Eye of the Needle

Dear friends and readers,


Peace and grace to you in Jesus name!


After reading this article please also check out an another that I just posted at www.lastdaysreview.blogspot.com


I do not write all the articles myself because I also want to present material from viewpoints of others in my ministry including our ladies. I have discovered that many of you have enjoyed reading  a few things written by one of our younger staff members Charity Beckwith. She writes under the title " 20's something".

I am discovering more and more that it is not just us old war horse Christians who have been in fellowship for years and years who are worried about todays world. So please hear the heart of our youth:

WELCOME CHARITY as she writes about "The eye of the needle"!

There has been this constant adrenaline rush harboring itself inside of me for the past couple of weeks. It's the kind of rush you get when your inching your way to the highest drop on a roller coaster. Your stomach sinks and it feels like you have an elastic rubber band wrapped around your insides waiting to break once you take the first plunge.

Realizing that the time for Christ's second coming is nearer than I thought has been the culprit for all of this adrenaline rushing through my veins. Honestly, I can vouch that I am not necessarily ready for this feeling, but I am also not against it . Preparation and acknowledgment of the times we are in is crucial, and if this is how God brings this worldly unrest to my attention, so let it be.

 Lately, I have been waiting in expectation for the demise of countries, including the United States of America, that will eventually fall completely below the world record charts in status, finances, and government,  plummeting without any hope or inkling of rebuilding. This may seem pessimistic and not at all supporting the doctrines of "change is good "or "Everything will eventually be fine if we just do this", but it is the complete and utter truth, and I refuse to deny it.

Taking scripture into full consideration as the truth, has brought me to a whole new level of "Knowing the truth, yet failing to obey." Individuals, ordinary people, government officials, state representatives, presidents, and country leaders are seeing the negative outcome of their efforts but refuse to turn to an infallible truth and a life of obedience.

 We insist on having things our own way and look where that has ended.  look at what we live in, look what the world is saturated in. Sin and the desires of our flesh. The disappointing aspect is that most individuals just flatly refuse to submit themselves completely to a God that definitely knows what He is doing. He has everything covered, and everything will prosper under Him. And the best thing is to actually know that He want's the best for us, all of us.

Jeremiah 29:11 states exactly my point, well actually, God's point-

"For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek ME and find Me, when you search for me with all your heart."

It's quite comforting to know that God's full interest is in us , but the comfort leaves quite quickly when we fail to comply with the WORD of God even though He is still for us. There are promises of God that He constantly desires to give us, but the obeying is the hard part! Right? If one were to refer back to the Bible, faith and obedience were (and are still) key to becoming an individual after God's own heart.

Look back to the story of Joseph in the Book of Genesis, It's a great example of obedience. 

Joseph  one of 12 brothers, the favored of his father, was cast into slavery by his brothers, his own flesh and blood. They hated Joseph from the beginning because he was his father's favorite. They especially hated him when he told them a dream and prophesied that they would be under his rule one day. After he was cast into slavery, he  earned the respect of Potiphar, an officer to the Pharaoh of Egypt and eventually Joseph was put into position as an overseer to Potiphar’s house. Soon after, Potiphar's wife had her eyes on him.  She pursued Joseph out of an impure heart, and this guiltless young man was thrown into prison on false charges. 

During Joseph’s lengthy imprisonment, he interpreted dreams for two other prisoners, a baker and a butler. One prisoner (the baker) was to die and the other (the butler) was to serve Pharaoh once again. When the butler was released, Joseph asked him  to tell Pharaoh about him, hoping that he too would be released from unjust punishment. The butler forgot, and Joseph ended up remaining in prison, without a complaint. 

Then it came to pass that Pharaoh was having troubling dreams and it was remembered by the butler that Joseph was an interpreter of dreams.  Pharaoh called for Joseph who interpreted the dreams which were very complex. There would be seven years of great plentiful harvest, then after there will be seven years of famine. Pharaoh, recognizing truth found that he needed a leader to administer his countries affairs during the years of prophesied events. Pharaoh decided that Joseph was the man for this great challenge and so he was placed as second in command over all of egypt to save everyone from starvation. 

Thus Joseph’s earlier prophecy came true in that he became ruler over his brothers. 

This story is a great reminder to myself and others that no matter what situation you are in, rich or poor, happy or sad, strong or weak, as long as you follow the LORD in faith and obedience, you will prosper all the days of your life. We also have to remember that prospering does not necessarily mean that we inherit worldly riches such as money, cars, status, etc. It is not our possessions down here on earth that earn us an eternal place with our heavenly Father. In actuality the worldly treasures that we tend to store up down here on earth can for many, make it harder to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Before we can fully dedicate ourselves to following our Father, we must be willing to rethink our belongings and count them as nothing compared to God. God should always come first. Our money counted as nothing. Our Job counted as nothing. Our home counted as nothing. Our status counted as nothing. God does not ask us to walk away from all these things and in particular our health. But he does tell us that they cannot occupy the center of our attention---a place rightfully reserved only for Himself.

Matthew 19:24 - “And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”

This scripture refers to an actual camel fitting through “ the eye of the needle. ”The “Eye” was a small door built on the side of a huge edifice and was used at night or in times of turmoil. It was small enough that a man had to bend down to get though this opening, also making it impossible for a camel to fit through. So the saying goes  and can be explained that it is easier for the camel to fit through an impossible opening than for a man of wealth to come to heaven distracted by all his worldly riches. It should be noted that not ALL men are distracted by riches but frankly most are and as such they become our downfall.

Also, living a life of disobedience to God's word only wreaks havoc upon ourselves and ultimately destroys the goodness and prosperity that is meant for our benefit.

Job 36:11-12

“If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures, But if they do not obey, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge."

Some may ask, “ What exactly is disobeying God?” Well, it’s simple. Anything that goes against what the Bible says, is disobedience to God. It’s our choice whether we want to obey Him or not. It is called free will, but the exercise of our free will is what often lays the foundation for our demise if we choose to disobey the word, which is God. 

Whether we understand fully where God is taking us during our time here on earth is unimportant. We all have to remember that God is a God of love and He wants to see all his children flourish in His kingdom. God did not write the Bible to shove it in our faces and say " HA HA! You have to follow these rules, and I did it to make your lives boring!"


Imagine how it makes God feel that He has to punish his children sometimes just like a normal  loving parent for not obeying. Or imagine how much hurt is in His heart that He has to keep on letting you and I make the same mistakes again and again and again and then hit rock bottom before we realize the truth that God is actually trying to teach us. He gave the Bible to us for a reason.  He gave us the truth. The perfect truth to follow so we may one day come to the greatness that He created for us to experience. He gave us His exact words so that we may prosper with Him though our Faith and obedience.

Now is the time to walk in that Faith and obedience. Times and prophecies are coming together faster and faster before our very eyes. Whether you choose to believe it or not, well, that's a decision that you will soon have to make for yourself. Many evils are thriving in the times that we live in and as depressing as it may sound, many individuals are thriving from these evils.


I would like to state categorically, that the current problems of our dissolving world will NOT get better  any time soon. So I encourage readers to step up in their faith and follow in obedience for it is those who obey the LORD that will spend their days in the truth and the prosperity of the LORD.


Back to pastor Rance.:


Hebrews 13:8-9 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines-----------!"


See you next week and may the Lord prosper each of you in His Holy Spirit!

What's up with that???

Dear friends,

As you know this is a new blog that gives me more opportunity to "sound off"! My original blog---thank you Jesus---is doing spectacular and has now jumped to readership in 64 countries. I sincerely wish I could report thousands and thousands of readers but I can report that there may be hundreds of hundreds and growing rapidly. My main blog can be found at www.lastdaysreview.blogspot.com

We have been traveling and just put on a conference in mid state California entitled "Zealous over Zion". That may give you a solid hint that we stand unflinchingly in support of Israel. That does not mean that we stand against any other culture or people group because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ sacrificed His own life for all of mankind who would simply put their faith in Him. As such, we pray for Muslims,  new agers, Buddhists and every other kind of "IST" that you can imagine. Obviously those prayers are always centered around their salvation through Christ.

My first article on this site spoke about why we as Christians WORLD WIDE feel as though we have to stand still while we ingest huge quantities of foolish political correctness? Who says? You know it reminds me of back at the beginnings of WW 2 when so many followers of Christ lived in such complacency over the outright threats of Adolf Hitler---someone say BOO, HISS! The man very publicly told the entire world that he intended to exterminate the Jews and take over the world beginning with all of Europe.

And do you know what the response was from both Christians and governments leaders world wide?

"Certainly not, who would really do such a thing? We don't have to worry about these idle threats---it will come to nothing"!

So let's see, because we as Christians (probably your parents and most certainly mine) hid our respective heads in the sand like an Ostrich, HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE BUTCHERED?

At least 6 million Jews including roughly 2 million defenseless children, by the Nazis!
An estimated 20 million Jews, Christians and political dissidents in Russia by Joseph Stalin and crew!
Millions of solders from many countries of the world!
Untold millions of innocent people from every single country where this terrible war was waged!

And guess what? You would think we as mankind would have learned something just 20 years earlier when WW 1 ended with the death of millions of people as well.

In fact during the last 100 years or so, we as Christians have stood idly by while countless people have perished in countless wars INCLUDING our brothers and sisters in Christ who have been relentlessly led like lambs to the slaughter.

Oh there have been very many brave Christian men and women who have gone out to fight in these physical wars. And many of them never returned!

Does it make you wonder what would have happened if 2 BILLION Christians world wide would have stood up and said, NOT A CHANCE PAL! If we had exercised our votes, our voices and OUR POLITICAL WILL!

In many parts of the church today, the common thinking is "we should not be involved in politics or social problems". I remember well just a few years ago, a conversation I had with an extremely nice elderly couple. They were members of one of our major denominations.The subject matter turned to abortion. They immediately told me in no uncertain terms that abortion was a social problem and Christians should NEVER be involved in these kinds of debates! OR politics, OR traditional family values, OR legalization of drugs, OR official recognition of gay marriage, OR OR OR OR???

REALLY?

Well, you know what? I do not believe that for one single second. Christians in most countries have a vote just like everyone else. If we take the lackadaisical attitude that my vote doesn't count---then, you are right, it WILL never count.  If we fail to speak then our voices will never ever be heard.

Right now in many countries of the world the attitude is that we as Christians are spewing hate speech if we even talk about sin. And the blood of Christ? That is not politically correct any more. Nor is telling folks that there is only one way to God and that is through belief in His Son Jesus Christ.

In the mean time we "SETTLE" for the least of the evils when we vote for our Government representatives. In many cases we just sit on our hands and take what is shoveled to us as though the world in general has some kind of right to do so.

We can change all that but it has to begin somewhere. Are you as tired as I am of people saying "we live in a POST Christian world". Baloney, balderdash! Oh, yes there is a rapidly developing, new age element within the church. There are wholesale defections from the real Word of God. New ungodly doctrines are no longer SNEAKING into the church, now some denominational doors are flung wide open and good people are being bamboozled by a literal plethora of false teachers. We should not be surprised  since the Bible tells us that it will happen.

2 Thessalonians is specifically speaking about the day of the Lord (end times--second coming) and verse three tells us there will be a "falling away" that comes first.

But you know what folks? Out there on the highways and byways of the world there are thousands and thousands of little churches (and sometimes very big ones), with good Bible believing pastors and just plain ole folks who believe with all their hearts that God's Holy Word means something and should not be fooled around with. In some countries these little churches are underground by necessity. In others, they are on every street corner and are doing their best to impact their communities.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ then I can assure you that you are not a POST anything!

One other thing that really bothers me (well OK, the truth is that there are a lot of things that bother me): When we hear that ALL of our young people are "lost or going to the dogs theologically"!

Have you seen the reports lately (particularly in the western nations) in which high school and college students are rallying around their school flag poles for prayer? Or giving valedictorian speeches---AGAINST SCHOOLS ORDERS---that are centered around Christ? Or in the far eastern nations where people sacrifice their very lives in underground churches for a mere scrap of scripture?

Don't you believe for an instant that the Christian youth are lost. Some perhaps certainly but in the end this is our next generation. To illustrate that point, I am pleased to have on my staff a young couple, both of whom are only 19 years old. They are serving in a foreign missions field full time with so little financial support that they have to use binoculars to look up far enough to see the bottom side of the poverty line. I have never once heard them complain about anything and they are sincerely pleased just to serve their Lord.

Please join me in reading comments by Charity Beckwith in what I believe will be a new column entitled
"20's something"!

What happens when the government falls, you can't pay your bills, you lose your house? people turn against each other for their survival, even family turns against each other? death tolls rise because of natural disasters, wars take over, national leaders become anti-life, diseases invade entire nations? family members lose their lives due to bad healthcare, riots multiply, gas and food prices sky rocket, and nothing but a majority of hating individuals, haters of everything, encompass this world?

When everything else fails, what do we cling to? What is there left to cling ON to?

Some may think, " Aww That'll never happen to me."...

But look around, it is happening now. Whether we WANT to believe it or not. Look it up, look beyond our little personal 3 dimensional world that revolves around us.  look at the grand scheme of things. Look at the bigger picture!

Again, I say When everything else fails, what do we cling on to? What is there left to cling on to?

Each other?

When "EACH OTHER" pass on or simply aren't there anymore physically and or mentally, do you still cling on to each other? When others fail and forsake us, whom then? Who do we cling on to?

WHAT do we cling on to?

HOPE?

Where then does this hope come from? Hope in the government? Hope in leaders? hope in others or each other? Hope in money? Again, I stress to all of us, when all these things pass and fail, and they Do and WILL pass and fail, what does this HOPE lay in?

Is our hope rooted in---"this time all things will eventually get better"---? Take note, my brothers and sisters, this world will strive to be better, but it's hate and rebellion will only become worse.

What is there left to cling to in a world like this?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing! Nothingness.

Unless----?

Unless we have a faith and a hope that surpasses all understanding in a God that lives, loves, and breathes for us. One God, one Father, one Friend, one Leader, one Lover, one Protecter, one Healer, one Redeemer. One that always IS and always WILL be.

We may say, " I cannot understand God, and the Idea of God just doesn't make sense, therefore I cannot and will not believe."

... I tell you this, If God was a fully understandable, fully conceivable God.. then He would be no God at all.

God, whom I call Daddy, is my God where my faith and Hope lay in.

I am not perfect, and neither will I ever be. But non the less, my Daddy loves imperfection. I will fail and forsake nearly everything, but my faith and hope lay in my Daddy. When this passing world will soon be over, My faith and Hope will still be in my Daddy who clings to those who have their faith and hope in Him.

 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him."

Jeremiah 17:7 

Back to pastor Rance:

I wish I understood that when I was 19. How about you? The next generation of Christians is alive and growing rapidly. Praise the Name of the Lord!

See you next week.

A back to the basics life style!

Dear friends and readers,

Peace and grace to you all in Jesus name!

You are most likely aware of my main blog at www.lastdaysreview.blogspot.com

Thank the Lord it has been very successful so I am continuing to publish that blog but have decided to add this new one called www.backtolifebasics.blogspot.com

That blog has been well received  by folks who like a bit longer article to think about and has produced many favorable comments and questions.

My purpose with the second blog is to field my opinions in shorter, hard hitting articles aimed more at families and Christians who are just simply sick of "political correctness"!

I recently wrote an article on Last Days Review that spoke about this issue and I know that many of you are watching what is happening in the world today with a combination of fear and trepidation. As Christians our fear is directed to and for the unsaved of this world who are frankly headed right down the road to hell.

How do we reach them? What about my father or an aunt or uncle who is flatly rejecting everything the Bible says and all that we stand for as Christians? Try as I might they simply do not want to know the truth. Are those an echo of your thoughts?

And what is going on in the world that has brought us to the point that a Christian viewpoint is being considered hate speech? Since everything we have to say (or at least should be) is a statement of love for the lost, how can this be?

Of course we all know that traditional family values, right to life and personal liberties have become a threat to many living a degenerate lifestyle. But should we remain silent knowing full well what their ultimate end will be? I don't think so!

There are so many people these days who seem to be downright proud of their disgusting life styles. It is all the rage for junior high school girls to give to themselves in sexual affairs. It's really really cool for 13 year old boys to join gangs and hang out on street corners sniffing glue. And what an incredible experience it is to "do" drugs, get blasted and hallucinate. REALLY?

C.S. Lewis, the famous author once said "Pride is the mother hen under who's wings, all sin is hatched"!

The Bible is of course our ultimate guide through life but even that is under attack. I read an article the other day by atheists decrying the Bible in general and the Prophet Daniel in specific. The claim of course is based upon the fact that Daniels writings have been so incredibly accurate that they must have been written centuries after the fact. Otherwise how could Daniel have known?

These people just simply do not want to admit that there is a God do they?

This week we know a lady that is beginning to have severe health problems. Palpitating heart rate, low blood sugar, feelings of despair and stress and the list goes on. In helping her understand what is going on, Brandy came across recent articles talking about the adverse health effects on the human body of massive amounts of a flavor enhancer called MSG. I thought that stuff was only put in Chinese food???Our research tells us that this stuff is being literally dumped into the commercial  prepared food supply by the bushels. I cannot believe how many potentially critical health problems this seems to be linked with. SPECIAL NOTE: Our advice is also for her to see a qualified doctor.

It never ends these days. Not only are we being bombarded by Bible haters and sin mongers but now food sources that may be slowly killing the population.

Do you long for the good old days like I do? Bread was freshly made, apples were not gassed and a pie purchased from a store did not have a 100 year shelf life? So many preservatives and food enhancers!!! And is there anyway for us to return to that simpler world?

This blog is for the purpose of discussing those things. Food is only a small part of a terribly big picture that has frankly gotten out of control. Is there anything we can do about crooked governments, army sized drug cartels and XXX rated movies on public channels? I think there is!

Clap your hands if you approve! Why do we have to put up with this trash? In the world today, the official numbers of Christians is listed at approaching 2 BILLION people. Now I know and so do you that not all two billion are serious in their walk with Christ. But still, that is the largest vocal and voting block of people on the face of the earth.

Soooooo, why do we put up with people espousing  the virtues of a totally free and lecherous life style? Why don't we speak out? Why do we hide our lamps under a basket? Why do we stand idly by and watch while children are reaped by sexual sin? Why do we put up with the genocide of entire generations of innocent babies?

Why do we stand silently by while evil Governments of the world sell Israel down the river?

Do you know what would happen if all 2 BILLION of us suddenly stood up and proclaimed a resounding NO!?

You see my friends, if we as individuals buy into the lie that our (individual) voices mean nothing-------then they WILL mean nothing. How sad when we can change all that.

2 Timothy 2:24-26"--A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will"!

It must start someplace----------why not right here and right now?

The internet is a very powerful force on this planet. Join in with me for the purpose of this blog and while your at it why not start your own? It's free.

Let's talk.

God bless you all in Jesus name,
Pastor Rance.