Who Knows The Truth About The Antichrist?

Who knows the clear facts about the antichrist that shall attempt to rule planet Earth prior to the coming of Jesus Christ? I have assembled several witnesses always eager to take the stand:

Go to Jesus first, in Matthew (with Luke as a back-up) and listen in on His response to the question posited by the disciples: "When is the end? When will You come?" Now, we are to be faithful and productive whatever the answer is to their question, but it is still a fair question, and Jesus gives a very precise answer. In the process, He answers the question we all are eager to have answered.

Jesus leads His hearers to Daniel. Following this lead we study in detail the definitions of the "sign" Jesus gives in Matthew 24. By the time one has drunk in Daniel's visions in chapters 8-12, the mind is reeling. Along with Daniel we will be overwhelmed with the truth before us.

This truth is then corroborated by similar visions given to the apostle John in his Revelation, specifically chapters 13 and 17. We are not dealing with some "Old Testament truth," but instead the same Spirit spoke to both men a complementary message. Daniel and John are one in their proclamation of this outstanding end-time truth.

The final expert is none other than the apostle Paul, obviously a student of Daniel, but also a man who by the Holy Ghost surpasses Daniel and adds to the revelation as only a Spirit-filled apostle is allowed to do. We don't often think of Paul as a "prophet" but we forget that he was caught up to Heaven (II Corinthians 12) and offered an incredible array of revelations, most of which he was not permitted to share with us. He has very important information to add to the antichrist doctrine. And if he warned his first-century flock about the coming man of sin, how much more should we be heeding the warning?

What will be the sign of Jesus' coming? When will be the end and the beginning of the end? And what man, before the coming of Jesus, will be at the center of it all? Prayerfully read the chapters I have suggested, with no commentary at all. See what happens!

http://chosunhouse.com is a website I put together a few months back to get the word out to believers that they need to pray for North Korea. Just about every day I'm writing a blog featuring some news, a book, or a story of North Korea. There's a live news feed on the site, lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together!

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Who are you? Would love to fellowship with believers who respond on my site.

Lacking Confidence - Self-Worth Or Self Respect? No Self-Esteem?

How many times in your life have you been talked to about self-esteem? In school, at work, by your friends, by your family - self-esteem is the panacea that can cure many of life's problems but when you have issues with your self-esteem all those speeches from those closest to you can serve only to compound the problems you are having and make you feel even more inferior.

The first step, rather than saying 'I have low self-esteem and need to combat it' is to truly understand your mindset and what that low self esteem does in your life. Self-esteem is more than a buzzword thrown around by counselors - it is a way of being, of thinking and acting. Self esteem is how you accept, trust, and believe in yourself. When you accept yourself, you learn to live comfortably with your personal strengths and weaknesses regardless and outside of any criticism you receive.

This means first of all that you view yourself independently of how others view you. Instead of worrying about assimilating with a static world view, you value your uniqueness in the world and start respecting yourself in the same way you would anyone around you. There is no reason to treat other people better than you treat yourself and that is the core to building self worth.

You must understand how to trust in your beliefs and behaviors, knowing that your feelings are correct and that when they are consistent enough, you can bring inner peace to your life despite the external noise and judgments that constantly inundate you from all around. You must believe not only that you can succeed but that you deserve to succeed as much as anyone around you. Many people, when they suffer from self-esteem have a misguided belief that they do not deserve to be successful or happy in life. This kind of fallacy is not only unhealthy to your self-esteem, it can throw your mind into chaos and keep you from ever achieving any sense of peace.

Sourcing Low Self-Esteem

First, you must understand where low self-esteem comes from. There are multiple sources, all creating a sense of emptiness that can lead to depression, anxiety, and a lack of control. Instead of searching inside, individuals with low self esteem grasp at external things and voices to fill that void, never actually finding a solution - only finding temporary external validation that can flee at any moment. This type of behavior can also lead to an addictive personality that relies on drugs and alcohol to cloud over that need. Under the influence of these mood altering substances, individuals with low self esteem can more readily accept themselves, but the effect is only temporary until their inhibitions and the truth of their situation comes rushing back.

Depression, hopelessness and stagnation all develop due to low self esteem, killing any vision or dreams an individual may have, making that individual a victim of their environment in a way that is insurmountable when environmental noise reaches a certain point.

Sourcing High Self-Esteem

Those with high self-esteem have a completely different outlook on life, feeling good about themselves and about life in general. They find tasks easier and are more resourceful when attempting to complete a task because they know they can succeed, even while stretching outside of their comfort zone. This willingness to think outside the box makes these individuals more creative, more powerful, and more capable of making life choices while accepting the challenges that lie just around the corner. They are calmer inside and yet more confident that they can make changes in their lives and succeed in doing so.

Self-Esteem is the quintessential starting point for any form of success in life. Those with high self esteem and a positive self image are able to realize their potential and live their dreams out in a way that they never could have before. They more readily find balance in their life throughout all five pillars and ultimately synchronization with the universe and harmony in their mind, body, and soul.

Do you have a desire to improve your self-worth, your self-respect and your confidence? Master Life Coach, Toronto native Bruno LoGreco will provide the support you require as you learn and develop your self-esteem.

About Peace On Earth

True or false: Jesus came to bring peace on earth. The answer is clear but not the same answer as the world gives.

Wherever there is a true church there is division. The struggle toward the light is relentless. God's people will always strive to know, believe, abd obey God's Word. Actors in the same group will balk. They will go only so far and then stop. Hence, division. Eventually, persecution. Rejection.

How we all long for peace. But wars among the children of men will always be. Jesus did not come to solve that problem. Not yet. As He looks into the future from His day He calmly declares, "There will be wars and rumors of wars." That problem is not going away.

The children of God have their own special set of wars. But for them, the true ones, a personal peace is promised. Apostolic writers speak of the peace that passes understanding. The prophet says that God will keep in perfect peace those that trust in Him. Jesus Himself said, "My peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you," the you being those who are His true disciples. This promise was not given to the disciples who walked away filled with their own agendas.

Peace on earth, you ask? No, this message of the blood of a crucified God continues to divide families, communities, nations. The World Wars were religious wars, Catholic powers against Orthodox powers. In our own continent, Rome sought to subdue by political and military force, the neighbor of its ally Mexico. That neighbor, the USA, has largely stayed free of religious domination but is threatened now by Muslim inroads which likewise threaten Europe and the civilized world. War will always be, triggered by false ideas about who God is and what He wants.

But the angels, what of the angels and their beautiful song on the night Christ became flesh in a little Jewish village? They sang of "peace on earth and good will to men." Was it only a song, a vanished dream? Is there hope for this planet?

Oh yes, but all in good time. Peace will come to the entire orb when the Prince of Peace forcibly exerts His will as returning Messiah. He invites now. So subtle is His voice at times. He truly wants man to choose Him, since he has already chosen to love and die for them. No power plays. No strong arm. Those who tried such tactics in the Middle Ages got what military might produces: outward conformity. Lukewarm religion. Paganism filling the church.

The Christ of the Good News comes on the inside and saves sinners one at a time.

But the same Christ of the Good News will one day invite no longer . The heavens will open and every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that He is Lord. Yes, Kim Jong Il and all dictators from Nero to Napoleon to Hitler will bow the knee to Christ. Then the world will be free and at peace. Until then we carry the song in our heart, the promise, the reality that a warring world around us cannot comprehend.

http://chosunhouse.com is a website made to ask believers to pray for North Korea. Recently I have added Bible teachings to the menu. There are nearly 300 blogs , a live news feed , lists of resources, picture essays, and ways to respond to the overwhelming need in North Korea. Let's love Chosun together! Contact me any time at diakonos5@yahoo.com Audio teachings at sermonaudio.com under my name.

And who am I? A man found of God over 50 years ago, called to the ministry, serving the Lord as needed in my world. Married, member of a local church in the Chicago area, with full time work in public education. Would love to fellowship with believers who respond .

Elegance and Being "Salt and Light"

"It is elegance that is potent and subversive.Elegance in a world of vulgarity." -Vivienne Westwood.

"A city on a hill cannot be hidden." -Matthew 5:14b (TNIV).

The Christian equivalent of the above quote on elegance is Jesus' Sermon on the Mount message to be salt and light to a broken, confused world--persons searching for a way home spiritually, but without knowing at all how to get there.So, instead of elegance, often they continue in their vulgarity. As salt we prevent decay; as light we point the way... (M.O. humility, not arrogance.)

This elegance stands out as "dignified gracefulness or restrained beauty of style... a refined grace or dignified propriety."[1]It is other-than the world's normal (vulgar) way.

It stands alone.

Elegance is irresistible.

It oozes charisma.

It evokes strange responses.

It brings both praise and criticism.Praise from those recognising and welcoming truth and virtue.Criticism from those threatened personally by elegance.(We should not be swayed by these if we genuinely know we're executing the will of God.In fact, we will often upset some if we are doing God's will--it requires courage to truly follow God.)

The purpose of a Christian's real elegance i.e. anything they do that shines far above what the world generally expects and anticipates and is thus blatantly noticeable in the thoroughly good way, is to glorify God the Father.We don't do it for our own glory, but for God's--with a motive like this, focussing on it, we're destined to have better chances of success.

It is our destiny more than our past that defines us.[2]We have been sanctified for a reason; we're on the road for the rest of the journey as servant princes and servant princesses, sons and daughters of the Most High King.And a condition of royalty is public proprietary.Royalty must serve and lead by example.We're saved to serve--God directly, humankind, and possibly all creation.

The Christian's light is to be a persistent but respectful beacon for the unrepentant; a voice and a strobe pointing the way home.It's a conspicuous sign regarding how to deal in life; in the reliant maturity of what's right, just and fair.

We can only ever hope to be true lights to the world with potent salt when engaged with Jesus, and open to his prod and rebuke.That's a necessary condition of the journey toward elegance.We must remember that elegance has raw beauty about it.

Copyright 2009, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

ENDNOTES:
[1] Merriam-Webster online dictionary.
[2] Craig S. Keener, Matthew - IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1997), p. 110.

Steve Wickham is a safety and health professional (BSc) and a qualified lay Christian minister (GradDipDiv). His passion in vocation is facilitation and coaching; encouraging people to soar to a higher value of their potential. Steve's key passion is work / life balance and re-creating value for living, and an exploration of the person within us

Islam - Basic Beliefs and Concepts

Islam is the most growing religion on earth, there are more than 2 Billion humans all over the world called Muslims. Islam is based on the Submission of human will to One God who is called in Arabic "Allah" The only One, The Superior and The Only Creator Of This Universe with no partners and all the existence under his own Control.

Islam was the religion given to Adam The first Man on Earth who was created by God, not as fallen being. All The Prophets & Messengers of God "Allah" to humankind on Earth were Muslims including Adam, Abraham, Moses, Aaron, Jacob, Jesus and Mohammad. They have the same basic Message to Mankind: "La Ilaha Illa Allah" which means no God worth of worshiping Except Allah and anything else is his servant and creation.

Although those prophets came with different books, practices and methods of worshiping, Prophet Mohammad (peace and blessings be upon him and all other prophets) was the last Messenger of Allah On earth Before the Day of Judgment.

The Basic Message of Islam is the absolute Unity of Allah 'God' and he is not independent on anything or anyone else or even alike, he is not three on one nor father and son, Muslims beliefs on Jesus as Allah's Prophet and Messenger and his servant just like all other prophets Including Mohammad and Moses.

Islam believes that God and his creations are completely different entities. Allah is not his creation nor he is a part of it. Islam believes that his essence and his great knowledge are everywhere on his creation.

Islam calls the human away from the worshiping of the creation of Allah and invites him to the worshiping of the creator -- Allah himself, because the greatest sin of humanity is the worshiping of the creation.

Among the basics of Islamic Religion, the most important part is the belief in one God 'Allah' and He is the only Creator, Ruler, Lord, Administrator and Master of all that exists, And this Universe exists and functions because the will of Allah alone.

Allah responds to man's prayer and He is the only one who has the power to accept or reject it. He is the Master of man's destiny, no one ever else can interfere with the fate of others or even with his own fate!

All the humans hopes and fears should be only directed to Allah. He is the object of fear & source of favor.

That's the bedrock and most fundamental aspect of Islam religion, May Allah guide all of us to the truth and thank you for your time.

For more information about Islam, Please visit our website Islam Voice at the following link: Islam Voice - The Road to Allah
Islam Voice is a website Dedicated To the Message of Islam Religion, Islam Pillars, Islam Miracles and it's Basic Beliefs and Concepts for Non Muslims.
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Christian Dream Symbols - Is God Speaking to You? Are You Listening?

Some dreams are straightforward and you understand their meaning right away - it was simply a dream about some event or person. However, if you awake puzzled, intrigued, pondering what could have been an odd dream, and perhaps there were certain key images, objects, places, animals etc. that seemed to play a key role or theme in the dream, then your dream could be a 'parabolic' dream.

A parable is simply a story that has some meaning and the best examples are numerous ones in the Bible where Jesus was an expert at using stories (parables) to make points.

So is there something in your dream that can't be taken at face value and is not readily apparent to you? Did that symbol reappear in the same dream or successive dreams? If so, particularly where symbols are involved, then this may be the sign that your dream was symbolic and may involve what we refer to in our research as Christian dream symbols.

To understand Christian dream symbols and better understand the dream itself, we first need to start at the beginning - what is a dream?

Dreams can be defined as a single image, series of sequential images, entire scenarios (i.e., a play) occurring involuntarily during sleep. But dreams are actually one of the least understood human phenomena despite all of the recent research on the topic of dreams. We know the brain and body need to rest and thus sleep occurs, but our brains are still very active, particularly during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. We typically have what we would call dreams anywhere from three to six times per night, although hardly any of us recall even a single dream consistently every night. But we know this occurs through observing brain waves and eye movements during REM sleep patterns. REM sleep only accounts for about 25% of a total night's sleep but this is where we have the most vivid dreams, and these occur most frequently a few hours before dawn.

The next step is to determine whether there was something symbolic in your dream. Was there a repeating theme or image? Could this have been some of the Christian dream symbols that are fairly common among Christians and even in the Bible? Does it match up against our research and other Christian dream symbols through our database?

We also recommending writing down what you recall right after you awake in the morning. You can then go back and compare notes over a period of time, which is often helpful to see patterns.

We could possibly cover all potential christian dream symbols in this article, but the common themes are: Nature, Animals, Angels, Modes of Transportation, Buildings/structures, or simply a voice that bears a message.

Please visit us to further research your dreams and compare your notes against our database of christian dream symbols at http://www.ChristianDreams.org

Bryan Johnson is founder of ChristianDreams.org offering an easy to use dictionary of Christian dream symbols. Search our extensive database of Christian dream symbols with references to Biblical text. Find out the real meaning behind God's messages!

http://www.ChristianDreams.org

Mothers: God's Original Firefighters

Calling All Mothers! Its appropriate on this Mothers Day weekend that we, as mothers, stop to pat ourselves on our own backs in appreciation of all the firefighting we do throughout the year.

Lets face it. Theres always some fire to put out as we attempt to keep peace intact and the roof from blowing right off the house. Within the wonderful myriad of opportunities we have to maintain harmonious balance between husbands, children and siblings, were challenged almost daily to come up with yet another method of smoothing someones bent feathers or helping to heal a hurt from someones unkind or less than gentle words.

Thank God (literally!) that He gave most of us sturdy creatures a sense of humor and the patience of Job, because our limits are tested all too often. We're expected to handle not only physical mishaps but also emotional messes, which without our intervention might get blown all out of proportion, leaving unintentional and irreparable damage.

Somehow God has given mothers a built-in radar that prepares us to fight against people bent on ripping each other apart. Its precisely within our nature to be gentle and to hear the silent cries of those who are hurting, to want to provide comfort with absolutely no expectation of a reward, even a thank you.

As our world sometimes seems to spin more and more out of control, mothers are the formidable sticky substance holding so much of life together, not just giving life. Like firefighters, we're sometimes heralded for our efforts and hold a place of honor for selfless deeds above and beyond when a tragedy happens, if only temporarily.

Whether you have children of your own or, like me, are blessed with a loving husband and an absolutely fabulous stepson, on behalf of All Mothers on Our weekend I proclaim:

World! We humbly and graciously accept your kind recognition of all we do for our loved ones and for strangers, for those hurting and who have lost their way, and we accept the honor you bestow upon us by naming a Day for us. Your kind gesture of acknowledgement empowers us and our lives are richer and more fulfilled. One of us, but perhaps not the one you expect, will always be available to help, to encourage and to strengthen those in our lives by our direct actions, as well as through our universal support of each other. We wear our uniforms proudly and it is a privilege to have you call on us anywhere at any time to put out a fire.

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