Bartholomew's Notes

Speaker Warns of “Nuclear 9/11, or a Financial Apocalypse or even an Oil Crisis” for USA

“Similarities Between Nazi Germany and America Today”

Repeal of DADT Caused Heatwave

WND reports from an apocalyptically-minded conference that recently took place in Eden Prairie, Minnesota:

Attendees traveled from as far away as India and Jerusalem for the 15th annual conference at a large church auditorium.

The event was organised by Jan Markell’s Olive Tree Ministries.

First up, Mark Hitchcock:

…Hitchcock pointed to one prophecy he feels is nearing fulfillment. Known by those watching prophecy as the Gog-Magog war, the text of the prophecy can be found in Ezekiel 38. It describes an alliance of nations that go to war with Israel.

…He also points out that the prophecy indicates that the warring nations attack Israel with “spoil” on their minds and that until just two years ago, Israel didn’t have much value to offer.

“As of 2010, it was discovered that Israel sits on natural gas and oil fields that suddenly makes their land very appealing,” said Hitchcock.

…Hitchcock also spoke about America’s role in Bible prophecy and said that although some try to twist possible hints in the Bible about America, there are far too many problems with those views. Instead, he says, America doesn’t seem to be part of an end-times scenario.

He admitted that any conjecture on why America may not be involved in the end times would only be a guess, but he offered a few plausible scenarios.

“We could see a nuclear 9/11, or a financial apocalypse or even an oil crisis,” he said.

Ezekiel 38-39 imagines ancient Israel being attacked by the surrounding nations, including indistinct barbarians given the name of Gog; the invasion is defeated due to God’s direct intervention, after which Israel spends “seven years” burning the invaders’ weapons and “seven months” burying the bodies. It was composed to comfort the inhabitants of Jerusalem during and after the Babylonian siege, but it keeps details vague enough that any sort of middle east unrest can be fitted into the template. The reason why America is “not involved” is so obvious to be hardly worth stating: the author had no knowledge of, or interest in, another land mass on the other side of the world.

Next, Bill Koenig:

Koenig wrote a book that researched and documented disasters that corresponded with efforts to pressure Israel into dividing its land. He told the crowd that he has gotten the book, “Eye to Eye: Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel,” into the hands of many prominent national leaders, yet actions against Israel seem to persist.

While he sees costly disasters tied to key dates involving Israel, he also pointed to other issues that may also cost America.

He refers to July 19-22, 2011, as, “Four days of presidential decisions America may never recover from.”

Those are the days that Barack Obama went through the process of repealing the longstanding military policy of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”

“In those days America, and Washington, D.C., saw 322 heat records tied or broken,” he said. “The heat index reached 129 degrees in Washington, D.C.”

This kind of supernatural causality is of course impossible to falsify; had heat records not been broken in July 2011, Koenig would have simply found some other unusual event to link to the repeal of DADT (or, had DADT not been repealed in July 2011, he may have found something else to link to the heatwave). Incidentally, it’s worth remembering that WND regularly vilifies scientists involved with investigating climate change.

Inevitably, resentment against Muslims was also a major theme of the gathering:

Koenig also warned about the impact of radical Islam and said while Obama certainly has defended Islam, Christians should ask, “What is Obama doing about the persecution and death of Christians?”

Another prominent speaker at the event was the senior pastor at Moody Bible Church in Chicago, Erwin Lutzer.

Lutzer started his talk by mentioning his forthcoming book, “The Cross in the Shadow of the Crescent: An Informed Response to Islam’s War on Christianity,” which will be available in January.

But Lutzer wasn’t there just to plug his book:

Lutzer spoke about the similarities between Nazi Germany and America today… He then talked about the economy, indoctrination and propaganda, with a reminder that in Nazi Germany, and somewhat easily recognizable today, “Facts become irrelevant.”

“Language and euphemisms are created, and there is a tendency to demonize any opposition, or to call an opposing view hate speech,” he said.

To make a “Nazi” accusation and a complaint about “demonization” in the same breath shows a strange lack of self-awareness.

Finally:

The final speaker at the conference, which saw around 6,000 attendees, was The author of “The Harbinger” book, and the inspiration behind “The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment,” the bestselling Christian book of 2012 and the bestselling faith movie of the year, Jonathan Cahn.

I discussed Cahn and his book here.

Although WND does not mention the conference’s venue, it was held at Troy Dobbs’ Grace Church. The church featured in a Guardian article by Ana Marie Cox in February, describing a visit by Rick Santorum.

The church will host another conference at the end of the month, entitled “Unveiled” and aimed at those working “to make an impact for Christ with Muslims in their communities and around the world”. Among those attending with be “Glenn Beck’s End Times Prophet” Joel Richardson, with a presentation on Islamic apocalypticism:

Islam and the End Times; what are the Muslim people here and abroad talking about in the coffee shops?

From the author of the Mideast Beast, you will hear a compelling and powerful presentation that will help you “connects the dots” between Islamic eschatology, Middle East politics, current events and the effect of Islamic end times views on missions and evangelism.

Listeners will doubtless be able to contrast the sinister dangers of Islamic End Times beliefs with their own perfectly benign Christian armageddonist views.

 

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