A BIG CHANGE IN ATTITUDE

George Offerman

Over the past several months I have noticed myself pulling away from worldly concerns and finding it more difficult to get excited over matters that seem to be of great importance to the average American.  Likewise, I have also noticed that the majority of people I’ve been talking to show little interest in matters I see as important and urgent, and the disconnect is growing more noticeable with each passing day.  I guess it is getting hard to look at the current reality and take it seriously when I believe I am looking at the end of our way of life as we know it.

It isn’t an issue of grieving or of regret, but seems to be based more in the realm of action and feeling a need to be accomplishing tasks that are more focused on simplifying life and learning rudimentary skills that really matter.  The more I do this, the more I realize most of what we consider ‘productivity’ is simply a waste of time and energy, and satisfies those who control our lives and want to instill meaning in their lives by requiring the majority to conform to stupid and senseless rules and regulations that in the end do nothing to add to any quality of life.

I recently had an issue with my debit card, and received a call from a collections agency threatening me with some sort of action to be taken if I did not pay some outstanding bill from some product I didn’t order.  The funny thing is,  I didn’t get upset nor did I care that my ‘credit’ may take a hit from some agency that already knows too much about me and has delved into my personal life without my permission.  I responded by saying something like “sue me, and I don’t care what you do to the credit ratings, it’s all a joke anyway’.  It left the poor schlep on the phone speechless and dumbfounded to say the least.  Like I’m really going to worry about a credit rating when my country advocates deficit spending and counterfeits gross amounts of paper currency to pay off those unworthy of getting the money to begin with.

It’s getting more difficult by the day to take politicians, church leaders, the pro-life management, and those who claim to be ‘conservative’ when they speak of better days and good times, while the whole time spending other people’s money and advocating policies that are detrimental to our physical and spiritual wellbeing.  These groups, and I mean all of them, have rigged the game, and I am no longer in the mood to play.  I could care less if my ‘credit’ scores are low, I could care less if the political party I once belonged to sees me as a charlatan, I could care less if many of the clergy and friends consider me an extremist and want to cut off long term friendships because of this, and I could really care less if the rogue government puts me on some list of ‘domestic terrorists’ due to my beliefs and actions.

The majority of the folks I just listed seem to have no inkling or clue that our way of life is coming to a horrible conclusion very soon.  The garbage that passes as important will end up in the dump to be burned very shortly, and these same folks will be clamoring for help and assistance from the local loony tune they recently mocked and derided.  It is amazing how much attitudes can change in short order, or maybe it is more the reality of our situation took root and is now bearing fruit.  Either way, I feel very secure in my decisions and actions and it is evidenced in the fact that despite what has gone down in the past few months, I don’t seem to be ‘rocked’ by these events and continue on in action mode.

I guess this is ultimately a result of looking at the tea leaves and realizing either I am way off and missing things, or I am more of the sane one living in an insane world that seems to violate all of the natural laws known to man and seemingly getting away with it.  Given the insanity that passes for sanity, I am betting my view of things is the more accurate of the two, and I am feeling rather content and at peace with this position.  As I contemplate this Advent, I have more hope that the Lord Jesus soon makes his appearance or at least brings some semblance of peace and tranquility to this rock.  We all know that with God, all things are possible, and should have learned by now that putting man in charge of anything usually ends in disaster.  Given the choices we made in this country in the past year, we know who we put in charge of the chicken coop. 

MORE THOUGHTS ON THE MARK OF THE BEAST

George Offerman

This topic is too important to cover it so briefly, and it is also the most misunderstood topic of all of Revelation.  There is so much information out in the public sphere about the mark, that one’s head can spin from reading a small amount of it.  However, the mark is so important, that it transcends Christianity, and nearly everyone in the world is aware of it, and are leery of the futile attempts by the money powers to instill some sort of system in which to control the ‘cattle’.

In a way, it is very humorous to give the incompetent, inbred idiots known as the money powers so much credit that they can actually instill a system of markings that would condemn one to eternal death.  The mark is a cosmic event, and as such, requires the presence of a supernatural being, such as the devil, to enforce it.  Too many people are aware of this, and the money powers, being of human origin, could not enforce this if even one percent of the population resisted this.  If we end up getting chipped, most likely it will end up being covertly done, by vaccines, chips embedded in products, clothing, cars, cell phones, etc.

This is not to say that one should take this information and become indifferent about it.  We are to resist this, because it is morally wrong to hand over our free will to other men, and not trust in God.  Those that can justify doing this, will have a much more weakened position when the real mark appears, and the mark represents instant judgment that is irrevocable.  Of course Satan is going to trivialize this, because no one would take it if they knew the true consequences.  Unfortunately, this supernatural being will act ‘lamb like’ until he gets what he wants.  Once he has an army of people with his mark, and knows God will not, and really, cannot intervene any more, Satan will become out of control and kill even those with the mark if and when they no longer serve his needs.

Two famous stories in scripture make the points.  This first is Eve taking the apple after being tempted by the serpent.  Gen 3:1-4:1 covers the story, and for brevity, I will paraphrase.  God instructed Adam and Eve to FREELY eat of all the fruit except from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  The serpent tempted Eve, by glorifying the knowledge of being like a god, being able to determine right from wrong for themselves, and placing doubts about what God actually said.  Eve reflects this in leaving out the word “freely” when discussing what God actually said.  The serpent assured Eve “surely, you will not die” Eve believed him over God.  This first poison is: Doubt about God and his Word.

The second story is Jacob stealing Esau’s birthright by essentially bribing him with Stew. Gen 25:24-34.  Esau basically was so focused on the current situation, that he offered his future to satisfy a basic need in the moment.  Many commentators focus rightfully so on Jacob’s trickery, but not much is said pertaining to Esau’s blatant disregard for what is rightfully his.  A moment of weakness virtually changed not only his destiny, but that of the following generations of Esau’s line.  The eternal, or the permanence was not considered, but current circumstances ruled.  The second poison: present circumstances dictating decisions without considering eternal ramifications.

Both of these stories reflect the state of man during the time of the mark.  Like Eve, there will be seduction of a better life, and doubts will be sown about the word of God presented by the 144,000, and like Esau, many will sell out their ‘birthright’ or place in heaven for a very temporary stay of execution.  In both stories, the consequences were terribly minimized, and this is the devils way of getting one to do things they would not normally do, if they had full information.  During the tribulation though, there will be plenty of witnesses to the truth, and there will be the opportunity to hear and understand the ‘permanence’ of this decision.  God will FREELY grant eternal life for anyone not taking the mark, no matter what their past was and what they have done up to this point.  The devil’s message will be that most of Babylon will need to take his mark because they earned it.  Will people have the faith to walk in this matter?

Again, for prophesy to be accurate, it must fulfill all of the requirements of the prophesy.  The hope is that if nothing else is obtained from these writings that one would challenge those out there who are making claims the mark is either here or on its way outside of the trumpets and all of the other clear requirements written in Revelation.  As I have written before, the topic of the mark is the most discussed and controversial amongst many of the expositors, and my challenge to them is to explain the trumpets and timeframe of Revelation, to see if they can place these events.  To be quite truthful, the conversations normally end heated, and the people challenged have called me names, amongst other things, and basically brushed off or minimized this point.  This is a rather sad commentary, as they are actually advocating sensationalism over purity of the word, and in effect, end up scaring people with ideas that do not come true.

The mark can only occur when the man of lawlessness has been exposed, who is claiming to be God, and calling fire from the heavens at will. At least half of the population has to be killed off, there will be a massive one world religiously lead government, a death decree for refusal of the mark that is immediately enforced, the appearance and active ministry of the 144,000 and 2 witnesses, supernatural events, both good and evil, and literally angels in the heavens warning against taking the mark, or suffering eternal consequences for doing this?  Have we seen ANY of this yet?  How can anyone claim the mark is imminent, with any credibility, when NONE of the conditions of the prophesy are being met?

If you are exposed to people claiming to have ‘inside information’ on the mark, challenge them on this.  Challenge them based on scripture passages, challenge them to explain the trumpets, to reveal the identity of the man of lawlessness, the one world government and all of the other points listed above.  Most importantly, ask them about prophesy, and if God fulfills what he writes in totality, or if bits and pieces of prophesy can be left out. And finally, hold them accountable for their words.  Too many people make claims that God ‘informed’ them of future events, and when the don’t occur, the same people in effect minimize this ‘error’ but continue propagating the idea they are prophets, and many write books for money, and/or run ministries that can collect large amounts of money.  God gave this information FREELY, and free is the way it should remain.

THE WONDERFUL BOOK OF REVELATION

George Offerman

One of my favorite pastimes has been studying the book of Revelation.  I started at age 13, and basically had no clue what this cryptic book was referring to.  Over the years through studying different expositors, praying and becoming familiar with the other books in the Bible, some aspects of this book have become clearer.  The key to much of this is the rules of interpretation (hermeneutics), and when one does an in depth study of how other prophesies have been fulfilled, it makes it much more understandable how to go about reading this book.  I will be commenting on this wonderful book from time to time, again because I have a great passion for it.

Too many people have made comments to me over the years that “you are obsessed with this, and it is a scary book”.  There may be some truth to this, but I usually respond “Yes, it is fearful to a degree, but what scares me more is the continuation of the state we are in, which gets worse by the year.  I would be more afraid of NO action by God, knowing things will continually get worse.”   I also inform them that we win in the end, and that’s the main thrust of the book.  God’s name will finally be cleared for the rest of eternity, and sin will forever be eliminated from this universe.  We will also be witnesses to this, and have the eternal duty to take this message to the rest of God’s creation long after this is but a hazy memory.

Revelation is the end of time written in advance, so those of the faith alive at that time will understand what is happening and why it has to happen.  It is a series of events (14) over a short period of time that will culminate in two things: 1) the end of sin and 2) the completion of the gospel message and acceptance or rejection of Jesus as lord by the whole of humanity.  The fourteen events mentioned are the seven trumpets, which will occur over a few years, and the seven bowls that will most likely be about 30-40 days in duration.  Each event is described with enough detail to understand what it is, and who sent it.  It also allows for those going through the tribulation to understand where they are in the prophetic scheme, and to instill hope that God will come through in the way he has foretold.

For instance, I get in endless debates as to the 6^th trumpet, the mark of the beast.  There are many who believe the mark is either here (universal bar codes on all products) or on the way.  The problem is, it’s the 6^th trumpet.  For this to be an accurate interpretation of this scripture passage, the first 5 trumpets would have had to occur, and be readily identified by nearly everyone alive.  Since the first five trumpets have not occurred, the sixth trumpet could not have occurred.  This is like saying Jesus was crucified before he was born.  Prophesy has an order, and is fulfilled in that order as written, and it only causes confusion and chips away at the faith, when one picks and chooses from the prophesy, without keeping it in the order written.

Revelation was also written in language used almost 2,000 years ago.  The first, second,  third, and fourth trumpets described in order:  a massive meteor shower that causes large fires, burning up all the grass and one third of green plant life, an asteroid striking an ocean, and causing massive tsunami’s and carnage, a comet striking a land mass somewhere, that contaminates much of the water supply and a ring of darkness (clouds, soot, ash) that cuts off 1/3 of the daylight and night sky, and through these first four trumpets, approximately ¼ of the population is killed (1.75 billion people).  The language used back then would have been clearly understood back then, but it is still clear enough to understand what John the evangelist saw.  God would not allow for details like this to be lost in ‘translation’ because it is too important for those living through this period of history to NOT know what is going on, and what is coming next.

The following three trumpets are called ‘the three woe’s’, due to them involving Satan.  The fifth trumpet is the physical appearance of Satan, and this will be very glorious in its happenings.  The man of lawlessness will be allowed to take bodily form and to appear to complete the delusion that he is god, and needs to be worshipped.  After a time of counterfeit miracles, Satan will reveal himself for who he really is, and transform himself into the ‘stern faced king”.  Only once he has secured the earth, through the first beast Babylon, will he show his true colors, and like King Nebuchadnezzar, he will require those loyal to him to take his mark, and execute those who refuse.  Also at this point, he will eliminate the first beast Babylon, because Satan will present himself as the king of kings, and lord of lords, and will not tolerate competing systems.  The seventh trumpet is the ‘close of salvation’ meaning, everyone made their choice, and this trumpet sound will be accompanied by the Ark of the Covenant appearing in the sky for all to see.  Those taking the mark will have the very sickening and sunken feeling that they ‘chose wrong’ and hatred towards their counterfeit god will be beyond description.

God then judges Satan, his government and his people directly, harshly and with out mercy.  The seven bowls last a short time, because the severity disallows for life much past 30 days.  All resources are destroyed, the sun is allowed to burn brightly and hot, and Satan’s government is destroyed in front of all the people taking the mark.  Satan is shown as the fraud he is, by not being able to stop these bowls, and is humiliated in front of his subjects, as Jesus was when hanging on the Cross.  Then after a few days of this, King Jesus appears, gathers the dead in Christ first, and those who survived with God’s mark, are caught up in the air.  Jesus then slays the remaining wicked with the sword, or word from his mouth, and the world as we knew it is effectively ended.

There’s more, but due to keeping this brief, the story will stop here for now.

INTRODUCTION TO REVELATION, PART 1

George Offerman

As promised, I will spend the rest of the month of June writing on Revelation.  I had to address the Bilderberg meeting, as it in some ways is fulfilling prophecy as we watch.  As mentioned before, the beast is a one world religiously lead monster that arises in response to the first four trumpets.  This monster doesn’t come together ‘spontaneously’, but is meticulously constructed by its master the devil.  It does not have ultimate authority yet, because its hour of time is not here.  But don’t be fooled, this group is changing the course of humanity and is doing it in a way that is detrimental to us all.

The study of Revelation is really the study of all the books in the Bible.  Without a comprehensive knowledge of the whole story, Revelation makes no sense whatsoever.  I can only compare this to a short story I read while in junior high, “The secret life of Walter Mitty”.  This short story continually flows between real life and imaginary and grandeur daydreams that counter this man’s horrible reality that he is nothing other than a coward by choice, and his struggle in dealing with this reality by seeing himself in lifesaving and life altering situations.  Without understanding this interplay, this short story would be impossible to understand.  Yet that is what many expositors of the book of Revelation do.  It is through their intellectual laziness and need to sensationalize that causes the problems we are seeing today concerning prophecy.

There are three areas of study I know well.  Psychology, as that is what I do for a living.  The second is the silver market, in which I have studied for nearly twenty years, and my greatest passion, prophecy, which I have studied for the past 38 years.  I have written about all three on many occasions and the highest standard I require of myself is to have informed and well researched positions in order to minimize any misunderstanding or misinterpretation that would result in the reader getting hurt.  I am not asking anyone to agree with my conclusions, but to definitely read them with an open mind and consider them.

However, it is the responsibility of the reader to form his mind to do critical analysis of any material presented.  For instance, someone with a strong opinion on a matter does not carry the same authority on a subject as someone who has researched and used solid methodology to come to a differing conclusion.  I have experienced this way too often in this matter of working on Revelation.  It is unfortunate and seems to be the majority of times that many allow themselves to be swept up in a sensationalist view of current events, and allow themselves to be duped into believing expositors that either use poor hermeneutics, or sensationalize matters in order to make a buck.  For people to allow this to happen consistently only reflects their own ignorance on the whole aspect of prophecy in scripture.

That is why I don’t have a high tolerance anymore for those who will make ‘bold’ proclamations concerning Revelation that do not come true, and then don’t have the integrity to admit their mistakes.  I also no longer stay quiet when anyone throws out statements like “this event is just like the second bowl’ or ‘the mark is here!!!’ when there is absolutely no evidence, and their claims do not fulfill all of the criteria of the prophecy as written.  I hear this all of the time now a days, and it strikes me as very ironic that these so called “Christians’ become most uncharitable in their language when called on their error.  I ask these folks a very basic question:  Please show me the fulfillment of the other trumpets and bowls?  They don’t respond, as in EVER in the positive.  

Because there is a need to understand the nature of Biblical prophecy in its entirety, it is essential that a tried and true methodology be utilized.  38 years of due diligence has taught me a few things about this book and it has lead me to see a solid picture of how God operates in our time and how to read the current times and see where they fit in the timeline set in Scripture.  So, tomorrow, I will go over the hermeneutics used and some of the struggles I’ve encountered in the matters of interpretation.  There is so much I could write about that an introduction to this book could take weeks.  It is more important to get this information out than to tell my personal journey over the past 38 years.  So stay tuned, and keep an open mind concerning this material.

 

PROPHETIC TIMES

George Offerman

It is amazing that despite the very difficult times we live in, how many people know so little about prophecy.  It seems there are many reasons for that, but ultimately, it seems to boil down to one issue: believability.  When the USCCB can come out and take an official position that the ‘creation-flood story’ did not actually happen as written, it naturally undermines what is written about the future(Revelation) and sews doubts about what will actually occur.  (Don’t worry, Revelation also covers that theme as well).

When one doesn’t believe, they don’t prepare.  Preparation has many steps, but for the sake of brevity here, we will consider the main steps which are: 1) learning, information gathering and knowledge, and 2) planning and action.  At the base for any preparation is believability.  If one doesn’t believe in whatever is being presented, there is absolutely no incentive to investigate further and there will be no action taken on any of the material being presented.  For instance, MOST of the people I talk to about the coming economic collapse think I’m a lunatic.  Hence, they will not read any of my writings, the web sites I recommend, and are surely not buying silver, or preparing for any trouble by at least getting some extra food and water.

When people don’t take the time to gather information or to learn about a subject, they are left to their own devices, or dependent upon other people to do the work for them.  In the arena of prophecy, there are many who are charlatans and spreading errors in order to make big $$$$ off of the fear they generate.  Others mean well, but grossly misinterpret prophecy in scripture to fit the headlines found in the godless MSM.  Still, others take many facets of Revelation out of their revealed order and attempt to ‘predict’ what these happenings are, such as the mark of the beast.  Then, when these events do not come to pass, many are turned off to Revelation, and begin to wander away from the faith and fall into the trap that these matters will never happen, and there is then no need to work on personal sanctification.

I have repeatedly told people that do want to know these matters that ANYONE who willfully wants to see Revelation occur in their lifetime has got to be out of their ever loving mind.  I tell them I cannot stomach the times we live in and want to see positive change in this country, and see once again, communities that are safe for all people, a love for fellow man, respect for property, honest dealings in business, and the Church representing God as He really is.  This can happen without the end of the world occurring, but it will take very extraordinary events to wake up the common man to make it happen.  That is what I’m hoping to see.  However, I do believe (very unfortunately) we very well may be on the doorstep of Revelation’s fulfillment.

I tell many of these people, who mistakenly believe we are in Revelation now, that the opening salvo will leave no doubt about it.  If we really were in Revelation now, it would validate everything our society and weak Church is presenting about God, and that is as an incompetent, disinterested and weak ‘supreme’ being.  If those reading now are familiar with my previous postings on the first four trumpets, this next bit will be a repeat for you.  Revelation opens with a massive earthquake with a duration and intensity never experienced by mankind EVER.  Then within the next several days to a few weeks, there will be a massive meteor shower that will burn up all grass and one third of green plants.  This will then be followed by two massive asteroid strikes, one in the ocean and one land strike.  This will then lead to darkness that will take out a third of the daylight. Literally, all activity on earth will stop dead in its tracks, and ALL of the survivors will be asking WHY God is so angry and WHAT do we need to do to get Him to stop these judgments.

The first four trumpets will take out 25% of the population in a matter of days.  There will be no doubt about these actions, and there will be no mistaking (anymore) that Revelation has commenced, and the emergence of the 144,000 with Elijah like powers will be here to explain/warn everyone what is happening, why it happened, and what is about to happen. (And, by the way, they won’t be taking any of anyone’s useless money)  Survival will be the number one task on everyone’s mind, and the dark powers will respond rapidly and with great authority.  The Church, due to its lack of faith in God and who He really is, will fail miserably in preparing people for this event, and unfortunately, will join with the beast, which is Babylon, and will become its ‘whore’.  It will join forces and create the one world religiously lead government that will be the most ferocious man made creation ever seen on this rock.

This government, lead by the now ‘whore’ church, will set and enforce laws contrary to the Living God, and require all inhabitants to worship it (obedience).  The 144,000 will be preaching against following this beast, and with their supernatural abilities, will be able to combat this human power. Battle lines will be drawn, and the believers will be put to the test by the Living God to validate their choice.  This test most likely will be a short time jail/prison sentence with a possibility of a death sentence. (The major death sentences come much later).  Many will fall prey to the whore, because they continue to give allegiance to an organization, that prior to the start of Revelation required allegiance to its false teachings and watered down theology.  So it will be a continuation of the same lack of faith and preparation by those who follow an organization that was caught off guard by Revelation, and now wants to speak with great authority, as if they understand the Will of God.

Unfortunately, we are seeing this exact behavior with the USCCB in watering down the Word of God.  I wouldn’t trust this band for anything, and sure don’t want to know what they will think about these matters.  This band will not stand up for the babies now, they will not stand up against homosexual marriage, and they continue to give the body of our Lord to those who are public scandals.  If they cannot keep teachings straight on matters that are very visible, how can they teach and preach on matters that are invisible?  This is a precursor of what the ‘whore’ of Babylon will look like.  There is no urgency by the USCCB in any of their actions, and they are as guilty as many of the pagan/secular groups and governments that believe things will continue on as they have in the past few centuries.

It is very unfortunate that they cannot be more gravely mistaken in their lack of faith.  We are at a threshold of at least an economic event that will literally change the nature of our existence.  The lack of preparation is criminal and those who have taken it upon themselves to be ‘in charge’ of these matters will have much accounting to do before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Their lack of faith, and by extension, lack of preparation will be the cause of much suffering and death that is so avoidable.  And because of this, there is a need for ‘lunatics’ like me to get the word out.  It is what it is, and it’s time to bring it on.

WHAT'S COMING NEXT?

George Offerman

Any person out there paying any amount of attention would have to come to the conclusion that world matters are escalating at a pace not seen in our lifetimes. There has always been speculation about the end of times and when it would take place, so there may be some ‘end of the world’ fatigue experienced by many. This post is not about predicting or making a ‘pronouncement’ about this time being the end of times, but a challenge to people out there to contemplate what is going on around them, and to look at the evidence and assess whether the ‘happenings’ are related to our sinful way of life.

We have the very open worship of money as our modern god, as the majority sees money as the primary problem solver. When money is lacking, problems grow, and many seek, if not dream and scheme about how to get more. God is no longer in the equation and is not even considered by the majority as the source one can count on to solve problems. Because God is the creator and number one lover of free will in the universe, He is the prime mover in allowing us to have what we crave. He will allow us to wallow in our own slime and crap until we either figure it out and ask for repentance, or until we fill our cup of iniquity, and He steps in with Divine Judgment.

Since money is the greatest of the gods, it will be the first to go. As mentioned before, we are now in the midst of an economic collapse and it is here, right now. It is not an issue of whether one sees it or not, as it is still in the slower, initial phases, but soon enough it will be most evident to the dimmest of sheeple and it will be unmerciful. The economic collapse is judgment, not mercy, and will soon have our undivided attention. At that time, some will begin to ‘get it’ and will approach the Living God with humble and contrite hearts. The majority will not, and thus, more judgments will take place.

Comfort and convenience, two other gods of worship will be taken out and will follow quickly on the heels of the economic collapse. With the money system destroyed, it will make conditions very stressful, and accomplishing what used to be the simplest of tasks will now require great efforts and expenditures of time and energy. All of the insane regulations that governed modern life up until now will no longer apply, as the majority of people will be focused on survival as their primary task. What used to be presumed as status quo will disappear, and there will be great lamenting over how things have become and how this could have been avoided by simply following the time tested tried and true way of life.

There will be much anger directed towards those entities most responsible for what is befalling us. What is unknown is whether these entities will be able to deflect and distract the masses enough to make their escape. The truth will come out at some point, and the masses will find out they have been scammed by the money changers and their life’s labors have been ripped off. This will eventually lead to great social unrest and possibly upheaval. Very little mercy will be shown to those seen as the cause of the problems, and we will once again relive parts of world history that we now claim we are ‘too sophisticated’ to do ourselves.

My hope and prayers are that we successfully transition through these times of purification and come out a stronger and more humble people. Our way of life is coming to an end, and preparation on an individual basis ought to be top priority, or one will have no excuse when these events take off in earnest. We are to be children of the light, and as such, should not be taken off guard if we take any time to pray and see the signs of the times. It is now upon us, and the time to act is now.

COMPARTMENTALIZATION

George Offerman

First off, a heartfelt thank you for those who have been wondering why there has been an inconsistency in the postings over the past month or so. Many things have occurred which needed my attention plus I also wanted a mental break from all of this. This is much more time consuming than one might think, and it takes a significant amount of preparation time to put this together. The good news is, since this is a free site, there are not a lot of ticked off subscribers and so forth, but I still want to be consistent in the postings in the future. It has been enjoyable writing these postings, and the hope is that it has helped some out there.

If incrementalism is the pro life movement’s sin, then compartmentalization is the average Christian’s sin. This has been apparent for too long and compartmentalization has bled into all areas and aspects of the modern man’s life, which also includes Christianity. It never ceases to amaze me when people of good moral character, don’t want to look at the larger picture, or want to deny the very real manifestations of evil in this world. It especially frustrates me when those that do acknowledge the evil, do not take it to its conclusion and believe somehow that we are exempt from judgment or wrath of God.

I have always had a teleological approach to life and want to know where we are going. I want to know how my actions today are going to affect my tomorrows, my next year, and the rest of my life. On a larger scale, I want to know where we are going as a people, nation, and world, and how we go about making the decisions we do. So when I come across people (which is nearly everyone) who want to ‘debunk’ things like judgment, so called conspiracies, economic rumblings and likely collapse, I cannot understand how they can see what is in front of them, and not get the underlying causes, or what the end results of this will be. Too many people respond in a Polly Anna sort of fashion by believing ‘things will get better’ in some magical way, and without effort on their part. They in effect, compartmentalize themselves, and believe life is made up of small, unrelated pieces that can be put together in any fashion of their choosing.

I’ve experienced much of this from pro lifers who have been bothered by my writing about prophecy, the money powers and their institutions, the silver markets and such. I have attempted to make the case they are all intimately related, and to take one without the other pieces is like trying to see the tree by looking at each individual leaf one at a time. The problem is that many of the pro lifers, once they finish their pro life activity, go back to their ‘normal’ lives thinking things will continue on in the same fashion no matter what. There is not that connectedness with the other aspects of their lives and existence and in many cases, not even a curiosity in wanting to know about the forces that exist around them. If there is a Just God, and legalized child killing is truly the gravest of sins, then there does necessarily, have to be an effect upon the rest of our existence and we need to be aware of it, and act on this knowledge.

These children that are being slaughtered have as much right to exist as we do. Because we are knowingly and willingly allowing this slaughter of the innocent to continue, God is not simply sitting back and playing the ‘victim’ by doing nothing. God is very active in this war, and He is attempting to get our attention by sending warnings first then judgments that will become larger until He has our full and undivided attention. If one understands and accepts this premise, then it is rather easy to see what will ‘go’ as sin progresses. We worship money, fame, wealth, consumerism, status, comfort and convenience. These things will be taken away from us if we do not become contrite and humble, and ask for forgiveness and change the laws and end this holocaust.

God wants these children to be born, and to complete their missions as God has deemed. When we deliberately interfere with His Divine will by indiscriminately murdering these innocent ones, it is at our peril and there will be consequences that are commensurate with the crime. This is not a matter of opinion; this is a matter of sowing and reaping and the full cup principle, and there are no exceptions to it. We may have been socialized into believing life is made up of unrelated parts that are independent of each other, but reality spells out something very different. We cannot live in a nation that endorses the wholesale slaughter of the most innocent and be blessed by God. All of these things we chase and see as important will be gone, and most likely sooner than later. We are in deep trouble as a nation and this next year will pose many great challenges that we may find out we are not ready for.

So, I will continue writing about these very relevant topics and can only hope that readers begin to understand their relevance in the larger scheme of things. Denial of these problems will not stop these problems from manifesting themselves and we need to be clear with ourselves and those we love that warnings and/or judgments are on their way. Most likely we can expect economic earthquakes in the next 12 months, as this will get most people’s attention. From there, it could be anything from food and water riots to breakdown in social structure. We can hope this will not happen, but by the virtue there is little urgency in attending to these matters, the likelihood of catastrophe becomes greater as complacency rolls on.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

George Offerman

Now that we know the BP oil spill did not usher in the end of the world, and we now know that it also did not qualify as the second trumpet (big surprise there), where are all the ‘prophets and seers’ that so confidently alluded to this event being ‘prophetic’ in nature? (None of them PREDICTED this event) it is this disingenuousness (and in some cases outright fraud) that is harming the name of Christianity and God, and to speak as a prophet when one is not is one of the gravest sins one can commit. There are a boat load of people out there that have to make it right with God and with their fellow man, with whom they may have lead astray. I stated earlier I was not going to let them get away with this, but I will not use names (at least at this time). This does nothing but harm our faith, and leads many astray.

I want to make it perfectly clear that I have not, nor do I now, claim to be a prophet. I have never had visions, locutions, dreams, heard voices telling me things or even allusions to the manifestations of any spirit being that has told me anything about the future. I am a former Seminarian who was trained in the proper method of hermeneutics and have been a diligent student of the Bible for some decades. What I know is what ANYONE can know, but they must be diligent and persevere in their studies to learn and apply these methods. Unfortunately, for many of these ‘sensationalist prognosticators’, they are intellectually lazy and let pride get in the way of seeking the truth. Then when they are proven wrong, they make up any excuse, and often attack those pointing out their errors. Yes, the sign of GREAT INTEGRITY.

These prognosticators have resubmerged, and will reappear at the next media reported event. They will use ‘fractured scriptures’ to make some peripheral allusion and attempt to fit current events into the Biblical schematic of the end times. These events will not meet the criteria necessary to qualify, yet they don’t have enough intellectual integrity to see they are using relativistic thought processes and applying them to absolute truth. They think they have the intellectual firepower and ‘God given’ knowledge to ‘over ride’ some of the prophetic features, and leave out those pieces of prophecy that do not fit into the event, all at their discretion. They are very keen at self promotion, and very quick to judge and condemn those who ‘dare’ to question them. They do not want to be held accountable for their ‘misses’ and continue to claim “God is talking’ to them despite the errors.

As stated previously, prophecy is in the Bible, and is a written record of the future before it happens. This written record is not ‘partially true’ or ‘mostly true’, it is TOTALLY true. God doesn’t reveal in some sort of code, and leave it up to us to determine what is gong to happen. In terms of Revelation, there are 14 very distinct events, and they are numbered by trumpets and bowls. Since God knows how to count, it is not He who is confused about the times we live in, it is us. These 14 events are cosmic in nature, and thus, cannot be man made. (Yes, there are plenty of man made events, but the events of Revelation are not such events). This is so basic, that a chimpanzee taught to read would come to this conclusion. Yet there are those who want to distort very clear prophecies into something they are not, and then brag about how much they think they know.

Yes, there has been a great increase in spiritual manifestations and many have claimed to receiving messages from this realm. However, these messages cannot contradict Biblical principles and prophecies, and be God given. Much discernment must be done in matters of eschatological significance, and this cannot be taken lightly. This is where discipline has broken down, and there are those who make outrageous claims without contemplating the ramifications of their actions. One has to rely on Biblical principles to be the defining judge of most of the messages forwarded now a days. But this requires some solid education on how to read the Bible, and then apply it successfully, even if it means disqualifying the event as non prophetic.

I keep going back to gravity as an example, but gravity is a clear metaphor in making this point. Everyone understands gravity, so if someone made a point to step off a tall building, everyone would be aware of the outcome, the person hitting the ground at a high rate of speed. This is not prophecy, but principle. Prophecy would be predicting who would jump, when they would do it, where this would take place, and the outcome of the event (death or surviving). Applying Biblical principles is very distinct from prophesying and one ought to stay in this realm if one is clear they are not a prophet (which the vast majority is not). This leads to anti sensationalism, but also leads to clearer and predictable outcomes, which is what God wants for us anyway.

So for those who insist they ‘know better’: you would be way better off keeping your mouth shut, and spend more time listening, praying, reading and learning than starting trouble you are not up to dealing with. And at least have the integrity to go to those whom you fed this tainted information, and ask for their forgiveness, and learn from your behavior. Life is difficult enough and people don’t need to be unnecessarily burdened by drivel that has no chance in hell of ever being accurate and happening. It will only lead to disenchantment and distain for Biblical knowledge, something that God definitely does not want to happen.

HERMENEUTICS 101: BIBLICAL TIMES VERSUS NOW

George Offerman


“God is dead” Nietzsche, 1883

“Nietzsche is dead” God, 1900


Expanding upon last weeks posting, hermeneutics is influenced by the social and philosophical underpinnings of the times, and it is difficult at best for one to separate himself from his contemporary situation understand the lessons and times in which differing realities were the order of the day. Biblical times are very different than now, and this difference is reflected in how the Bible is applied to contemporary times versus how it was applied in earlier times.

Most of human history is incorporated in what could be called the agrarian age, in which agriculture was the mainstay for the vast majority of people. Life was simpler back then, and there was more of a sense of harmony and connectedness with the community and nature. Being very involved in the community was a necessity, and dependency upon God a common trait, as this society was very aware of the need for the earth to produce, and clearly understood what would happen if there were natural disasters or crop failures. Understanding God and understanding the need to pray to Him for a successful harvest was well understood, and there was a connectedness with God and with fellow man for the sake of survival.

God was held in awe by the vast majority of peoples for millennia, as they directly observed manifestations through nature, whether disaster or bounty, and had more sense of His Majesty and Holiness. Teaching about the unchanging nature of God was easily understandable, and was in harmony with what one could directly observe in one’s environment and culture. Respect for fellow man as well as environment was well established (I’m not saying there were not evil men back then). This system remained nearly unchanged for 1500 years, until the time of the Protestant reformation.

The invention of the printing press allowed for the explosion of knowledge, as up to this time, knowledge was imparted through primarily oral means, and thus limited. As knowledge began to increase, so did technology, and as technology increased, so did one’s ability to spend more time on what could be considered esoteric pursuits. As more were able to pursue matters other than survival and farming, these pursuits began to investigate and question the reality that had been passed down for millennia. The great demythologization of God began and was lead by the philosophers, who began to remove God from every day life and matters. As knowledge and technology advanced, it ‘appeared’ that God was not involved, and it seemed that God was more a myth than reality. Man began to solve many of the issues once thought in the realm of the gods, and began to dismiss the whole ideal of a god in the first place. Who needs a god when we can solve all of our problems?

This was ultimately manifested in the philosophy of the existentialists, and most notably, Friedrich Nietzsche, who boldly claimed God was dead. Karl Marx took this one step further and boldly declared that religion was “the opiate of the masses” and these two men began to usher in the philosophical underpinnings of the twentieth century. We can also throw in Charles Darwin, who proposed man evolved from lesser beings, thus taking what was once the Realm of God, Creation, and making it a random and meaningless event. With God being out of the picture, man is free to behave in any manner he wants, and there is no right or wrong, and all people are free to make their own decisions, with one decision not being superior to another. This philosophical system is known as relativism.

Since man has a natural need to have and worship a power greater than himself, the state has now taken the place of God, and is given deity status (that is why one can observe what appears to be rational people freely giving away their autonomy despite glaring and open violations of this by the state). Man’s allegiance and worship of the state is nearly complete, and as such, leaves little room for God, and the idea that we are accountable to a Being that requires certain behaviors from us, and set forth the moral order. In modern times, these two forces are diametrically opposed, and it is no more apparent than the push to separate ‘church and state’.

Relativism also has seeped into the Church as well. Many in the church no longer believe in the basic tenets of Christianity, as they themselves have not seen God intervene in man’s affairs, and as our technology exponentially increases and we violate more of God’s laws, there appears to be no apparent repercussions. For many, even in the Church, God is truly dead, and is irrelevant to ‘the new times’ we live in. The more dangerous form of relativism in the Church has to do with the idea of heaven and hell, and ultimately Satan and demons. There are many who hold (even some priests) that Satan is a myth, and that ultimately, we all make it to heaven no matter what , because God is a God of Love.


Does God the Father owe Jesus an apology?


If one follows through on the prevalent relativistic thought process currently in most churches, it would seem that Jesus death and resurrection was a ‘waste of time”. Most Churches teach that we are all basically ‘good people’ and as such are going to make it to heaven. Our modern times of relativism and ‘tolerance’ have been applied to God as well, and the idea of hell is simply not palpable to modern man. So in our arrogance, we are now dictating to God the reality of heaven and hell, and telling God how things are to be. Our holding relativism as the ‘new religion’ has pervaded our own sense of understanding, and we are now forcing our beliefs onto God and believing that he is complying.

Relativism dictates that we do not judge others, that no moral standard is better than another, that we can separate some aspects of our lives from others, and that in the end; we are all basically the same and will end up with the same reward. So, it is not inconceivable to be a ‘good Christian’ and be for legalized child killing, because in the end, ‘we all go to heaven because God loves us”. Most behaviors can be justified, and those that hold to Biblical precepts are labeled ‘old fashioned, rigid, judgmental” or other pejorative terms meant to stifle discourse and/or challenges to this bizarre philosophy.

If we end up going to heaven no matter what we do, then morality and the idea of right and wrong is just some archaic and inconvenient nonsense that only the ‘unenlightened’ adhere to. If this were true, then the Bible in its totality would need to be eliminated, as it would be based upon lies and could not be a guiding light for mankind. We would be our own saviors, and there would be no need for a savior, nor really a God for that matter, as we can deal with all of our own issues. Jesus, in effect died for nothing, and his father owes him an apology.

By looking at our modern times, we see the most violent of ages, with the greatest number of wars, abortions, concentration camps, etc. We have an epidemic of perversions of every stripe, lying, deception, thievery, disrespect, drug and alcohol use, preoccupation with sports and comfort and convenience, selfishness, hatred, pride and sloth. Are these the traits and characteristics of ‘saved’ people?

This is the dilemma in properly reading the Bible. The Bible is teaching a clear message that is contradictory to what the empirical world is showing, and it sows doubts about the Word of God. As doubt increases, so does the rebellion, and unfortunately the Church is in compliance with this doubt and sows plenty itself by its contradictory behaviors and teachings. We cannot apply relativistic philosophy to absolute truth the Bible teaches. This is why many in the realm of prophecy can make claims that prophecy is fulfilled even though it does not meet the qualifications; because that is what their life experiences have shown. It fits right into their scheme of thinking, that meeting all the criteria is relative, and some prophecy can be left out, at their discretion.

To sum it up, we read the Bible through the lenses of our personal experiences and contemporary times we live in. We are used to being told half truths, so it would follow that we read the Bible in the same fashion. Our Churches teach in the same fashion, and this only seems to clarify that truth is relative, and we choose for ourselves. Dangerous times we live in, and these times really require more vigilance to truth, not less.

HERMENEUTICS 101: WHAT IS HERMENEUTICS?

George Offerman

Using proper hermeneutics when reading the Bible is as necessary as following a recipe of your favorite dish. Change one ingredient, and you have a whole different food and experience. Proper hermeneutics is a relatively straight forward process, and this process has been passed down for millennia and has been used for all of that time. This is a large undertaking, so let’s get started.

The Bible has 73 books (Catholic version) approximately 40 authors and was written over a time span of about 1600 years. The vast majority of Catholic theologians and many Protestant theologians state the Bible is the inspired word of God, which is reflected in the fact that the time span reflects differing philosophical and societal changes, which in turn reflect the writer’s personal influences as well. That being said, the Bible is the most consistent and intact Book on the planet concerning the Nature of God and the story of creation and our existence, as well as the most accurately written record of prophecy, and the fulfillment of that prophecy.

Because there are cultural and philosophical influences in the writings, it became imperative to come up with a way to read and interpret, as well as teach what the Bible says. This in turn, gives us an understanding of what God wants, how we are to behave, how we are to treat our fellow man, and ultimately what becomes of us after death. This in essence, is what hermeneutics is all about.

The proper definition of hermeneutics is the study of interpretation of written texts in the areas of literature, religion, law and prophecy. It also incorporates the times, history, context and language used, with emphasis on symbolic meanings. Hermeneutics looks for consistencies in texts, and applies these consistencies into contemporary life in order to guide and direct those who seek to know the truth. The central tenets of the Bible transcend time and society, and thus, are applicable to all peoples at all times.

Hermeneutics has evolved over the centuries, and the further removed from the Biblical times, the more the interpretations have changed and been influenced by our times. The main framework however is intact and the art of interpreting the Bible can be broken down into these four structures: literal, allegorical, moral, and eschatological/mystical. Literal interpretation would read the texts as straight forward as written. Allegorical interpretation would read the text as having symbolic meanings, as poetry, or as relating to secondary symbols, with the symbols being defined in other texts. Moral interpretation would read the text as teaching the faith, such as dogma, and are reflected in most of Jesus parables. Eschatological/mystical interpretations go into the ‘deep thoughts of God’ and involve the future and end of time, as well as salvation, condemnation, heaven and hell and the spiritual realm. (This is also the most dangerous of the four interpretation methods, as it has been the genesis of many of the heresies that will be covered in future postings)

Where many expositors get into trouble is when they use one of the interpretive methods on passages where it does not apply. For instance, the Beast rising out of the sea in Revelation is not a literal seven headed, ten horned monster, but is an allegorical description of a one world religiously lead government. Likewise, many of Jesus parables, that are clearly in the moral interpretation category, have been misinterpreted as literal, and end up causing problems among believers. A modern example of this point would be our colloquialism of “I feel Blue”. Anyone would understand that I am not literally the color blue, but the use of the word blue would be seen as symbolic of a mood that most everyone could relate to. Those who would take it literally would ultimately end up on a wild goose chase, and look very foolish.

The art of reading and interpreting the Bible needs to be understood in light of what passages and contexts are being addressed. When one knows which of the four interpretive methods to be used, the Bible reads fairly straight forward and clear. When this does not occur, it brings about confusion. We had a phrase in seminary for this called ‘fractured scripture”, and the funniest example I ever saw, was in a girls’ dorm room in which they printed up on a banner “Now, I will make you fishers of men”. On a more somber note, another example of fractured scripture is from the heretical “Gospel of prosperity” which misquotes 2 John 1-2 in wishing “for you to prosper as your soul prospers”. This is a personal greeting, standard for those times, and (intentionally) misinterpreted to be a theological reality and promise of prosperity to some believers. That would be analogous to taking the command from God to Moses to “strike the rock with your staff” and produce water, which was time specific and meant only for Moses. (I don’t see anyone striking rocks now a days believing water will flow from it.)

I will end this discussion today by going over one of the responses I received from the oil spill posting. This individual accused me of misinterpreting the oil spill, and insisted the burning platform did fulfill the burning mountain being cast into the ocean, that a third of the sea creatures will eventually die form the contaminated water, that also has a red hue which fulfills blood, and eventually, one third of the ships will be destroyed, by being dry docked or out of commission due to ocean conditions.

I will give this person the benefit of the doubt (despite the fact the first trumpet did not take place, and that it was not a cosmic event). John the evangelist had a vision and was told to write it down as he saw it. John saw a burning mountain being cast into the sea, the sea turned to blood, one third of the sea creatures died and one third of the ships were sunk. In order for this individual’s interpretation to be correct, there would be an interchange of both literal and allegorical interpretations going on at the same time. For instance, the burning platform being the mountain would be seen as a literal interpretation, but the platform sank, and was not cast down. The sea has many colors from the spill, one of which is red, but the dominant color is black. So the word ‘blood’ would have to be allegorical, as it would be symbolic and not literal. As of this time, there are not the massive deaths of sea creatures, and not one ship has sunk or has been destroyed. If one decides the sinking of the platform fulfills the word ‘cast down’, then the problem is what does one do with ships being sunk? Both the platform and ships float, and John would not have used different words to describe the same events. Casting down is different than sinking, and we have the literal interpretation method being used for the first part of the prophecy, and then switching to allegorical, back to literal with the sea creatures, then back to allegorical for the ‘destruction’ of the ships.

An asteroid fulfills the prophecy in totality. It is cast into the ocean from the heavens, burning as it enters the atmosphere, vaporizes trillions of gallons of water instantly, sending a massive tsunami in all directions that washes out coastal areas, killing most of the sea creatures in the ocean it hits, and sinking all the ships in the vicinity. The water would turn red from the blood of the dead sea creatures, as well as possible red algae plumes due to de oxygenated waters. This interpretation is using the literal method, due to the fact that there is neither allegorical language used, no moral teachings involved in this verse, or eschatological principles. It describes a deliberate event sent from God, and therefore, qualifies as a literal event in its totality and should be read as such.

I hope this was not too long, and hope this made sense. See you next week for the next addition.