Has Jesus Returned?, Part 8

Exploring the End Times

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the master calls a butterfly.”
Richard Bach

“I think this is irresponsible preaching and very dangerous, and especially when it is slanted toward children, I think it's totally irresponsible, because I see nothing biblical that points up to our being in the last days, and I just think it's an outrageous thing to do, and a lot of people are making a living—they've been making a living for 2,000 years—preaching that we're in the last days.”
? Charles M. Schulz, Conversations

“And now, we have no option. We can't say 'maybe' 'it's possible' 'it looks very probable…' No way! We have to say this is what the Bible teaches! This is fact! May 21, 2011 is the day of the Rapture, it is the day that Judgment Day begins…”
— Harold Camping, Christian Pastor

Perspectives on Mormonism

Since we have moved off a full time focus of Mormonism some have wondered my thoughts about it as an institution. I think that at the people there is camaraderie, and some genuine fellowship, and sound activities. Doctrinally, I stand opposed to much of what is taught and why it is taught. But when it comes to those who are trying to scramble up the ladder of leadership I will appeal to the words of CS LEWIS, as I have in the past, to describe my view.

Lewis was describing was his view of hell, in a non-traditional way, and he likened hell to the modern managerial age – that is how I see corporate Mormonism. Lewis says: “My symbol for Hell (which is therefore my symbol for LDS hierarchies of power) is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the offices of a thoroughly nasty business concern.“ Everyone wishes everyone else’s discrediting, demotion, and ruin; everyone is an expert in the confidential report, the pretended alliance, the stab in the back.”

Of course, in my associations with most religious institutions – even little local religious fiefdoms, from the top down, things are not much different anywhere else.

Biblical Examination of the End of the World

So, in our examination of the question, “Does the Bible say when Jesus would return?” we have covered the essentials to the question from the Gospels. In addition we have pointed out when Revelation suggests His coming would be, and then we also talked about the phrase “Last Days,” and last hour used by John.

Tonight, before we get into the specific references from the Apostles themselves I want to talk about the notion – the biblical notion (or lack thereof) of what we refer to as “the end of the world.” It almost goes without saying that Christians, in general, believe there is going to be an end of the world. Have you ever wondered why Christians believe this? Oh really, because its written in the Bible. Huh. Maybe we ought to examine this claim that the Bible tells us that this world is going to end . . . before we just swallow this idea hook line and sinkah!

Now typically and generally speaking Christians think that the end of the world is going to look something like this: The good guys, the believers that is, will have been removed from the earth – raptured, if you will. Then the world is going to be wiped clean by fire so intense that (to some) it will even melt the heavens. We are talking some bad arse fire, my friends. And the imagery has been used by Christian preachers and pastors and prophets for years on end – decades – CENTURIES. And yet the world has not ended. Do you want to know the ONLY reason why it hasn’t ended? Because the Bible NEVER EVER says the World would end. Ever.

Huh? What? Why have so many smart Christian scholars and apologist said it would? Ahhhh for the same reason there are LDS men and women with Ph.D’s and medical doctors who followed Jim Jones? I dunno. But let me say this: Not only does the Bible NOT say that there will be an end of the World, the idea stands in CONTRADICTION with what the Bible says! All the way back in Genesis 8:21 we read God say: “Neither will

Understanding the End of the World in Biblical Context

I smite anymore every living thing as I have done.” In Psalm 78:69 the Lord tells us that He has “established the earth forever.” Psalm 93:1 adds that the earth “cannot be moved.” Ecclesiastes 1:4 says: “One generation passeth away and another generation cometh but the earth abideth forever.”

The Phrase "End of the World" in the Bible

WHERE ON EARTH DID WE GET THE IDEA THAT THERE IS GOING TO BE AN END OF THE WORLD? Ye Old King James version of the Bible, is where. The phrase “end of the world” occurs five special times in the King James Bible. The phrase “the end of this world” occurs once and the phrase “the ends of the world” also occurs once too. Add all these phrases up and we get a total of seven. Now, we know that the word for world (as in earth and/or heaven and earth) is either “Ge” or it’s “Kosmos.” In all seven instances where we read the phrase end of this or the world in the King James the Greek word they translated to world is Aion – it means age. Properly understood all the phrases in the King James that say “end of the world” ought to read “end of the age.” Is this important? So important that all seven of these verses have been changed in the New King James Version, and the NASB, and the ESV, and the NIV.

Why the Term "World" Was Used

Why? Because they should be changed! Because truth be told, neither Jesus nor any of his apostles ever said or intimated that there would be an end of the physical earth. Why did the King James use the term world? Was it malicious intent? Not at all. It was because what was being described was the end of THAT world – the end of that Jewish age, the end of their world as they knew it. So it’s understandable that they used world. The problem is they were NOT experiencing an end of the entire physical earth. It was an end to the world of the Nation of Israel and all that orbited around them. The whole Mosaic system – done. The best Bible scholars agree that the Jews believed in two ages – the age that contained the Law and the Prophets – and an age to come, one that brought the Messiah and was known to them as “the age to come.”

When we understand this passages like Matthew 12:32 make sense. Remember what Jesus said in that passage: “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world (aion, not Kosmos or ge), neither in the world (not in the original mss) to come.” (which word is mello and means, “neither in the age that is about to come upon you shortly.” See, all the things of the former age prohibited many Jews from realizing Jesus was the Messiah. Even the writer of Hebrew said that for the Jews under the Law – “that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing.” In 70 AD God destroyed all those impediments to their understanding of who the Messiah was (and is).

Additionally, just to put it out there, the Bible does NOT talk about the end of time either! There are two phrases that futurists will use to suggest that there will be an end of time – One is found in Daniel and one is found in Revelation. But the Daniel (12:4) line speaks of “the time of the end” which has a very different meaning than, “the end of time,” and the Revelation passage says the line: “That there should be time no longer,” But it is NOT talking about time not existing any longer but that there should be time no longer left for the Nation of Israel to repent and accept the Messiah. This was the time in their history when the writer of Revelation said (in Revelation 22:11): “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still.” Sorry folks but the Bible does NOT speak to the end of the physical earth NOR does it speak to the end of time existing.

So let’s look at the seven verses in the King James that mention the end of the (or this) world. Five of

Understanding the End of the Age

The concept of the "end of the world" is frequently mentioned in the Bible, and many of these references are found in Matthew. Here are the first three – Matthew 13 verses 39, 40, and 49: Where Jesus is teaching a parable and says: “The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.” Then in verse 49, “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.”

If you were reading the King James, it would be easy to believe the Lord was speaking of the literal end of the whole wide world, right? But Jesus is simply explaining to His disciples the end of that age – because in each instance, the word for world is Aion, not Kosmos – all of these things were going to happen to the Jews at the end of their age. Notice in verse 39 where Jesus said: “the harvest is the end of the age?” Got that? Then do you remember when He said in John 4:35 to His disciples: “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” Contextually speaking, this was all Jesus speaking to them about that age and those people – not us – them.

Biblical References to the End

The next two times “end of the world” are mentioned in scripture are also located in Matthew – 24:3 and then in Matthew 28:20. Matthew 24:3 ought to be really familiar to you by now because it is when Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to Jesus on the Mount of Olives privately and said: “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Of course, the word is aion, and the question was, “tell us Jesus, when will be the end of this age.” The last time world is used in the King James version of Matthew is in the last chapter (or what we call the Great Commission verses). Here, Jesus says (to them, about their job as apostles) “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (which means in the name of Christ which is exactly what they did from every account henceforth – verse 20) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” We would like, as modern New Testament readers, to believe that this means to the end of the physical world of which we are still apart, but it doesn’t. Jesus plainly says: “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age. Amen.” He came to His own, He called His own right there in the Great Commission to go out to His own, and He tells them that He would be with them even unto the end of their age – and He was – even till the end of the age of Israel – 70 AD – when judgment fell. So that’s five of seven times the Bible speaks of the end of the world.

The End of the World in Corinthians and Hebrews

The sixth time is found in 1st Corinthians 10:11. Here Paul is speaking to the believers at Corinth about the things written in the Old Testament, that they were written as examples for them to benefit by. And so he says, speaking of the events in the Old Testament: “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” Again, the Greek is age here, not worlds, and what Paul is saying is “all the things that happened to the Nation of Israel were examples that were written for the admonition of believers upon whom (this is speaking of the Nation of Israel and not believers) “upon whom the ends of the age are come.” Did you notice the tense of the verb Paul uses here – “Are come?” not will come, not are going to come some two thousand years later – are come. The last time “the end of the world” is used in scripture is in Hebrews where the writer says, speaking of Jesus: “For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but…

Interpretations of the End of the World in Scripture

"Now once (in the end of the world) hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Hebrews 9:26. We don’t even need to interpret this passage it is so straightforward on how the writers used and understood the line “the end of the world.” But let me read a few other translations of Hebrews 9:26 which say it more plainly than the King James. Ready?

“For then Christ would have had to undergo death many times since the creation of the world. But now, once and for all, at the close of the age, (instead of at the end of the world) he has appeared, in order to abolish sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Weymouth’s Literal Translation of Hebrews 9:26 says it this way. “In that case Christ would have needed to suffer many times, from the creation of the world onwards; but as a matter of fact He has appeared once for all, at the Close of the Ages, in order to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”

Different Interpretations of the End

So there are the seven times the end of the (or this world) is used in the New Testament – are you still convinced that the Bible tells us that there is going to be an end of this physical earth? Oh, I see. There are other passages that use other language to describe it. Well, let’s look at them then. 1st Peter 4:7? Okay, 1st Peter 4:7. It says: First of all, you’re digging your own apologetic grave using this one, but let's look at what Peter says here. Ready?

1st Peter 4:7 says “But the end (of all things) is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.” “The end of “ALL THINGS” Peter writes, “is at hand.” It is believed that Peter wrote this about 65 AD – and here the Apostle said the end of all things was at hand! Near! Close! Then! In his day, when he wrote this epistle. If Peter said the end of “all things” was near, and the earth and the oceans and the stars and sun continue to function today – 2000 years later, then when Peter said the end of “all things” was at hand he must have meant all the things contained in something OTHER than this earth, right? Could he have meant that the end of ALL the THINGS related to the Nation of Israel were about to end? I would strongly suggest so. The end of ALL that age.

Perspectives on the Timing of the End

In fact, that end of all things of that age was so close, so much at hand that Paul said in 1st Corinthians 7:29 “But this I say, brethren, the time is short.” Know the context? Paul was preaching that the time was so short that the people of Corinth ought to avoid marriage! It is believed that Paul wrote this letter to the believers at Corinth about 56-57 AD – so within three years of the end beginning at thirteen or so years before the fall of Jerusalem. The Greek word used was not Mello, which means the time is “At hand” but “sustello,” which means things “are gonna start wrapping up,” but not that they are just around the bend.

These lines have NOTHING to do with our day and age – and yet pastor after pastor – and church after church have used (and abused them) to scare hell out of believers – or as Tunnel Vision suggested last week, to control them. How about another one. It’s a passage pulled from scripture often and used to say that when the last day comes the heavens and the earth are going to get torched. Again from the Apostle Peter who says in 2nd Peter 3:10:

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” Now, part of the solution to this we covered two weeks ago when we cited Isaiah 51:16 which says:

“But I am the LORD thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name. And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.”

The Concept of Heaven and Earth in Biblical Prophecy

So we know that when Peter is describing the heaven’s passing away with a great noise and the elements of the earth melting and the works therein being burned, Peter was speaking of the special heaven and earth God established for the Nation of Israel. But additionally, earlier in chapter 3 of Second Peter, the apostle brings up (in verses 5-6) what happened in Noah’s day and speaks of the World perishing. Interestingly, the world did not perish – I mean, Noah landed in actual mountains and had a dove bring him an olive branch – but Peter said the “world” of Noah perished. We know it wasn’t the natural world around Noah that perished, so what was it? The world of the ungodly, according to II Peter 2:5 – that is what perished!

The Day of the Lord and the Passing of the World

So when Peter says in II Peter 3:10: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up,” we know it is not the natural world that was going to go, but the world of that age – the age of those who refused the Messiah. Let me conclude tonight by looking at one more parable of the Lord’s – it’s found in Matthew 22 and known as the parable of the King’s son.

We know from the parable that Jesus tells of a King who prepared a wedding for his Son and sent servants out to tell the people that they were invited. But the people paid no attention to the invites – and even killed and abused some of the servants. We could see this as a parable of the Jews' rejection of Jesus and His gospel. But in the parable, Jesus has the King respond very angrily to those who rejected his invitation to his son's wedding, saying things like: “But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.”

The Fulfillment of Prophecy

In this parable, I would strongly suggest that when we read what Jesus says in verse 7, that this was when Malachi 4:1 is fulfilled, which says: “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” It’s the fulfillment of all Jesus said in Matthew 24, including the “end” Jesus said would come, and “those who were in Judea ought to flee to the mountains.” This is the end that Peter was referring to when he said, “But the end of all things is at hand.” 1st Peter 4:7. It is what Paul was talking about when he said, “brethren, the time is short.” 1st Corinthians 7:9. It’s what Revelation 21:4 was speaking to when it says: “The former things have passed away,” and it is the judgment Jesus was speaking of in Matthew 23:33 when He said to the Pharisees: “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can you escape the judgment of gehenna?” (Matthew 23:33).

Are there military idiots out there with their hands on buttons? Certainly. Are there nuclear weapons that could really do some awful damage to our earth? Sure. Will we continue to war with each other, and pollute this planet, and kill each other? Probably. But this is not biblical prophecy being fulfilled. It’s the work and ways of Man being played out. So we share Jesus, and we teach all who will hear the Good News, and we help them prepare for the day when they will come to meet him in the air – at their respective death – like MILLIONS of his followers have met Him since the destruction of Jerusalem, the city of peace, He tried to save.

Special Book and CD Package Offer

But they make for excellent gifts. So here’s the deal. Between now and the end of the year we are offering the following package for an amazing price. Ready?

1 Where Mormonism Meets Biblical Christianity Face to Face book = 1 I Was a Born-Again Mormon = 1 If my Kingdom were of this World Then my Servants would Fight = 1 Copy of Shield of Faith (a great read from a Christian cop here in Utah) = All FOUR In His Words CD’S (that’s 57 plus songs covering over a hundred passages of scripture) which normally retails for = And (get this) a first edition our of newest book coming out this spring titled: Giving God a Chance to Make Sense (which will retail for = $ ).

Add all of this together and the total retail price would be more than $125.00. But you can get it by going to the store at www.hotm.tv for the low special price of only . . . . $59.00 (and shipping is free if ordered before December 31st 2014). Act now as supplies are limited. Again, that’s four books, four CD’s, one DVD AND the promise of a first edition signed copy of “Giving God a Chance to Make Sense” mailed to you this spring . . . a retail value of over 125.00 all yours to give to family and friends for only $59.00 (AND free shipping). I’m sorry but overseas shipping is not free. Just go to www.hotm.tv and check out the store.

Personal Reflections

My name is James Johnson, and I was on your show last year proclaiming that God is female. I learned today, Thursday, September 18, that our God Is Actually male. I have been fooled by Satan into thinking that our God Is female. I apologize for misleading anyone into believing that God Is female. In my journeys, I have found that our Father In Heaven, and Jesus, have many faithful followers. It brings me much grief, and embarrassment, that I have told many people differently for the past three years. I ask you to somehow please, forgive me.

Sincerely, James Johnson

Thoughts on Marriage and Religion

You have given me the ideal that Congress should pass a law that only states may marry people, and not the Mormon Church, specifically. Like God did not want Israel to have a King, but God let Israel do as they wished and start a kingship..so did Jesus say there is no marriage or giving in marriage in the "hereafter" , but that whether they marry or not, it has no weight in the hereafter heaven. In order words, don't drag God into it by claiming one cannot live with God unless they are married in a temple, and told whom to marry and break up families because they think they should be married to someone else. The person who baptized me LDS, Louis DeBroux, told me in the late 80's of early 90's , that his wife divorced him and the church turned his children against him after he found out that Pres. Hinckley had seduced his wife (whom I knew) and had her sealed to him in the Atlanta Ga. temple. Bro. DeBroux bum/bed some wards and went to prison over it. The bum/bings was reported in the Atlanta Journal/Constitution papers in the late 80's or early 90's. Bro. DeBroux was in the Conyers. Ga. II (maybe I ward) at the time. A later Bishop, David Trust in Conyers, Ga. confirmed these facts to me. You have my permission to use my name as the informant to you in this matter. Signed: C. Harold Ledford

Greetings,

I have provided a link to a Reuters article explaining that the mainline Lds church has produced an essay saying that the ban on black people from holding their priesthood "was a policy based in the racism of the time." Maybe you've covered this already but I thought I'd send it to you just in case you haven't. Greetings,

I have provided a link to a Reuters article explaining that the mainline Lds church has produced an essay saying that the ban on black people from holding their priesthood "was a policy based in the racism of the time." Maybe you've covered this already but I thought I'd send it to you just in case you haven't.

(Reuters) – Thirty-five years after lifting a ban on blacks entering the priesthood, the Mormon church has offered an explanation for a practice that was in place for more than 100 years, saying it was rooted in the racism of the times. A church-produced essay, "Race and the Priesthood," ties the ban to

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Racial Policies

An 1852 speech by Brigham Young, the faith's second president, who led the church to Utah, and distances the modern Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from the policy. "The justifications for restrictions echoed the widespread ideas about racial inferiority that had been used to argue for the legalization of black 'servitude,'" reads the essay, part of a series aimed at giving Mormons more context for understanding various aspects of church history, practices and doctrine. "Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form," the essay says. In the past, Mormon church leaders have said history provided no clear explanation for the prohibition that barred black men from ordination to the lay priesthood and prevented black men and women from participating in sacred temple rites. No such prohibitions were in place during the tenure of Joseph Smith, Jr., who founded the church in 1830, the church essay notes. Smith opposed slavery and himself ordained the faith's first black lay ministers. In the Mormon faith, only men can hold the priesthood.

In 1978 then-church President Spencer W. Kimball lifted the ban, citing what the church describes as a religious revelation, but the faith has had trouble shaking its history, and the issue of racism has arisen repeatedly, including during the 2012 presidential campaign of Mitt Romney, who is Mormon. "For me what it says is that the church is finally admitting that (blacks) should never have been denied the priesthood," said Don Harwell, president of the Genesis Group, an organization for black church members. "It's overdue."

Historical Reflections and Skepticism

Mormon historian Newell Bringhurst applauded the essay as the most comprehensive statement on the priesthood ban ever issued by church leaders. Still, Bringhurst, a retired professor of history and author of multiple books on the ban, said it should be viewed with skepticism. "It's a step forward, but I don't think it's adequate enough," Bringhurst said in a telephone interview from his home in Visalia, California. "They are going to have to own up to why it was perpetuated well into the civil rights era."

In 1852, Young said he believed full church membership, including the priesthood, would someday be restored to black members, but church leaders perpetuated the practice for more than 100 years, Bringhurst said. No explanation for those actions is offered by the essay, he said. Bringhurst believes the essay reflects the church's shift toward dealing more honestly with its history, a move that may be tied to the proliferation of information about the faith from non-church sources on the Internet. "I don't think the LDS church has any choice but to become more frank and forthright in admitting what happened," he said, noting that Mormonism has been growing rapidly in some South American and African countries.

Changing Demographics

"Membership of the church is now far more non-white than white … it kind of makes sense" that the issue would be addressed, said Harwell, adding that his remarks are not made on behalf of Genesis. "You can't just bring in people of color and ignore what the church was," he said. "But it's here. They said it and it kills a whole lot of stuff with the past. Now we can get on to building a better church."

From: Matt

Subject: Appreciative Listener

Message Body:

Hey! I just wanted to say that I've been enjoying your program very much. I don't have television, but I listen to it on YouTube when I go to work. I fell out of the church back in 2008. I was very active in church throughout my junior high and high school years. After a series of heartbreaks I felt that perhaps the God I was "worshiping" so zealously was a) not the God I thought he was or should be, or b) he was intentionally pushing me away. Eventually, I left the church. I was disillusioned by the plastic "Barbie and Ken" nature of the church and its adherents. I have since gone through various stages of self-discovery including atheism, but have always used the words of Jesus as a measure despite the "feud" (as I referred to it) I was having with a God I was trying not to believe in. My anger has been subdued, and age has taught me much. Being drawn to the nature of God and having an interest in religion, I've been watching your program on the Mormons to educate myself. While I no longer believe what I would call the "magical" aspects of the Bible, I want to be prepared for the character of Jesus to speak through me when the time comes. I know that He will.

Perspectives on Faith

In order to receive Him I must be the vessel he created me to be much like a pot; it is the emptiness of the clay that is filled. I was too proud. I didn't know that I really DIDN'T know and I spoke too much. I just want to say that I greatly appreciate your logical view of the Bible, I think you are a great speaker and presenter of the Word just as Jesus would have presented it. Concerning the Mormons, I have a quote from the Tao Te Ching that parallels where the Mormons went wrong and it reads, "When goodness is lost there is morality." They work so hard to show how good they are. If they could only see beyond their own self righteousness they would see that He his the measure, the scale, and the means to an end as well as the end of the means. Peace and Joy! From: Matt

From: Barbora Kadl?íková

Messages of Gratitude

Subject: Thank you

Message Body:

Hello, I just want to thank to the Shawn for what he is doing. God trough him just saved my friend before brainwashing religion and getting be involved to the occult of the mormonism. So just thank you really. I am enyoing to watching the true being fight for. I love it. God bless you all. Barbara from Czech Republic

Subject: Appreciative Listener

Message Body:

Hey! I just wanted to say that I've been enjoying your program very much. I don't have television, but I listen to it on YouTube when I go to work. I fell out of the church back in 2008. I was very active in church throughout my junior high and high school years. After a series of heartbreaks I felt that perhaps the God I was "worshiping" so zealously was a) not the God I thought he was or should be, or b) he was intentionally pushing me away. Eventually I left the church. I was disillusioned by the plastic "Barbie and Ken" nature of the church and its adherents. I have since gone through various stages of self discovery including atheism, but have always used the words of Jesus as a measure despite the "feud" (as I referred to it) I was having with a God I was trying not to believe in. My anger has been subdued, and age has taught me much. Being drawn to the nature of God and having an interest in religion, I've been watching your program on the Mormons to educate myself. While I no longer believe what I would call the "magical" aspects of the Bible, I want to be prepared for the character of Jesus to speak through me when the time comes. I know that He will.

Reflections on Revelation

From: Abbey Cartwright

Subject: Revelation

Message Body:

Love your desire to search. Have always loved the Lord since as far back as i can remember and love to read HIS Word too. I was challenged in my faith and walk even more when i met a mormon and heard the same "kind" of words but actually in different context. We must read the Word … through the Word. I have been watching via the computer and am on episode 407 thereabouts, but i would like you to consider in your walk how the book of Revelation correlates with Daniel and Matthew. The interesting thing to me is that the book of Revelation was written or given to John and many years after the destruction of the temple, like

Revelation and Recognition

about 98 AD…and look at what Jesus tells the Pharisees, that they would not see Him again until they said, "blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" Matthew 23:39 The people outside had already shouted all of this…but the Pharisees did not recognize Him and many Jewish people (Gods people) still do not. It is important that they recognize Him. I believe God has plans for His people in the future and that we are still awaiting His final return. But as for me…He will be with me till the end! From: Abbey Cartwright

Subject: Revelation

Love your desire to search. Have always loved the Lord since as far back as i can remember and love to read HIS Word too. I was challenged in my faith and walk even more when i met a mormon and heard the same "kind" of words but actually in different context. We must read the Word … through the Word. I have been watching via the computer and am on episode 407 thereabouts, but i would like you to consider in your walk how the book of Revelation correlates with Daniel and Matthew. The interesting thing to me is that the book of Revelation was written or given to John and many years after the destruction of the temple, like about 98 AD…and look at what Jesus tells the Pharisees, that they would not see Him again until they said, "blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" Matthew 23:39 The people outside had already shouted all of this…but the Pharisees did not recognize Him and many Jewish people (Gods people) still do not. It is important that they recognize Him. I believe God has plans for His people in the future and that we are still awaiting His final return. But as for me…He will be with me till the end!

Marriage and Faith

You have given me the ideal that Congress should pass a law that only states may marry people, and not the Mormon Church, specifically. Like God did not want Israel to have a King, but God let Israel do as they wished and start a kingship..so did Jesus say there is no marriage or giving in marriage in the "hereafter" , but that whether they marry or not, it has no weight in the hereafter heaven. In order words, don't drag God into it by claiming one cannot live with God unless they are married in a temple, and told whom to marry and break up families because they think they should be married to someone else. The person who baptized me LDS, Louis DeBroux, told me in the late 80's of early 90's , that his wife divorced him and the church turned his children against him after he found out that Pres. Hinckley had seduced his wife (whom I knew) and had her sealed to him in the Atlanta Ga. temple. Bro. DeBroux bum/bed some wards and went to prison over it. The bum/bings was reported in the Atlanta Journal/Constitution papers in the late 80's or early 90's. Bro. DeBroux was in the Conyers. Ga. II (maybe I ward) at the time. A later Bishop, David Trust in Conyers, Ga. confirmed these facts to me. You have my permission to use my name as the informant to you in this matter. Signed: C. Harold Ledford

A Personal Revelation

My name is James Johnson, and I was on your show last year proclaiming that God is female. I learned today, Thursday, September 18, that our God is actually male. I have been fooled by Satan into thinking that our God is female. I apologize for misleading anyone into believing that God is female. In my journeys I have found that our Father in Heaven, and Jesus, have many faithful followers. It brings me much grief, and embarrassment, that I have told many people differently for the past three years. I ask you to somehow please, forgive me.

Sincerely, James Johnson