively more wicked in its approach to morality. In short morality will decline to the point of near extinction. As the world chills on all things moral the temperature of natural and manmade disasters, terrorism and warfare will heat up.
2.) Israel will become a nation again (1948) and will bring Jerusalem back to herself (1967) and the world will rage against her until the final day of history as we know it.
3.) The nations will posture, war and fume until the idea of uniting into a singular global entity takes root and is seen as the only hope of ending world strife.
4.) Religions of the world will meld together under syncretism, liberalism, ecumenisms and political correctness in general. The gospel will be hidden away, rejected and dismissed as too divisive and the apostate church will cheat with and finally figuratively — marry the world.
5.) The apostate church will eventually and suddenly be hated and cast off by the world and a secular leader who introduces a completely unheard of economic system will be heralded as the best stuff since sliced bread. He will emerge to rule the new world. Most prophecy experts believe he is undoubtedly alive today.
6.) After the new world leader (antichrist) is firmly in power he will cast off all allusions to religion, and actual religions, and present himself as the only entity that is worthy of adoration, adherence or worship.
7.) He (antichrist) will forward himself as the savior of the world, present an image of himself into the newly built Jewish Temple and demand all allegiance be given to him alone. From the day he begins to rule, to the day his rule comes to an end, will take exactly seven years.
8.) The great messenger angel of God will blow a trumpet heard around the world, the sun will not give her light and the moon will be the color of blood. In the eastern skies will appear the returning Lord Jesus Christ in great power and all the redeemed will be with him from every time and age to the present.
9.) Christ removes antichrist, those who followed him and the spiritual being (Satan) that empowered him. He then proceeds to re-build, refresh and rule the earth for exactly 1,000 years of time.
10.) After the one thousand years are finished Christ frees Satan for a very short season for the testing of those who re-populated the earth after his second coming and have never been tried. He then separates the sheep from the goats at what is called 'The Great White Throne Judgment.'
11.) God then rolls up the sun moon and stars like a scroll and proceeds to remove the redeemed to their new and permanent place of abode referred to as the 'New Heaven and the New Earth." Eternity has begun.
12. Sin, death, sickness, disease, crime, jails, warfare, calamities and all else that plagued man for generations has ended forever. Here is where we insert the final — Amen. (So be it)
The Timely Conclusion to the End of Time
It should be noted that the above list or outline does not include the fall of all Israel's enemies and the subsequent doom of all the forces gathered in the plains of Esdraelon at the Battle of Armageddon along with other details, it is a useful outline of things to come for the novice and the unsuspecting alike.
We who trust what God says (the Bible) also trust what he does. God has proven that he is a dispensationalist. He started with creation, went to the pre-flood antediluvian period and then on to the gathering of a people (Israel) for himself. He then proceeded to the age of law (Mosaic) before starting the age of grace (two thousand years +) when salvation is offered to all. Why would he not complete his projected and fully announced plan to bring in the Millennial Kingdom (1,000 years) and go on to eternity? This is not conjecture it is promise and it is more certain than the rising of the sun.
This writer has studied these things for more than forty years and that was long before the great information age, when getting the best materials was not so easy. Since the time between Alexander's Ragtime Band and the playing of Nearer My God to Thee is often no more than the fifteen minutes it took the titanic to sink, you may want to do as I have already advised — get cracking.
In this age of a million distractions Americans may think the controversy over the presidents fight with the congress and the so called, 'fiscal cliff' is the only thing coming down the pike, but nothing could be further from the truth. The destiny of men's souls is far more important to God than how much money is in their wallets. But every bit of that has to do with what is in their hearts. Christ is calling and you don't need a penny to respond.
"I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Rev 22: 16, 17)
© Michael Bresciani
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
