This past summer I sat down to lunch with two retired teacher colleagues. After reminiscing about what one friend described as the “Golden Years of Public Education” our conversation turned to our kids and their grandchildren.

When I was asked by one of my friends, “Who will be your daughter’s next teacher?” I responded, “Her mother. We are homeschooling her.” After a brief pause they asked the question every homeschooling parent has heard, “Why?” My answer was short and said everything I needed it to say without really saying anything at all. “Public education is not what it used to be.”

This article serves as an opportunity to provide to you, my gracious reader, a more thorough insight into my response while addressing one facet of today’s evolving public education system. Today’s public schools are not yesterday’s public schools.

Issue

Both the velocity and the ferocity with which the LGBT agenda has infiltrated our public schools are remarkable. When I left the public classroom in 2006, this issue was barely on the radar screen. Within a decade, the topic is among the top few issues facing administrators and education professionals today. The ever-changing statutory and regulatory environment caused by evolving definitions and competing political parties creates an uncertain foundation upon which to develop policy. School districts are generally averse to litigation and prefer policies that avoid costly legal entanglements.¹

This often appeals to community members and taxpayers interested in the best education for the children and the community for the lowest cost. What follows is a review of some of the pressures influencing public policy in our public schools today.

Title IX

Title IX refers to a Federal law enacted by the 92nd United State Congress amending inter alia The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and it states in part:

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in,be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

This opened doors in the 1970’s to new opportunities for woman including participation in interscholastic sports. What followed is decades of interpretation and regulation regarding the implementation of this law by several government agencies. In a “Dear Colleague Letter” dated May 13, 2016 issued jointly be the United States Department of Justice and the United States Department of Education the following guidance appears:

“As a condition of receiving Federal funds,² a school agrees that it will not exclude, separate, deny benefits to, or otherwise treat differently on the basis of sex any person in its educational programs or activities unless expressly authorized to do so under Title IX or its implementing regulations.

The Departments treat a student’s gender identity as the student’s sex for purposes of Title IX and its implementing regulations. (bold-faced added) This means that a school must not treat a transgender student differently from the way it treats other students of the same gender identity. The Departments’ interpretation is consistent with courts’ and other agencies’ interpretations of Federal laws prohibiting sex discrimination.”³ The Trump administration on February 22, 2017 rescinded the Obama administration’s guidance.⁴

Put yourself in the shoes of the Board of Education member required to vote on a resolution or policy regarding transgender issues. Consider the law firms retained by school districts which advice on how best to comply with statutes and regulations. The language in this government letter is neither ambiguous nor ambivalent.

Many school districts characterized the letter as requiring schools to be as open minded as possible on the issue of transgender student rights. A conservative approach fiscally has a progressive consequence socially. And a more fundamental issue is raised by the boldface sentence. Any resistance to the accommodation of gender identity priorities is tantamount to gender discrimination from which our current heated rhetoric hurls accusations of phobia and hate.

Dignity of All Students Act

The New York State legislature passed the Dignity of All Students Act (“DASA”) which took effect on July 1, 2013. Applicants for any New York State education certification are required to complete six hours of training.⁵ This law “seeks to provide the State’s public elementary and secondary school students with a safe and supportive environment free from discrimination, intimidation, taunting, harassment, and bullying on school property, a school bus and/or at a school function.” The guidance found in the aforementioned “Dear Colleague Letter” confirmed and complemented this legislation.

When the Trump administration rescinded this letter and its guidance, the New York State Education Department on March 27, 2017 issued its own guidance. Chancellor Betty A. Rosa said,

We must reaffirm our commitment to providing educational sanctuaries, where students are free to learn regardless of their race, ethnicity, language spoken at home, immigration status, sexual orientation or any other basis. We must embrace all children as our own, with warmth and compassion.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said. “Our message is clear: school districts have a duty to protect the rights of their students – no matter the draconian policies coming out of Washington. I’m proud to continue to partner with Commissioner Elia and SED to ensure this message is heard loud and clear around the state.”⁶

Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act

New York State Senator Daniel Squadron sponsored bill S61A (known as the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act⁷ or “GENDA”) which “prohibits discrimination based on gender identity or expression and includes offenses regarding gender identity or expression under the hate crimes statute.”

This bill merges any resistance to the LGBT agenda with the dreaded label of hate crime. This bill has lost some momentum perhaps due to the many other developments in both our national and state capitols. California Governor Jerry Brown in 2013 signed the first state legislation of this kind which “gives students the right to participate in sex-segregated programs, activities and facilities based on their self-perception and regardless of their birth gender.”⁸

Other Developments

A Board of Education of a New York State school district faces protest and petition to remove from its “Wall of Fame” a Tennessee senator who received in 2008 this recognition from his school. “He has trivialized LGBT youth suicide, labeled homosexuals as a ‘dangerous and deadly’ community because he ignorantly claims only they can transmit HIV/ AIDS, and has attempted to pass the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill which would prevent any type of non-heterosexual discussions in schools. His beliefs are unacceptable for modern day society and certainly don’t set a good example for future generations.” ⁹

According to Planned Parenthood, the narrative about “the birds and the bees”¹⁰ is inadequate in today’s complex conversation about sexuality.

When it comes to gender, ideas about what it means to be a girl or a boy are everywhere, and these ideas have a big influence on your preschooler. Learn how to teach your kid that their gender doesn’t limit them, how to talk about different kinds of families, how to know if your kid is transgender, and more.”¹¹

The link contains information on a new narrative which relies on themes including properly naming body parts and avoiding gender stereotypical patterns. And the advice recommends starting this conversation at the earliest of ages. The Minnesota Department of Education released on July 24, 2017 its Toolkit for Ensuring Safe and Supportive Schools for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students.

The Department website describes it as a “(t)oolkit to help school districts and charter schools create school environments where transgender and gender nonconforming students are safe, supported and fully included, and have equal access to the educational opportunities provided to all students.” ¹² About the toolkit NBC news reports¹³:

The 11-page ‘toolkit’ includes guidelines for the use of proper pronouns and preferred names — suggesting that teachers stop using the term ‘boys and girls,’ and instead use ‘students’ and ‘scholars’ — and tackles the hot-button issue of access to restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with a student’s gender identity. Authors propose single-user restrooms be available for any students who do not want to share a restroom with transgender and gender nonconforming students.”¹⁴

Information on the Gender Unicorn – along with other trans-student resources – is available at http:// www.transstudent.org/gender. I prefer to leave an investigation into this to you gracious reader. This purple puppet created quite a stir within the Charlotte Mecklenburg School system¹⁵ and this author lacks sufficient direct knowledge or reliable reporting to confidentially summarize what is taking place there. Suffice it to say that the Gender Unicorn appears to be influencing professional development programs and public policy decisions albeit on a small scale for now.

This author has long supported parental choice regarding the education of children. Choices include public schools, private schools, parochial schools and parental (home) schools and often combinations thereof. As fall brings about a new school year, I urge all parents to make deliberate, prayerful and informed decisions regarding their children’s education. I hope this article contributes to the information on which that decision is based.

The Parental Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution has been reintroduced in the United States Senate. This amendment proposes to add parental rights specifically and explicitly to the text of the United States Constitution, thereby protecting parental liberty “to direct the upbringing, education and care of their children.”¹⁶ Educate yourself about this Parental Rights Amendment and engage your representatives in your priorities.

Get involved in your local politics by running for a school board position. The Teaching and Learning Institute states its mission is “(t)o increase the number of candidates who are willing to run for their local school board. These candidates should be committed to family values based on a traditional Judeo-Christian belief system.”¹⁷And be in prayer for your family, your community, and your government.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

1 http://wapo.st/2wJlAgU?tid=ss_mail&utm_term=.33830dabbaf0

2 My Gracious Readers will see a parallel between this and the Trump administration’s withholding of Federal monies from so-called sanctuary cities. For news breaking on the day that I write this article: http://www. independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/chicago-sues-trump-administration-sanctuary-citiesrahm-emanuel-jeff-sessions-a7880061.html

3https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201605-title-ix-transgender.pdf

4 http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-lgbt-idUSKBN161243

5 http://www.highered.nysed.gov/tcert/certificate/dasa-applicant.html

6 http://www.nysed.gov/news/2017/guidance-rights-immigrant-students-and-dignity-all-students-act-nowavailable-20-languages

7 https://www.nysenate.gov/issues/genda

8 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/12/califtransgender-bill/2645435/

9 https://www.change.org/p/vestal-board-of-education-remove-staceycampfield-from-the-vestal-hall-of-fame

10 For the record, I have never received this talk, gave this talk or even claim to understand the analogy.

11 https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/parents/preschool/how-do-i-talk-with-my-preschooler-aboutidentity

12 http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/about/adv/active/sstacc/

13http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/minnesota-department-education-approves-transgendertoolkit-n785246

14 The author endorses as a public policy the availability of single-user restrooms for any student who prefersthis.

15 http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/education/article96192472.html

16 https://parentalrights.org/Amendment/

17 http://www.teachingandlearninginstitute.org/interactive/

 

Copyright 2017, Chris Corlett, The News Journal September 2017-Koinonia House-All rights reserved.

 

Most reasonably informed Christians are well aware that many of the traditions that surround the Christmas holidays have pagan origins and very little correlation with the actual events as recorded in the Bible. However, most of us are surprised when we discover that some of what we have been taught about “Easter” is not only in error, but deliberately so!

Many, of course, are aware that the name “Easter” actually originates with the pagan worship of Ishtar (or Astarte) that was traditionally observed at the time of the vernal equinox, nominally about March 21 or 22. Traditional pagan fertility symbols of both rabbits and eggs continue to be associated with this holiday.

However, the name as commonly used is also currently associated with the events surrounding the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which actually occurred on the Jewish Passover and is clearly defined in the Scriptures as the 14th of Nisan.

The Quartodeciman Controversy

It may come as a shock to learn that the early church deliberately committed to separating itself from the explicit record of Scripture. The practice of those Christians insisting on celebrating Passover on the fourteenth day of Nisan from the Old Testament calendar was known as Quartodecimanism (“fourteenism,” as derived from Latin). (Passover was defined in Leviticus 23:5 to be a perpetual ordinance (cf. Exodus 12:14).)

It is nothing short of astonishing to discover that not only was this a major emotional controversy within the early church, but that the commitment to deviate from the Scriptures was driven by a deep anti-Semitism! (This is based on the writings of Irenaeus, the Roman church had celebrated Passover on a Sunday at least since the time of Bishop Xystus or Sixtus I, 115–125 a.d. (Eusebius H.E. 5.24.14).

The aged Apostolic Father Polycarp visited Rome circa 154 a.d., at which time he discussed the difference in Paschal’s calculation with Bishop Anicetus and reached an amicable compromise. In addition, Polycrates of Ephesus and Irenaeus wrote in support of the Quartodecimans. (Eusebius H.E. 5.24.17).

The controversy surrounding this issue was a principal topic at the Council of Nicea in 325 a.d. Emperor Constantine presided over this council—note his own words:

It was, in the first place, declared improper to follow the custom of the Jews in the celebration of this holy festival, because their hands having been stained with crime, the minds of these wretched men are necessarily blinded … Let us, then, have nothing in common with the Jews, who are our adversaries … avoiding all contact with that evil way … who, after having compassed the death of the Lord, being out of their minds, are guided not by sound reason, but by an unrestrained passion, wherever their innate madness carries them … a people so utterly depraved … Therefore, this irregularity must be corrected, in order that we may no more have any thing in common with those parricides and the murderers of our Lord … no single point in common with the perjury of the Jews.

The early church father, Eusebius, also records Emperor Constantine as writing:

… it appeared an unworthy thing that in the celebration of this most holy feast we should follow the practice of the Jews, who have impiously defiled their hands with enormous sin, and are, therefore, deservedly afflicted with blindness of soul … Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd; for we have received from our Savior a different way. (ref. Eusebius, Life of Constantine, Book 3, Chapter 18.)

Setting a Date for Easter

The council unanimously ruled the Easter festival should be celebrated throughout the Christian world on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox; and if the full moon should occur on a Sunday, and coincide with the Passover festival, Easter should be commemorated on the following Sunday.

As a result of the Council of Nicaea, and amended by numerous subsequent meetings, the formal church deliberately attempted to design a formula for “Easter” which would avoid any possibility of it falling on the Jewish Passover, even accidentally!

A principal astronomical problem involved was the discrepancy between the solar year and the lunar year, and thus, the Julian calendar then in use. Numerous alternatives for fixing the date of the feast were tried by the church but proved unsatisfactory, so Easter was celebrated on different dates in different parts of the world.

In 387, for example, the dates of Easter in France and Egypt were 35 days apart. About 465, the church adopted a system of calculation proposed by the astronomer Victorinus, who had been commissioned by Pope Hilarius to reform the calendar and fix the date of Easter. Elements of his method are still in use although the Scythian monk Dionysius Exiguus made significant adjustments to the Easter cycle in the sixth century.

Refusal of the British and Celtic Christian churches to adopt the proposed changes led to a bitter dispute between them and Rome in the seventh century. Reform of the Julian calendar in 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII, through adoption of the Gregorian calendar, eliminated some of the difficulties in fixing the date of Easter and in arranging the ecclesiastical year.

Since 1752, when the Gregorian calendar was also adopted in Great Britain and Ireland, Easter has been celebrated on the same day in the Western part of the Christian world.

The Eastern churches, however, which did not adopt the Gregorian calendar, commemorate Easter on a Sunday either preceding or following the date observed in the West. Occasionally the dates coincide; the most recent times were in 1865 and 1963.

In 1928 the British Parliament enacted a measure allowing the Church of England to commemorate Easter on the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April. Despite these steps toward a consolidation, Easter continues to be a “movable” feast.

In the church’s zeal to separate itself from the Biblical text, confusion has continued.

Friday or Wednesday?

Another controversy continues concerning “Good Friday.” While there are many scholars who continue to defend a Friday Crucifixion, there are many who find this doubtful, for at least three reasons:

1. Jesus specified there would be “three days and three nights”—His words—between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection;
2. Jesus went from Jericho to Bethany six days before Passover; that would require more than a “Sabbath day’s journey” to occur on the Sabbath if Passover was on a Friday;
3. There were two Sabbaths between Passover and Sunday morning, including the Feast of Unleavened Bread, one of the seven high Sabbaths each year.
4. This is why many serious scholars believe the Crucifixion occurred “between the two evenings” on a Wednesday Passover, not on a Friday. Three days later— “the morrow after Shabbat after Passover,” the Feast of First Fruits, was, our First Fruits, discovered on that Sunday morning.

Other Issues

There are many other misunderstandings about the details surrounding those pivotal events.

They had not planned to take Jesus on a feast day, for fear of the Romans. The timing was controlled by Jesus Christ Himself. Even in the garden of Gethsemane, it was Jesus who was giving the orders.

Every detail of the six trials Jesus endured was illegal. (Over 20 specific infractions of legal procedure are detailed in our briefing package, The Easter Story: What Really Happened.)

Satan was hoping for a “righteous death,” which, in the Torah, was a death by stoning. But the Romans had removed the Jews’ right to capital punishment. The death by crucifixion was detailed in the Scriptures 700 years before crucifixion was invented.

What Is “The Gospel”?

The “Good News” can be summed up in five words: Jesus died and rose again! Perhaps the greatest failure by most renderings of the events of those crucial days—even Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion, is the portrayal of the Crucifixion as a tragedy: it wasn’t a tragedy, it was an achievement! Literally hundreds of specifications were fulfilled to accomplish a goal set before the foundation of the world.

Prophecies of the Final Week

There are many Old Testament prophesies quoted in the Gospels specifically about Jesus’ final week. Here is a brief list:

• He would make a triumphal entry in Jerusalem (Zechariah 9:9, Psalm 118).
• He would be smitten like a shepherd (Zechariah 13).
• He would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:1–13 and Psalm 41:9).
• He would be given vinegar and gall (Psalm 69:21).
• They would cast lots for His garments (Psalm 22:18).
• His bones would not be broken (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20).
• His side would be pierced (Zechariah 12 and Psalm 22:16).
• He would die among malefactors (Isaiah 53:9, 12).
• His dying words were foretold (Psalm 22:1, 31).
• He would be buried by a rich man (Isaiah 53:9).
• He would rise on the third day (Jonah 1:17; cf. Genesis 22:4 with Hebrews 11:19).
• His resurrection would be followed by the destruction of Jerusalem (Daniel 9, 11 and 12).

Furthermore, The Passion also failed to show the most important point: Who He was! He wasn’t just a great figure, a teacher or a positive influence. He was the Creator-God, humbling Himself to become our Kinsman-Redeemer!

A Conjecture

The Bible is one book—it has integrity of design. It may surprise you to learn there are more graphic details of the Crucifixion in the Old Testament than in the New. For instance, Psalm 22 is a description of what it was like to hang on the Cross as if it were dictated by Christ Himself (although it was written by David 800 years earlier). Isaiah 52:14 says He would be beaten so badly He would no longer look human.

But there is another verse most people overlook. Isaiah 50:6 says, “I gave my back to those who beat me and my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not turn away my face from insults and spitting.” If I understand this verse correctly and if it was fulfilled on the Cross—and I believe it was—that means they ripped off his beard!

This is particularly vivid for me because many years ago, I worked for a company that had a large software department and the head of that department had a full beard. After working with him for over a year, he came to work one day with his beard shaved off. I would not have recognized him but for another employee who called his name.

Maybe that’s why Mary in the garden didn’t recognize Jesus; she thought He was the gardener! Did He have a disfigured face and scar tissue where His beard had been ripped off?

Maybe that explains why two disciples could walk 7 miles with Him and not realize who He was until they saw His nail prints that evening. Maybe that’s another reason some in the Upper Room were so terrified as He stood there among them. That could also be why John, at the seashore in Galilee, said, “We didn’t dare ask Him because we knew it was the Lord” (John 21:12).

This brings up another question. Does Jesus still bear the marks of His Crucifixion?

Zechariah 12:10 says, “They will look to me — the one whom they pierced.” This would seem to indicate He will indeed bear the scars forever. Some say the only man-made things in Heaven will be His scars.

In Revelation 5:6, John is transported forward in time and sees the Seven-Sealed Book: “Then I saw a lamb standing in the middle of the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders. He looked like he had been slaughtered.” I think Jesus still bears His marks. They are the marks of His humiliation, but they are also the marks of His glory.

I am reminded of a young mother whose face was badly disfigured. Her little girl was continually ridiculed by the children in school because of her mother’s appearance. (You know how cruel children can be.)

When the little girl was old enough, the mother explained to her when she was a baby there was a dreadful fire in the apartment and, although the mother was able to save the little girl, the mother herself suffered very severe burns in the process.From that day on, the little girl was no longer embarrassed about her mother. Every time she looked into her mother’s face it was a reminder of just how much she was loved.

We know the Crucifixion was far more than just a physical event. I suspect you and I will spend an eternity discovering what it really cost Him that we might be there with Him and that we might live. It’s very possible when we look into His face, we too will be reminded just how much we are loved.

This article was originally published in the March 2007 Personal Update News Journal.

© Copyright 2016 Koinonia House

Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; cry out, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you. He is righteous, and he is able to save. He is humble, and is riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9 ISV)

Next Sunday marks the feast of Palm Sunday for Christians around the world.

March 20 most churches will celebrate Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter. This event, also known as “the Triumphal Entry,” involves one of the most astonishing passages in the entire Bible.

Irrefutably Documented

To fully appreciate the remarkable significance of the following, it is essential to realize that the Book of Daniel, as part of the Old Testament, was translated into Greek before 270 B.C., several centuries before Christ was born. This is a well-established fact of secular history.

The Septuagint

After his conquest of the Babylonian Empire, Alexander the Great promoted the Greek language throughout the known world, and thus almost everyone — including the Jews — spoke Greek. Hebrew fell into disuse, being reserved primarily for ceremonial purposes (somewhat analogous to the use of Latin among Roman Catholics).

In order to make the Jewish Scriptures (what we call the Old Testament) available to the average Jewish reader, a project was undertaken under the sponsorship of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285–246 B.C.) to translate the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek.

Seventy scholars were commissioned to complete this work and their result is known as the “Septuagint” (“70”) translation. (This is often abbreviated “LXX.”)

The Book of Daniel is actually one of the most authenticated books of the Old Testament, historically and archaeologically, but this is a convenient short-cut for our purposes here.

It is critical to realize that the Book of Daniel existed in documented form almost three centuries before Christ was born.

Gabriel’s Zinger

Daniel, originally deported as a teenager (now near the end of the Babylonian captivity), was reading in the Book of Jeremiah. He understood that the seventy years of servitude were almost over and he began to pray for his people.

The Angel Gabriel interrupted Daniel’s prayer and gave him a four-verse prophecy that is unquestionably the most remarkable passage in the entire Bible: Daniel 9:24–27.

These four verses include the following segments:

• 9:24 – The Scope of the entire prophecy;
• 9:25 – The 69 Weeks;
• 9:26 – An Interval between the 69th and 70th Week;
• 9:27 – The 70th Week.

The Scope

Seventy weeks have been decreed concerning your people and your holy city: to restrain transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for lawlessness, to establish everlasting righteousness, to conclude vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. (Daniel 9:24 ISV)

The idiom of a “week” of years was common in Israel as a “Sabbath for the land,” in which the land was to lie fallow every seventh year. It was their failure to obey these laws that led to God sending them into captivity under the Babylonians.

When did the Messiah present Himself as a King? On one specific day, Jesus arranges it!

Note that the focus of this passage is upon “thy people and upon thy holy city,” that is, upon Israel and Jerusalem. (It is not directed to the Church.) The scope of this prophecy includes a broad list of things which clearly have yet to be completed.

The First 69 Weeks
A very specific prediction occurs in verse 25:

So be informed and discern that seven weeks and 62 weeks will elapse from the issuance of the command to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed commander. The street will be rebuilt, along with the wall, though in troubled times.”(Daniel 9:25 ISV)

This includes a mathematical prophecy. The Jewish (and Babylonian) calendars used a 360-day year; 69 weeks of 360-day years totals 173,880 days.

In effect, Gabriel told Daniel that the interval between the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem until the presentation of the Messiah as King would be 173,880 days.

The “Messiah the Prince” in the King James translation is actually the Meshiach Nagid, “The Messiah the King.” (Nagid is first used of King Saul.)

Bull’s-eye!

The commandment to restore and build Jerusalem was given by Artaxerxes Longimanus March 14, 445, B.C. This was first identified in Sir Robert Anderson’s classic work, The Coming Prince, first published in 1894. (The emphasis in the verse on “the street” and “the wall” was to avoid confusion with other earlier mandates confined to rebuilding the Temple.)

But when did the Messiah present Himself as a King? During the ministry of Jesus Christ there were several occasions in which the people attempted to promote Him as king, but He carefully avoided it. “Mine hour is not yet come.”

The Triumphal Entry

Then one day He meticulously arranges it. On this particular day he rode into the city of Jerusalem riding on a donkey, deliberately fulfilling a prophecy by Zechariah that the Messiah would present Himself as king in just that way:

Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; cry out, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you. He is righteous, and he is able to save. He is humble, and is riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9, ISV)

Whenever we might easily miss the significance of what was going on, the Pharisees come to our rescue. They felt that the overzealous crowd was blaspheming, proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah the King. However, Jesus endorsed it!

He replied, “I tell you, if they were quiet, the stones would cry out!” (Luke 19:40 ISV)

This is the only occasion that Jesus presented Himself as King. It occurred April 6, 32 A.D. (Luke 3:1: Tiberius appointed in 14 AD; 15th year, 29 AD; the 4th Passover occurred in 32 AD.)

The Precision of Prophecy

When we examine the period between March 14, 445 B.C. and April 6, 32 A.D., and correct for leap years, we discover that it is 173,880 days exactly, to the very day!

How could Daniel have known this in advance? How could anyone have contrived to have this detailed prediction documented over three centuries in advance? But there’s more.

The Interval

There appears to be a gap between the 69th week (verse 25) and the 70th week (verse 27):

Then after the 62 weeks, the anointed one will be cut off, and will have no successor. Then the people of the coming commander will destroy both the city and the Sanctuary. Its ending will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war, with desolations having been decreed. (Daniel 9:26 ISV)

The sixty-two “weeks” follow the initial seven, so verse 26 deals with events after 69th week, but before the 70th. These events include the Messiah being killed and the city and sanctuary being destroyed.

There is a remaining seven-year period to be fulfilled. Revelation 6–19 is essentially a detailing of that climactic period.

As Jesus approached the city on the donkey, He also predicted the destruction of Jerusalem:

Because the days will come when your enemies will build walls around you, surround you, and close you in on every side. They will level you to the ground—you and those who live within your city limits. They will not leave one stone on another within your walls, because you didn’t recognize the time when God came to help you. (Luke 19:43–44 ISV)

The Messiah was, of course, executed at the Crucifixion. “But not for Himself.”

The city and the sanctuary were destroyed 38 years later when the Roman legions under Titus Vespasian leveled the city of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., precisely as Daniel and Jesus had predicted.

In fact, as one carefully examines Jesus’ specific words, it appears that He held them accountable to know this astonishing prophecy in Daniel 9! “Because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.”

The 70th Week

There is a remaining seven-year period to be fulfilled. This period is the most documented period in the entire Bible. The Book of Revelation, Chapters 6 through 19, is essentially a detailing of that climactic period.

The interval between the 69th and 70th week continues, but it is increasingly apparent that it may soon be over.

The more one is familiar with the numerous climactic themes of “end-time” prophecy, the more it seems that Daniel’s 70th Week is on our horizon.

Have you done your homework? Are you and your family prepared?

As you celebrate Palm Sunday this month, share with your family and friends this incredible demonstration of just who Jesus really was, and what the significance of all this is to all of us!

Amazing grace, indeed!

This article was originally published in the March 1996 Personal Update News Journal

© Copyright 1996-2016 Koinonia House

Source of Image: Koinonia House Via Bible Prophecy for Today

The words of the Teacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. “Utterly pointless,” says the Teacher. “Absolutely pointless; everything is pointless.” What does a man gain from all of the work that he undertakes on earth?— Ecclesiastes 1:1–3 (ISV)

Settling unhappily into his Super Bowl seat, high behind the end zone, Joe spots an empty seat low and on the 50-yard line. He descends to it and asks the man seated next to him why the coveted seat is unoccupied. The man says, “It’s mine. I was supposed to come with my wife, but she died. This is the first Super Bowl since 1967 we have not attended together.” Joe says: “But couldn’t you find a friend or relative to come with you today?” The man replies: “No, they’re all at the funeral.”

This story is an apocryphal story for the American national rite, the Super Bowl. Super Bowls are so integral to the American psyche they are usually denoted with Roman numerals. (This year’s game, however, is designated Super Bowl 50 because Super Bowl L looks strange and most people have no idea how to read Roman numerals beyond V and maybe X.) It is appropriate that Roman numerals are used for the game that harkens back to gladiatorial games of Ancient Rome.

Throughout its history, Christianity has intersected with sports in both conflicting and congruous ways. In the earliest Christian literature, the apostle Paul used metaphors from the world of sports to align faith with the demands of discipline and the quest for victory that orient athletic activities. Although the earliest Christian writings do not address issues related to the acceptability of sports within the faith, they create a positive attitude toward dedication and competition, which are constitutive aspects of athletic activities.

Paul and Sports

The most expansive of Paul’s sports metaphors appears in 1 Corinthians:

You know that in a race all the runners run but only one wins the prize, don’t you? You must run in such a way that you may be victorious. Everyone who enters an athletic contest practices self-control in everything. They do it to win a wreath that withers away, but we run to win a prize that never fades. That is the way I run, with a clear goal in mind. That is the way I fight, not like someone shadow boxing. No, I keep on disciplining my body, making it serve me so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not somehow be disqualified. (1 Corinthians 9:24–27 (ISV) – (see also Hebrews 12:1)

Similarly, in 1 Timothy an appreciation of pugilism appears in the urging to “fight the good fight of the faith” (6:12), and images of athletic training direct the reader to a sympathetic understanding of the value of discipline and preparation (4:7b–8). In Philippians Paul also invokes the image of the finish line in a race as a way of focusing attention on the singular goal of faith: “This one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” (3:13b–14).

The apostle also likened the Christian life to that of a track-and-field runner (Acts 20:24; Rom. 9:16; Gal. 2:2; 5:7; Phil. 2:16), a wrestler (Eph. 6:12.) He noted that athletes were obliged to compete according to rules (2 Tim.2:5), and that they competed for a prize (1 Cor. 9:24–27; 1 Thess. 2:19).

In contrast to the smug self-satisfaction of the Corinthian Christians, Paul uses a vivid sports metaphor to paint the actual condition of the apostles. Displayed us, the apostles, last, is a pitiful analogy drawn from the cruelty of the Roman arena. The apostles were like gladiators fighting to the death, or like criminals thrown to the lions, made a spectacle as the grand finale to a day’s sport in a colosseum.

For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display in last place, like men condemned to death. We have become a spectacle for the world, for angels, and for people to stare at.— 1 Corinthians 4:9 (ISV)

Since Paul used so many sports metaphors, it makes one wonder how fast Paul and Barnabas ran from the Jews of Antioch when the people did not hear the disciples’ words and the two shook the mocker’s dust from their feet and left them.

Throughout Christian history theologians and church leaders have continued to use popular sports imagery to express the challenges, processes and goals of faith. During the late 20th century, for instance, two gospel songs drew upon baseball and football for their inspiration, albeit with what many would consider a lack of propriety: “Jesus at the Home Plate” and “Drop Kick Me, Jesus, through the Goal Posts of Life.”

Although neither of these songs manifests the insight of Paul’s epistles, both rely on sports images to convey a basic Christian message.

More Important Things

While there are many illustrations in the Bible relating to sports, no sport is more important than your relationship with God. Ecclesiastes points out that “all is vanity”; everything is pointless if we are not right with God.

Continue reading here

© Copyright 2016 Koinonia House

Image Credit: Wikipedia

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And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. — Revelation 6:5–6 KJV

John tells us that the price of grain is one denarius — about ten times its normal price when these words were penned in the first century. At those prices, each worker would barely be able to feed one person — or require that the entire family try to survive on the amount of food that just one person needed to survive.

For those of us who live in the developed world, it’s hard for us to imagine being truly hungry; let alone standing by helplessly as our children or grandchildren go to bed with empty stomachs. Yet, we have witnessed soaring food prices and starvation often in modern times — both in the third world and also in developed nations. We saw it happen repeatedly early in the 20th Century:

• In 1921 Poland, food prices doubled every 19 days.
• In 1923 Germany, they doubled every four days.
• In 1944 Greece, they doubled every four days.
• In 1946 Hungary, food prices doubled every 15 hours.

We’ve also seen government-engineered famines more recently:

• In 1982 Mexico, the inflation rate hit 10,000%, driving the price of food up 100 times in 12 months.
• In 1989 Argentina, the Peso was devalued three times, driving food prices up 3,079% in a single year.
• In 1994 Brazil, inflation raged at 2,075.8% per year, making food more than 20 times more expensive.
• In 1994 Yugoslavia, food prices doubled every 34 hours.
• And in 2008 Zimbabwe, they doubled every single day.

Hyperinflation

The best-documented hyperinflationary episode in history is the one that nearly destroyed Germany between 1922 and 1923. The German government began printing unbacked paper marks – first, to finance World War I and later, to pay war reparations. By late 1923, 300 paper mills and 2,000 printing presses worked around the clock cranking out German banknotes.

The human toll was devastating: On average, prices doubled every three days. In a single month, prices exploded more than 32,000% higher — enough to drive prices up by a factor of 320 in a single, 30-day period.

My German grandparents sold their restaurant in order to retire. However, by the time formalities were completed, all they received was enough to buy a loaf of bread!

These crises were entirely man-made. Their nation’s leaders made them by creating unbacked paper marks out of thin air. So what does this have to do with you and me in today’s world? Quite simply, everything!

You see, Germany sank into the most severe hyperinflationary period in recorded history after printing 1.3 trillion marks. That translates to about 4 trillion in today’s dollars. Ironically, that is almost exactly the same amount of money the United States government has printed since 2008.

But that’s only the tip of the iceberg because:

• The European Union has printed 503 billion euros — equal to about 627 billion dollars.
• Japan has printed 180 trillion yen, equal to about $1.5 trillion.
• The UK has printed 314 billion pounds, equal to about $493 billion. Altogether, that’s well over $6 trillion.

And despite the fact that most of that money is still being held on bank balance sheets and has yet to trickle into the economy, food prices are already beginning to rise rapidly.

Flour prices are up 19% … ice cream is up 21% … rice and cheddar cheese are both up 27% … chicken is up 34% … oranges are up 70% … and hamburger meat is up a whopping 74%.

And this is only the beginning. Because that trickle of newly printed money flowing into the economy will fast become a flood. As the rest of it hits food prices, they can only explode higher with no end in sight. Inflation Isn’t the Only Problem.

“Civilization and Anarchy are just seven meals apart” — Spanish Proverb

The food problem is affected by many different factors even after you take into account inflation, war, unrest, disease and weather. Here are at least five major concerns not covered above that food producers and suppliers must also deal with:

1. Limited arable land – land that has the needed nutrients and water to sustain crops.
2. Crop yield ratios – crop yields seem to be plateauing or are increasing considerably slower than the population.
3. Growing population – many experts expect the planet to add another 2 billion people in the next 35 years.
4. Changing diets in emerging markets – developing countries are demanding more and better foods.
5. Bio-fuel demand – crops to supply cheaper and cleaner fuels continue to take precedent over food crops

Bayes’ Theorem

It can be useful to exploit a technique that goes by several names including “causal inference” or “inverse probability” — based on a mathematical equation called Bayes’ Theorem. Basically, you form a hypothesis based on experience, common sense and whatever data are available. Then you test the hypothesis not by what has happened before, but by what comes after.

Instead of reasoning from cause to effect, you reverse the process. You watch the effects to determine the cause. This will validate or invalidate the ‘cause’ which you have hypothesized. Sometimes, the effects contradict the hypothesis, in which case you can modify it or adopt another. Often, the effects confirm the hypothesis, in which case you know you’re on the right track and keep going.

The theorem has proved its worth, such as in 2012 when it was used to successfully predict the outcome of the U.S. presidential election in all 50 states before the final vote counts were available. Despite its success it has always been regarded with some suspicion by statisticians particularly because it has been used when genuine prior data is unavailable or uncertain.

Bad Debts

Prof. Laurence Kotlikoff,[1] (a widely accepted expert) using CBO figures estimates that the U.S. national indebtedness is $222 trillion at last count, and growing. That’s $17 trillion current, national debt, plus over $200 trillion unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicaid and other entitlement programs.

To put that in perspective, McKinsey Global Institute calculates that the total wealth of the world is estimated at $200 trillion. So, at $222 trillion, the US fiscal gap is 11% larger than all the accumulated wealth existing in the world today!

That’s almost $500,000 for every man, woman, and child. The U.S. government borrows four out of every ten dollars it spends.

One popular hypothesis is that the world is facing a tsunami of more than $2 trillion of bad debt just coming from oil drilling, emerging markets and corporate junk bonds. Even money-losing operations can keep up debt service for a while by using working capital and cash flow — at least until the cash runs out. Banks that hold some of the debt can also cover up the losses for a while with accounting games such as fiddling with their loan loss reserves. If so, bank stocks may take a major hit by early 2016 as these losses come home to roost.

Using the language of Bayes’ Theorem, bad debts will be the “cause” of a drop in financial stocks. What are the other “effects” to test the validity of these hypotheses?

For energy junk debt, we can look at rig counts in the oil patch and layoffs among energy exploration companies. For emerging-market debt, we can look at the strong dollar and dwindling hard currency reserves in countries like Russia, Turkey, Mexico and Brazil. In short, we can work backward from these visible causes to test the validity of the original hypothesis.

Right now, the idea that financial stocks will suffer major write-offs by this time next year looks like a good one.

If it were only so simple. Stocks may rise much higher before a crisis hits. If no fed rate increase this year comes true, it could be extremely bullish for U.S. equity markets. Right now, equity markets are priced for a rate hike in mid–2015.

When markets realize that easy-money policies could continue into 2016, another upward thrust of the bull market would commence, and a level of 2,200 or higher on the S&P 500 index would not be surprising.

The Age of Deceit at Work

Not wanting to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but it seems almost no one has connected the dots between Yellen[2] and Draghi,[3] and most seem to assume that they each operate independently.

However, some suggest that the rapid rise of the dollar is being allowed because it is part of the “plan” to save the Eurozone and hold back the inevitable U.S. rate increases. The under-the-counter payoffs allow corporations to continue to buy back shares and increase dividends by borrowing at near-zero rates forever — clearly visible in the bank’s celebratory “stress test” announcements.

Whether this game ends in a massive economic collapse or the establishment of Special Drawing Rights is not important, as either will result in the same outcome for the world’s 95% — economic disaster and enslavement.

This was also underlined with CNBC’s celebration of 500,000 newly minted American millionaires — establishing 5% of American households with assets greater than $1 million, (while CNBC failed to report that American families living in poverty have increased to 35%.)

Just in from the Agriculture Department: The number of Americans on food stamps has now topped 46 million every month since September 2011. This does seem to speak of a real destruction of America’s moral political leadership.

One way to approach the “Age of Deceit” is to establish your own prior probabilities to trigger your own “tests.”

For a more detailed exploration of these ideas, see our briefing pack on the ostensible advent of the “Black Horseman.”

1. Laurence J. Kotlikoff is a William Fairfield Warren Professor at Boston University, a Professor of Economics at Boston University, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the Econometric Society, a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, President of Economic Security Planning, Inc., and the Director of the Tax Analysis Center. Professor Kotlikoff received his B.A. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1973 and his Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University in 1977. Kotlikoff attempted to run for President of the United States in the 2012 election, and sought the nominations of the advocacy group Americans Elect and the Reform Party of the United States before ending his campaign in May 2012.
2. Janet Yellen is the 15th Chair of the Federal Reserve.
3. Mario Draghi is an Italian economist, manager and banker who succeeded Jean-Claude Trichet as the President of the European Central Bank on 1 November 2011. He was previously the governor of the Bank of Italy from December 2005 until October 2011. In 2014 Forbes nominated Draghi as the 8th most powerful person in the world.

This article was originally published in the May 2015 Personal Update NewsJournal.

Copyright © 2015, Dr. Chuck Missler –All rights reserved