Feature Article:
Alea Iacta Est
On the 10th of January, 49 BC, Julius Caesar made the fateful, irreversible decision to cross the Rubicon river in Northern Italy in defiance of the Senate of what was then known as the Roman Republic. This intrusion was seen as a hostile attack, and it triggered a civil war that ultimately saw the fall of the Roman Republic and the establishment of the Roman Empire.
On that fateful day, when Julius made the decision to cross the Rubicon and launch a maelstrom of events that he was well aware would lead to either victory or death, it is reported that he uttered the following words:
Alea iacta est!
"The die is cast!" Indeed. There was no turning back, and Julius and his men knew it. These words went down in history, and are sometimes invoked when a situation reaches the point of no return.
» Continue reading the article for NOV '24...
Just so you know what's up: Recently, many of you may have noticed some "irregularities" in the timing of my articles. For many years, I have been in the habit of posting the article for a given month at the end of the month. It wasn't really a conscious decision...it just somehow worked out that way—and with me being a creature of habit, I just stuck with it.
But I have long considered changing to a more "normal" schedule. Well, I finally pushed myself to do just that, and over the last couple of months I have successfully reached the point where I can post the article for a given month at the beginning of the month. From now on, that should be the norm.
— Greg
Articles Over the Past Year:
Click the pic to go to the article.
Index of all articles.
A Blast From the Past:
AUG '22: The Problem With Prophets
Some believe the miraculous sign gift of prophecy still exists today, and point to today's prophets to back it up. But do these people speak for God?
The Problem With Prophets
As I'm sure many of you know, there are people today who lay claim to the office of prophet. They call themselves prophets (or prophetesses), and come straight out and claim they are speaking for God: According to them, their messages are straight from God's mouth to their ears, and from their mouths to your ears. You see them cropping up on social media, where some have gained considerable followings of enthralled listeners who are convinced that every word they speak drips with prophetic import.
Of course, this is nothing new. This has been an issue since Old Testament days, and there is no shortage of Scripture pertaining to the subject of prophets and the gift of prophecy. Although I will be referring to a few Scriptures, this article is by no means an in-depth treatise on the subject of prophecy and prophets. It is only intended to be a fairly straightforward way of determining that today's self-proclaimed prophets do not speak for God and do not possess the biblical gift of prophecy.
And since there are people near and dear to me who follow some of these folks, I already know I'm going to upset a few people and step on a few toes in the process. That's OK—it's part of my job description.
Weekly Commentary:
11/12/2024 — From the "Two Out of Three Ain't Bad" Department...
It saddens me to say it, but there were a number of charismatic Christians who prophesied a Trump victory in the 2024 election...just like they did last time and the time before that.
If you're keeping score at home, you will note that those who prophesied a Trump victory in 2016 and again in 2020 are sitting at 50 percent accuracy. But for the third and presumably final time, many of those same self-proclaimed prophets came out with more prophecies of a Trump win in this election, and those who did chalked up another hit. So those individuals now stand at a whopping 67 percent accuracy.
Hey, two out of three ain't bad, right?
Oh, but wait a second...there's this Old Testament verse that's buzzing around in the back of my mind. Oh, what was that...oh yeah:
20But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
(Deuteronomy 18:20 AKJV)
Ouch. In other words, God's standard for prophets in the Old Testament was simple: If they prophesied one single thing that failed to come to pass as prophesied, they were false prophets and were to be put to death. And last time I checked, God's standards weren't subject to change.
Yeah, yeah, I know...we're not under the Law of Moses. But at the very least this verse puts on display God's attitude toward those who speak forth spurious things they claim came from Him, but didn't. And just to be clear:
If anything they prophesy fails to come to pass exactly as prophesied, then there is absolutely zero chance that it came from Him. Period.
I hope I didn't lose anyone...I realize that's a pretty deep statement that's bound to furrow a few brows. If necessary, go back and read it again.
A number of these self-proclaimed prophets, however, are seeking to clean up their record a bit by explaining away their errant prophecies in 2020 as really being intended for 2024. Perhaps they misheard God, or God coughed a bit at the words "two thousand and twenty." And as lame and self-serving as that is, they are completely serious.
Never mind the fact that the prophecies most of these people spewed in 2020 bear no trace of ambiguity about the fact that they were prophesying in regard to that election.
Look, I don't care how you feel about Trump. But love him or hate him, don't pay a lick of attention to such self-proclaimed prophets who claim they are hearing from and speak for God. Why?
Because they aren't and they don't.
(See this month's Blast From the Past for more.)
» View all Commentary entries...
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Header
1. Adapted from Sunset Over Grass Field © AOosthuizen at Can Stock Photo
Feature Article
2. White Dice © Ben_Stevens at Depositphotos
Articles Over the Past Year (3.–14.)
3. Adapted from 3a–3b:
3a. Iranian Missile Launches From Underground Silo © alexlmx via Depositphotos
3b. Optical Sight © Dmitrydesign via Depositphotos
4. Birthday Cake With Number 7 Lit Candle © destinacigdem at Depositphotos
5. Adapted from Virgo Horoscope Star White © realcg at Depositphotos
6. Halloween Concept Zombies Hand Silhouette © fotokitas at Depositphotos
7. The Fresco of Jesus the King in the Church Parroquia Santa Teresa de l'Infant Jesus by Francisco Labarta © sedmak at Depositphotos
8. Adapted from Jakob worstelt met de engel (Jacob Wrestles With an Angel), RP-P-1935-1296, Rijksmuseum, (cropped, resized), [CC0 1.0]
9. Desert Mirage, Egypt © Ashabot (cropped), [CC BY-SA 4.0]
10. Adapted from 2017 Total Solar Eclipse (35909952653) © NASA Goddard Space Flight Center from Greenbelt, MD, USA (text added), [CC BY 2.0]
11. China Lights Dragon © darksideOfPink at Depositphotos
12. Offshoot Growth Concept © lightsource at Depositphotos
13. Silhouette of a Man and Telescope Under the Starry Skies © milangucci at Depositphotos
14. Adapted from AI-Generated Steam Locomotive by Franz26 (cropped, resized, text added) via Pixabay
A Blast From the Past
15. Adapted from Statue of Jesus Christ © kmiragaya at Adobe Stock
Sidebar (16.–19.)
16. Adapted from Hand Holding Placard © byemoke at Depositphotos
17. Adapted from Hand Holding Placard © byemoke at Depositphotos
18. I Stand With Israel by Greg Lauer (own work)
19. Don't Mess With Israel by Greg Lauer (own work)
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).
» Note that for reasons beyond my control, links in the attributions of some of the pics on this website are no longer operative. See this notice for details.
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