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Just for cool watching purposes. I'm fascinated with waterspouts ever since I lived on a sailboat and saw one in North Carolina's Albemarle Sound. This video shows several from different angles. The definition for waterspout is: "A rotating column of water and spray formed by a whirlwind occurring over the sea or other body of water." The meteorological definition is "A small, weak tornado, which is not formed by a storm-scale rotation. It is generally weaker than a supercell tornado and is not associated with a wall cloud or mesocyclone. It may be observed beneath cumulonimbus or towering cumulus clouds and is the water equivalent of a landspout."
Here is the video from May 30th of a series of waterspouts approaching near the coastal suburb of Terrigal, on Australia's New South Wales coast. The original link at Yahoo/AP is here.
Food for thought: Here is Jack Kelley's answer to a reader's question, "Is God using the weather to judge us?
Q. I live near Joplin, MO where an F5 tornado struck last weekend. Please help me because I know as I go to Joplin and help with our church I will be asked why God allowed this to happen, and I would like to be able to answer them from God’s word. We don’t know why God allows storms or stops storms or why they hit where they do. But He is in control of them and He sees the big picture and He’s God who are we to question Him, so basically I feel confused. Also there are a lot of people saying that when disaster strikes it’s God’s judgment on their sin and if that’s the case wouldn’t all of us need to take cover because we are all sinners?
A. For me this is a simple issue. There was no bad weather before there was sin. You can make a circumstantial case from the Bible that it had never even rained on Earth before the Great Flood. Extreme weather is one of the enduring consequences of that judgment, so if you’re looking for someone to blame don’t blame God. Blame the one who brought sin into the world and made the judgment necessary. As far as weather is concerned the only thing God promised is that He would never destroy the Earth by water again (Genesis 9:13-15).
I also don’t think the Bible supports the “God is in control” idea in the universal sense in which most people think of it. Certainly it’s true that eventually God’s will is going to be accomplished on Earth and in Heaven, but for now the whole world is under the control of the evil one (1 John 5:19).
As for judgment, the Bible says when God uses weather as a tool of judgment men’s hearts will fail them for fear (Luke 21:26) and the hail stones will weigh 100 lbs. each (Rev. 16:21) so you really won’t want to be around when His judgments begin. Thankfully, God won’t judge the world until He has taken the Church out of the way (1 Thes. 1:10).---------end Jack Kelley's answer--------
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Here is the video from May 30th of a series of waterspouts approaching near the coastal suburb of Terrigal, on Australia's New South Wales coast. The original link at Yahoo/AP is here.
Food for thought: Here is Jack Kelley's answer to a reader's question, "Is God using the weather to judge us?
Q. I live near Joplin, MO where an F5 tornado struck last weekend. Please help me because I know as I go to Joplin and help with our church I will be asked why God allowed this to happen, and I would like to be able to answer them from God’s word. We don’t know why God allows storms or stops storms or why they hit where they do. But He is in control of them and He sees the big picture and He’s God who are we to question Him, so basically I feel confused. Also there are a lot of people saying that when disaster strikes it’s God’s judgment on their sin and if that’s the case wouldn’t all of us need to take cover because we are all sinners?
A. For me this is a simple issue. There was no bad weather before there was sin. You can make a circumstantial case from the Bible that it had never even rained on Earth before the Great Flood. Extreme weather is one of the enduring consequences of that judgment, so if you’re looking for someone to blame don’t blame God. Blame the one who brought sin into the world and made the judgment necessary. As far as weather is concerned the only thing God promised is that He would never destroy the Earth by water again (Genesis 9:13-15).
I also don’t think the Bible supports the “God is in control” idea in the universal sense in which most people think of it. Certainly it’s true that eventually God’s will is going to be accomplished on Earth and in Heaven, but for now the whole world is under the control of the evil one (1 John 5:19).
As for judgment, the Bible says when God uses weather as a tool of judgment men’s hearts will fail them for fear (Luke 21:26) and the hail stones will weigh 100 lbs. each (Rev. 16:21) so you really won’t want to be around when His judgments begin. Thankfully, God won’t judge the world until He has taken the Church out of the way (1 Thes. 1:10).---------end Jack Kelley's answer--------
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Here is an another view.You might agree or disagree.
ReplyDeleteSomebody Angry? http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1055/1055_01.asp
May 20 President Issues Clear Call for Talks on Palestinian State Based on Pre-1967 Borders
May 22 Twisters Rip Midwest
I wrote on May 19 when the Obama speech came out and it was clear that Obama is siding with the Arabs against Israel, that "It is an inescapable fact that Israel will be divided and Jerusalem given over to the Gentiles. Joel 3:2 and Revelation 11:2 show us that. It is also an inescapable fact that the Holy Land is God's land, and He will judge all nations that divide it or that pressure Israel to divide it. Zechariah 12:3 says that at the time of the very end, Israel has no friend, all nations are gathered against her. America must now be moved over to the enemies side, and woe unto us that abandon God's nation."
ReplyDeleteIn that essay, I mentioned that it is clear that God promised to bless those that bless Israel and those will be cursed who curse Israel. up until that moment I had believed we were on the blessed side, diminishing blessings though they were, but when our nation's top representative (who we elected) called for Jerusalem to be divided, I believed we were moved to the cursed side.
That said, I also believe Paul when he says we (Christians) will not be appointed to wrath and Revelation's first seal judgments begin the wrath (Rev 6:17). The church will not be here for the Judgments of the Tribulation, and we are not to be judged because He has forgotten our sins.
I still believe judgment has not begun yet, but whether the disasters are direct warnings from God or whether they are God allowing satan his evil to be increasingly unleashed against humanity through the weather, it is getting hard to tell where warnings stop and judgments begin...I think we are VERY close to the rapture.
OK, I read the tract. It does confirm that the occasions we went against Israel the resulting storms were "warnings". One thing I totally disagree with though in the tract is when it says that Jews will "only accept Jesus as savior at Armageddon". They accept Him three and a half years earlier when they see the Abomination of Desolation (Dan 9) and Jesus warns them at that time when they see it, to flee(Matthew 24) and they flee to the Wilderness, AKA Petra (Obadiah 3; Rev 12:14). There, they are protected supernaturally as His remnant throughout the rest of the Tribulation. Isaiah 63: 1-6 shows the Lord delivering them with blood stained robes at the Second Coming by killing their enemies who were then approaching. It is likely the reason why Jordan is delivered OUT of the antichrist's hand (Dan 11:41)- so they have a sheepfold to hide in (Bozra means sheepfold, another name for Petra, which itself means rock)
ReplyDeleteNot to argue, just sharing my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteWhen they (whole Israel) see Abomination of Desolation they will confirm he is not the messiah. So still they will be looking for the true messiah. During the war some super natural thing happens and then they would realize Jesus as the true messiah.
Zech: 12:9, 10 it shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem...then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
Rev: 1:77 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him.
Other note, I always wondered, if we all know "Petra" is the place where they are going to flee and hide, don’t you think antichrist would also know the same and would run after them?
Thanks for your wonderful blog. God knows how much effort you put to bring this up every day.
God bless you.
No worries, I go back and forth on the issue myself. Warnings, or judgment? I go back and forth, lol, because no one really knows. But if these are warnings, then Lord have mercy on those who are here for the judgments!
ReplyDeleteThe Abomination of Desolation happens in the middle of the Tribulation. It is then that they realize their mistake in thinking the Beast is the Messiah. They realize this 3.5 years prior to their deliverance, (as the verse says: 'she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days') and they spend this time in Petra.
The "whole world follows after the Beast" (Rev 13:3) EXCEPT that Jordan is not delivered into the beast's hands. He does try to go after them, but he is not successful. "She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days." (Rev 12:5-6) God personally and supernaturally protects the remnant.
Ei yi yi. I have so many problems with this post. Either God is in control of everything that happens, or He's not God. In the book of Job Satan had to ask God for permission to do the things he did to Job. Over and over again in the OT God sends famines (lack of rain - weather related) or even hail (Haggai) to punish nations OR to accomplish His will in regard to His people (see Joseph in Egypt, see Abraham, see Elijah and Elisha, see Isaiah and Hosea and Habakkuk and more!). At absolutely NO time in history has Satan ever had more control than God does. Satan is a created being and can only do what created beings are allowed to do. Even at this time he is limited in what he can do against the people of God or he would wipe us all off the earth. Satan hates the Church. God's people only die when God calls them home - He is the one who has numbered our days, not Satan. So, if someone dies in a tornado - God is the one who has caused them to die (people have the wrong view of death - how else are we to get to heaven?? Only a select few will be raptured! the rest of us must die.) Instead of blaming Satan for the death and destruction, look for what God is doing in Joplin right now. How is God working to draw people to Himself, to sanctify His children, to bring glory to Himself? We need to remember that just because someone calls themself a Christian does not mean they truly are. Many churches in America today do not preach the truth of the Gospel, nor do many television preachers preach the truth, but only for gain. Many in the true Church are living in sin and have not repented yet they regularly take communion - and die because of it! (Not my words, read I Corinthians 11.) They will not be lost in the end, but God disciplines those He loves and the writer of Hebrews tells us that it can seem very harsh, in fact it is called 'punishment' (chapter 12). Remember this verse from "I Peter: 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" Too often we have a mamby-pamby idea of God in our mind and forget that HE IS HOLY and cannot abide sin at all. Yes, He sees me covered in the blood of Jesus Christ - but He also disciplines me so that I can share in His holiness.
ReplyDeleteGod is in control of everything. However do not forget satan is the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4). It all comes to sin. There was no bad weather prior to the fall. Yes, God has used nature to bring judgments upon man in the past.
ReplyDeleteBut God did not save us and justify us and perfect us only to send a tornado to us to learn a lesson and punish us. Sin brought disaster upon the world. When we sin, we suffer earthly consequences. This goes for individuals and it goes for nations. Bad things that happen because we live in an evil place that is given over to an evil angel. Usually what we think of as God’s punishment is really attributable to sin and satan, not God's.
You use the word discipline but mean punishment. His discipline comes from the word disciple meaning training, instruction. Discipline brings us closer to Him, punishment separates us.
LOL, I think of all the blogs you read on the net this is one that never forgets He is holy and has less of a namby-pamby view of Him than anyone else around. But judgment won't begin until the church is gone. This is the word of God, not my opinion.
Elizabeth, please read these verses. I am NOT confusing discipline with punishment. They are two distinct things and God uses both with His children. I've included several translations at the end and have asked my husband for the Greek as well (he's had 7 years of formal Greek study, this is not from a concordance): the word, in KJV chasten, NIV punishes, means "to beat with a whip, discipline or punishment". I'm talking about unrepentant Christians here, of specific sins done after their salvation experience. If it takes "punishment" to get us to repent, then God punishes. God is HOLY and demands holiness from us. Is God loving? Yes. Is He sometimes, maybe most often, gentle with us - yes, because He knows how weak we are. But God will not hesitate to kill us if we refuse to repent from willful sin in our life. (Read the verses before what you cited - I John 5:16-19.
ReplyDeleteFurther, the word translated "world" in I John 5:19 refers to the cosmos, which John uses over and over again to refer to the systems of this world (political, religious, etc), not the planet earth. For example, I John 2:15-17 the planet is not where those things come from, but from the systems - which "lie in wickedness" (according to the Greek, the KJV is closest to the correct translation at this point). Please take the time to read those verses prayerfully before dismissing what I've written.
I acknowledge the fact that this is your blog and you are free to write whatever you want and to publish whichever comments you want to publish. Therefore, if you don't agree with me, feel free to not publish, I will not be insulted or anything. However, you are teaching people the Word of God and you need to remember that you are going to be held to a higher standand before the throne for what you do teach. James 3:1 "Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly." I also am a teacher and at times I tremble when I consider this for myself.
Tagging onto your own comment in the blog post, we live in a fallen world. And it seems that when life is easy, we let the world distract us from our Father, and the fact this is temporary. Trials seem to draw our hearts and minds back to him. And he has promised that he can take anything - even suffering - and work it to our good. I've had to hold my breath and close my eyes sometimes, to believe it... but I do.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, I love your blog and how you represent the Lord. We are so close to the end and you are able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together for us so we can easily see the big picture of prophesy lining up! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI personally can't help but wonder how much "weather warfare" is going on. This is just my opinion, but we have the technology to manipulate our weather systems even if we don't do a good job of it. We just will never know for sure.
I would feel terrible to blame God for something that man may have caused.
These new storms are such that have never been seen in history. When I saw the water spout in New Zealand, I was reminded of an article I saw yesterday of millions of dead fish in that area this weekend. Which does reek of man made weather "experiments." And if we are experiencing weather manipulation/warfare, then blaming God for Joplin is almost the same as blaming God for Dahmer.
Jesus said that as the days draw near to an end we will see disasters increasing in frequency and intensity, but He didn't say that they would all be acts of God. The true acts of God's judgment begin when we are taken out of the way.
So either the earth is groaning, longing for His return or sin is increasing and causing chaos to bring about the need for a man of peace.
In the end, we will know. But God's permissive will allows for or enemy or our fellow man to disobey and cause harm. God allows things of course, and He will bring about His glory.
And our country for the most part has rejected God and turned against all His people and has chosen to abandon His protection, we are now vulnerable to whatever may come upon us.
God knows who are His and He is still our refuge and strength, even though the earth be removed.
I do not believe the weather is punishment but warning, and I do not believe Christians will endure punishment in the Tribulation but will be removed first.
ReplyDeleteAs **pertaining to the point of the response to your comment about the post**, which was, "is the weather punishment?" I maintain that this world is satan's according to the 2 Corinthians verse I shared above and as such bad things happen because the world is evil and fallen.
As to the bigger question, which you have enlarged from the post's point, we ask, God does not condemn believers, but does He still punish them? The Hebrews verse you shared that has the word chastening in it is not related to punishment. It is related to training, which I was speaking of before, training and education. But again, as I said before, He does allow us to experience the consequences of our sins that we do not repent of. Here is a link to a more involved explanation that answers the question Does God Punish Believers, for you, from John MacArthur. It is a delicate balance, this issue of punishment, and settling it with finality is not possible, nor will ever be, because it would require knowing the mind of God and being privy to knowing why He did a certain action. I cannot and will not point to a tornado and say "God did that to punish a believing sinner in Joplin." No sir.
Thank you for your comment.
http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/1301-F
I want to make one more comment to be clear: God will always and forever punish unholiness (non-believers).
ReplyDeleteHowever, I do not believe He punishes believers. As JMacArthur said in a different sermon, "But Mark it, there’s a great difference between divine punishment and divine discipline. I think you can make the distinguishing idea in your mind with the English words, right? You know the difference between punishment and discipline. Discipline speaks of training for a good outcome. Punishment speaks of retribution, vengeance, wrath...that’s not what we’re talking about. The Lord doesn’t do that with us, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ, right? Romans 8:1. So let’s not use the word punishment as if God would punish us. The truth is, He punished Christ for us, right? So we’re not talking about condemnation kind of punishment."
CHRIST TOOK OUR PUNISHMENT FOR US.
Amen, Elizabeth. Our punishment, our debt, was paid in full, by HIS STRIPES!
ReplyDelete-Emily