The Rapture App: Increasing Birth Pains

Discussing current events and how they relate to Biblical prophesy. What are some critical signs are pointing to the imminent Rapture of the Church?

While He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached Him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

Then Jesus replied to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many. You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these events are the beginning of birth pains. (Matthew 24:3-8)

The birthing example in Revelation 12 can help us to understand what is happening right now.

Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth… She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. (Revelation 12:1-2,5)

We have seen the incredible hardship on millions of people, including Christians, just in the last few years, with non-stop wars, natural disasters, global social upheavals, and economic devastation.

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Anguish on the earth among nations bewildered by the roaring sea and waves

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World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency 2021 / BioScience, July 28, 2021

In 2019, Ripple and colleagues (2020) warned of untold suffering and declared a climate emergency together with more than 11,000 scientist signatories from 153 countries. They presented graphs of planetary vital signs indicating very troubling trends, along with little progress by humanity to address climate change. On the basis of these data and scientists’ moral obligation to “clearly warn humanity of any catastrophic threat,” they called for transformative change.

Since the article’s publication, more than 2,800 additional scientists have signed that declaration of a climate emergency; in addition, 1,990 jurisdictions in 34 countries have now formally declared or recognized a climate emergency.

But, at the same time, there has been an unprecedented surge in climate-related disasters since 2019, including devastating flooding in South America and Southeast Asia, record shattering heat waves and wildfires in Australia and the Western United States, an extraordinary Atlantic hurricane season, and devastating cyclones in Africa, South Asia, and the West Pacific. There is also mounting evidence that we are nearing or have already crossed tipping points associated with critical parts of the Earth system, including the West Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, warm-water coral reefs, and the Amazon rainforest.

Given these alarming developments, we need short, frequent, and easily accessible updates on the climate emergency.

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Study warns of ‘irreversible transition’ in ocean currents that could rapidly freeze parts of North America / Yahoo! News, August 5, 2021

A large system of ocean currents in the Atlantic – which includes the Gulf Stream – has been disrupted due to human-caused climate change, scientists reported in a new study published Thursday. If that system collapses, it would lead to dramatic changes in worldwide weather patterns.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, transports warm, salty water from the tropics northward at the ocean surface and cold water southward at the ocean bottom.

“The Atlantic Meridional Overturning really is one of our planet’s key circulation systems,” said the author of the study, Niklas Boers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.

Findings from a similar 2018 study drew comparisons to the scientifically inaccurate 2004 disaster movie “The Day After Tomorrow,” which used such an ocean current shutdown as the premise of the film. At the time, study authors said a collapse was at least decades away but would be a catastrophe.

A potential collapse of this ocean current system would have severe consequences around the globe, authors of the new study said.

If this circulation shuts down, it could bring extreme cold to Europe and parts of North America, raise sea levels along the U.S. East Coast and disrupt seasonal monsoons that provide water to much of the world, the Washington Post said.

It would also further endanger the Amazon rainforest and Antarctic ice sheets, according to the Guardian.

Researchers who study ancient climate change have also uncovered evidence that the AMOC can turn off abruptly, causing wild temperature swings and other dramatic shifts in global weather systems, the Post said.

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She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.

The “male Child” represents all Christians who will be “caught up” (I Thess. 4:16-17) at the time of the Rapture.

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For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom

After Gantz threatens attack, Iran warns Israel: ‘Don’t test us’ /  The Times of Israel, August 5, 2021

Iran’s Foreign Ministry warned arch-foe Israel on Thursday not to take military action against the Islamic Republic after the Jewish state threatened Tehran over a deadly tanker attack.

“In another brazen violation of Int’l law, Israeli regime now blatantly threatens Iran with military action,” ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Twitter.

The MT Mercer Street, managed by prominent Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer, was attacked off Oman last week.

A British security guard and a Romanian crew member were killed in what the United States, Britain and the vessel’s operator Zodiac Maritime said appeared to be an Iranian drone strike.

“We state this clearly: ANY foolish act against Iran will be met with a DECISIVE response,” Khatizbadeh said. “Don’t test us,” he warned.

Earlier on Thursday, Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Israel is prepared to militarily engage directly with Iran. Asked in an interview with the Ynet news site whether Israel was ready to strike in Iran if need be, Gantz responded simply, “Yes.”

Israel, he added, is nevertheless focused on an effort to mobilize the international community to rein Tehran in, “because we can’t tag Iran as solely an Israeli problem and absolve the rest of the world from this issue.”

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said his government was “working on enlisting the world” in response to the attack, but warned “we also know how to act alone.”

“The Iranians need to understand that it is impossible to sit peacefully in Tehran and, from there, ignite the entire Middle East. That is over,” Bennett said.

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Gantz: Iran is 10 weeks from breakout to a nuclear weapon / The Jerusalem Post, August 5, 2021

Tehran will be able to break out to a nuclear weapon within 10 weeks, Defense Minister Benny Gantz told diplomats from UN Security Council member states on Wednesday as tensions ratcheted up between Iran and the international community over its maritime attacks.

“Iran has violated all of the guidelines set in the JCPOA [nuclear agreement] and is only around 10 weeks away from acquiring weapons-grade materials necessary for a nuclear weapon,” Gantz warned.
“Therefore,” he added, “it is time to act. The world must apply economic sanctions and take operative action against the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps,” which has targeted shipping vessels.

In recent weeks, top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Gantz have expressed alarm to the US and others that Iran is taking advantage of a long pause in negotiations to return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to dramatically advance its nuclear program.

Gantz’s remarks were made in a presentation with Lapid to diplomats from UN Security Council member states on Wednesday, as part of a push by Israel for the UNSC to sanction Iran for its maritime attacks, including on the Mercer Street ship, which is managed by an Israeli company, and the Asphalt Princess in the Gulf in the past week.

These attacks are not just on Israel, but are on the world, and therefore the world must react in a united way to ensure Iran takes responsibility for its aggression, was the senior ministers’ message. However, they told the ambassadors that Israel would retain its freedom to act against Iran in response to any attacks or threats on its citizens.

One of the critical signs are pointing to the imminent Rapture of the Church is the invasion of Israel. This invasion was foretold in Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38.

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There will be famines and earthquakes in various places

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UN: ‘2021 Is Going to Be Most Catastrophic Year in Our History’ / News Punch, December 5, 2020

The head of the U.N.’s World Food Programme has issued an apocalyptic forecast about the year 2021, warning that a “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis looms in the months ahead, in what will be the worst year in over 100 years.

WFP chief David Beasley sounded the alarm at a United Nations General Assembly meeting on Friday.

He warned that over 270 million people are now “marching toward starvation” and that, in some countries, famine is “around the horizon.”

“2021 is literally going to be catastrophic, based on what we’re seeing at this stage in the game,” Beasley warned, adding that “because we’ve spent $19 trillion, that money may not, and will not most likely be available for 2021,” even as economic contractions have already begun.

While Beasley said the pandemic and government lockdown policies are driving the disturbing trends – stating the “cure could be worse than the disease because of the economic ripple effect” – he noted that “man-made conflict” also had a role to play, naming ongoing wars in Syria, Yemen, and South Sudan.

“We’ve got to end some of these wars. We’ve got to bring these wars to an end, so we can achieve the sustainable development goals that we so desire,” he said, dubbing the conflicts, health crisis and looming famine as “icebergs in front of the Titanic.”

In August, the WFP head said the number of people facing malnutrition could spike by 80 percent by the end of the year, warning of a “famine of biblical proportions” as millions risk starvation. UNICEF, meanwhile, predicted in May that, in 118 low and middle-income nations, 1.2 million children under the age of five could die in the following six months, pinning the surge on declining access to medical care “due to lockdowns, curfews and transport disruptions.”

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2021 ON TRACK TO BECOME RECORD-BREAKING YEAR OF MAJOR EARTHQUAKES, VOLCANOES / Israel365 News, March 7, 2021

Though the past year has been replete with troubling news items that include a pandemic and hotly contested US Presidential election, the earth shaking beneath our feet seems to have gone unnoticed. In the first 65 days of this year, 42 major quakes, magnitude 6 or higher, have shaken the planet. The year with the largest total was 2010, with 24 major earthquakes greater than or equal to magnitude 7.0. In 2011, a total of 207 earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 or higher shook the earth, culminating in a 6.6 magnitude earthquake that caused the catastrophic meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear reactor and the concurrent 9.1 magnitude earthquake in Tohuka, Japan that killed over 20,000 people.

Powerful earthquakes shook the Kermadec Islands region of New Zealand on Thursday, setting off tsunami warnings.

But attention should be paid to less dramatic geologic rumblings as well. Iceland was hit by more than 18,000 earthquakes in the past week including a magnitude 7.3 earthquake, a magnitude 7.4 earthquake, and a magnitude 8.1 earthquake. In addition, authorities are warning that two volcanoes in a densely populated region of the country could erupt at literally any moment.

The number of earthquakes is increasing. In the first 65 days of 1921, exactly one century ago, only seven major quakes, magnitude 6 or higher were recorded globally according to the USGS DataBase. In the same period last year, a total of 24 major quakes, magnitude 6 or higher were recorded around the globe. Back in 2019, just 20 major quakes had been reported up to March the 6th, just 50% of this year’s total. In 2018, a total of 24 major quakes were reported in the first 65 days of the year and in 2017 just 15. 24 major earthquakes were recorded in the beginning of 2016 and in 2015, just 18.

While acknowledging that there is a marked increase in seismic activity, the authorities claim there is nothing to worry about.

“A temporary increase or decrease in seismicity is part of the normal fluctuation of earthquake rates,” The United States Geological Survey (USGS) wrote. “Neither an increase or decrease worldwide is a positive indication that a large earthquake is imminent. The ComCat earthquake catalog contains an increasing number of earthquakes in recent years–not because there are more earthquakes, but because there are more seismic instruments and they are able to record more earthquakes.”

“According to long-term records (since about 1900), we expect about 16 major earthquakes in any given year. That includes 15 earthquakes in the magnitude 7 range and one earthquake magnitude 8.0 or greater. In the past 40-50 years, our records show that we have exceeded the long-term average number of major earthquakes about a dozen times.”

VOLCANOES ALSO INCREASING

But earthquakes aren’t the only concern. Europe’s most active volcano, Mount Etna in Sicily, erupted seven times in the past two weeks. A large eruption started at Sangay volcano, Ecuador on Saturday. An earthquake swarm shook Mount Hood, a potentially active stratovolcano near Portland, Oregon for 45 minutes last week, raising concerns that the volcano was beginning to awake. Mount Sinabung in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province began erupting last Tuesday, sending volcanic materials as high as 16,400 feet into the sky with authorities recording 13 times when it released ash clouds. Three weeks ago, Fuego volcano, located 50 kilometers away from the capital city of Guatemala, started to erupt. As of yesterday 43 volcanoes around were erupting or showing signs of activity.

It should be noted that bursts of tremors similar to what was felt in Iceland last week have been observed ahead of previous volcanic eruptions in the region.

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For most of the world, it will end in utter destruction. But we have hope:

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. (Psalm 33:12)

Join us, before it is too late:

And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. (Luke 17:26-30)

The Lord tells us:

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

If you are not sure that you are saved, you can accept Christ into your life right now, by praying:

“Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.  Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life.  I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior.”

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Questions? Comments? Feel free to contact us!

Current events are aligning with Biblical prophecy