-------News-------

I must apologize for the slight delay in the release of this issue. I have been just too busy to write it until now. Thank you for your patience.

The Bush-Kerry debate prompted some undecided voters to go with Kerry this election term. As a student of the bible and bible prophecy, I am of the firm belief that Kerry would do nothing to help the moral condition of the United States. In fact, I believe it would begin a rapidly spiraling downfall into depravity. However, keep in mind that whoever wins the election (whether you are happy with the result or not) is because God ordained it to be so.

The liberal left and the conservative right have never been to such polar opposite extremes as they are today. This is a nation that is very clearly divided. A divided nation will not stand for long. Perhaps that is why you can't find the United States mentioned in the prophetic texts at all.

A church in Buffalo, New York is planning to open its own Subway restaurant. It will be the first church in America to open its own restaurant. More and more the church blends in with the world instead of being set apart from it.

According to www.dallasnews.com, Brother Robert Tilton is back and more freaky than ever. To quote the article, "At its peak, his Success N Life show was said to bring in $80 million a year. Then came a bad turn in the mid '90s – prayer requests discovered in trash bins, exposés of his luxurious lifestyle, lawsuits from embittered followers, a couple of divorces and the near collapse of his ministry." It''s people like Robert Tilton who will stand before God defending their actions by saying, "Haven't I cast out demons in your name and prophesied in your name?" To whom Jesus will reply, "Depart from me you worker of iniquity, I never knew you."

-------The Sea and The Waves Roaring--------

The Bible has something to say about the current increase in hurricane activity. In Luke 21 verse 25 through 28 we read there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Florida has been hit hard this year by hurricane activity which made me curious. Had four tropical storms/hurricanes ever struck the same state in the same year before? According to the National Hurricane Center, Texas was hit by 3 hurricanes in 1886. Florida has set a new hurricane record with Tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricanes Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne. By just looking at the available data, it seems that the closer we got to the 21st century, the more violent the world's weather became.

The Bible tells us that the closer we are to Jesus Christ returning to earth to set up His kingdom, the sea and the waves will spawn very violent weather thus the phrase "the sea and the waves roaring". Hurricanes are formed in the oceans. Not only do these storms bring flooding rains and damaging winds they also spawn killer tornadoes. Just from a logical standpoint, we know for a fact that we are closer to Messiah's return than ever before simply because more time has elapsed.

Thanks to the tropical storms/hurricanes that have made landfall this year, 2004 has seen more tornadoes touch down than any previous year. In fact, the record was set in 2003. What does this bode for the future? Storm chasers (those who try to capture these events on film) are thinking next year will be a down year because we have had so many tornado producing storms the last 2 years. The Bible tells us that the closer we get to Christ's return, the more storm activity we will see.

Since I believe that His return is indeed near, then I'm inclined to believe that we may see record setting storms in 2005 both in intensity and frequency. If the storm chasers are correct in their belief that next year will a "disappointing" year for twisters, I will be surprised. The bible says that men's hearts would fail because of the fearsome things coming upon the earth and that they would be perplexed by the unpredictable, wild, and wooly weather that seems to just get worse. To quote Hal Lindsey, "Folks, that time is here."