9/11...The First Harbinger, The Breach

Today is 9/11/2013, the 12th anniversary of the cowardly terrorist attacks that shook our nation, and sent waves around the world. We will never forget the 3000 Americans who were killed in this tragedy, may they rest in peace.

I didn’t mean to wait this long to write this blog series, but my timing has worked out. This series will be based on a book called The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn, a pastor with an international ministry and a reputation for shedding light on the Bible and ancient prophecies. I strongly recommend purchasing this book ($9.00 on Amazon) if you too are concerned about the path America is on. I will do the best I can to summarize it here.

9/11 was much more than the terrorist attack it seems at face value. There is much more to it than meets the eye. This is not the first time an event like this has happened in history. Another nation has been down the same path America is walking now. 9/11 was a terrible tragedy, but in the aftermath rests a warning of what is to come. God is telling America to repent, before it is too late. I’m not saying God caused 9/11, I am saying that America is no longer under God’s protection. The nation has turned away from God, denying the foundation the USA was built on. No longer is prayer heard in any classroom. No longer is any public reference to God accepted. And so God no longer has a reason to shelter America as His nation. So come the Harbingers of warning.

There are 9 harbingers that warn of coming judgment if the nation refuses to repent. All 9 were manifested before the destruction of the nation of Israel. All 9 have surfaced in America within the last 12 years. These are the warnings of a loving God who does not wish to exact judgment on a rebelling nation, but will do as He must. He cannot let evil endure.

In order to shed light on this secret, we must go back...3000 years. Ancient Israel, 1000 B.C., the original nation under God. Israel prospered, guided by the Almighty. But slowly, the nation became corrupt. Gradually, they pushed God away. And so God sent prophets, warning them of the calamity to come if they did not turn back; Elijah, Elisha, Hosea, Amos and more. All pleaded and begged the people to return to God, to repent. They were brushed aside by the majority, branded as troublemakers and enemies of the state. Few listened. Israel continued its fall from grace. 732 B.C. The alarm is sounded, the first harbinger of judgment comes. The first harbinger is The Breach. The hedge of protection surrounding the nation is lifted. The walls of Israel were breached. No military force could have prevented it, no extraordinary leadership could have averted it. Evil men were allowed free reign. Israel was invaded, and shaken to its foundations by its enemies. The Assyrians, a rising nation and already a formidable military force, attacked the capital city of Samaria and eventually captured it. The city was plundered, many of the people taken into exile, leaving a remnant behind. What followed would decide the nation’s fate.

The First Harbinger came to pass in America on September 11, 2001. God’s hedge of protection around America was lifted. Through the Breach flew four planes hijacked by terrorists. Two were flown into the twin towers, which soon collapsed, killing thousands. One flew into the Pentagon, and another crashed in a Pennsylvania field after a heroic effort by the passengers to overwhelm the hijackers. On this day of calamity, God watched and waited in sorrow. Jesus was in the stairwells of the towers, was with the rescuers and the victims. In every place shaken, I promise you He was there. Some cursed Him and died, some ignored Him; some turned to Him and found peace. Some used the tragedy to reject Him, asking how a loving God could ever let this evil to happen. I ask, what did we expect? That we could shun Him at every corner and have Him continue to bless our nation? No, we deserved this, and something worse is coming if we ignore the warnings that have been sent.

So came the first harbinger. Eight more remain, and have already passed. I will explain them more in the next few days as I continue this series. If you wish to learn more now, I would suggest reading and thinking on Isaiah chapter 9. It is the key to the whole prophecy. America is following in the footsteps of ancient Israel. The downfall of Israel was predicted, and so is the downfall of America if we refuse to repent. The Bible has given us our warning, it is up to us to heed it or ignore it.

I am writing this to spread the warning. I feel it is my duty to use all means necessary to do so. America is a sleeping nation that desperately needs to wake up and avert the coming disaster. I can only hope and pray the warning will be heeded.

Until next time, may your arrows fly straight.

Apocalypse

One chapter closes, and another begins. Life is really a series of new beginnings, and as a follower of Christ, I say that when you think about it, there really isn't any end, only beginnings. Even the word "apocalypse" translated from its Greek root means "a new beginning" (see what I did there with the title?) or "the lifting of the veil". As of 6 days ago, I moved into Scott Hall at Evangel University. After 5 days of the EU Launch program, classes commenced yesterday. So far, I am thoroughly enjoying college life, despite my diminishing funds. Somebody PLEASE explain why textbooks and calculators cost hundreds of dollars?! Now, the computer I can understand, but everything else? Oh well, suffice to say, I am fully settled in and equipped for the time being. Oh wait, not quite yet, still need to change my bowstrings and find a convenient place to shoot. But other than that,  good food, a moderate schedule, and easy gym access...life is good.

I must say how refreshing it is to be in a school environment that puts God before all other things. Most classes open with prayer, and there are multiple chapel services and ministry opportunities offered every week. In the words of the school, "Boldly Christian, Unquestionably Academic". Its so good to be working in the company of people who share my faith, all for a relatively common goal. This is how schools should function. Funny how bad things started happening in schools (think school shootings) once prayer and faith was taken out of them. I love being in a place where my faith can grow, rather than being in a place where I am forced either to defend it or conform on a daily basis.

Hunting season is rapidly approaching, bow season beginning on September 15. As I said, I have not yet found a place to shoot, or change my bowstrings...a technicality that will soon be remedied. But I am making progress, I've already connected with several other bow hunters on campus, including a professor. Labor Day gives us a 3 day weekend, which I plan to use to find a place that will allow me to do that, as well as go scout out the public access locations that I mapped out yesterday...Google Earth is my friend. The next objective will be purchasing a hunting license. While I am not an official resident of Missouri, since I am a student living on campus in Missouri, I am able to purchase a resident license at my local conservation office, which saves me around $200 in non-resident fees. Hey, that's a lot of money for a college kid!

Back to The Harbinger, its still coming. Don't get your undies in a wad. I did finish it, and it was riveting to the end. What I'm probably going to have to do is bite the bullet and get a copy for myself so I can refer to the book while I write. Don't worry, it is coming! Teaser alert: want to know the secret of the 2008 stock market crash? Coming soon...

May your aim stay true.

Time

Time does not wait for us. It passes at its own pace whether we want it to or not. I chose this subject because today is the one-year anniversary of the killing of my warthog (refer to "A Morning in the Bush"). So much has happened in this last year...moving across an ocean is always a speed-bump, even if it is just coming home. Graduating high school, a milestone. My days of regular school are over. I am soon transitioning into the world of college. In just 22 days, I will be moving into my dorm room at Evangel University. So much has yet to happen in that time. I still have loans to secure, a job to finish (and one to secure), yet more paperwork to fill out, and lets not forget furnishings for my dorm room. Trying as this period may be, all these things will happen in good time.



This being the one year anniversary of my hunt, it occurred now might be a good time to reveal the finished product of the warthog. It turned out amazing. My unofficial measurement shows that it qualifies for the Roland Ward Record Book. I could not be happier with my hog, and he tasted great too! For now, the mount will remain in Africa until such a time as we acquire the proper permits and ship my trophies home.

So, the Iowa Games. My first real archery tournament. I'll cut right to the chase, I'm proud to announce I placed 4th. Of course, the fact that there were exactly 4 archers in my division is entirely inconsequential. Am I disappointed? Absolutely not. My goals were to have fun, not miss, and get some much-needed experience. All three goals were accomplished, the weekend was a success, despite the hiccups experienced with my bow. The strings shipped to me by the manufacturer turned out to be of the wrong lengths. Unable to continue shooting my current strings, we instead opted to strip down my bow, and place all my equipment on my dad's bow, which happens to be the same make and model. After a night of sighting in and selecting arrows, I was finally set to go on just 3 days of practice. Despite this, on the 10 point target, my lowest scoring arrow for the weekend was a 2. My final score was 958/1200 (day 1: 471/600, day 2: 487/600), yielding 80% average accuracy. Not too bad for my first time out. There's always next time to do better, and I enjoyed the experience. Now I know for a fact, this is something I will always pursue in my future, professionally. My next goal is to get the proper string set for my bow so I can get tuned up and ready for my first Missouri deer season starting on September 15th. Sorting out the details may be tricky, but I promise you, I WILL find a way.

Looking ahead, in the very near future, I will be doing either a post or a series of posts on a book we have had recommended to us, and recently acquired. It is called The Harbinger. I will explain more soon, as I am still less than half way through it, but it is a warning/prophecy written in story-format of the 9 Harbingers that warn of God's coming judgment of America if repentance does not come. All 9 surfaced before the fall of Israel around 732 BC, and all 9 have already manifested in America within the last 15 years. Here's your hint: 9/11. The key: Isaiah 9:10. I won't say anymore, except that this book is riveting so far, and that the prophecies have been dead on. I hope I have aroused your curiosity.

So, until next time, may your arrows fly straight.

Back from the Dead

Alright, its been long enough. Yeah, its been 9 MONTHS since my last post. How did this happen? Good question. I guess you could say I fell of the face of the earth. Not really, but, you know, figuratively. Many things have happened in the world over the last 9 months. We've seen yet more conflict in the Middle East, an attack on the Second Amendment, some natural disasters, all kinds of things that just happen as time goes on. So now, I figure I've let my silence go on long enough. You only live once, right? YOLO Anchor Point is now back from the dead.

Things have changed about me as well. We returned to the United States of America just before Christmas after spending 3 years on the mission field in Francistown, Botswana. I turned 18 in January, got my driver's license, somehow contracted the worst case of mono my doctor has seen in years, and then somehow managed to pull everything together and graduate high school with honors. Currently I am waiting and working towards attending Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri this fall. Now, this blog is not all about me, but this is pretty serious business you know. Am I ready? Oh yeah.

Coming up this weekend is the Iowa Games. Athletic competitions sponsored by Iowa State University. I am proud to announce that this will be my debut in competitive archery. Preparation could be going better, lets just say my goal is to not miss the target. We'll be shooting at 80 cm targets at ranges of 40, 50, and 60 yards. 2 days, 60 arrows per day. Here's the deal, before last week, I had only shot my bow 3 times in the last 6 months, and then proceeded to discover that my strings and cables were in serious need of replacement. They will be replaced tonight, and I will start my 4 remaining days of practice tomorrow. For those of you not familiar with compound archery, bow strings and cables have this irritating tendency to stretch over time as the repetitive actions of shooting and increasing and releasing tension produce wear on the string fibers. These fibers stretch and sometimes break, producing what is called string stretch, which in turn causes the bow to go out of tune. That is, the cams no longer rotate in sync, or as close to it as can be reached. This produces highly irregular arrow flight, so you can see the dilemma. Based on the bow and poundage, strings and cables can require replacement as often as every year. Mine were to the point of my bow slipping out of tune on a daily basis after readjustment the day before. We managed to get a new set of strings shipped over the weekend, and I will hopefully be able to pull it together in the next 4 days to produce a relatively decent performance this weekend. I've been told its a lot of fun, and I cannot wait to experience it for myself.

That's all I got for now. No more 9 month gaps.

May your bow stay in tune.