Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | November 1, 2023

Israel at War, the Tip of the Iceberg!

The War in Israel has Become the Center of a World-Wide Battle Between Good and Evil!

Mayor Eric Adams, NYC

An article appeared in the New Your Post by Georgia Worrell and Rich Calder and Published Oct. 14, 2023, 6:32 p.m. ET. The article reported a speech given by Mayor Eric Adams which referenced “demonic energy” exhibited by the Hamas terrorist’s bloody attacks on Israel.

“Mayor Eric Adams on Saturday blamed “demonic energy” for Hamas terrorists’ bloody attacks on Israel while ripping non-believers who question his own faith in God.”

It appears we are seeing a serious spike in “demonic energy” permeating our college campuses, the national media, and many other areas across the world!

While there is clearly a spiritual basis for the conflict we see today, secular recognition of that fact is scarce indeed. The Bible warns us the end times will be a time of increasing Satanic deception and that appears to be happening now. Iran, historically known as Persia, has been a center for demonic activity for millennia.

The Spiritual Warfare is an Ongoing Struggle!

You may recall the conflict between the angel Gabriel and the spirit prince of Persia; in Daniel 10:12-14 it is written:

“12 Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. 13 But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. 14 Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.”

It is likely this spirit prince who blocked Gabriel is still the same spirit prince who serves as Satan’s representative over Iran today! Satanic deception is deeply entrenched in that part of the world!

The spiritual warfare will continue until it is finally resolved at the second battle of Gog and Magog at the end of the Millennium. I have written more on this in the series that starts with, “To the Soldiers in the Spiritual War!”

Satanic Deception is Now at Work in the Children of Wrath!

The media is filled with stories of violent protests against Israel and the Jews erupting in a vast assortment of improbable locations. This unfolding scenario seems so unlikely one is compelled to look for the factors influencing the outbursts of hatred.

Pro-Palestinian protesters shut down Grand Central Terminal during evening rush. By Patrick Reilly, New York Post, Published Oct. 27, 2023, 8:34 p.m. ET

The Bible warns us of the spiritual war that has been raging around us for thousands of years; it also warns us of the key place occupied by Satan who is called “the prince of the power of the air.” In Ephesians 2:1-3 it is written to Christians:

“2 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”

Satan’s hatred of Israel is being mirrored by angry mobs all over the world; this strongly suggests the cause is a massive Satanic deception to which the children of wrath are particularly susceptible.

It is important to remember all those who do not have Jesus Christ as Savior and been born again, are spiritually dead and controlled by their sin natures which seeks to operate in harmony with Satan!

The Bible has Warned Us!

The Bible predicts such a development in Zechariah 12:1-3 where it is written:

“12 This message concerning the fate of Israel came from the Lord: “This message is from the Lord, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit. 2 I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. 3 On that day I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves.”

Israel’s war and the current widespread protests against Israel may well be another example of the distress referenced in Matthew 24:6-8 or it could be the beginning of a sequence of events that will ultimately lead to Armageddon; only the Lord knows for sure.

 “6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

The End of the Church Age, the Age of Grace

There is one remaining prophetic event that must take place first, and that is the removal of the true church and the restraining ministry of God, the Holy Spirit. After that, nothing will ever again be the same!

17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | October 30, 2023

Do I Believe God’s Gift of Love?

There Seems to be so Little Love in the World!

Today we seem to be surrounded by irrational hate and anger; the news is filled with accounts of riots, demonstrations and death all over the world. Historically respected universities have become hotbeds of protests against Israel and hatred of the Jews.

Atrocities committed against the Jews are either ignored or justified by those committed to supporting Hamas. There is a strange refusal by those involved to even recognize what is happening in Israel. There seems to be a pervasive veil of deception that covers the minds of those who see no evil in the brutal actions of Hamas.

None of this should come as a surprise; the Bible warns us of the problems Christians will face in the last days. In 2 Timothy 3:1-5 it is written:

“3 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!”

Since the First Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, the world has been divided into two distinct types of human beings; those who are spiritually alive by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, and those who are spiritually dead because of their failure to receive Jesus Christ as Savior.

Those who are spiritually dead are easily influenced by Satanic deception and will follow wherever it leads. When one accepts Jesus Christ as Savior, they become a new creation, are born again and indwelt by God, the Holy Spirit, who resurrects their dead spirits to eternal life and becomes part of them forever.

Christians can live a life controlled by God, the Holy Spirit; at these times the Christian can manifest the power of the Spirit as described in Galatians 5:22-23 where it is written:

“22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

Love, First on the List!

God is love and when we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, love comes as part of the package and not just any love, but God’s love! English is rather vague about the word love, one can love bananas which means the peeling is discarded and the contents eaten, one can love houses, cars, or clothes and keep or discard them as needed.

The Koine Greek, in which the New Testament was written, is vastly more precise; there is even a special word for God’s love, ἀγάπην, which is defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 where it is written:

“4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”

There is one thing conspicuous by it’s absence, there is no reference to emotional attraction, it’s all about doing. Godly love is something you do, not how you feel. We are not required to experience positive emotions about someone in order to love them with a Godly love!

The King James translation provides a better understanding of the meaning of the word when it uses the English word charity to translate the Greek word, ἀγάπην.

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Although we might have difficulty generating positive feelings toward some, we can maintain charitable attitudes toward everyone.

Over the years, I’ve encountered people I didn’t like but I have never wished anyone ill; there is a big difference between not particularly liking someone and hoping something bad would happen to them!

I’m painfully aware of all my failures over the years, but I give myself the benefit of a charitable attitude; on reflection, I am certainly offended by some of the things I have done, but I believe I’ll try to do better in the future and give myself the benefit of the doubt. I love myself even though I don’t approve of everything I have done!

This, I believe, is loving your neighbor as yourself; cut them some slack too!

The Christian Responsibility to Love

Christians are God’s representatives to his creation; we are responsible to God to faithully serve as God’s representative to all of God’s creatures both great and small! In Galatians 2:20 the Bible reveals our situation.

“20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

While none of us could accomplish this on our own, God is not asking us to do it alone, after all it is no longer we who live, but Christ lives in us and the works are his, not ours!

4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-7

 “7 For we live by believing and not by seeing.” 2 Corinthians 5:7 

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | October 23, 2023

Do I Believe God’s Gift of Righteousness?

Faith, A Powerful Defense Against Satanic Attack!

Christians are soldiers in a spiritual war that has been in progress for thousands of years. They live their entire lives on an ancient spiritual battlefield that is filled with carnage, death, and destruction. I have written more on this in a series that starts with, “To the Soldiers in the Spiritual War.”

You may have heard the expression, “Christians are not perfect, they are just forgiven!” As a Christian man who has lived for over 90 years, I can relate to that from sad experience.

I find a great deal of comfort in 1 John 1: 8-10 where it is written:

“8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.”

Guilt, part of Satan’s Arsenal of Offensive Weapons!

I confess I am a sinner saved by grace; I have turned to the Lord Jesus Christ and embraced him as my Savior and God. I rejoice in the new birth and the sure knowledge I am now a new creation.

Despite God’s loving grace and mercy to me, I have sinned against him in many various ways. While it is true, I have confessed my sins to God, the memory of my transgressions can still haunt me.

While I know Christ paid the penalty for my sins, their memory can still plague me from time to time. Faith tells me that I have been washed whiter than snow by the shed blood of Jesus Christ; I know Christ’s death on the cross paid for the sins of the world and they are no longer counted against us.

Satan’s Counterattack

My sin nature challenges my faith and tells me how can I possibly think all is well as my sins were such a violation of God’s commands. How can such a fallen creature even dare to speak of God and God’s commands in light of such disobedience.

The Apostle Paul fought this battle and resolved it by recognizing one overpowering truth as declared in Romans 8:1-2 where it is written:

“8 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

So Now What?

The walk of faith demands full trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ as God’s full and final answer to human sin!

Let every Christian reject memories of past failures and instead, rejoice in the righteousness that has been eternally imputed to us by the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ!

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | October 16, 2023

Do I Believe God’s Gift of Healing?

The Crucifixion Changes Everything!

There is a popular concept circulating in the Christian community which concerns itself with the “brokenness of the Christian man or woman.

The Bible mentions the concept of brokenness in several places in the Old Testament but not in the New Testament. When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, he paid the penalty for the sin mankind had inherited from Adam.

“For God caused Christ, who himself knew nothing of sin, actually to be sin for our sakes, so that in Christ we might be made good with the goodness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 J.B. Phillips Translation

When a person is born again by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior, they become a new creation. This is explained in 2 Corinthians 5:17 where it is written:

 “For if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new.

This new person is no longer broken, they have been given the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ himself and made good with the goodness of God!”

Broken People All Around

When people are born, today, they are born broken! When one is born spiritually dead, I think it is safe to say that person is seriously broken. It is only when one receives Jesus Christ as Savior, that one becomes healed from their brokenness!

All who do not have Jesus Christ as Savior are indeed broken! The new birth brings healing from God and that healing is eternal and non-reversible. The world is populated today by two types of people, those who are broken, spiritually dead, and those who are healed, spiritually resurrected from the dead.

During the mortal life of every Christian, they find themselves housed in a mortal body that is broken. The Bible refers to the body as a tent, a very good name for a temporary dwelling that must return to the dust from whence it came.

While the immaterial part of each Christian has been resurrected from the dead, the resurrection of the Christian’s body must wait for the Rapture of the Church. While Adam’s spirit died instantly when he disobeyed God there in the Garden of Eden, his physical body continued to live for hundreds of years before physical death occurred.

So we too, who have received Jesus Christ as Savior, have had our spirits resurrected from the dead by the power of God, the Holy Spirit when we received Jesus Christ as Savior, but are collectively waiting for the resurrection of our bodies at the Rapture of the Church.

We now function at both a spiritual level and a physical level. In Ephesians 2:4-10, the Bible explains the reality of our spiritual position:

“4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

“But every good endowment that we possess and every complete gift that we have received must come from above, from the Father of all lights, with whom there is never the slightest variation or shadow of inconsistency. By his own wish he made us his own sons through the Word of truth that we might be, so to speak, the first specimens of his new creation.” James 1:17-18, J.B. Phillips Translation

God, in his infinite wisdom, chose to leave his adopted children on the earth and in their mortal bodies which are impacted with a sin nature inherited from Adam. At a time known only to God, each of his children will be called home when their appointed time comes for them to return to their heavenly home.

We will continue our study of God’s gifts as we consider the gift of righteousness.

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | October 9, 2023

Do I Believe God’s Gift of Peace?

We Do Not Live in a World of Peace!

The wars in Israel and elsewhere are proof of that; in fact, the opposite is true, we will live out our lives as soldiers, fighting on an ancient spiritual battlefield! I have written more on this in a series that starts with, “To the Soldiers in the Spiritual War.”

Despite this alarming truth, the Lord Jesus Christ has given Christians a gift, in John 14:27, it is written 27 “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

Although we will live out our mortal lives as soldiers where circumstantial peace is a rarity, we have been given the gift of peace of mind and heart! The question only you can answer is, do you have peace of mind and heart? You have been given this gift as a part of your new birth; but have you made it a part of your life?

Peace Comes by Faith Alone!

Salvation, through the new birth, is a gift we receive by faith alone; God’s peace of mind and heart is also God’s gift to his children which is received by faith alone!

In Philippians 4:4-9, the Lord provides help for Christians:

“4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

The Fruit of the Holy Spirit Includes Peace!

Are you sometimes troubled or afraid, at those times you are sinning by being deliberately disobedient to God; you are living your life based on sight and not on faith! Do not let sin take control of your life, confess your sin of trouble and fear to God and let God, the Holy Spirit be your guide.

Let the fruit of the Holy Spirit be your portion:

22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22-23

I encourage you to embrace God’s gift of peace of mind and heart; let faith be your guide and the pattern for your life!

Next time, “Do I Believe God’s Gift of Healing?

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | October 7, 2023

Israel at War!

Has the Battle of Psalms 83 Begun?

Rockets are fired toward Israel from Gaza, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.FATIMA SHBAIR / AP

Today, CBS News reported:

“The ruling Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land and sea and catching the country off-guard on a major holiday.

At least 250 people in Israel have been killed and 1,500 wounded in the Hamas militant group’s incursion in southern Israel, according to Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency services agency said Saturday night, making it the deadliest attack in Israel in decades.” . . . . . .

Six hours after the invasion began, Hamas militants were still fighting gunbattles inside several Israeli communities in a surprising show of strength that shook the country. Civilians in the southern and central regions of the country have been warned to shelter in place. 

“We are at war,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address, declaring a mass mobilization of the country’s army reserves. “Not an ‘operation,’ not a ’round,’ but at war.”

While this may be nothing more than an isolated attack, it is reasonable to pose the question could this be an initial precursor of the War of Psalms 83. The timing of this battle in relationship to the Rapture of the Church is nowhere specified in the Bible; it could take place before or after the Rapture or the Rapture could take place during the time this battle is being fought.

In my timeline on unfulfilled prophecies, I have speculated the Rapture could be the catalyst that triggers the Battle of Psalms 83. It is possible the Rapture could take place at some point after the battle had begun; only the Lord knows the exact timing.

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | October 2, 2023

Do I Believe This?

The Gift That Keeps on Giving!

The Bible promises all Christians:

“8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:8-10

A wonderful fact about this gift is it keeps on giving, year after year and continues even after time, as we know it, has ceased to exist!

As Christians, we have been created anew in Christ Jesus, in 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 it is revealed:

“17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

The Bible goes on to explain, in Galatians 2:20, the lives we live as Christians are not ours, they belong to Jesus Christ!

” 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

It is vitally important to be sure our world view is based on these facts; their reality should shape all we think and do! We must be ever mindful we are to live by faith and not by sight!

7 For we live by believing and not by seeing. 2 Corinthians 5:7

The New Testament devotes a great deal of its message to providing instructions on what we should do and how we should do it. God has given us extraordinary blessings which are ours as his children; it is up to us to claim those blessings and let them work through us “so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

Fulfilling God’s Purpose for Our Lives

I rejoice in the thought that I am a very small part of God’s creation; I further rejoice in the thought that my very existence is dependent upon a deliberate act of God, from moment to moment, which permits my existence to continue!

I recognize that the Triune God is the only true reality and all else is nothing more than his creation which exists at his good pleasure! I have written more on this in the essay, “What is Reality?”

In light of these facts, I am totally amazed that he has selected certain individuals to serve as his representatives to his creation, given them a place in his family, and sent the Third Person of the Trinity to indwell them now and forever.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll seek to explore the numerous gifts our gracious creator wants his representatives to enjoy. I encourage you to participate in this journey of praise and rejoicing with the sincere expectation that you too will fully share in these gifts our creator has made available to you!

Next, Do I Believe God’s gift of peace.


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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | September 25, 2023

Salvation by Faith in Jesus Christ as Savior is God’s Answer to Man’s Sin Problem!

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | September 25, 2023

The Human Aging Phenomenon

Cake art by Adele Bower

What is the Reality of Aging?

I have found it interesting to watch contemporary efforts to combat aging; if you use the web to search for anti-aging products, within seconds around 4,090,000 hits will be produced. The effort to stop or reverse the aging process is a really big business!

This is all a massive amount of self-deception as there is really no product that can stop or reverse the aging process! While there may be some products that can appear to conceal the process, there is no product that can really accomplish that goal.

The truth of the matter is aging is a natural part of the human experience from the moment of conception to the day we leave our mortal bodies behind! You’ll notice I avoid the word die as the Bible explains we are immortal by nature and will never die!

While it is true that we will leave our mortal tents behind, our living essence is created in the image of God and will never die! The Bible goes on to explain our days in this tent have been foreordained by God. In Psalms 139:16 it is written:

16 You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.

A related topic would be the reduction of telomeres as the body ages; it appears we have a built-in timer that determines how long a cell will replicate. I have written more on this topic in an essay on aging.

Perceptions of Aging

In the very young, aging is an important achievement in life. It is not unusual for a child to carefully point out that they are their age plus one-half as they move toward their next year of life. If they are ten and one-half, they are quick to point that out!

They sometimes mention they are not a baby anymore but have grown far past that point in life. Most ten-year-old boys would be horrified if their parents wanted to dress them in baby clothes and take them out in a baby stroller with a pacifier stuck in their mouths!

Being a teen-ager is cool but being in your 20’s is even better; now you’re an adult and can live life the way you want!

Somewhere, over the next fifteen or twenty years, a certain apprehension begins to develop as one realizes that time is passing at an ever-faster rate. There are observable changes that are starting to take place that are not altogether welcome.

This is where the “anti-aging” products begin to increase in importance. Whereas in one’s youth, getting older was a badge of honor, now it is becoming something else. To varying degrees, based on the individual, steps must be taken to delay the changes that seem to be coming with increasing rapidity.

While some societies have a high regard for the wisdom and experience the years can bring; others see aging as an increasing sign of irrelevance. If you’re old you’re out of touch with the present reality!

In such societies, one must do all one can to stop or reverse the progression into the age of irrelevance.

The Inevitability of Aging

As soon as we are born, we are all in the process of aging; there is no alternative other than the death of our mortal bodies, or tents as the Bible calls them.

The Bible seeks to calm our fears when God reveals the truth of our situation for born-again Christians. In 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 it is written:

“5 For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. 2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. 5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.”

I’m ninety and one-half and proud of it; I have made peace with the realities of aging that I live with every day. I’ll admit that there are challenges to life at 90 and 1/2 years but I understand these challenges have come to pass!

I delight myself in knowing that all my times are in the hands of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I rejoice in the sure knowledge that he is working all things together for my good; this is his promise to me, and I believe it without any reservation!

Rather than waste our time worrying about the inevitable; I’m convinced we would be much better off following God’s advice to us in Philippians 4:4-9 where it is written:

4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! 5 Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | September 16, 2023

Big Changes for September 2023?

What, if Anything, is about to Happen?

Today is Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the 10 “Days of Awe” the observance of the two highest holy days in Judaism. A week later, the High Holidays reach their crescendo with Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement).

Once again, a search of the internet for information on the prophetic significance of September 2023 will produce many results relating to prophecy and the end times.

There seems to be an abundance of discord and strife all over the world; the Bible has foretold that in the end times things would get worse. Paul’s warnings in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 and Romans 1:18-32 are being played out in life all around us.

Whether or not these are the times referenced by Paul, the descriptions seem to be a good fit with what is being observed today. It is becoming ever more difficult to simply watch network television as subject matter, both nationally and locally, tends toward the disgusting and distasteful almost without exception.

There are also other signs that have been foretold that seem to be proliferating all around us; the question that comes up is, are the September Jewish feasts included in those signs?

The Feast of Trumpets/Rosh Hashanah

It so happens that the Jewish civil new year observance, Rosh Hashanah, started on September 15th at sundown; this signaled the beginning of the Jewish year, 5784. This is often referred to as “The Feast of Trumpets” and is one of the last three Jewish Fall Feasts awaiting fulfillment. It is the first day of the 10 “Days of Awe” which conclude at Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

Is this a Feast of the Church or a Feast of Israel? Pentecost had a direct application to the Church as that was the day the Holy Spirit indwelt believers for the first time and the church came into existence.

As of this point, I’m of the opinion the Feast of Trumpets applies to Israel, not the Church.

The Rapture

One thing I feel confident about is no prophecy remains that must be fulfilled before the Church can be called home. This means the rapture could happen at any time. I have previously prepared a timeline which I still believe to be the best information I have been able to find. It includes some speculation that is based on Scripture and I show it below.

Nothing that I have seen recently compels me to change any of this timeline. I’m of the opinion that October will arrive on schedule and without any life changing events; we certainly don’t have long to wait to find out what the Lord may or may not have planned for the 2023 Feast of Trumpets. (Click on the timeline to enlarge.)

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