This Articles page is proud to serve up links to the house specialties that were on offer at Chez ALS back in the year 2019.
Each entry below contains a "hook" that suggests what the article deals with (an hors d'oeuvre), the first several paragraphs (an appetizer), plus a link to the full article (the main course). If you just want to scan over a list of the titles of all the articles on this site, you can save time by grabbin' a burger at the Article Index page. Bon appétit!
If you want to look for a specific topic, use the search function in the sidebar. Use the menu below to go to similar pages for previous years.
JAN '19: Almost Persuaded
There are people in churches today who have heard the gospel and may have come really close...but did they come close enough?
Almost Persuaded
Four years ago, I was inspired to write an article because of one sentence a student said to me in one of my English classes. It was around Christmas, and we were talking about many of the myths surrounding the season: Santa Claus making a list and checking it twice, elves making toys way up at the North Pole, Santa delivering those toys to every home in the world on Christmas Eve in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer, leaving the requisite milk and cookies on the kitchen table, etc.
At one point, a young woman in the class remarked that it seemed as if everything about Christmas was fake, and I laughingly agreed that, yeah, all the myths and legends surrounding Christmas were primarily just fun for kids. Then she turned her head and muttered:
Maybe Jesus is fake, too.
In a flash, it suddenly occurred to me why Satan has devoted so much time and effort to cultivating such a beloved holiday, and why he has carefully crafted the fanciful narrative that lies behind it. The result was an article entitled "The Reason for the Season?"
Well, it happened again—and it was the same student. (Background note: Since that first incident four years ago, I have learned that she was once briefly associated with a local church in Taiwan, but now bitterly rejects everything about Christianity.)
FEB '19: Smallfoot—Big Lie
A popular animated movie that came out last fall serves up a bit more than 96 minutes of wholesome, family entertainment...
Smallfoot—Big Lie
Last October I flew from Taiwan to the United States to visit my family in Washington, as I normally do each year. My usual routine is to leave Taiwan on a Sunday morning and arrive in Portland, Oregon on the same Sunday morning (with a tip of the hat to the International Date Line), and depart two weeks later on Saturday and arrive in Taiwan on Sunday evening (gain a day, lose a day). And since it's back to work on Monday, I don't have an extra day to spare. Most of the time, things go pretty smoothly—but this was not one of those times.
I had enjoyed my annual two weeks with my family, and was at the airport in Portland on Saturday, ready to board my flight and head home. We seemed to be waiting a disconcertingly long time to board, however, and a few people were apparently receiving lengthy individual attention at the front of the line. Finally, the rest of us got the word: The aircraft was hard down, we weren't going anywhere, and we would have to come back tomorrow. And just like that, I was stuck in the U.S. for an extra day—that I didn't have.
My sister had given me a ride to the airport and was already well on the way home, and I immediately contacted her and told her to make a U-turn. Then I contacted my wife in Taiwan and told her to call my school the following morning to let them know I would be back a day late so they could arrange a sub, and then settled in for one extra day with my family. Nice.
MAR '19: The Magnifying Glass
President Trump is almost ready to announce his Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, so it's gotta be the Rapture...right?
The Magnifying Glass
For the past few months, politics have been percolating in Israel as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been fighting off accusations of corruption and defending himself against attacks from left-wing opponents (reminds me of another world leader I know). Last December, in the heat of this ongoing political turmoil, Netanyahu dissolved the Knesset and called for early elections. Originally scheduled for November 2019, elections were moved up to April 9, just over a week away at the time of this writing.
When the above-mentioned political percolating kicked in last year, the Trump administration was still agonizing over when to announce its Israeli-Palestinian Deal of the Century. Trump had long been tantalizingly all concerned by dangling potential dates under everyone's noses, searching for just the right time to release The Plan—the Magic Moment that would maximize its chances of success.
APR '19: Look Up
Guess what was removed from the roof of the Cathedral of Notre Dame just four days before the fire? Go on, guess.
Look Up
As I'm sure you all know, a fire ravaged the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris on Monday, April 15, damaging an undetermined number of priceless works of art and relics of various types, and utterly destroying its thirteenth-century wooden roof. In the process, the cathedral's towering spire was also destroyed as it came crashing down in the midst of the blazing inferno.
According to reports, the fire started at 6:20 p.m. local time, and it took about nine hours for firefighters to put it out. But by the time the literal flames had been extinguished, the flames of speculation had already been kindled.
MAY '19: Missing the Target
Some in the Church are calling for a boycott of a company for its pro-LGBT policies...but are they missing the target?
Missing the Target
In my Commentary entry for May 14, 2019, I discussed a recent incident in a Chicago Target store where a man entered a women's restroom and exposed himself to a young girl. I mentioned that a number of ministers and Christian groups were once again openly calling for their congregants and members to boycott Target in reaction to their LGBT-friendly policy of allowing people to use (in the words of Target) the "restroom facilities that correspond to the individual's gender identity, regardless of the individual's sex assigned at birth."
(Uhm, "...regardless of the individual's sex assigned at birth"? So what do they do nowadays, pick a gender out of a hat?)
In that Commentary, I also mentioned the fact that after giving it some thought and reviewing a few passages of Scripture, I had decided that I was not in favor of the idea of Christian leaders openly calling for boycotts against particular companies, regardless of how perverted or despicable their policies or practices might be.
And I left it there.
JUN '19: The Jerusalem Covenant — Part One
The Jerusalem Covenant is a document some believe may be the treaty of Daniel 9:27. In part one, we'll examine what it actually says.
The Jerusalem Covenant — Part One
I'm sure some of you have already caught wind of this, but there has been a story making the rounds lately that is generating a certain amount of buzz in the watch community that has captured my attention. I first ran into this over at Revelation 12 Daily, but it seems to be gaining traction and I felt led to share with you some of my observations concerning this topic as well as some related prophetic implications and speculations.
The news item that has a few prophecy buffs buzzing these days concerns a document known as the Jerusalem Covenant—and if you've never heard of such a thing before now, welcome to the club. The buzz of which I speak concerns the fact that some are eyeing this document as possibly being the genuine, dyed-in-the-wool treaty of Daniel 9:27—the treaty referred to as "a covenant with many" by the prophet Daniel and which will be confirmed by the You Know Who, thus launching the seven-year You Know What.
JUL '19: The Jerusalem Covenant — Part Two
In part two, we will take a closer look at the treaty of Daniel 9:27, what the Jews are expecting, and several ways we might get there.
The Jerusalem Covenant — Part Two
In part one of this article, we looked at the Jerusalem Covenant and considered some of the things it actually says and why those things are significant. We saw that the Jerusalem Covenant is a document created in 1992 to honor the 25th anniversary of Israel's victory in the Six Day War, when they took control of Jerusalem for the first time in two thousand years. This document officially declares Jerusalem to be the capital of the Jewish nation of Israel, and the holy city of the Jewish people. It confirms the Jews' eternal ties to the city, but at the same time it also welcomes other people groups with their various religions to come to Jerusalem to worship their gods at their holy sites right alongside the Jews, who worship the one true God. It also emphatically reiterates that the Israeli government has legally guaranteed the safety and sanctity of the holy sites of those other religions.
Since 2013, a group called Israel365 has been presenting a hard copy of the Jerusalem Covenant bearing the signatures of people from all over the world to the Mayor of Jerusalem on Jerusalem Day. The most recent copy bore 216,168 signatures from people in over 100 countries, and a few people in the watch community have begun to take notice. Some are speculating that the Jerusalem Covenant might be the "covenant with many" spoken of by the prophet Daniel in Daniel 9:27, the treaty that will be confirmed by the Antichrist and will ultimately launch the Tribulation.
And it was at that point that I decided to toss in my two shekels—this being shekel number two.
AUG '19: For My Name's Sake
As you may know, many Tribulation believers will be executed. But did you know that the legal underpinnings for it are already in place?
For My Name's Sake
In the late afternoon hours of March 5, 1991, weary members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted on one last resolution: According to Item 30.12 of the Journal of the House of Representatives, it was a resolution commending the President and allied military forces for the success of Operation Desert Storm. As per standard procedure, a recorded vote was taken, and according to Item 30.13, the tally was Yeas 410, Nays 8.
Whew...resolution passed. Let's go home!
The next order of business, according to Item 30.14, was to inform members that they would reconvene the next day at 12:00 noon, which everyone present understood to mean they were adjourning for the day. Within minutes, nearly all of the 400-plus representatives present had left the floor and were on their way home, under the assumption that they were done for the day.
But four congressmen did not leave the floor—evidently there was some other business to attend to. They were Rep. Thomas Sawyer (D-OH), Rep. Thomas Ridge (R-PA), Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-NY), and Minority Leader Rep. Robert Michel (R-IL).
Rep. Sawyer brought up HJ Res. 104, a seemingly innocuous bill that had been introduced a month earlier by Rep. Michel and that looked to be little more than the formal recognition of the 89th birthday of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, wrapped up in a wholly innocent-sounding piece of legislative fluff that called for the establishment of something called "Education Day, U.S.A."
Alrighty then...happy birthday, Rabbi Schneerson...(yawn).
SEP '19: Dropping the Hammer
In the Tribulation God is going to drop the hammer of judgment on His people Israel...just because they rejected Jesus two millennia ago, right?
Dropping the Hammer
As I'm sure many of you know, the coming Tribulation will be a time of unparalleled destruction and upheaval, as God purges His people Israel and pours out His judgment on the nations that have persecuted them and on a world that has spurned the grace and mercy He expressed to it through Christ.
As we read the book of Revelation, we find ourselves swimming in a sea of gut-wrenching images of the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments that are unleashed during this brief period of time, and from the sound of things it's mind-boggling to think that anyone would or could survive this period at all. But many will, and those who do will ultimately be judged as to whether or not they warrant admittance to the Millennial Kingdom that follows.
The Tribulation will be especially hard on the Jews, however, since one of its purposes is to purge Israel and bring forth the believing remnant who will finally embrace their true Messiah—the one they pierced two thousand years ago. This believing remnant will be protected by God during the most intense period of the Tribulation, many believe in Petra in Jordan. God will protect them from the worst that the Antichrist can throw at them, as Satan launches his desperate, all-out effort to destroy the Jews so he can hang on to this little corner of the universe where he can "be like the Most High."
OCT '19: A Mighty God
The Holy Spirit used yet another travel mishap to lead me to contemplate just what type of God we serve.
A Mighty God
This is getting to be a regular thing. It happened in 2016 when I went home for my father's funeral, and we had to make an emergency landing in Okinawa and I was stranded there overnight. It happened in 2018 when my flight out of Portland was canceled and I had to spend an extra day in the States. The Lord used both of these unfortunate travel experiences to show me something, and those experiences gave rise to three articles on this website (see here, here, and here).
Well, it happened again.
Admittedly, this most recent travel mishap was not nearly as disruptive as the previous two, but the Lord still used it to show me something—and the Holy Spirit wasted no time in poking and prodding me to write about what the Lord had shown me.
As I do every year, typically in the September/October time frame, I recently spent two weeks visiting my family in Washington. They live in a small city about 45 minutes north of Portland, Oregon, and I had a perfectly enjoyable visit for the entire two weeks. Before I get into what happened, however, a quick word about my itinerary is in order.
NOV '19: Is He or Isn't He?
Several months ago I wrote something about the Antichrist being Jewish. Well, pass the salt, because it's time to eat some words...
Is He or Isn't He?
A few months ago, I wrote a two-part article about the Jerusalem Covenant and its (supposed) relationship to the treaty of Daniel 9:27, and in the second part I discussed the end-time expectations of the Jews, especially in terms of what they are expecting from the man they will mistakenly hail as their Messiah.
It has long been established from careful study of Scripture that this is the man who will ascend (descend?) to the role of the Antichrist, and I stressed how the Jews' expectations—as unscriptural and misguided as they may be—will play a key role in how end-time events surrounding the treaty of Daniel 9:27, the Tribulation, the rise of the Antichrist, etc. will take shape and play out.
In a section of that article entitled "Paths to the treaty" I laid out three brief, speculative scenarios that could conceivably lead to the treaty of Daniel 9:27, and in them I mentioned that the Jews' Mashiach-turned-Antichrist would probably be European (from the revived Roman Empire), and would certainly be of Jewish descent.
DEC '19: A Prophet Greater Than Moses
There are several men throughout the Old Testament who prefigure Christ, but one told people flat out that the Messiah would be like him.
A Prophet Greater Than Moses
Several months ago, I got into a bit of a review of what Jews today are expecting in terms of the Messiah, and that indirectly led me into a study of what first-century Jews were expecting two thousand years ago when their Messiah actually showed up.
In my last article, I discussed why I am convinced the man the Jews will ultimately be deceived into embracing as their Mashiach will in fact be a Gentile, and in one particular section I pointed out several Jewish men in the Old Testament who were types of Christ, as well as several non-Jewish characters who were types of the Antichrist. As for those who were types of Christ, I mentioned Jonah, Joshua, Isaac, Joseph, and David.
All of whom do indeed prefigure Christ in some way, to be sure. But as I got more deeply into these first-century Jewish messianic expectations recently, it took me all of about 10 seconds to realize there was a glaring omission on that list. There is someone who is arguably the greatest type of Christ in the entire Old Testament that I had carelessly overlooked:
Moses.
1. Adapted from Sunset Over Grass Field © AOosthuizen at Can Stock Photo
2. Butler With Tray © NewAfrica at Depositphotos
3. Adapted from Cross Of Rusty Nails And Blood Drops © jillmb at Can Stock Photo
4. Adapted from Footprint in Fresh Snow © Gudella at Fotosearch
5. Adapted from Magnifying Glass © jameschipper at Fotosearch
6. Adapted from Notre-Dame de Paris 086 © Harmonia Amanda (cropped, resized) [CC BY-SA 3.0]
7. Adapted from 7a–7b:
7a. Target store, Folsom © UncleVinny (cropped, wall blurred) [CC BY 3.0]
7b. WA Archery Target with Arrows © Casito (cropped, resized, rotated) [CC BY-SA 3.0]
8. Jerusalem Skyline © sframe at Can Stock Photo
9. Adapted from Business Handshake © PIKSEL at Can Stock Photo
10. Adapted from 10a–10b:
10a. 3-D Rendering of a Guillotine © erllre74 at Fotosearch
10b. Sunset with Clouds Glowing Red © Gudella at Fotosearch
11. Adapted from Old Sledge Hammer © JGade at Adobe Stock
12. Adapted from 12a–12b:
12a. Nebula in Space © mode_list at Adobe Stock
12b. N12218 B737-800 United Airlines @SFO, August 2015 © Dennis Jarvis from Halifax, Canada (background sky removed) [CC BY-SA 2.0]
13. Jew or Gentile? by Greg Lauer (own work)
14. Moses Comes Down from Mount Sinai by Gustave Doré, marked as public domain [PD], more details on Wikimedia Commons
Scripture Quotations:
All Scripture is taken from the World English Bible, unless specifically annotated as the King James Version (KJV) or the American King James Version (AKJV).