Some days I love the access the internet provides – like the ability to watch TV shows online.
Granted I probably watch much more TV than I should, having gotten hooked on shows like LOST and The Office, but I really like that the big 3 stream many of their shows online.
I completely missed viewing any of the episodes of Jericho when originally aired, but over the course of the last few weeks I’ve made it through the 29 episodes that comprise the series (and secretly hoping there will be a season 3). It ended mostly satisfying enough… mostly.
I liked it for several reasons: plausible premise, decent acting, not much language, no hot n heavy ‘love’ scenes, decent writing – though there were some episodes that had about 10 minutes of plot that moved the story along surrounded by 30 minutes of filler.
I’m also somewhat of a ‘disaster movie’ junkie: Volcano, Twister, The Day After (not to be confused the abysmal “the Day After Tomorrow” by Roland Emmerich – you know the one – where ‘cold’ chases the principal characters down the hallway?).
Note to self: Netflix “The Day After” – haven’t seen it since childhood when it ran on TV. OK – set to #4 on Queue.
Where was I? Oh yes – Jericho.
The series really got me thinking – what would happen if several major U.S. cities got nuked? And not to give away any part of the series plot, but how ‘safe’ are we anyway? And have we considered all potential threats to our current way of living?
What would our utilities infrastructure be like? What about commerce? Grocery shopping? Clean water?
If you’re up for an intriguing series you may have missed, head over to CBS.com and navigate your way to the Jericho page(s) and watch the series
I also recently finished reading the novel Dead Heat by Joel Rosenberg, who through his political connections seems to have a pretty good read on the pulse of current world events as they relate to Biblical prophecy. The novel also raises the question of what would happen during a nuclear attack on the U.S.
The U.S. could never be nuked though, right? Why not?
Nowhere in Bible prophecy is the prominence (or existence for that matter) of the U.S. assured. There are some who would spiritualize parts of Revelation seeing the U.S. as Israel that John is talking about. I think that’s poor exegesis. It also is based on the notion of ‘British Israelism’ – the belief that that many early Britons, Europeans and/or their royal families were direct lineal descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel but rarely the Tribe of Judah and that God’s blessing and choosing of ancient Israel have migrated to the U.S. and Caucasians in general.
Others have said that the U.S. is the ‘mystery Babylon John refers to, a nation that ‘exports her immorality to the rest of the world’ and that one day we will fulfill the words “in one hour your doom has come!” The passage indicating smoke pillars rising….
Let’s take texts as face value: Israel is Israel. Babylon is Babylon – yup the one in Iraq.
No mention of the powerhouse that is the United States. Of all the major players in the end times passages (Iraq, Israel, Iran, Libya, Egypt, Turkey, Russia and a vast Asian army) there is no mention of the U.S.
So I wonder what happens to us(U.S.)?
Let me be clear in saying that no matter what happens, I trust the sovereignty and goodness of God. His plan to bring Himself glory through Christ will not be thwarted. God seemed to be silent during the 400 years that Israel – His chosen – was in bondage in Egypt. God seemed silent, seemed distant during the 400 years between testaments. But His plans are so different from ours.
“Signs, signs, everywhere the signs…”
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the state of the world. Seems there’s a lot going on that could be indicators of the Big Show coming down soon. And I realize every generation thinks they’re the last. But some significant things are going on that have never happened before. To get a more comprehensive read on some of these, you can head on over to http://www.joelrosenberg.blogspot.com
Pick up a copy of Rosenberg’s non-fiction work – Epicenter. Don’t get the DVD. Get the book. (http://www.joelrosenberg.com/epicenter.asp)
It is eerily prophetic. And some of his ‘guesses’ at what’s to come next have been steadily moving that direction since its publication.
I’m an unabashed ‘Pre-wrath Rapture’ guy. (You can read the books by Marvin Rosenthal or Robert VanKampen for a detailed explanation).
In a nutshell, I reject the eschatological view that says the Church (big C) escapes the tribulation during the time when the anti-christ rises to power. That position, called ‘pre-trib’ has been popularized by the Left Behind novels and could do a major disservice to the Church if we don’t all vanish before the anti-christ is revealed in the coming temple in Jerusalem. What will happen to the faith of those who think they have missed the rapture? Many Christians in the West live with this sense of “I don’t have to be prepared, cuz I’ll be outta here.” What happens if(when) that position does not come to pass?
How many Western Christians realize that unimaginable conditions exist today for our brothers and sisters around the world? While we complain about carpet color and music style and whether the pastor wore a tie (or - gasp!- jeans), our sisters in Sudan are sold into prostitution and their children as sex slaves because they will not deny Christ. Believers in Jesus in the mid-East and Indonesia and China and North Korea are tortured and executed for their faith. Interestingly, these countries’ believers are mostly not ‘pre-trib’. And Czar Putin is in the process of squashing the Church of Jesus and funding the building of mosques.(read)
Back to Jericho & Dead Heat – how many Christians will lose faith if the U.S. is nuked, experiences famine, the rise of a tyrannical government or any other ‘impossible situations’?
If I am wrong, so much the better. If I am right, the Church should consider what to watch for. Again, see VanKampen & Rosenthal for specifics, or check out www.prewrathrapture.com
Jesus said to watch and pray. If He said ‘watch’ that means that we (the Church) are to watch for something. And there are many coming, specific signs. It does not mean “hopefully some unbelievers will race to find a Bible and stumble upon specific prophetic utterances when they realize that Christians have disappeared, and then watch for the signs to come.”
We need to not be naively biding time, hoarding or fretting.
We do need to be watching, preparing and praying.
Thank you Lord for wake up calls through the coaxial.
