Bits n Pieces

Does God have an Emergency Preparedness Plan?

Today, a strange paradox
exits. What looks like the fulfillment of prophecy is everywhere;
unrest in the Middle East, the rise of a European Superstate, the
alignment of Gog and Magog, forming of a national ID and gateways
through biotechnology that could unleash upon earth pestilence of
biblical proportions. People from all three of the world’s
great religions see these developments as potential omens of an
‘End Times’ scenario leading to the
Apocalypse.

Yet many believers in God, especially in America, are
indifferent to the need to prepare for the unexpected.

An article by Mimi Hall in USA TODAY this week said,
"Most Americans haven't taken steps to prepare for a
natural disaster, terrorist attack or other emergency, according
to a new study on preparedness, and only about a third have made
plans with family members about how they would communicate with
each other during a crisis."

Part of the reason for this may be that we are well off in the
United States, and we trust in our bank accounts to sustain us.
Unfortunately, money sitting in savings and investments are
useless if you become stuck in a storm or other crisis.

Another disarming reason I witnessed during my 25 years of
pastoring for why people of faith neglect preparedness has to do
with an odd defeatism that says, "If current events are
prophesied to happen, then there’s nothing we can do about
it anyway."

The notion that calamity is unavoidable if it is divinely
predicted is even sanctioned by some expositors who miss the
pattern for preparedness in the Bible. While it is true that
famine was prophesied for Egypt, it is also a fact that God led
Joseph to prepare for it, and, as a result, he saved his family
and the nations around about.

Proverbs 22:3 tells us that a prudent person will foresee such
difficulties and prepare for them, while a simpleton will go
blindly on and suffer the consequences. This is good advice not
only for religious folks, but also people of any persuasion.

A third and perhaps the greatest reason why some people,
including religious people never plan for disaster, is that they
view the need to prepare for the unexpected as too complicated
and costly. They imagine the back yard being dug up for
construction of a massive bomb shelter and the basement crammed
with row after row of dry grains and large containers filled with
backup water.

The truth is, survival preparation is modestly affordable.
Under most circumstances, the ability for individuals to remain
mobile for a few days to a week or so by simply grabbing an
inexpensive "survival bag" and heading out is more
important than silos filled with long term storage foods.

Even when we envision a worse case scenario – such as a
terrorist nuke or ICBM exchange – low-cost shelters, that
can be built at home and combined with a minimal amount of
Potassium Iodide, would help keep as much as 99 percent of the
population alive according to one synopsis by the Department of
Homeland Security. Designs for building such family shelters are
available free online at places like www.SurvivorMall.com.

While having to try to endure radioactive fallout is a growing
possibility, the fact is that most people are more likely to face
disaster as a result of things like nature.

A few weeks ago a journalist became lost in a snowstorm in
Oregon and died from the exposure to freezing temperatures. If
his car had been equipped with a survival kit, he would have had
an excellent chance of survival.

During Hurricane Katrina, one woman had an emergency supplies
kit in her attic that kept her and her two cats alive for days
until help arrived. Another man, a doctor who had read "Dare
to Prepare" by Holly Deyo and followed its instructions, was
prepared with equipment and supplies. His house became a
gathering place for people displaced by the storm.

For reasons such as these, my wife and I recently provided
each of our children with a "walk out" kit for the
trunks of their cars. These emergency bags contain enough food,
water, shelter, first aid, lighting and communication supplies to
keep them alive for days in the case of a vehicle malfunction or
other situation where they would need to abandon their car.

Many of the items vital for a good survival kit can be found
at your local shopping center: an inexpensive poncho, a basic
first aid assortment, nylon cord, canvas for temporary shelter,
duck tape, a whistle. Other items are a bit trickier to find and
may need to be acquired from one of many online emergency
preparedness companies. These include five-year-shelf-life food
bars, five-year-shelf-life water boxes or pouches, paper-thin
thermal blankets designed by NASA to retain body heat, special
hand-crank combination flashlights with radios and emergency
signals built in, and so on. My personal favorite is the
"Transformer 4 in 1 Radio Flashlight," which requires
no maintenance, no batteries, no bulb replacements, and can even
power your cell phone.

Pre-made emergency kits containing items such as those above
can be acquired online at costs from $30.00 and up, depending on
the number of people and the number of days they are designed to
sustain.

Why then, given how affordable disaster preparedness is, are
so many people unprepared for an emergency?

Within "faith communities," part of the problem goes
back to western dispensational fatalism that fails to see
God’s instructions about the future and the responsibility
He gives concerning preparation. Church authorities may speak of
the hidden shelter that God provides His followers during a
storm, yet often fail to see the believer’s responsibility
cast throughout the Bible where we are to care for our families
and communities by readying for the unknown.

Some teachers also erroneously believe that emergency
preparedness reflects a lack of faith in God.

The opposite is true. The Book of James measures faith by
personal action, and Hebrews 11:7 describes true faith this way:
"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as
yet, moved with fear and prepared an ark to the saving of his
house."

God told Noah that He would destroy the earth by a flood. He
gave Noah instructions on how to be prepared so that he and his
family could survive. Noah didn’t know when the flood would
come, only that it was prophesied, and he prepared for it. When
the Flood arrived, he was ready. His faith in and obedience to
God’s word, his survival instincts, and ultimately his
preparedness actions saved his family and preserved the human
race.

The parallel between Noah and today is astounding. "As it
was in the days of Noah," says Luke 17:26-27 concerning the
last days. Noah's actions should define the modern
believer's responsibility, including the need for spiritual
and physical preparedness.

Of course there are other places in the Bible that provide
lessons about preparedness, including principles in the Books of
Psalms and Proverbs, the parable of the faithful and evil
servants (Matthew 24:45-51) and the parable of the ten virgins
(Matthew 25:1-13). But 1 Timothy 5:8 goes even further, saying
that a person who does not provide for the survival of their
relatives has denied the faith and is worse than an
unbeliever.

Given these instructions and the belief held by many today
that we are living in "the last days" or at a minimum a
time of unusual earth changes, leaders of religious institutions
urgently need to educate their followers about taking personal
responsibility for preparedness in an age of growing uncertainty.
Dramatic lessons over the last few years have proven that we
cannot depend on government agencies such as FEMA to save us if
we need them. In fact, a report last month found that five years
after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the government still isn't
fully prepared to respond to a major public health emergency such
as bioterrorism or a pandemic flu outbreak.

So what can one do to help people with disaster
preparedness?

This is the good news. Hundreds of pages from reports and
booklets on how to perform first aid, prepare temporary shelters,
build bomb shelters, defend against terrorism and chemical
contamination, shield against nuclear fallout, survive
earthquakes, storms, floods, and dozens of other emergency
situations are available free at places like www.SurvivorMall.com

Spiritual leaders can download these booklets and reports,
print them out and place them on a table in a church foyer, hand
them to neighbors, give them out during classes, or better yet
teach a class on preparedness and tie it in with the mandates of
Scripture. If nothing else, everybody can forward this article to
the people they know with a recommendation that they do what is
right to protect themselves as well as those God has placed under
their care.

As a veteran of more than 30 years of church ministry, I call
on pastors and other religious leaders to stand at the forefront
of this issue and to make disaster preparedness some part of
their ministry. This doesn’t need to define what you or
your fellowship is about, but this can and must be part of the
wise counsel you offer those you have responsibility for. You
could literally save a believer’s life!

Deuteronomy 30:19 says, "Today I have given you the
choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I
call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that
you would choose life, that you and your descendants might
live!"

Together as people of faith, we should face the future with
confidence and take the lead in disaster preparedness

Thomas Horn is the CEO of RaidersNewsNetwork.com and SurvivorMall.com

Over the last decade, he has authored three books, wrote
dozens of published editorials, and had several feature magazine
articles. In addition to past articles at NewsWithViews.com , his
works have been referred to by writers of the LA Times Syndicate,
MSNBC, Christianity Today, Coast to Coast, World Net Daily, White
House Correspondents and dozens of newsmagazines and press
agencies around the globe. Tom's latest book is "The
Ahriman Gate," which fictionalizes the use of biotechnology
to resurrect Biblical Nephilim.

Thomas is also a well known radio personality who has
guest-hosted and appeared on dozens of radio and television shows
over the last 30 years, including "The 700 Club" and
"Coast to Coast AM." When looking for a spokesperson to
promote their film "Deceived" staring Louis Gossett Jr.
and Judd Nelson, "Cloud 10 Pictures" selected Thomas as
their spokesperson to explain the Christian viewpoint on
UFO-related demonology.

Web Site: RaidersNewsNetwork.com

Dutch baby euthanasia warrants no prosecution

22 cases of infant mercy killing where cases dismissed between 1997 and 2004

A study published in the Dutch Journal of Medicine reveals
doctors in the Netherlands have been killing infants born with
disabilities at least since 1997, despite euthanasia of children
being illegal in that country. Dr. Eduard Verhagen, a
pediatrician at Groningen University Medical Center and one of
the study's authors, is a well-known advocate of euthanasia.
As reported by WorldNetDaily, Verhagen has boasted of killing
four seriously deformed babies within the last two years.

"The babies are there but we were never allowed to talk
about them. That must change. If we take this awfully difficult
decision, it must happen with complete openness," said
Verhagen, who hopes the study encourages doctors to report
incidents of euthanasia without fear of prosecution. "You
are trained to save the life of a child but with these children
the suffering can only be stopped by ending their lives. It takes
courage to do that."

Today's report cites 22 cases of babies born with spina
bifida who were euthanized in the U.K. between 1997 and 2004. In
all cases, prosecutors dismissed the cases because doctors had
complied with unofficial conditions that are not part of the
Dutch legal code.

Prosecutors ignored cases where the baby had no chance of
survival and was suffering and where a second doctor and the
parents concurred with the decision to euthanize. The means of
ending the newborn's life had to be "in the correct
medical way," as well. "There is a small group of
children for whom no treatment is possible for the congenital
disease and malformations they are born with," Verhagen told
the London Telegraph last month, explaining why he had chosen to
break the law. "Asking doctors to take away the pain easily
and allow the child to die quietly is the natural reaction.

"For the incurable to die early requires that we do this
or they enter a starvation phase and what suffering is more
unbearable than a minor left to die from natural causes such as
these." While prosecutors have declined to take action
against the doctor, various pro-life groups have condemned him.
The Vatican labeled Verhagen and other physicians involved in
medical killings of infants as little better than the Nazi
medical workers who killed defective newborns to create
Hitler's master race.

"This is a Darwinian nightmare and a grave violation of
the laws of God," a spokesman for Wim Eijk, the Roman
Catholic bishop in Groningen said last week. "It is crossing
a boundary thus far prohibited in every code. Euthanasia for
children in circumstances where it is not possible to seek or
secure the consent of those affected. It is a slippery slope that
will give doctors the right to impose life or death, and will
lead to an argument that it should be extended to all."

Currently, Dutch doctors who support Dr. Verhagen are
regularly reporting "neo-natal" deaths to the national
prosecutor's office in the Hague in an attempt to force a
prosecution and confrontation over the practice in the courts.
The lack of prosecution, thus far, is being used to support their
claim that the practice is humane and that it should no longer be
done in secret, but openly, with government protection for
doctors.

THE MIRACLE IN SHANDONG PROVINCE IN CHINA "The End is Near: Rescue Souls"

In the Chinese province of Shandong a group of
believers were gathering together in the snow covered woods to
worship and share the word of God. A free Chinese brother was
present with them on this particular day. The reason why they
were out in the woods is because in that area there is great
persecution against believers should they be caught. As a result
of fear in being caught they had no instruments as they sang and
praised God in song. The free Chinese brother had in his
possession a hand held audio recorder. So when the service began
this brother switched on his recorder. The folk present began to
sing with out any accompaniment and then fell on their faces in
the snow and began quietly to intercede before God. After some
time the congregation stood to their feet and began to vocalize
their worship, again as before they sung with no accompaniment,
fearing they may be heard by authorities. As the service in the
forest reached its finale and came to a conclusion the people
began to disperse. The visiting brother switched off his recorder
and went home along with the others.

When he was back in his hotel the brother turned on his
recorder to check the degree of clarity on his machine and to his
amazement he heard the sound of many varied instruments. As well
as the instrumentation, the more he listened he heard the sound
of many voices singing in a foreign language. After listening to
the entire recording it became blatantly obvious that there were
varied instruments such as strings, percussion and wind backing
the Chinese church in the forest. Included on the recording was
the sound of a large choir backing the music being played which
was in sync with the voices of the church congregation. Added to
all of that when the recording played through to the section
where the forest congregation went silent as they lay on their
faces in the snow, the voices of what is now identified as a
heavenly choir began to rise in a crescendo.

The language of the heavenly choir was different from the
earthly singers language and as a result an interpreter was
bought in to translate the language. They found the language was
old mandarin and when it was translated the recorded message was
alarming to say the least. I have included the actual translation
in the transcript of this article so you can read the message for
your selves. It is a very specific and prophetic message directed
to the Christian and non Christian world alike, warning us of the
impending judgment that awaits mankind. It is clearly recognized
now as an angelic choir and orchestra that backed the church in
the forest that day, and further more the actual audio recording
is also available to those that want to down load it from the
internet.

1. The famine is becoming more and more critical. There are
more and more earthquakes.
The situation is becoming more and more sinister. People are
fighting against each other, nation against nation. Disasters are
more and more severe.

2. The whole environment is deteriorating. Disasters are more and
more severe. People's hearts are wicked, and they do not
worship the true God. Disasters are more and more severe.

3. Floods and droughts are more and more frequent. There is
more and more homosexuality and incurable diseases. Disasters are
more and more severe.

4. The climates are becoming more and more abnormal. The earth is
more and more restless.
The skies have been broken. The atmosphere is distorted.
Disasters are more and more severe.

Chorus:

The end is near. The revelation of love has been manifested.
Rise up, rise up, rescue souls.
The end is near. Rise up, rise up, rescue souls.

The above English words were translated from the original
Chinese below by two native Chinese Christians in Beijing who
have personal knowledge of the church and the pastor where the
incident happened: