LayGuy

I loved watching the movie Avatar.  To say it was one of the most graphically stunning movies I have ever seen would be to understate the situation.  The storyline was pretty average however this is quickly forgotten – especially when you watch it on 3D!

I remember walking out from the cinema’s and having a chat with my wife as to “how boring the real world seemed” compared to the reality portrayed in Avatar.

I even read how many people had committed suicide after watching Avatar as they couldn’t stand to live in the “evil real world”. 

And to top it off, it has become the most watched movie at the Cinema’s ever.  Period.

Quite an achievement!

However, while I watched, I was also really uncomfortable at the overt Pagan and New Age themes running rampant throughout the story line.  What was uncomfortable was that it really, REALLY appealed to my fallen sinful nature.

It painted a picture of utopia – and my flesh loved it.  And I knew it was wrong – for so many reasons.

And tonight I come across Mark Driscoll’s take on Avatar.  And in typical Driscoll style, he slams the movie for what it is – and advert, albeit an expensive one, for paganism…

Fulfilled Bible prophecy and current events are merging ever so closely together.  It completely staggers me as to what’s happening in the Mid-East, the global financial crisis, one world government, technology, terrorism etc – and even bizarre themes like Ufo’s and the Occult.

It almost feels as if there is a kind of “quickening” happening in the world today as we move closer to the return of Jesus.  What once seemed so impossible, now is considered logical.

For example..

• The global financial crisis – now we have sovereign countries screaming for a global currency as the only solution. 
• Terrorism – we now have individual freedoms thrown out the window to protect us form the so called terrorists – basically forming a world wide police state.
• Technology – you think the VeriChip is the mark of the beast?  Try researching nanotechnology and the theory of “transhuman” – makes VeriChip look like Play School!
• The Mid East – ancient prophecy says that Israel will one day encompass a land mass currently occupied by Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.  An impending war on our horizon can actually see this happening very soon!

These are just some areas moulding together allowing the literal fulfilment of Bible prophecy to take place in our generation.  Just think of Israel!  For 1900 years it was non-existent.  And then just over 60 years ago it exploded into reality again.

God is up to something these days.  Satan knows his time is short.  The quickening is happening.

These are some of the reasons behind my new blog called, “Bible Prophecy Blog.”  It’s simply a site where I repost articles from various authors who find Bible prophecy fascinating.  At times, I need to be discerning when it comes to the vast amount of material published out there.  This is due to people twisting the meaning of Scripture to suite their own theological leanings.

Occasionally I plan to post my own thoughts also in an attempt to tie in together all that I read and research.  So it’s a site designed to capture my thoughts and the thoughts of others as we experience current events in a way that opens the door to actual Bible prophecy being fulfilled.

If you’re interested, check it out here.

Sin – a simple three letter word which has devastated  mankind from the beginning.  It’s a topic no-one wants to talk about.  And yet all have been touched by it and have felt the effects of it.

Mankind has excelled in so many ways.  But along every step of progress, sin has walked side by side.  And as mankind has increased its abilities, so to has the power and effect of sin.

Thousands of years ago, the Apostle Paul discussed the cunningness of sin in the following way…

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Rom 7:15

So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Rom 7:17-24

It’s inside you.  It’s inside me.  It’s inside every human on this planet that has ever lived. It’s cunning and relentless.  It desires nothing else but to satisfy it’s own desires.  And the scary thing is that it’s me – and it’s you.

I Am Sin

Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Jesus.

Be sure to grab yourself a free Audio Book download of Mark Driscoll’s, “Religion Saves: + nine other misconceptions” – available now @ www.christianaudio.com.

This book is based on the same titled sermon series held at Mars Hill Church in Seattle.  Check out the sermons here.

Basically Mars Hill Church opened up a web based survey and asked for people to post any questions they would like Mark Driscoll to address.  After receiving thousands of questions and thousands of votes against these questions, the top ten areas were addressed in a sermon series and a book was put together.

Now you can download a copy of the audio book for free thanks to www.christianaudio.com!

Simply log in or create an account and for the month of February, it’s yours for free!  Simple!

John Piper is the Pastor for Preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.  John is the author of more than 30 books and more than 25 years of his preaching and teaching is available free at desiringGod.org

His website includes a vast resource of quality teaching and preaching and he freely makes this available for the Body of Christ.

In today’s age of “celebrity pastors” who make a living on travelling the world pushing their books at inflated places and then travelling on to their next destination in their Lear Jets to talk more about the so called “prosperity gospel”, John is a welcome contrast.

He is perhaps best known by the quote embedded in the following image…

“God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him” – what a way to view your life!  What a sharp contradiction to the “live your best life now” or “seven steps to happiness”  so freely peddled into today’s Christian bookstores.

Although John is a Pastor, Speaker and Author – and he writes a tonne of books, what contrasts him from others is that he also makes his books, and all his teaching material, freely available to all!  What an awesome blessing he is to the Church and a glowing example of what it means to be a servant of Jesus.

Below are just 10 examples of books available for free download from his website desiringGod.org.  In fact, if you head over to his website, you will find 54 books available for free download in PDF format.

Feel free to download to your heart’s content – Download Adobe PDF Reader here.

 

Desiring God | Download PDF

The great business of life is to glorify God by enjoying him forever. Discord between duty and delight doesn’t exist: delight is our duty. Piper stuns us again and again with things we saw in the Bible, but never dared to believe. Join him on this dangerous quest for maximum joy in God. But beware, it may cost you your life. Never mind – "the steadfast love of the Lord is better than life" (Psalm 63:3).

Don’t Waste Your Life | Download PDF

God created us to live with a single passion: to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work, not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives.

 

Music Video by Lacrae | Don’t Waste Your Life

 

Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came To Die | Download PDF

The death of Jesus is of foremost importance for the world. And the central issue of Jesus’ death is not the cause, but the meaning—God’s meaning.

 

 

 

Finally Alive | Download PDF

What does the Bible teach about the miracle of rebirth? In this new book, John Piper explores Jesus’ peculiar command, "You must be born again."

 

 

 

History’s Most Spectacular Sin | Download PDF

The most spectacular sin in the history of the world is the murder of the innocent, pure, perfect, and infinitely worthy Son of God. And at the center of that evil is the Satan-empowered betrayal of Jesus by his friend, Judas.

 

 

The Misery Of Job & The Mercy Of God | Download PDF

Job lost everything: his wealth, his health, and his ten children. All swept away in one satanic storm. Reduced to a heap of flesh, ashes, and tears—rebuked by friends and jeered by strangers—righteous Job wrestled over the purpose and presence of God in the midst of unbearable pain.

Video of John Piper’s Poetry on the Book of Job

 

The Power Of Words & The Wonder Of God | Download PDF

John Piper, Sinclair Ferguson, Mark Driscoll, and other leaders from Desiring God’s 2008 national conference examine the life-altering power of our words and their impact in sharing the gospel.

Conference video trailer upon which this book is based…

 

The Prodigals Sister| Download PDF

It has been ten years since the Prodigal Son left everything he knew – his home, his sister, his older brother, and his father. And now the prodigal’s sister intends to fulfil her promise, to find the Prodigal dead and bring him home alive.

 

 

Stand | Download PDF

Many people seek to better their lives by leaving, changing, swapping, or modifying their commitments.  But God’s Word holds up a beautiful value that, while difficult, leads to deep satisfaction and great reward: endurance. Such long, steady, hold-the-course perseverance is especially needed within our vacillating generation.

 

A Sweet & Bitter Providence | Download PDF

The timeless themes of sex, racial tension, and God’s perplexing and perfect plans are as much a part of our human experience today as they were for Ruth and Boaz over three thousand years ago.

 

 

Video trailer for the book…