Live By Truth, Come Into His Presence
Greetings in the Lord!
Well, there are a couple of updates that I'm going to share today, as well as today's word from John 2. First the updates; recently, I attended a conference in Washington DC about the rising threat and need for policy on "Deep Fakes," i.e., fake videos that are being made to mislead people into believing lies about and from political figures and legitimate decision-makers. At least that was what the synopsis of the conference said in their publicity materials. As it turned out, protecting truth was not the main focus or top priority of many of the esteemed panelists, which included lead engineers from Facebook, DARPA and universities, and prominent lawyers from within academia. No, as one lawyer so eloquently put it, "Truth is less of an issue than the winning narrative that results from the deep fake." Amazing, huh? And I'm not sure whether it was the 'polite company' we were in or the overbearing liberal bias of the panelists, but all day long as the supremacy of truth was being marginalized, there was no articulated push-back whatsoever from the attendees, just questions that fell in line with the rhetoric presented or silence. Actually, that silence spoke volumes, WAY more than the drivel that was presented on stage. But it resoundingly confirmed to me one thing--Trump will get re-elected by that silent majority--no question about that.
So, as a lead engineer for Facebook gave his useless song and dance about their "need to control misinformation," (read, they want to continue to be a tyrannical gatekeeper of information) he also added that they have no intention of banning deep fakes on the platform, only the ones that they determine propagate "misinformation" (read again, any narrative they disagree with or hasn't been duly paid for by 3rd party interests). Interesting, huh? His disclosure gives us another glimpse of the many facets of corruption coming from Facebook these days, even as Mark Zuckerberg has talked recently on his promote-the-company tour his desire to "stand for truth." ha ha That is hilarious. Soon after, Zuckerberg got grilled by AOC and the Dems for his refusal to ban "lying political ads" from the platform, saying that people should be able to hear the lies and judge for themselves the character of the politician. Literally, there is no end to the outright double speak, corruption and greed of Facebook and other Big Tech companies of Silicon Valley. It has become a soul-less industry, to say the least. I really shouldn't have to say this, but if you throw out truth, you have nothing at all. Lucky for us, God is and will remain forever on the throne. He sees and will intervene--go back to read the prophetic words given in May about Silicon Valley for reference.
Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for His wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. Psalm 2:10-12
Moving on, back in April I gave a lecture about the Syrian Civil War and of all of its complexities. My lecture was divided into three parts: history of conflict, impact of US impending departure, and 4 significant things to know about the whole event. Yes, I not only said we would leave soon, but that it would result in a messy power grab for the remaining countries and interests there that would also include the ousting of the Kurds and re-gaining control of their resources, and the re-emergence of ISIS. Of the four significant things to know about the whole conflict, the first was about al Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS. Here is a man, descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, that should be dead by all accounts, yet he lives. If he also comes back to power, we will know he is the "rider of the white horse" as is mentioned in Revelation 6. There are many, many serious prophetic implications about this, but suffice to say that his return would then precipitate the "subduing" of three nations and a quest to attack Israel. Signs to watch for, no doubt, but would be better if this prospect was eliminated. Secondly, I discussed the significance of the Caliphate and of how those adherents are different from run-of-the-mill extremists, prophetically speaking, in that they embrace and promote the use of spiritual jihad, which is altogether different from the jihad stipulated in the Quran. This type of jihad is more similar to what is mentioned in Revelation 16:13 and of Revelation 13:16-17.
A very clear example of this type of jihad recently happened in Paris, France, where several police were stabbed by the IT expert on staff. His job duty included monitoring extremists online, of which he was in contact with Salafist members. Over time, he not only converted to Islam, but began to become under their extreme views and ended up committing the crime, prosecutors said. However, the real issue was that those Salafist members began using spiritual jihad on him (wazifa/wasaif/witchcraft) and he became under their control spiritually. In fact, the night before his wife said that he was talking about hearing voices, etc. This is a textbook case of spiritual jihad, absolutely no doubt about it. These type of extremists use wazaif to send jinn (demons) to people, and because they have already converted, they become possessed by their spiritual agreement, which is very dangerous. I have seen this happen with my own students after they made contact with ISIS recruiters. In a very short two weeks--right before my eyes, they became "radicalized," but when I recognized what was happening and intervened physically and spiritually, they snapped out of it. Anyway, all this to say that the conflict over in Syria has serious End Time implications and that people of faith should wake up and be watchful for the signs of the times we are living in----the events going on around us are rife with prophetic significance. Make sure your lamps are full and that you would be found blameless and working diligently for the Kingdom of God.
Now, today's word comes from John 2. It is a story of Jesus' first miracle----changing water into wine. Though he said it was premature, at his mother's request, Jesus performed the miracle thereby beginning his miracle-working ministry on earth. Next, he went to the Temple and angrily cleared out the money-changers and commerce that was going on there, thus rebuking those that dishonored God by putting what was common in the place that should be holy unto God. Both events highlight the distinction Jesus was making between what is common and what is holy; the sanctification and consecration that is required to live in His presence.
Jesus' actions are a commentary of how worldliness and conventional knowledge is inferior and has limited place in the lives of believers; and that, when His Presence comes upon us, we will be filled with new wine and holiness. This divine distinction gets blurred and disregarded by the world we live in, just as those at the Deep Fake conference were trying to replace truth with prioritizing "narratives." Truth, faith, even love, are spiritual concepts that have inherent blessings because they are parts of the essence of who God is, His character, the fruits of His Holy Spirit. It is impossible, even sinful, to try and replace these with the limited logic, traditions and means of man, and it will only produce bad fruit. As the presence of our Lord continues to grow more tangibly on earth, we will continue to see the unveiling of His glory around us. And His Presence will divide and separate the common from the holy, belief from doubt, and His righteousness from corruption. We'll even begin to discern prophetic signs from the usual daily events going on in our world. Praise God who does not leave His people in the dark, but invites those who live by truth to come into the glorious light of His Presence through His Son Jesus Christ. Amen!
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
Well, there are a couple of updates that I'm going to share today, as well as today's word from John 2. First the updates; recently, I attended a conference in Washington DC about the rising threat and need for policy on "Deep Fakes," i.e., fake videos that are being made to mislead people into believing lies about and from political figures and legitimate decision-makers. At least that was what the synopsis of the conference said in their publicity materials. As it turned out, protecting truth was not the main focus or top priority of many of the esteemed panelists, which included lead engineers from Facebook, DARPA and universities, and prominent lawyers from within academia. No, as one lawyer so eloquently put it, "Truth is less of an issue than the winning narrative that results from the deep fake." Amazing, huh? And I'm not sure whether it was the 'polite company' we were in or the overbearing liberal bias of the panelists, but all day long as the supremacy of truth was being marginalized, there was no articulated push-back whatsoever from the attendees, just questions that fell in line with the rhetoric presented or silence. Actually, that silence spoke volumes, WAY more than the drivel that was presented on stage. But it resoundingly confirmed to me one thing--Trump will get re-elected by that silent majority--no question about that.
So, as a lead engineer for Facebook gave his useless song and dance about their "need to control misinformation," (read, they want to continue to be a tyrannical gatekeeper of information) he also added that they have no intention of banning deep fakes on the platform, only the ones that they determine propagate "misinformation" (read again, any narrative they disagree with or hasn't been duly paid for by 3rd party interests). Interesting, huh? His disclosure gives us another glimpse of the many facets of corruption coming from Facebook these days, even as Mark Zuckerberg has talked recently on his promote-the-company tour his desire to "stand for truth." ha ha That is hilarious. Soon after, Zuckerberg got grilled by AOC and the Dems for his refusal to ban "lying political ads" from the platform, saying that people should be able to hear the lies and judge for themselves the character of the politician. Literally, there is no end to the outright double speak, corruption and greed of Facebook and other Big Tech companies of Silicon Valley. It has become a soul-less industry, to say the least. I really shouldn't have to say this, but if you throw out truth, you have nothing at all. Lucky for us, God is and will remain forever on the throne. He sees and will intervene--go back to read the prophetic words given in May about Silicon Valley for reference.
Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for His wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him. Psalm 2:10-12
Moving on, back in April I gave a lecture about the Syrian Civil War and of all of its complexities. My lecture was divided into three parts: history of conflict, impact of US impending departure, and 4 significant things to know about the whole event. Yes, I not only said we would leave soon, but that it would result in a messy power grab for the remaining countries and interests there that would also include the ousting of the Kurds and re-gaining control of their resources, and the re-emergence of ISIS. Of the four significant things to know about the whole conflict, the first was about al Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS. Here is a man, descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, that should be dead by all accounts, yet he lives. If he also comes back to power, we will know he is the "rider of the white horse" as is mentioned in Revelation 6. There are many, many serious prophetic implications about this, but suffice to say that his return would then precipitate the "subduing" of three nations and a quest to attack Israel. Signs to watch for, no doubt, but would be better if this prospect was eliminated. Secondly, I discussed the significance of the Caliphate and of how those adherents are different from run-of-the-mill extremists, prophetically speaking, in that they embrace and promote the use of spiritual jihad, which is altogether different from the jihad stipulated in the Quran. This type of jihad is more similar to what is mentioned in Revelation 16:13 and of Revelation 13:16-17.
A very clear example of this type of jihad recently happened in Paris, France, where several police were stabbed by the IT expert on staff. His job duty included monitoring extremists online, of which he was in contact with Salafist members. Over time, he not only converted to Islam, but began to become under their extreme views and ended up committing the crime, prosecutors said. However, the real issue was that those Salafist members began using spiritual jihad on him (wazifa/wasaif/witchcraft) and he became under their control spiritually. In fact, the night before his wife said that he was talking about hearing voices, etc. This is a textbook case of spiritual jihad, absolutely no doubt about it. These type of extremists use wazaif to send jinn (demons) to people, and because they have already converted, they become possessed by their spiritual agreement, which is very dangerous. I have seen this happen with my own students after they made contact with ISIS recruiters. In a very short two weeks--right before my eyes, they became "radicalized," but when I recognized what was happening and intervened physically and spiritually, they snapped out of it. Anyway, all this to say that the conflict over in Syria has serious End Time implications and that people of faith should wake up and be watchful for the signs of the times we are living in----the events going on around us are rife with prophetic significance. Make sure your lamps are full and that you would be found blameless and working diligently for the Kingdom of God.
Now, today's word comes from John 2. It is a story of Jesus' first miracle----changing water into wine. Though he said it was premature, at his mother's request, Jesus performed the miracle thereby beginning his miracle-working ministry on earth. Next, he went to the Temple and angrily cleared out the money-changers and commerce that was going on there, thus rebuking those that dishonored God by putting what was common in the place that should be holy unto God. Both events highlight the distinction Jesus was making between what is common and what is holy; the sanctification and consecration that is required to live in His presence.
Jesus' actions are a commentary of how worldliness and conventional knowledge is inferior and has limited place in the lives of believers; and that, when His Presence comes upon us, we will be filled with new wine and holiness. This divine distinction gets blurred and disregarded by the world we live in, just as those at the Deep Fake conference were trying to replace truth with prioritizing "narratives." Truth, faith, even love, are spiritual concepts that have inherent blessings because they are parts of the essence of who God is, His character, the fruits of His Holy Spirit. It is impossible, even sinful, to try and replace these with the limited logic, traditions and means of man, and it will only produce bad fruit. As the presence of our Lord continues to grow more tangibly on earth, we will continue to see the unveiling of His glory around us. And His Presence will divide and separate the common from the holy, belief from doubt, and His righteousness from corruption. We'll even begin to discern prophetic signs from the usual daily events going on in our world. Praise God who does not leave His people in the dark, but invites those who live by truth to come into the glorious light of His Presence through His Son Jesus Christ. Amen!
~Be blessed and be a blessing.
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