Monday, June 30, 2008

Pam Schuffert Confirms Guillotines Stored at Fort Lewis



By Pam Schuffert
http://educate-yourself.org/ps/confrimsguillotinesfortlewis28jun08.shtml
June 28 2008


Sat, 28 Jun 2008
From: Truth 4 All
To: Ken Adachi
Subject: Please post this ASAP! THANKS!-Pam

STAFF SERGEANT/ARMY RANGER/SPEC OPS MAN FROM FORT LEWIS WASHINGTON THAT I JUST MET WHILE TRAVELING FROM MONTANA TO NORTH CAROLINA REVEALS:


'THE GUILLOTINES ARE REAL AND I WAS GOING TO TRAIN MY MEN IN MY PLATOON TO USE THEM NEXT WEEK IN HIGHLY CLASSIFIED OPERATIONS AT FORT LEWIS...UNTIL YOU TOLD ME 'THEY WILL BE USED ON YOUR FELLOW AMERICANS UNDER COMING MARTIAL LAW!''

NOW he and the men who he told about my reporting, on HOW the guillotines will be used against their fellow Americans, ARE BEING ROUNDED UP AND HUNTED DOWN LIKE DOGS..

Humvees and helicopters surrounging their homes...military pay and all access to bank accounts and credit cards being cut off...and NOW HE IS ON THE RUN! All because they found out the truth about MARTIAL LAW and the guillotines FROM ME and have agreed among themselves to NEVER GO ALONG WITH THIS TERRIBLE NWO AGENDA!

-Pamela Schuffert reporting live from NORTH CAROLINA

I was riding on a bus from BUTTE MONTANA to North Carolina, when I met a young man all dressed up in full and impressive ARMY RANGER uniform. He carried his 445 mag gun and many knives and several phones and military backpack and other equipment. He told me he was a STAFF SERGEANT from FORT LEWIS! Fort Lewis is where many MODERN GUILLOTINES have been stored for a long time, for use in martial law.

I teased him at first and told him I knew all about the MODERN GUILLOTINES in Fort Lewis. HE WAS SHOCKED! He said, 'HOW DID YOU KNOW...THIS IS HIGHLY CLASSIFIED INFORMATION!' He then admitted he was a Christian. I told him that the US MILITARY WAS NOT TELLING THE YOUNG MEN LIKE HIM, but these guillotines will be used on AMERICANS AND CHRISTIANS in the future udner martial law, to behead all NWO resisters.

The longer he listened, the angrier he got. Using a few choice expletives, he said, 'THEY NEVER TOLD US THIS WOULD BE USED ON AMERICANS UNDER MARTIAL LAW...to get RID of all CHRISTIANS and NWO RESISTERS! We THOUGHT they would be used in IRAQ or something!' He then asked me to tell him more and more. He even filmed me.

Finally, so angry at how they were being deceived and brainwashed, he told me,


'I WILL NEVER go along with this NWO agenda! I am A CHRISTIAN! I will contact my men in my platoon (64) and those I can trust who are Christians, I will tell them the TRUTH. I was supposed to go to Fort Hood for more SPECIAL OPS training next week, and THEN RETURN TO TRAIN MY MEN IN HOW TO OPERATE THESE GUILLOTINES!

There is a special underground training center where the guillotines are...we are not allowed to bring in any cameras. cell phones, etc, because of HIGH SECURITY AND SILENCE regarding these guillotines.They are 6 and a half feet high, with hand restraints and a place for a person's head as they stand. We were going to use dummies for practice...BUT NOW I AM REFUSING THIS ASSIGNMENT and I will contact the men under me who I can trust...who will NOT go along with this NWO agenda and will come out instead with HUMVEES, WEAPONS and everything we can get our hands on to fight this NWO agenda!'

We parted in Indianapolis...I wondered about the outcome. I was soon to find out! I called him the next day. He told me he talked to his sister and family and they were shocked...they were all military...they told him, 'HOW DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS NWO MARTIAL LAW AGENDA...IT IS ALL HIGHLY CLASSIFIED!'

When he told them about ME (I had given him a copy of my AIRMAN MAGAZINE in it with my famous USAF father's cartoon in it..he was quite amazed and impressed) he told me his USAF aunt would submit my name to USAF intelligence computers to see where I stood in the sight of the USAF. He told me, 'She said you are RED FLAGGED (subject to arrest and interrogation) and are classified by the USAF as A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY!' (ME???A THREAT TO NATIONAL SECURITY??? ALL for telling AMERICA THE TRUTH about coming MARTIAL LAW!)

This ARMY RANGER had told me that IF HE HAD BEEN ON THE SIDE OF THE NWO AGENDA, he was authorized as an ARMY RANGER with highest security clearance and much special ops training to MARCH ME OUTSIDE THE BUS AND SHOOT TO KILL for knowing this classified info...OR he could have called the nearest military base and had vehicles come to arrest me immiediately and take me away for interrogation and termination. THAT IS HOW CLASSIFIED MY INSIDE INVESTIGATING AND INFO REALLY IS! And YESTERDAY when I called him, he had even MORE shocking information for me.


'I AM ON THE RUN NOW...they are trying to pick me up...and my USAF sister too! OUR PAY AND MILITARY SERVICE AND BANK ACCOUNTS HAVE ALL BEEN CLOSED OFF...we cannot access anything now! THEY ARE NOW ARRESTING HALF THE MEN IN MY PLATOON...men I talked to who agreed that THEY WOULD NEVER GO ALONG WITH A NWO MARTIAL LAW AGENDA...all THEIR pay and service and bank accounts have been cut off from them now too....military helicopters and humvees are surrounding their homes..they are being watched and picked up one by one...one man in my platoon defended himself when they broke into his home, SHOOTING FIVE MILITARY SOLDERS TRYING TO TAKE HIM in the process ( some were killed) before they were able to arrest him! We are on the run now, my sister and I...they are after us too.....'

I am actively now on the phone with Staff Sergeant Donnie. His aunt who ran my name through USAF computers is now being questioned by USAF authorities. I am SURE they are angry with ME right now as well! They may be searching for me at this time as well....with this military scandal breaking and ME in the middle of it!

GET THIS WORD OUT TO EVERYONE! These brave military men are paying the highest price to say THEY WILL NEVER GO ALONG WITH THIS NWO MILITARY AGENDA to kill innocent Americans and to destroy our Constitution and our freedoms and people of faith and character in our nation. PRAY for Staff Sergeant DONNIE BOYSEL and his sister NOW and for the men they are now hunting down like dogs...to be interogated and KILLED! PRAY ALSO FOR ME! I may be picked up soon for my role in this military scandal.

PRAY FOR THE MERCY OF JESUS to preserve me through all this! FORWARD THIS BREAKING NEWS TO EVERYONE ON YOUR EMAIL LIST! And NOW YOU KNOW....the GUILLOTINES ARE REAL! (Revelation 20:4) He told me they ARE EVERYWHERE...in FORT HOOD, FORT BRAGG, FORT LEWIS..in ALL the US MILITARY BASES including GERMANY where he was stationed... (yes Europeans will be beheaded for their faith as well in the NEW WORLD ORDER!) PASS THIS ON AND PRAY FOR ME, FOR DONNIE AND HIS CHRISTIAN MEN THEY ARE HUNTING DOWN FROM FORT LEWIS! -Pamela Schuffert reporting LIVE from across the nation


"It is now TIME for the Christians of USA/CANADA to PREPARE for the COMING CRISIS. It will NOT be without PERSECUTION, TESTING and BLOODSHED. I dare say, in fact, that it is TIME for the Christians of North America to PREPARE FOR MARTYRDOM for their faith. END TIME BIBLE PROPHECY is about to unfold in this nation as NEVER BEFORE...and I can prove it!" -

~Pamela Schuffert,
Noted author, investigative journalist, lecturer, radio/television, and Christian evangelist
_________________________________________________________________
The i’m Talkathon starts 6/24/08. For now, give amongst yourselves.
http://www.imtalkathon.com/?source=TXT_EML_WLH_LearnMore_GiveAmongst



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"To Be God Of One World"

The text below comes from the book called "To Be God Of One World" by Robert Sessler who got most of this information from the book "The Watchtower And The Masons" by Fritz Springmeier.

What about the Church of Jehovah's Witnesses? This church was founded by Charles T. Russell. Russell was certainly well acquainted with the Occult and Masonry because he used the 33rd Degree Masonic Symbol 9winged sun-disk with opposing snakes) in some of his books! He also used the Knights Templar symbol (a cross inside a crown sometimes encircled by a wreathe or glory) in a number of his papers and books. Russell is also buried in a pyramid with masonic symbols on its capstone.

Charles Russell even gave a sermon in which he stated that Jesus Christ was the "Grand Master" of this Order to which Russell and the rest of the Jehovah's Witnesses belonged! He stated:

"...the Lord Jesus, the grand and everlasting Head and Master of this Order...the Grand Master....We are not hindered from telling the ultimate purposes of this grand Secret Order which our Lord organized..."

But this tatic of trying to make Jesus Christ of Nazereth the head of a Secret Order devoted to the occult is nothing new. Adam Weishaupt states exactly the same thing about his Secret Order of the Illuminati, which is devoted to the occult:

"Jesus of Nazereth, the Grand Master of our Order, appeared at a time when the world was in the utmost disorder...he took in the aid of Religion...and, in a very clever manner, he combined his secret doctrines with the popular religion...and they have been handed down to us...by the Free Masons."

So there is very little difference seen between the "Order" or the Jehovah's Witnesses church that Russell founded, and the Order which Weishaupt founded for the purpose of bringing in and ruling a New Age. In fact Russell frequently talked about this New Age--calling it a "Golden Age" to come. He preached a sermon on it entitled "Must We Abandon Hope of a Golden Age." He even established a paper called The Golden Age which is now called Awake.

But is this teaching of the "Golden Age to come" exclusively Charles Russell's and the Jehovah's Witnesses? No!

"...the 17,500 [Masonic] lodges of the U.S. and Canada...are to act as harbringers of that'New Order of the Ages,' that Great Golden Age that is to come...May the Masonic Order become reorientated to make its peculiar contribution to that Glorious Objective."

But this hope of a "Golden Age to come" does not originate with the Masons either. It is an ancient Egyptian and Babylonian term specifying the time which "men and gods could live together happily." Hence we see that this great push towards a New World Order for the Ages, is nothing more than the ancient Plan for a One World System.

But these occultish and spiritualistic teachings of Russell's did not pass away when he died, but continue within the church of Jehovah's Witnesses. The church teaches the New Age belief that "Now we are in the end of this gospel age, and the kingdom [of Christ] is being established or set up." That this kingdom "will obtain full, universal control...in the earth, [and that] He whose right it is thus to take dominion will then be present as earth's new Ruler" who will reign over "the new order of things on earth" in "His millennial kingdom."

They even teach that:

"...our minds [must be made] over so as to transform our lives in expectation of the approaching new world....
"Let us keep our minds new...[and then if] we live through this old world's complete end, we shall enter the new world with a mind made over...in tune with the glorious new world."

In fact they claim that the Society of Jehovah's Witnesses is "the New World society"! This society, ever since the days of Russell, is also involved in Pyramidology or the study of its geometric shape and measurements in order to predict future events. They even claim that it was the God of heaven that designed the pyramid!

"In the passages of the Great Pyramid [Cheops] of Gizeh...[when the measurements are combined with chronology] proves that the same God designed both pyramid and plan..."

But did God have anything to do with the plan or design of the Great Pyramids? No. Masonic leader Manly P. Hall writes:

"[To] the Egyptians the Great Pyramid was associated with Hermes, the god of wisdom and letters and the Divine Illuminator...the pyramid...was in reality the supreme temple of the Invisible and Supreme Deity....the first temple of the Mysteries, the first structure errected as a repository for those secret truths...
"Through the mystic passageways and chambers of the Great Pyramid passed the illumined of antiquity. They entered its portals as men; they came forth as gods. It was the place of the 'second birth,' the 'womb of the Mysteries,' and ...Somewhere in the depths of its recesses there resided an unknown being who was called 'The Initiator,' or 'The Illustrious One..."

This "Initiator" into the Mysteries we know to be Lucifer, or Satan. So you can see that Jehovah's Witnesses are clearly involved with the teachings of Masonry, and hence the spiritualistic Luciferic doctrines of ancient Babylon.

Source: http://www.geocities.com/endtimedeception/templar.htm

Confusion of Many Voices



Confusion of Many Voices

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. Rev. 18:4.


In the last work for the warning of the world, two distinct calls are made to the churches. The second angel's message is, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." And in the loud cry of the third angel's message a voice is heard from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." {Mar 189.1}

As God called the children of Israel out of Egypt, that they might keep His Sabbath, so He calls His people out of Babylon, that they may not worship the beast or his image. . . . {Mar 189.2}

After the truth has been proclaimed as a witness to all nations, every conceivable power of evil will be set in operation, and minds will be confused by many voices crying, "Lo, here is Christ, Lo, He is there. This is the truth, I have the message from God, He has sent me with great light." Then there will be a removing of the landmarks, and an attempt to tear down the pillars of our faith. A more decided effort will be made to exalt the false sabbath, and to cast contempt upon God Himself by supplanting the day He has blessed and sanctified. This false sabbath is to be enforced by an oppressive law. . . . But while Satan works with his lying wonders, the time will be fulfilled foretold in the Revelation, and the mighty angel that shall lighten the earth with his glory, will proclaim the fall of Babylon, and call upon God's people to forsake her. {Mar 189.3}

When do her sins reach unto heaven? When the law of God is finally made void by legislation. Then the extremity of God's people is His opportunity to show who is the governor of heaven and earth. As a Satanic power is stirring up the elements from beneath, God will send light and power to His people, that the message of truth may be proclaimed to all the world. {Mar 189.4}

Maranatha, E. G. W., p. 189.

The Handwriting on The Wall



Daniel 5

1Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.

2Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.

3Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.

4They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

5In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

6Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.

7The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.

8Then came in all the king's wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.

9Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied.

10Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:

11There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;

12Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.

13Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?

14I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee.

15And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing:

16And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.

17Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.

18O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:

19And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.

20But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:

21And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.

22And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;

23But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:

24Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.

25And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

26This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.

27TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.

28PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

29Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

30In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.

31And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

What The Collapse of the US Dollar will Mean to the World

WHAT THE COLLAPSE OF THE US DOLLAR WILL MEAN TO THE WORLD

Forenote by Ron Beaulieu: When reading the following item by Bruce Porteous, let us recall that Ellen White said that..."the currency change was not of God."

Over the last few days there has been a number of articles in the media about the steady decline of the $US against the Euro. While many economists have forecasted the possiblity of the dollar declining against the Euro for sometime, most do not comprehend the significance of this. Some believe that the decline of the dollar against the currencies of American's trading partners will help correct the USA's trade deficit, and the dollar will stop falling when the trade imbalance is corrected. However, the evidence is that the opposite is happening - the $US has declined 40% against the Euro over the last 2 years, and during this time America's trade deficit has continues to deteriorate.

There is now nothing the USA can do to prevent the collapse of its currency, and its economy. It has no reserves to support its value, and has the most indebted country in the world, is dependant of the credit from America's former enemies. Over the last couple of days, both Russia and China have said they will be switching their considerable dollar reserves into Euro. This will only hasten the lack of confidence in the dollar, creating a global lack of confidence in the currency, and setting into free-fall. It will soon bring about the total collapse of the dollar, and the American economy.

The collapse of the dollar will throw the world into a global depression. Those nations with large external debts will not be able to trade sufficiently to earn the income to service their debts, and will slide into bankruptcy. The economies of New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the UK will also totally collapse, as a result of their indebtedness and not being able to service their borrowings. It will result in the Anglo-Saxon nations facing abject poverty, our people facing starvation, and a total break-down in society. Crime will become rampant. Law and order will cease to exist. Disease will become widespread.

The Asian economies, which have depended upon American trade, will also be severely affected. However, they will recover after a period, but only after considerable political and economic turmoil.

The EU will be in a much better position to survive the coming economic chaos. An influx of capital into the Euro zone by those selling dollars will provide the funding for rebuilding the economies of the new United States of Europe. However, the collapse of the $US will still severely affect the already depressed German and French economies. The resulting economic turmoil will create the need for the acceptance of a strong EU leader, who will be able to make the necessary political and economic reforms to enable Europe revive their economies. Those nations that accept the new EU Constitution will come under the control of this new leader, creating Europe as the world's new Super Power.

The Euro will become the world's only reserve currency, creating the means for the new United States of Europe to become the dominant economic power in the world. The new Europe will be able to dictate the terms on how the global economy should be run. They will take over the administration of America and Britain, placing the Anglo-Saxon people in bondage for repayment of their debts.

Americans do not appear to comprehend the bitterness that has grown around the world as a result of their illegal invasion of Iraq. While once Europeans looked up to, and admired America; today it is held in utter contempt for its arrogance and warmongering. Anti-European comments in the American media have only added to this hostility towards the US. America's attempt to impose its version of government on the world, its hypocrisy in claiming to be the moral leader of the world, while flooding the media with degenerate filth and garbage, has bought upon it disgust and contempt that few Americans can comprehend.

We are about to enter a time of tribulation for the Anglo-Saxon people. Some will ask why God has allowed this to happen to us. The answer is that as we have rejected God and His Laws, so He has allowing us to be punished for our sins.

Bruce Porteous

bruceport@xtra.co.nz

Source: http://omega77.tripod.com/currencycollapse.htm

Religion and Libertarianism

by Walter Block

The relationship of libertarianism and religion is a long and stormy one.

It cannot be denied that Ayn Rand has had a long, strong and deep relationship with libertarianism. Although she dismissed us as "hippies of the right" (pronounced "ippes of de racht") many of our number are still enthralled by her, inspired by her, and in debt to her for first introducing us to the moral case for free enterprise. I certainly include myself in this category.

One of the strongest influences she has had on the libertarian movement is her belligerent atheism. For many adherents of the freedom philosophy, an aggressive rejection of God and all things religious might as well be the basic axiom of their world-view. I confess that this too was roughly my own belief on the subject, for many years. It is also the perspective of a rich potential donor to the Mises Institute who would have contributed heavily were that organization to change its viewpoint on this matter and take a principled stand against all religion. Happily, Lew Rockwell refused to pervert the mission of his Institute in this regard. Although a believer himself, Rockwell stuck to his guns: the Mises Institute would continue to involve itself in the study of economics and liberty, and not directly with religion at all.

What changed my mind? Why am I now just as much of an obdurate atheist as I have ever been, yet, also, a friend and supporter of religion? It has nothing to do with the fact that for 13 out of the last 17 years I have been employed by Jesuit, Catholic institutions. I was a professor at the College of the Holy Cross from 1991–1997, and have been, and remain at, Loyola University New Orleans from 2001 to the present.

To some, those still enthralled by the Randian vision of religion and liberty, it is bad enough for a libertarian to take a positive view of religion. For most, it will appear as nothing less than a logical contradiction for an atheist such as myself to be an actual supporter and even admirer of religion. Let me explain.

I am guided in this by the aphorism "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." While this does not always hold true, in this case I think it does.

So, which institution is the greatest enemy of human liberty? There can be only one answer: the state in general, and, in particular, the totalitarian version thereof. Perhaps there is no greater example of such a government than the USSR, and its chief dictators, Lenin and Stalin (although primacy of place in terms of sheer numbers of innocents murdered might belong to Mao’s China). We thus ask, which institutions did these two Russian worthies single out for opprobrium? There can be only one answer: primarily, religion, and, secondarily, the family. It was no accident that the Soviets passed laws rewarding children for turning in their parents for anti-communistic activities. There is surely no better way to break up the family than this diabolical policy. And, how did they treat religion? To ask this is to answer it. Religion was made into public enemy number one, and its practitioners viciously hunted down.

Why pick on religion and the family? Because these are the two great competitors – against the state – for allegiance on the part of the people. The Communists were quite right, from their own evil perspective, to focus on these two institutions. All enemies of the overweening state, then, would do well to embrace religion and the family as their friends, whether they are themselves atheists or not, parents or not.

The main reason religion sticks in the craw of secular leaders is that this institution defines moral authority independently of their power. Every other organization in society (with the possible exception of the family) sees the state as the source of ultimate ethical sanction. Despite the fact that some religious leaders have indeed bowed the knee to government officials, there is a natural and basic enmity between the two sources of authority. The pope and other religious leaders may not have any regiments of soldiers, but they do have something lacking on the part of presidents and prime ministers, greatly to the regret of the latter.

Such is my own position. I reject religion, all religion, since, as an atheist, I am unconvinced of the existence of God. Indeed, I go further. I am no agnostic: I am convinced of His non-existence. However, as a political animal, I warmly embrace this institution. It is a bulwark against totalitarianism. He who wishes to oppose statist depredations cannot do so without the support of religion. Opposition to religion, even if based on intellectual grounds and not intended as a political statement, nevertheless amounts to de facto support of government.

But what of the fact that most if not all religions support the state. "Render unto Caesar… etc." It makes no nevermind. Notwithstanding the fact organized religion can often be found on the side of statism, these two dictators Lenin and Stalin, not, paradoxically, the leaders of such religions, had it right: despite the fact that religious people often support the government, these two institutions, religion and statism, are, at bottom, enemies. I am "with" Lenin and Stalin on this point. From their own perspective, they were entirely correct in brutally suppressing religious practice. This makes it all the more important that the rest of us, atheists or not, support those who worship God. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

It will at this point be strenuously objected that numerous innocent people have been murdered in the name of religion. True, alas, all too true. However, a little perspective comes not amiss at this juncture. Just how many people were killed by religious excesses, such as the Inquisition? Although estimates vary widely, the best estimates (see here) are that the number of deaths during this sad epoch, which took place over several centuries, was between 3,000 and 10,000; some experts, here, place the number as low as 2,000. Were it not murdered human beings that we are talking about, but considering solely the relative magnitudes, one might fairly say that this pales into utter insignificance compared to the devastation inflicted upon the human race by governments. According to the best estimates (see here, here, here, here, here and here), the victims of statism in the 20th century alone approached the 200 million mark. That is no misprint! To compare a few thousands of unjustified deaths with several hundreds of millions is unreasonable. Yes, even the murder of one victim is an outrage. But in comparing religion and government one must keep in mind these astronomical differences.

Here is a list of devoutly religious people I have known personally, who have made great contributions to liberty; perhaps this will help establish the contribution to our goals made by our religious colleagues: William Anderson, Doug Bandow, William Barnett II, Peter Boettke, Steve Call, Art Carden, Stephen W. Carson, Alejandro Chafuen, Paul Cwik, Ken Elzinga, Marshall Fritz, Stephen Grabill, Gary Galles, Jeff Herbener, Paul Heyne, PJ Hill, Guido Hulsmann, Rabbi Israel Kirzner, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, Leonard Liggio, Bill Luckey, Jennifer Roback Morse, Robert Murphy, Gary North, Rev. Edmund Opitz, Ron Paul, Joe Peden, Duane and Morgan Poliquin, Shawn Rittenour, Lew Rockwell, Joann Rothbard, Fr. James Sadowsky, S.J., Fr. James Schall, S.J., Hans Sennholz, Fr. Robert Sirico, Monsignor Gregory Smith, Edward Stringham, Timothy Terrell, David Theroux, Jeff Tucker, Laurence Vance, Jim Viator, Fr. Kevin Wildes, S.J., Tom Woods, Steven Yates (probably, I have left out of this list friends of mine who will be hurt by my omission of their names; if so, please send me a gentle reminder, and I will make good this unintentional error in a revision of this publication. I will say in my own defense that as a non religious person, I am only marginally, or accidently, acquainted with the religious practices of many of my colleagues in the Austro libertarian community.)

Then, there is the school of Salamanca, populated, mainly, by priests such as these: The Dominicans: Francisco de Vitoria, 1485–1546; Domingo de Soto, 1494–1560; Juan de Medina, 1490–1546; Martin de Azpilcueta (Navarrus), 1493–1586; Diego de Covarrubias y Leiva, 1512–1577; Tomas de Mercado, 1530–1576. The Jesuits: Luis Molina (Molineus), 1535–1600; Cardinal Juan de Lugo, 1583–1660; Leonard de Leys (Lessius), 1554–1623; Juan de Mariana, 1536–1624. This school of thought is truly our intellectual and moral predecessor. For the contribution of the School of Salamanca to the Austro-libertarian movement, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. For other links between religion and libertarianism see here, here and here.

It is time, it is long past time, that the Austro-libertarian movement reject the virulent Randian opposition to religion. Yes, Ayn Rand has made contributions to our efforts. We must not throw out the baby with the bathwater. But, surely, anti-religious sentiment belongs in the latter category, not the former.

The views expressed above are consistent with the perspective of my long time mentor, Murray Rothbard. This scholar, who was often called "Mr. Libertarian," was very pro-religion, especially pro-Catholic. He ascribed the concepts of individualism and liberty to Christianity (and almost everything else good in Western civilization), and argued strongly that as long as libertarians made hatred of religion a basic or organizing principle, they would go nowhere, since the vast majority of people in all times and places have always been religious.

Walter Block would like to thank William Barnett II and Guido Hülsmann for helpful suggestions regarding an earlier draft of this essay. All errors, omissions and other infelicities are his own responsibility, of course.

June 19, 2008

Dr. Block [send him mail] is a professor of economics at Loyola University New Orleans, and a senior fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He is the author of Defending the Undefendable and the newly-released Labor Economics From A Free Market Perspective

Source: http://www.lewrockwell.com/block/block103.html

P.S. Sure, it was just thousands that were martyred by the Holy Roman Catholic Inquisition; Depends who is counting! I suppose that during World War II, only 6,000 Jews were slaughtered, rght?.........Arsenio.

‘It’s Over, Lady!’

‘It’s Over, Lady!’

Published: June 29, 2008

UNITY, N.H.

Unity was spared the banality of unanimity.

Carmella Lewis, with her Hillary T-shirt and Hillary placard, came all the way from Denver to make sure there would be plenty of ambiguity, duality and ferocity in Unity.

Just as Hillary was testing out the unfamiliar familiarity “Barack and me” Friday and talking about “his grace and his grit,” Carmella began loudly booing and waving her sign.

“We want Hillary!” screamed the 57-year-old retired ad saleswoman and Clinton delegate.

“It’s over, lady!” yelled some Obama supporters a few yards away.

Standing between the Sharks and the Jets, David Axelrod took pity on an older friend of Carmella’s who was suffering from aridity in the Unity humidity. The chief Obama strategist fetched a glass of water and brought it to the woman, who was wearing five Hillary buttons.

This amenity did not stop the disunity. Carmella and her friends continued to cry, “Nobama!” “We love you, Hillary!” and “We need Hillary!” as Barack Obama sat onstage on a stool behind his former rival, his finger studiously at his lips.

Carmella was not impressed with all the kissing, laughing and whispering that Hill and Bam were diligently doing for the cameras, so that the moment could produce, as Obama press aide Robert Gibbs put it on “Larry King Live,” “a great picture.”

When it was Obama’s turn to speak, Carmella announced loudly, “I wish I had ear plugs.” Then, as Obama tried to ingratiate himself with the Hillary partisans in the crowd by saying that because of the New York senator, his daughters “can take for granted that women can do anything that the boys can do and do it better and do it in heels,” Carmella put her fingers in her ears.

As Obama tried to curry favor with Hillary, looking over at her sensible, sturdy shoes and marveling, “I still don’t know how she does it in heels,” Carmella tore up a tissue and stuffed it in her ears.

When Obama pandered with a line about how he wouldn’t “perpetuate a system in which women are paid less for the same work as men,” she put her hands over her tissue-stuffed ears.

“Maybe she’d like what she heard if she listened,” sighed Axelrod.

When Obama talked about moving beyond “all the petty bickering,” as Hillary robo-nodded at his side and CNN’s Candy Crowley applied pre-broadcast lipstick above her, Carmella glared at people applauding.

Afterward, Carmella got her idol to autograph her sign, telling the smiling Hillary, “You’re going to be the next president.”

She told The Times that she and her friends were all voting for John McCain and that Hillary was just doing what she had to do.

“But I have a gut feeling,” she said with macabre faith, “that something’s going to happen so that she becomes the nominee.”

Some people were mingling well on unity day.

Hillary’s chic body woman Huma Abedin got along great with Obama’s charming body man Reggie Love; the two, with their dates, shared a dinner the night before at a Georgetown hot spot.

The Bamary press corps meshed effortlessly. The Hillary Fox producer nodded to the good old days by passing around a video mashup of the former foes’ greatest hits: Hillary mocking Obama, saying, “Enough with the speeches and the big rallies!” and Obama saying, “Shame on her!” after Hillary said, “Shame on you, Barack Obama!”

Reporters and photographers crept toward the front of the plane where the victor and the vanquished sat side by side, trying to analyze every smidgen of body language for amity and jollity.

Endless hours were spent analyzing the shade of her pantsuit and his matching tie. Was it powder blue? Cornflower blue? Peacock blue? Cerulean?

The new political allies engaged in what one Obama aide sanguinely described as “comfortable, jovial small talk.” Obama told Hillary about using his Mac to keep in touch with his daughters, and she regaled him with tales of completely unidentifiable dishes you get served on overseas trips. They commiserated about the loss of privacy.

They did not, however, commiserate about Bill Clinton, who is in a self-pitying meltdown about not being Elvis anymore, trying to shake down Obama for more — more apologies for perceived snubs and more help paying off the $22 million Clinton debt.

It’s hard to fathom why Obama should be mau-maued into paying off the debt that Hillary and Bill accrued attacking and undermining him, while mismanaging the campaign and their nearly quarter-billion-dollar war chest so horribly that one Hillaryland insider told The New Republic that it bordered on fraud.

But the former president can’t stand being a loser, so he’s taking it out on the winner. When it comes to Bill, there’s a lot of vanity but very little humility in Unity.

More Waste, Fraud and Abuse



Representative Henry Waxman recently asked a question for which we would also like an answer: “How did a company run by a 21-year-old president and a 25-year-old former masseur get a sensitive $300 million contract to supply ammunition to Afghan forces?” Mr. Waxman raised the issue after executives of a Miami Beach arms dealer, AEY, were indicted on fraud charges this month, accused of pawning off tens of millions of banned and decrepit Chinese cartridges on the United States Army to supply Afghan security forces.

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The Board Blog

The BoardAdditional commentary, background information and other items by Times editorial writers.

Go to The Board »

The Pentagon’s folly with the fly-by-night trafficker is just the latest example of the Bush administration’s cynically cozy contracting practices and shockingly weak oversight that have wasted billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money.

Congressional investigators took testimony from a United States military attaché who accused the American ambassador in Albania of helping to cover up the Chinese ammunition’s origins. The ambassador, John Withers, denies wrongdoing. But Rep. Waxman is wisely working to map the dimensions of fraud and waste.

The AEY fraud case followed a detailed investigation by The Times, which found the company scored the Afghan contract despite a record of failure and risky corner-cutting in a half-dozen other plum contracts. (Along the way, Efraim Diveroli, the company president who is now indicted, had the gall to fight off a court case accusing him of abusing his girlfriend by claiming national security privilege “in the fight against terrorism.”)

AEY’s record, including a failed $5.6 million contract for 10,000 pistols needed by Iraqi security forces, should have been obvious to anyone consulting a State Department watch list of 80,000 — count them, 80,000 — suspect traffickers in illegal arms. American contractors must avoid such crooked middlemen. The Pentagon is exempted by law from having to consult the list.

How, indeed, could such scheming profiteers find their way onto the Pentagon gravy train? The answer is one more example of this administration’s disastrous mismanagement of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/opinion/29sun2.html?th&emc=th

Is Your Tank Half Empty or Half Full?


Harry Campbell

Published: June 29, 2008

High gas prices have had some obvious immediate effects on Americans: Hummer sales are down, commuting by public transit is up, airlines are charging for nonessentials, like baggage. But if $4 gas (or higher) is here to stay, we can expect our lives to change in other ways, too. The Op-Ed page asked 10 writers to reflect on the consequences — unexpected, unnoticed, unrealized, good, bad or indifferent — of really expensive fuel.

Pajama Life
By Nicole Belson Goluboff

Fuel for Inequality

By Robert B. Reich

What the Green Bubble Will Leave Behind

By Daniel Gross

Ghosts of the Cul de Sac

By Allison Arieff

Goodbye to the Great American Road Trip

By Michael Paterniti

Tax Brakes

By Robert Goodman

Be the Prius

By Tom Vanderbilt

Psychoanalysis by the Gallon

By Anneliese Rohrer

The Light Stuff

By Jamie Lincoln Kitman

Hair-Raiser

By Karen Karbo


Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/opinion/29gasintro.html?th&emc=th

"In Vain They Do Worship Me"

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Matthew 15:8, 9.

He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Mark 7:6,7.

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

1 Timothy 4:1.

Madonna and Family Attend Sabbath Services

Image: Madonna and Family Attend Sabbath Services


Madonna and Family Attend Sabbath Services

Yesterday - With no wedding ring on her finger and no husband in sight, Madonna and her three children – and Carlos Leon, 11-year-old daughter Lourdes's biological dad – visited Manhattan's Kabbalah Centre Friday night for Sabbath services and returned again on Saturday. So where was Guy Ritchie, rumored to be splitting with Madonna? British tabloid reports had him in London, but headed to New York this…

» Full Story on People.com

Source: http://buzz.yahoo.com/article/1:people_magazine:508355277297d3cbc7fca609fdd6efcf

Which Day Is The Christian Sabbath?

Which Day Is The Christian Sabbath?
by Roderick C. Meredith
Here is an absolutely VITAL subject that is far more important than most people even begin to realize! It has everything to do with whether or not you really “know” the true God—the Creator. In fact, it directly affects your inheriting everlasting life in His soon-coming Kingdom.

Source: http://www.tomorrowsworld.org/cgi-bin/tw/booklets/tw-bk.cgi?category=Intro&item=1104414149&gclid=CMi9otjfmZQCFQvOIgodDRMOtQ

Zimbabwe's Mugabe Stripped of Knighthood

Zimbabwe's Mugabe Stripped of Knighthood

All Things Considered, June 25, 2008 · Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has stripped Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe of his knighthood. This highly unusual move is a protest by the queen over Mugabe's human rights abuses following complaints by Zimbabwe's opposition of intimidation.


Source: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91891799&ft=1&f=1004


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Saturday, June 28, 2008

The Approaching (Tempest) Storm By David Gates




David Gates preaches at Collegedale Academy Alumni Weekend 2008

The Approaching Storm By David Gates This sermon was given at the Collegedale Academy Alumni Weekend 2008, in Collegedale, Tennessee Sat, Apr 12, 2008



  1. The Approaching Storm


Source: http://gospelministry.org/blog/?page_id=73


Or listen to Sermon @ :


http://www.audioverse.org/displayrecording/1024/DavidGates-TheApproachingStorm


The 1000 Year Millennium

Shocking Facts about a Misunderstood
Prophecy and your Eternal Destiny

By Steve Wohlberg

A lie can travel halfway around the world, while truth puts on its shoes.
-- Mark Twain (1835-1910)

Massive confusion exists within Christian churches about the “Millennium,” a unique thousand-year period depicted in the book of Revelation. Some teach this period is entirely symbolic, and not worth fretting over. Others say we’re in the Millennium now, and that it began when Jesus Christ defeated Satan by His death, burial, and resurrection. Most prophecy teachers contend that this apocalyptic period is still future, that it will immediately follow the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and will be a time of universal peace on earth as Jesus Christ governs all nations from Jerusalem.

What is the truth about the thousand years?

To discover the answer, we must carefully examine the only authoritative source where it’s taught, the Bible, especially chapter 20 in the book of Revelation. Let’s see what Revelation 20 actually says, and doesn’t say.

Here’s Revelation 20 in its entirety:

“1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20, King James Version, with verses left in).”

Now here’s a brief summary of each verse (we will soon take a closer look at these events):

vs. 1 - An angel descends from heaven with a key and a chain.
vs. 2 - He binds Satan for 1000 years.
vs. 3 - During the 1000 years Satan cannot deceive the nations any more.
vs. 4 - Martyrs are resurrected to reign with Jesus Christ for 1000 years.
vs. 5a - The rest of the dead will be raised at the end of the 1000 years.
vs. 6 - Those in the first resurrection will reign with Jesus for 1000 years.
vs. 7 - Satan will be loosed at the end of the 1000 years.
vs. 8 – After the rest of the dead are raised, Satan deceives them again. There will be billions - like the sand of the sea. They are called Gog and Magog. Satan gathers them for a final battle.
vs. 9 - Satan and this host surround God's City. Fire comes down and devours them.
vs. 10 - Satan, the Beast, and the False Prophet end up in this lake of fire.
vs. 11 - Before this fire falls, a final judgment occurs.
vs. 12 - All the resurrected lost are judged.
vs. 13 - Another description of the resurrected lost being judged.
vs. 14 - Death and Hell are cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death.
vs. 15 - All the resurrected lost are cast into the lake of fire.

To break it down even further: there is a ‘good resurrection’ (called “the first resurrection”) at the beginning of the 1000 years (vs. 4-6), whereas “the rest of the dead” are resurrected at the end of the 1000 years (vs. 5a). Satan is bound during the 1000 years (vs. 3), but is loosed “when the thousand years are expired” and “the rest of the dead” are raised (compare verses 5a and 7). Satan gathers the lost for a final battle against God's City (vs. 8). A final judgment occurs, and then the lost are punished in the lake of fire (verses 9, 14, 15). Then the old earth passes, and the new earth comes (Revelation 21:1).

The above points are undeniable, for this is exactly what Revelation 20 says. Two significant facts should be noted:

  1. Revelation 20 doesn’t say there will be peace on earth during the 1000 years.
  2. Revelation 20 doesn’t say Jesus Christ will rule during the 1000 years from the present city of Jerusalem.

These common doctrines are being taught worldwide but are not found in Revelation 20, the only place in God’s Word that specifically mentions the 1000-year period. Now let’s go deeper.

The Two Resurrections

There are two defining ‘bookends’ marking the beginning and the end of the thousand years, the two resurrections (vs. 4-6). Let’s see what else the Bible says about them.

Jesus Christ taught two resurrections. “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29). The apostle Paul did too. “[T]here shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust” (Acts 24:15). Thus both Jesus Christ and Paul taught two resurrections, the first being “the resurrection of life” for the saved, the second being “the resurrection of damnation” for the lost.

Revelation 20 revolves around these two resurrections. As we’ve already seen, verses 4-6 reveal that one takes place at the beginning of the 1000 years, the other at the end. The Word says, “Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (vs. 6). This is the good, or “first resurrection,” at the start of the 1000 years. Those in it need not fear the second death. “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years where finished” (vs. 5a). This is the bad or second resurrection, at the conclusion of the 1000 years. Jesus Christ called it “the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29).

Thus it is plain that there are two resurrections - one at the beginning of the Millennium, in which true believers in Christ are raised to eternal life; and one at the opposite end of the Millennium, in which the “unjust” awake to something else entirely.

The Second Coming

If the thousand years begins with the resurrection of the just, the question is, When does this good resurrection take place? When we find the answer, then we’ll understand what initiates the thousand years.

Scripture teaches that the return of Jesus Christ results in the resurrection of His saints. In 1 Corinthians 15:23, 51-55, Paul tells us plainly that it is at “His coming,” when “the trumpet sounds,” that “the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Paul also wrote, “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

According to Paul, “the dead in Christ shall rise first.” This is the same as “the first resurrection” depicted in Revelation 20:6.

In summary, Revelation 20:4-6 begins the 1000 years with the resurrection of the saints. 1 Corinthians 15:51-55 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 teach that the resurrection of the saints, who are called “the dead in Christ,” occurs when Jesus Christ returns. Thus it is the return of Jesus Christ, when His saints are resurrected, that marks the beginning of the Millennium.

Left Behind

Jesus returns, the righteous dead are raised, and along with the righteous living they all are “caught up” to meet the Saviour in the air. This is great news for true believers!

But what about those who are not “caught up,” those who are left behind? Popular teaching says they will have a second chance during a “seven-year Tribulation,” an idea heavily promoted in the wildly popular Left Behind novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Though those books have sold by the millions, the important question for us should be, Is that theology truly biblical?

Immediately after Paul describes true believers being “caught up,” he then declares, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. For when they shall say Peace and Safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them ... and they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:2, 3). Thus, according to Paul, those who are not “caught up” will reap “sudden destruction” and “not escape.”

Does this sound like ‘the second chance’ so graphically depicted in Left Behind novels and films? Hardly.

It gets worse. How widespread is this “sudden destruction”? Jesus Himself explained it: “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed” (Luke 17:26 -30, italics added).

In Noah’s day, all who refused to enter the ark were left behind, destroyed in the deluge. In Lot’s day, everyone except Lot and his family were consumed by falling fire. Jesus Christ said, “Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”

Other texts make it clear that when Jesus returns, those left behind will be destroyed, not given another chance during some hypothetical “seven-year Tribulation” (which, by the way, is nowhere specifically referred to in the Bible). Here are just a few texts describing the global desolation that follows Jesus’ return.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 - When Jesus returns in flaming fire, the lost will be destroyed.
Revelation 16:17, 18 – At Armageddon, cities crumble around the world.
Revelation 6:14; 16:20 - Every island sinks, and all the mountains disappear.
Jeremiah 4:23-26 - Planet Earth is totally devastated, with “no man” left alive.
Jeremiah 25:30-33 - Those slain by the Lord lie dead, unburied, all around the world.
Revelation 19:17, 18, 21 - The birds eat the flesh of every human being worldwide.

These verses teach that those not “caught up” when Christ returns will be destroyed, and the destruction will encompass all the earth, as it did during Noah’s flood. Jesus Himself taught this. “The flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the son of man be” (Matthew 24:39).

The Rest of the Dead

The last sentence in Revelation 19 describes birds feasting upon “the flesh of all men” (vs. 21). Immediately following is Revelation 20, which depicts the binding of Satan so that he can “deceive the nations no more” during the 1000 years (Revelation 20:1-3). Why not? The answer’s easy--there’s nobody left alive on earth to deceive. Those in the first resurrection were “caught up” to be with Jesus, and the rest, those left behind, were slain.

This helps explain what follows (Read carefully): “that he [Satan] should deceive the nations no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled” (Revelation 20:3). Notice these three words “no more until.” What do they tell us? They teach that those “nations” are entirely Satan’s nations. Satan is deceiving them now, but can’t continue deceiving them during the Millennium, “until” a certain time.

What time is that? When the 1000 years are over, obviously. Now put two and two together. At the end of the Millennium, “the rest of the dead” (who missed “the first resurrection”) are raised back to life. Then Satan deceives them again. Look again, and don’t let anyone convince you otherwise:

Verse 5a - “The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished”

Verse 7 - “When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison”

At the end of the 1000 years, “the rest of the dead” are raised, and Satan is “loosed.” Therefore the raising of the “rest of the dead” is what “looses” the devil. Satan then swoops into these resurrected nations (now alive in the four corners of the earth), deceives them again, and then gathers them for the grand finale (verses 8, 9).

What does all this mean? The answer will come shortly after we examine a few more crucial points. What should be clear so far, however, that the common notion of the Millennium, reflected in Left Behind, leaves much to be desired. In fact, it’s completely bogus.

The Bottomless Pit

Crucial to understanding the Millennium are the first texts of Revelation 20, verses 1 and 2. According to these texts, Satan is bound with “a great chain” and confined to “the bottomless pit” for 1000 years. The expression, “a great chain,” doesn’t mean a literal chain. Even today, all of “the angels that sinned” with Lucifer are described as being in “chains of darkness” (2 Peter 2:4). These words do not refer to actual clinking and clanging metal, but to circumstances of darkness that these angels find themselves in after having been booted out of heaven.

During the 1000 years, Satan is represented as being bound with a chain because his new circumstances prevent him from deceiving the nations during the Millennium (Revelation 20:2). Again, what are those circumstances? Everyone left on earth is dead.

What’s this “bottomless pit”? In the Old Testament the word “pit” often refers to a grave, a cemetery, or to the place of the dead.

Psalms 55:23 - Evil men will go “down into the pit of destruction.”
Numbers 16:32, 33 - “the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up ... into the pit.”
Ezekiel 32:22, 23 - “his graves are about him ... in the sides of the pit ... all of them slain.”
Psalms 28:1 - David prayed not to “become like them that go down to the pit.”
Psalms 69:15 - “Let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.”

Isaiah 14 contains one of the Old Testaments clearest prophecies about Lucifer. He was cast out of heaven (vs. 12) for exalting himself (vs. 13). Yet he is to be brought down “to the sides of the pit” (vs. 15). Isaiah 14:18-21 perfectly parallels the prophecy in Revelation 20:1-3. “All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house [the grave]. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet. Thou shall not be joined with them in burial” (Isaiah 14:18 -21)

These verses predict a time when all the nations are slain and lie in their graves, yet Satan will not join them in burial. He will be left, instead, to wander among earth’s ruins. Notice carefully: “Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, thou inhabitant of the earth ... The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be moved like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall and not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in prison, and after many days shall they be visited” (Isaiah 24:17 - 22).

This is a prediction of a destroyed and devastated earth. Its inhabitants are gathered as prisoners in the pit [the grave]. When Revelation 20:1-3 describes Satan as bound with a chain for 1000 years, this means that a chain of circumstances will prevent him from deceiving the nations. The major circumstance is the return of Jesus Christ in “flaming fire” (2 Thessalonians 2:8), the “sudden destruction” of sinners (1 Thessalonians 5:3), the largest earthquake in history (Revelation 16:18), the global crumbling of cities (Revelation 16:19), the disappearing of mountains and islands (Revelation 16:20), and the total depopulation of planet Earth just like “it was in the days of Noah” (Matthew 24:37-39). This “great day of the Lord” will come “as a destruction from the Almighty” (Joel 1:15). “And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be as dung upon the ground” (Jeremiah 25:33).

Earth will then be like one gigantic bottomless pit, a huge cemetery. Jeremiah predicted: “I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger” (Jeremiah 4:23 -26). As Satan and his angels behold their kingdom in ruins, they can only wander about, counsel together, and contemplate with trembling the final events to occur at the end of the 1000 years.

Yet it doesn’t end here. We mustn’t forget the last section of Isaiah 24:17-22, which predicts that those who lie dead in their graves “shall be visited” (Isaiah 24:22). What could that possibly mean other than what we’ve seen in Revelation 20:5? “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” It’s what Jesus was talking about when He warned about the “the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29). This occurs at the end of the Millennium.

Far, then, from being a time of earthly glory when Jesus reigns from Jerusalem, the Millennium is a time when earth lies waste, in desolate ruins, a prison house for Satan and his demons.

The Saints in Heaven

If this doesn’t sound inviting, it’s because it isn’t supposed to be inviting. It’s a time of chaos, desolation, and ruin, a time when sin takes another step toward its horrific ending. The Millennium is not some idyllic era of peace and goodness upon this old earth, with Jesus ruling from Jerusalem, but a time of utter devastation and judgment.

What about God’s people? What about those who participated in “the first resurrection,” who were “caught up” with Jesus as opposed to being left behind? What happens to them during the Millennium?

Near the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus told His followers that He was going to heaven, where He would be preparing mansions for His children (John 14:1, 2). When He returns, He will take us to Himself, “that where I am, there you shall be also” (vs. 3). When He comes, Jesus will take us to the place where He is now, in heaven in the New Jerusalem (see Revelation 3:12; 21:10). As we saw earlier, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17 tells us that at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ we shall be “caught up.” Thus we are going up to glory. In perfect agreement with this is Revelation 19:1, 2, which teaches that immediately after the destruction of Babylon (Revelation 18:8-24), John beheld God’s saints in heaven. “And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God: For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand” (Revelation 19:1, 2).

According to Revelation 20:4, 6, the saints will “reign” with Jesus for 1000 years. Contrary to popular opinion, Revelation 20 does not say they will reign on earth during that time. Why would Jesus and His people rule over a devastated and ruined world anyway? The Bible says we will soar upward when Christ returns (1 Thessalonians 4:17), that He will take us to the New Jerusalem (John 14:1-3), and that we will then be in heaven praising God (Revelation 19:1, 2).

Some might ask, How can we “reign” for 1000 years if we’re in heaven? Don’t we have to be on earth to “reign” over others during this time? Not necessarily. The Bible also says the saints will “reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:5). Thus this “reign” idea implies we will be in some position of authority, just as Adam originally exercised dominion over the earth, that’s all.

Now, if planet Earth is depopulated, with no survivors (except Satan and his angels), and the saints are in heaven, then what is the purpose of the 1000 years? A few possibilities exist:

1) It gives the loyal universe an opportunity to behold the terrible results of Satan’s rule; 2) It gives the saints in heaven an opportunity to go through heaven’s records and to have all their questions answered about why some of their loved ones are there and some are not; 3) It provides a period of time when Jesus and the saints together can make decisions about the just punishments to be carried out upon the lost at the end of the 1000 years (see 1 Corinthians 6:2,3); 4) It also gives the saints a period of time to prepare mentally for the events at the end of the 1000 years, at which time many of their loved ones will be resurrected, judged, and sentenced to the lake of fire (Revelation 20:5a, 11-15).

The Resurrection of Damnation

OK, we’ve seen that at the Second Coming, Jesus returns, the saved (both the resurrected dead and those alive at His return) are taken to heaven where they “reign” for a thousand years, the earth is destroyed--and Satan remains captive there for the allotted thousand years. What then happens at the end of the thousand years?

Revelation 20 (as we’ve already seen) is clear that two events occur:

1) The “rest of the dead” are raised to life (vs. 5a).
2) Satan is “loosed” (verses 3, 7).

Both events occur simultaneously. When the lost are resurrected, Satan now has people once again to deceive; thus he is, in effect, “loosed” from his chains. Satan then “will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea” (vs. 8). The “sand of the sea” means myriads of people (all the lost--from the days of Adam down to the last person who experienced “sudden destruction” at Christ’s return). During the 1000 years, they remain in their graves; now, they are raised to life in “the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:29).

Immediately after the lost are resurrected, Satan gathers “them together to battle.” What Hollywood movie producer could even envision such a scene: billions of lost people, including (no doubt) great military commanders, gathered together in one final burst of rebellion?

The next question is, Who will this terrible army attempt to fight? The Bible makes it plain: “They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city...” (vs. 9). This is the New Jerusalem, the home of the saved (Revelation 3:12; 21:10), which descends from heaven to the earth (Revelation 3:12; 21:2) right before the second resurrection. Then Satan and his macabre army surround the “camp of the saints” in a last-ditch effort to conquer God's fortress.

Picture this scene: all the world’s lost and all the world’s saved are together for the first time--the saved inside the city, the lost outside. The lost will behold the reward of the righteous, the saved the doom of the damned.

This is Satan's last stand, his final opportunity to conquer Jesus Christ, His New Jerusalem, and the redeemed of all ages. But he can never defeat the King of the Universe. He failed miserably when Jesus was a lowly carpenter in human flesh. What chance does he have against Him now as King of the New Jerusalem? None whatsoever!

Fire from Heaven

After Lucifer’s legions gather round God’s holy city to make war against it, what happens next? The Bible explains explicitly: “[Satan] shall go out to deceive the [resurrected] nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them” (Revelation 20:8, 9).

Notice, “fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” That’s their fate!

Before the fire falls, a vast cosmic judgment scene unfolds. “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it ... And I saw the [resurrected] dead standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it [another description of the resurrection of the lost], and Death and Hades [the grave] delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged each one according to their works” (Revelation 20:11 -13).

This judgment occurs while Satan’s army is gathered around the city; it concerns only the lost, who are then judged “according to their works.” As books are opened above them, they are allowed to see the complete record of their lives. They are shown why they are lost, why they are outside God’s City, why they have forfeited eternal life with Jesus. As the Book of Life is opened, they discover their names are missing. Then Jesus will undoubtedly show them how much He loved them, how He tried hard to save them, and yet how by their own persistent efforts they resisted His tender appeals. Yes, they will see that Jesus Christ died for them, that on the cross He paid the full penalty for all their sins, and that they could have been inside the city with His saints; but now they are outside with another master, the master of their own choosing. They will see that, though Jesus willingly took upon Himself the punishment that was theirs, they spurned Him, and now they are forced to stand before His holy majesty in the shame of their spiritual nakedness, with every wrong thought, every wrong word, and every wrong deed bearing down upon their consciences to condemn them, and there is no longer any Mediator to represent them and intercede for them.

After sentence is pronounced, the fire of God brings final retribution upon the lost. By this time, all the unsaved understand why they are lost. This destruction is an act of justice, not cruelty. The book of Revelation is very clear about God’s uprightness. “Just and true are your ways, O King of the saints” (Revelation 15:3); “You are righteous, O Lord ... Because you have judged these things” (Revelation 16:5); and “For true and righteous are His judgments” (Revelation 19:2).

The judgment at the close of the Millennium will be perfectly just, without any taint of imperfection chargeable upon God. By rejecting His love and mercy, and by a life of continued sinning, the lost have earned their just reward. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). The Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, holy angels, and the saints will all weep over the unsaved. But nothing more can be done. Now it’s too late.

Revelation 20:8 says the lost will march across “the four quarters of the earth” right before the fire falls upon them. Thus we conclude that God’s fire will descend all over planet Earth. This unquenchable downpour will become a “lake of fire” (14, 15) boiling everywhere. Malachi 4:1, 3 says that entire fateful day will “burn as an oven.” 2 Peter 3:10 adds “...the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” Thus God will totally purify and cleanse our sin-polluted earth with flames. In fact, 2 Peter 3 parallels the destruction of the world by water in Noah's day with the purification of the earth by fire at the end of the 1000 years (2 Peter 3:5-7). In Noah's day, the whole earth was under ‘a lake of water’; at the end of the 1000 years, this planet will be wrapped in “a lake of fire.” In Noah's day, God's people floated in the midst of the water but were protected inside the ark; at the end of the Millennium, when a lake of fire envelops our planet, God's saved “saints” will be right there, riding the storm safely inside the New Jerusalem.

The New Heaven and New Earth

Revelation 20 concludes with these solemn words, “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). Fortunately, that’s not the end of the story. The next verse reads: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away” (Revelation 21:1).

New heaven (sky), new earth! What happened to the old ones? We just saw. The lake of fire consumed them. When the Bible says, “...the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,” this must include the lake of fire! After God's fire completely purifies this planet and its atmosphere, He will recreate the earth and sky, so long under the contaminating effects of sin. God will make “a new heaven and a new earth.” Eventually the cleansing fire will disappear, after purifying this earth from every trace of sin, sinners, Satan, and demons, and in place of smoggy sky and a polluted earth the Lord will create new ones.

“Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).

Revelation 21 also adds, “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then He that sat upon the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' And He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful'” (Revelation 21:4, 5).

“Write, for these words are true,” says God Almighty. When this finally happens, the lake of fire, death, sin, sorrow, crying, and pain will “have passed away.” There will be no more terrorists, no more tears over the World Trade Center, nor crying over a million other things like natural disasters, sickness, divorce, child abuse, or graveside services. These will all have “passed away.”

As Noah and his family finally walked out of the ark onto a cleansed world, so will God's faithful saints finally step out of the New Jerusalem into a brand new world.

Conclusion

Contrary to popular opinion, the biblical Millennium is a time of desolation and ruin, followed by more rebellion, then judgment, and finally, re-creation--when the Lord who first spoke heaven and earth into existence (Genesis 1) repeats His creativity, “His wonders to perform”!

The most important issue, however, isn’t so much our knowledge of millennial details but our knowledge of the God who has revealed the truth about it. What this study shows us, perhaps more than anything else, is that there is no second chance, no middle ground, no neutrality in this Great War between Jesus Christ and Satan. Remember, the devil deceives “nations” (Revelation 20:3) in many areas, including this one. You friend, will be on one side or the other. You will either be inside the city, safe and secure with Jesus, looking down on the hordes outside; or you will be outside, deceived by the Devil, looking up at what might have been yours had you only repented and given yourself fully to Jesus Christ for faithful obedience.

Jesus died for you! He died so that you could have a place with Him in that New Jerusalem and in the new heavens and new earth that are coming. Your final destiny, inside or outside, eternal life or eternal destruction, depends upon your choice. Will you give yourself to the One who gave Himself for you, and thus have eternity with Him, or will you continue resisting His pleadings?

The Millennium is coming; nothing you can do will change this. All you can do is decide – by your choice for or against Jesus – where you are going to spend it.

The Lord is pleading with you. Choose Jesus Christ now, before it’s too late.

Source: http://www.1000yearmillennium.com/