When the topic of the end times comes up in conversation, the first piece of evidence given that our generation is indeed the “Rapture Generation” is the state of the world, both its moral character and natural calamities. Nearly all prophetic writers point to the signs of wars, famines, plagues, lawlessness, earthquakes, tsunamis, and hurricanes as prime indicators that the whole prophetic scenar [...]

One of the keys that opens prophetic texts is the time element. Abraham’s descendants were strangers in the land of Egypt where they would be “enslaved and oppressed four hundred years” (Gen. 15:13). This prophecy was fulfilled “to the very day” (Ex. 12:40). Joseph was told of seven years of plenty and seven years of famine (Gen. 45:6). Times of famine and plenty that follow these two seven-year i [...]

The prophetic prognosticators are at the prediction game again. Greg Laurie, author of Are We Living in the Last Days?,” is peering through contemporary events like Hurricane Katrina, earthquakes, 9–11, and the tsunami that struck Southeast Asia on December 26, 2004 and claiming that these events are a prelude to the “rapture” of the church. George Noory, host of “Coast to Coast AM,” follows a sim [...]

The American Atheists organization says President Bush should stop urging prayer for Hurricane Katrina victims because it violates the Constitution. Ellen Johnson, president of the group, said Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Bush “should not be violating the Constitution by telling people to pray for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It’s unconstitutional for government officials to be promotin [...]

The blame game will continue as politicians and political action groups jockey for position and funding for the upcoming elections in 2006 and 2008. Acts of heroism, self-sacrifice, and just plain hard work will be rightly honored. Religious organizations will gain new respect from the people being ministered to in both body and spirit. New Orleans and the Gulf Coast will probably be rebuilt after [...]

Evolutionary scientists have just been let loose in the Genome candy store. After comparing the genetic structure of humans and chimpanzees, they’ve discovered that they share “an almost identical genetic inheritance” an “‘elegant confirmation’ of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.” Here’s the first part of Steve Sternberg’s description of the announcement in USA Today:[1] The 3 billion genetic [...]

Gas panic hit Atlanta on Wednesday. Prices went from $2.65 in the morning to $3.10 by mid-afternoon. Some stations were selling gas for nearly $6.00 per gallon. Some have called this “price gouging.” A rumor, factual or not, had been circulating that gas supplies were limited and new inventory was hampered because of pipeline disruptions. Uncertainty figures into economic decision making. How does [...]

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is blaming the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina on climate changes that are the result of the United States’ unwillingness to be trapped by the provisions of the Kyoto Treaty. I find it interesting that Kennedy and other secularists have no problem believing that “Mother Nature” is in the judgment business, but an all holy God is not. Polluting the air seems to be to [...]

I’ve always wanted to see the La Brea Tar Pits. Ever since I was a boy I had heard stories of the famed petroleum pits that hold millions of fossils. When my wife, my youngest son, and I were in California a few weeks ago, we took time to visit the archeological find in the heart of downtown Los Angeles located in the Miracle Mile District.[1] Oil literally seeps to the surface through fissures in [...]

I’m reading David Murrow’s Why Men Hate Going to Church. Murrow writes that while the pastorate is dominated by men, “almost every other area of church life is dominated by women.” ((David Murrow, Why Men Hate Going to Church (Nashville,: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 4.)) Why is the opposite true for a religion like Islam? The average age of a convert to Christianity is sixteen, while the average age of [...]

Pat Robertson has put his foot in his mouth again by calling for the assassination of the president of Venezuela. A minister of the gospel and the leader of a world-wide Christian ministry should not be calling for the death of the head of state of any nation. A better approach would be to meet with international church leaders to promote a comprehensive biblical worldview around the world. Effect [...]

Prior to the establishment of the Abrahamic covenant, God instituted the Noahic covenant. Even though “the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth,” God says that He “will never again destroy every living thing” (Gen 8:21). The everlasting nature of this covenantal promise is so secure that the earth itself would have to pass away in order for it to be postponed, put off, or revoked (8:22). M [...]

All prophetic eyes are on Israel. A majority of fundamentalists believe that what happens in the Middle East determines the fate of the world. The world moves at Israel’s pace. For the dispensationalist, what the rest of the world does is irrelevant and meaningless because not only are all prophetic eyes on Israel, but God’s eyes are on Israel. The New Testament focuses on Israel as well. Jesus “w [...]

With the nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court, it seems that everyone is reading the Constitution again. This is good. The Left is apoplectic over the thought that with an “arch conservative,” or an “extremist," to use Patrick Leahy’s description, on the court, our rights will be taken away from us. Of course, if Congress would do its job, there wouldn’t be fights over nominees. Co [...]

“When Angelo paints even God the Father in human form, mark what robustness is there. And whatever they may reveal of the divine love in the Son, the soft, curled, hermaphroditical Italian pictures, in which his idea has been most successfully embodied; these pictures, so destitute as they are of all brawniness, hint nothing of any power, but the mere negative, feminine one of submission and endur [...]

The ACLU has a great racket going on. It sues city and county governments over sectarian (Christian) prayers and the posting of the Ten Commandments and then gets paid for its efforts when judges rule in favor of the ACLU’s arguments. Nearly two years after an anonymous resident sued Barrow County in Georgia to remove a framed copy of the Ten Commandments from the courthouse breezeway, county comm [...]

Identifying the Players Since we have dismissed the alien and fallen angel interpretations, we are still left with identifying the “daughters of men” and the Nephilim in Genesis 6. Our methodology remains basic: let the Bible interpret itself. The Sons of God The actions of the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1–4 are probably similar to those described in Judges 2:10–12: And all that generation also we [...]

The most popular interpretation of Genesis 6:1–6 is that the “sons of God” are fallen angels who impregnate women and create a super race of beings called the “Nephilim.” Chuck Missler and Mark Eastman argue in Alien Encounters that “the ‘sons of God’ of Genesis 6 was understood as referring to (fallen) angels by the ancient rabbinical sources, the Septuagint translators, and by the early Church f [...]

“Space gods made me, this I know, For the Bible tells me so. . . .”[1] Prior to the publication of Barry H. Downing’s The Bible and Flying Saucers in 1968, Morris K. Jessup put forth a similar thesis in an attempt to reconcile the Bible, science, and belief in extraterrestrials: The biblical writers misunderstood unusual and seemingly supernatural phenomena and believed that a God was at work when [...]

For centuries, Bible commentaries have tried to make sense of Genesis 6:1–7 and the identity of “the sons of God” and the “Nephilim.” Several theories have been put forth: (1) fallen angels who cohabitated with earthly women, (2) the godly descendants of Seth (“sons of God”) who intermarry with unbelievers (“daughters of men”), (3) dynastic rulers who are often described as “gods” (Heb.: elohim), [...]