Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Mad About You by Sting arranged for 3 Mandolins.

This is a video that teaches how to play "Mad About You" on the Mandolin in ADAD tuning. This is arranged for Three mandolins! So all you mandolin players out there get practicing!


If you are interested in more information about ADAD tuning, DDAD tuning, or GCGC tuning check out my website at www.willyminnix.com or buy my book here: https://www.createspace.com/3786876

And here's a link to the tab for this song: https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/ae22c61b-c966-47bf-8287-7a2f83825f7b
Here is a link to where you can buy the original song: http://www.amazon.com/Mad-About-You/dp/B005XVBJHO/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1419434720&sr=1-1&keywords=Sting+Mad+About+You

And here is a link to the video I tell you about where Sting plays this song live on MTV unplugged: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcO0VOeFRto

And here's the original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTMqPi_GVm0

I do not own the copyright of this song, it is intended for education purposes only, and distributed free to the public.

Enjoy!

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Christmas Special

Hey Everyone,

Here is a link to a video of me and Chad Evans playing a Christmas special we recorded with Ron Muse a few years ago for WCTV in Richmond, IN.

Hope you enjoy, and check out my Christmas Mandolin Book here!

You can also buy the Christmas album here!


New Fliers

Hey Everyone,

Check out the new fliers I designed. If you are in the Piedmont Triangle, give me a call. I would love to play some Christmas music for you!


Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Monday, November 3, 2014

Frugal Filmmaker Photos

Hey Everyone,

I want to say a special thank you to Frugal Filmmaker Scott Eggleston, for his upcoming show about how to make better youtube music instruction videos.

Here is a link to his blog, and you should really check out his videos on film making if you want to make better videos!  http://filmflap.blogspot.com/

Here are a few pics from a couple builds I did based off of some of his designs, and I will be posting a video response to him this week too!

God bless,

Willy

 Here's my jib. I have it mounted on a speaker tripod. And the fork is from a 18 or so inch kids bicycle. I have used Scott's pulley system idea to turn the camera plate up and down. I'll post a test shot later, if I can find the disk it was on! :)

Here is the top view of the camera stabilizer that Scott designed. I took the wheels off of his small dolly and added them to this design. I also added three T fittings to the top (I've taken one off to hold my shotgun mic holder). On the front I've added a quick release that also fits the jib.
 Her is the bicycle fork mount. It's basically two flange fittings bolted together with short couplings for the top and bottom. The bicycle fork fits inside. I have a very thin ball bearing ring inside to aid in movement.
 Here's a couple more shots of the stabilizer.

Check out Scott's original videos here:

Here is the Frugal Jib:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VvJB2RT3xc
Here is the stabilizing Rig:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZtlSVgG1h8
And Here is the Camera Table Dolly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3Z7vcSaPNk
T



Sunday, November 2, 2014

New Look!

Hey Everyone!

I just updated the look and feel of my blog! Let me know what you think.

I am planning a book tour to North Carolina and Richmond, VA. If you have any ideas, places you want me to appear, or other good information for me, let me know!

God bless,

Willy

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Hard Rain Excerpt




I'm posting this for my Facebook Friends who were interested in Enoch and the End Times. 

Appendix
Does Enoch Support A Pre-Trib Rapture?
In short, no, it doesn’t. We’ll get to that in a minute. First some background information would be helpful, because some readers might be wondering why we are talking about Enoch in the first place.
I have included this as an appendix to the book, because Enoch is not a book included in our Bibles, and it is also not something that we can point to with the same type of authority as we do the books of the Bible. The oldest surviving complete copy of what we call Enoch 1 is in Ethiopian Coptic, and we do not have complete original sources for this book in Hebrew, or if it really stretches all the way back to Genesis, Proto-Hebrew. It is true that a book called Enoch was quite popular in the first century, and many church fathers quoted from it. Even the Bible quotes from Enoch as well. But does it quote from the Enoch we have or was it another Enoch? We use the book we have as an incredible source of background info for the Bible, but we don’t have enough source material to lend it the credibility as we do Scripture.

The Enoch that we do have is a very important book that scholars sometimes use to shed some light on early apocalyptic literature. But it is one of several books that bear the title Book of Enoch. The book that we often call Enoch 1 is the most likely candidate of the books we have as being closest to the authentic Enoch. Enoch 1 claims that it was written by Enoch himself, the one that Genesis 5 tells us was translated or raptured by God for walking with Him. Many scholars claim that Enoch was not written by the real Enoch, but by someone in the 3rd or 4th century BC using Enoch’s name to tell a moral story, or parable. 

However, we do know that Jude said, in 1:14, that Enoch was written by the very same Enoch, so if Jude was wrong and this same Enoch was not the Enoch of Genesis then Jude is fallible and should not be included in the Bible. So we know that some version of Enoch read by Jude was a reputable copy of something that predated our Ethiopic version.

I think it is also important to point out, that if Enoch was taken away by God, it is not impossible to surmise that perhaps he was returned at some point. It is not entirely far fetched to believe that he could have been returned in the years preceding the Messiah to prepare the way for his coming, as Jesus described that John the Baptist, in some way, embodied the spirit of Elijah. What that meant exactly is unclear, but perhaps whoever wrote Enoch, wrote it in the same manner that John encapsulated Elijah’s spirit.

So what we see is Enoch seems to have been an important book to the early church, some claim that it was even seen as Scripture, though we do not have that book, and we cannot be sure that our Enoch is exactly the same Enoch, and not subject to corruption. We do have some partial copies of Enoch from the Dead Sea scrolls that show that our copy is very close to the fragments that exist there. However, as I stress, there is not enough info to hang everything on Enoch, or even to use it to build foundational doctrines on.

All that being said, Enoch is useful for historical study, and for understanding the though process of the Christian and Jewish apocalyptic writers. Some Pre-Trib writers, such as J.R. Church and Gary Steerman of Prophecy in the News, television program claim that Enoch does point to a Pre-Trib rapture. So the big question as concerns this book is as we started this appendix: Does Enoch point to a Pre-Trib rapture of the church? And the answer is clearly, no. I do not disagree with Church and Steerman’s belief that Enoch is important, nor that it might definitely reflect information that might indeed date back to Genesis, but I do disagree entirely that it points to a Pre-Trib doctrine.

To investigate this further, let’s take a look at the opening portion of Enoch 1. The translation that I will be using comes from Joseph B. Lumpkin’s book “The Lost Books of the Bible,” from Fifth Estate press, published in 2009. It is a very readable version, but adheres very closely to both the Richard Laurence and the R.H. Charles manuscripts, which were the first two editions in English, but without the thees and thous found in their versions.

The Book of Enoch chapter 1

1 The words of the blessing of Enoch, with which he blessed the elect and righteous who will be living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked and godless are to be removed.
2 And he began his story saying: Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in heaven, which the angels showed me, and I heard everything from them, and I saw and understood, but it was not for this generation, but for a remote one which is to come.
3 Concerning the elect I said, as I began my story concerning them: The Holy Great One will come out from His dwelling,
4 And the eternal God will tread on the earth, (even) on Mount Sinai, and appear in the strength of His might from heaven.
5 And all shall be afraid, And the Watchers shall shake, And great fear and trembling shall seize them to the ends of the earth.
6 And the high mountains shall be shaken, and the high hills shall be laid low, and shall melt like wax in the flame.
7 And the earth shall be wholly torn apart, and all that is on the earth shall be destroyed, And there shall be a judgment on all.
8 But with the righteous He will make peace; and will protect the elect and mercy shall be on them. And they shall all belong to God, and they shall prosper, and they shall be blessed. And the Light of God shall shine on them.
9 And behold! He comes with ten thousand of His holy ones (saints) to execute judgment on all, and to destroy all the ungodly (wicked); and to convict all flesh of all the works of their ungodliness, which they have ungodly committed, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.

Jude 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 

First of all let’s examine verse 1. We see here that Enoch says the wicked are to be removed in the Tribulation. This matches up with those who use Jesus’ parable of the Tare’s to point to a Post-Trib rapture, though I do not know if using a parable is the best example to build doctrine. But this passage in Enoch appears to agree with the idea that the evil ones will be gathered and removed from earth.

We also see that the purpose of writing is for the Elect, who are going through the Tribulation. They were not raptured, and they are in the midst of the Tribulation, clearly not a Pre-Trib point of view. Also we see that Enoch is blessing the Elect by writing this, in other words, it will be something that encourages the Elect during those days, which obviously will be discouraging.

Enoch gives us some clues as to what else is happening during this “tribulation.”
In verses 2 through 4 we see that the time period these Elect live in will also be the time when Jesus is physically on the earth. Since it didn’t take place during His first visit, it must therefore take place, if Enoch is to be believed, during His second visit.

Verses 5 and 6 show us that Jesus’ coming to the earth results in a great earthquake unlike anything that has ever happened, and this lines up with Jesus’ description of His return in Matthew 24, which as we have shown earlier in this book, lines up with a Post-Trib rapture theory.

Verse 7 speaks of the earth being destroyed, which lines up with the description of what the earth looks like after the bowls of wrath are poured out in Revelation, and also it lines up with what Peter says about the earth being destroyed at the end of the world. This also points to a Post-Trib rapture, because obviously Jesus is returning at the end of all of this, or as it appears here, His return causes all of this.

Verse 8 shows us that the righteous are on the earth, and His return causes peace and mercy to abound. Again, this couldn’t be the case with a Pre-Trib rapture, because they would already be at peace and dwelling in Christ’s mercy.

And finally in verse 9, He comes with his Holy Ones to execute judgment on all and to destroy ungodly. This is the biggest passage that some people use to point to a pre-trib doctrine in Enoch, however, it doesn’t say that the Holy Ones here are glorified resurrected saints. In fact, it doesn’t tell us who the Holy Ones are. But even if the Holy Ones are the saints, and I believe Lumpkin’s point of adding the Jude passage is to show that the Greek word is often used for “saints,” it doesn’t mean that they have received their glorified bodies at that particular moment. It could mean that the Holy Ones are the spirits of those who have already died, and are coming to get their resurrected bodies, which is what everyone teaches, not just Pre-Trib teachers. This just isn’t a strong enough passage to base a claim for a pre-trib slant to Enoch.

I think in order to make sense of this we need to look at the Greek. The word used by Jude, translated here and in Enoch as “saints,” is “αγιαις,” transliterated as “agiais,” and the word used for angels in the other passages is “αγγελων,” transliterated as “aggelon.” What is most confusing about this passage in Enoch, as well as the Jude passage, is that everywhere else, the fact that Jesus returns with His holy angels is what is typically stressed. In Matthew 16:27 we see this, as well as 25:31, Mark 8:38 and Luke 9:26. We also see this in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8. I believe that though the spirits of the departed will be with Him as well, it is His powerful angels that seem to be the main focus of passages like these, because His angels play a vital role in the second coming, and have many duties from the minute Jesus returns until the millennial reign begins. They separate the wheat from the chaff, they bring the wicked to destruction and bring us to Jesus, they bind the Antichrist and False Prophet, and they pour out God’s wrath on the evil ones. Though the word “saints” is used, it stems from the same root word which gives us the word “angels,” literally “holy ones.” So it is not an absolute certainty that Jude and Enoch are referring to the souls of the departed in these passages.

The one thing to keep in mind, whether in a Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib, Post-Trib, Amillennial or Post Millennial or even Preterist, we all believe that when Jesus actually does return, He will bring with Him the spirits of those who have died who were believers. So anytime you read a passage that points to this truth, it doesn’t automatically prove any particular doctrine, it just confirms what we all agree on anyway.

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Mandolin Dead Man's Tuning Vol. 1 Basics 2nd Edition

Hello Everyone,

One more book that I am working on is the 2nd edition to Vol. 1. In this edition, I plan on including several links to online video tutorials that I am working on that will cover many of the lessons in the book!

Hope you will enjoy it, but until it is out, I thought I would upload the new cover which I think is really, really cool!

God bless,

Willy



Upcoming books!

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to let you know about the books that I am currently working on. I am in the process of writing a book based on my sermon series "Giant Slaying." This book will focus on spiritual giants in our lives, and how to slay them, and also a discussion about the many giants that are mentioned in scripture.

I am also working on a book on my sermon series "Armor of God," or a.k.a. "Trials and Tribulations." In this book I will discuss the full armor of God, plus the other pieces that Paul alludes to in other passages other than Ephesians, such as the clothing of humility, the cloak of Christ and the offensive weapon of prayer! I think both of these books will include a great deal of pictures, so completing them will take slightly longer than normal!

I am also working on some upcoming mandolin books. I have in the works a mandolin book about Irish, Scottish and English folk tunes. I am working on one about Pirate Songs! And I am also working on a mandolin book dedicated to blues music and techniques. I am not sure when they will be finished, but hopefully, now that I have more of my time freed up, I will be able to get them out to the public within this next year!

I also wanted to let you know that my publishing company, Water Moccasin Press, has just released a new book by my writing partner on the "T.0.B." book, entitled "Parable of the Talons!" Please check it out, it's a great kids book that I am sure your kids will love. And if you haven't checked out "T.0.B.," it's a really fun political/sci-fi thriller, which I am sure fiction fans will really enjoy as well!

God bless you all, and thanks for reading and buying my books!

Willy

https://www.createspace.com/4548760
 https://www.createspace.com/4517775

  https://www.createspace.com/4517775
 https://www.createspace.com/4517775

Monday, September 15, 2014

The Importance of Prophecy Sermon



Bible Is Prophecy 

Intro:
Revelation 12:11 “And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.”

In America today there is a common agreement that prophecy does not need to be studied because it is "divisive" and does not promote “Good Christian Living.” Nothing could be further from the truth. I’ve been even been asked to not preach about prophecy. The fact is, the early Christians pointed to fulfilled and future prophecy as a call to Christian living.

Lesser context and Greater Context –

The Greater Context is the story of Jesus – What is fascinating about the story of Jesus is that it is a 3 Part Play: Act I – the Messiah before the Incarnation, Act II - Jesus during the Incarnation, and Act III - Christ our Coming King

If the Bible was a tapestry, prophecy is the main threads God used to weave it with. Prophecy is the truth about what God is going to do that validates who He is.

Prophecy is the proof that God provided to demonstrate His power to those who watch for His involvement in the world.
   1.      When you study the Bible you cannot avoid Prophecy
a.      If you think you can avoid prophecy, you are sadly mistaken…
                                                    i.     Genesis – 3:13 and following a prophecy of Jesus, Genesis 12:3-7 Abraham,  Joseph’s bones
                                                   ii.     Exodus – is the story of Moses, a prophet, 12:46 no bone broken on Messiah, Joseph’s bones fulfilled
                                                  iii.     Leviticus – 26:44 people of Israel will never be completely destroyed
                                                  iv.     Numbers – Serpent 21:8-9, Star out of Jacob 24:17-19
                                                   v.     Deuteronomy – Cursed on a Tree 21:23, a veiled prophecy pointing to Jesus
1.      In fact Moses is called the “Greatest Prophet who ever lived” by Deuteronomy 34:10, so we must reject everything he wrote.
2.      Now remember there are people who believe we should not study prophecy, but we need to be reminded that Prophecy is very important.
                                                  vi.     Joshua – Joshua going into the land was a fulfillment of prophecy, can’t preach this!
                                                vii.     Judges –  whole bunch of Prophets like Deborah, Judges 6:8 “the Lord sent a prophet to remind Israel…”
                                               viii.     Ruth – Is prophetic because it is important to understand the coming of David, and also the coming of the Messiah the “son of David”, Kinsman redeemer is a prophetic picture of Christ.
                                                  ix.     I Samuel – Samuel is a prophet
                                                   x.     II Samuel – Throne of David Established Forever 7:12-13, 16, 25-29
                                                  xi.     I Kings – Elijah the prophet, can’t talk about him
                                                xii.     II Kings –  Elisha the prophet, can’t talk about him
                                               xiii.     I Chronicles – 17:11-14 throne of David established forever
                                               xiv.     II Chronicles – 21:7 Throne of David messiah, son of Obed the prophet 15, prophecies of the exile into Babylon
                                                xv.     Ezra – Fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy in chapter 1, Zechariah son of Edo ch5, Haggai ch 6
                                               xvi.     Nehemiah – Fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy
                                              xvii.     Esther – Setting the prophetic fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy and “for such a time as this” is a prophetic statement
1.      We made it through the historical books, but couldn’t avoid prophecy. Believe it or not, there are people who believe we should not study prophecy, but again we need to be reminded that Prophecy is very important. We’re about to find out that we can’t even get through the Wisdom literature without running into prophecy. Here are a couple examples:
                                            xviii.     Job – Promised redeemer 19:25-27
                                               xix.     Psalms – Soldiers cast lots and hands and feet pierced and mocked 22:7-18, over 30 other psalms that are prophetic about Jesus
                                                xx.     Proverbs – 29:18 where there is no revelation (prophetic vision) the people perish, in fact the proverbs are a type of minor prophecy about what comes from living a godly life.  
                                               xxi.     Ecclesiastes – There is nothing new under the sun is a prophetic statement, 12:13-14 prophecy of the coming judgment
1.      Now we’ve made it to a section of the Bible that is called the Prophets. But if we were to follow the advice of modern Americans, we would have to skip all of these guys, so I guess we won’t talk about them.
                                              xxii.     Isaiah – Malachi – All Prophets can’t preach on them, let’s not read that he was going to be flogged and spit on, a meek servant in Isaiah 40, 42 and 50 and 53, gotta skip that stuff, even though that is how we witness to Jews. So we’ve just covered the entire OT and every single bit of it is tinted with prophecy.
1.      Thank God, for the most part there is very little prophecy in the New Testament! Well, that isn’t true. For those who want to avoid Prophecy, they will be hard pressed to dodge it in the New Testament as well.
                                            xxiii.     Matthew – 1:18, 1:22 prophecy fulfilled, 3 (John prophecies His coming) of course there are all of the prophetic parables, and then there is Matthew 24, and we’re not even going to address the fact that the parables of Matthew 25 are Entirely Prophetic in nature. First two parables he prefaces with “the kingdom of Heaven is like” what is that? Oh yeah, Christ’s kingdom, which is established in the millennial reign when He returns. Then the final parable in many Bibles expressly says something like “The Final Judgment” again a very prophetic event. Finally, Matthew even ends with “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” A prophetic statement if there ever was one.
                                            xxiv.     Mark – 1:2 – “It began just as the Prophet Isaiah had written…” Hmmm. Prophecy. 8:31 Prophecy about His own death. Mark 13 – Jesus Foretells the Future, 14:27 prophecy of Jesus predicting Peter’s denial before it happened. 16:18 a possible prophecy about Paul and Luke
                                              xxv.     Luke – Luke chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4 are all prophetic in nature. In fact, Luke defers to prophecy again and again to validate Jesus’ ministry. So we have to throw Luke out. Luke 6:24 prophecy, Luke chapters 9 and 10 both contain prophetic passages, Luke 11 refers back to the prophet Jonah. Luke 12 second coming, Luke 17:20 and following is prophetic, Luke 19, 20, 21 and 22 prophetic, Luke 24 references the prophets
                                            xxvi.     John – John 1 again begins with Prophecy. John 3:16 OUR FAVORITE MEMORY VERSE is prophetic, because He hadn’t died yet! Can’t preach John 3:16. John 4:21 prophecy, John 5:24-25 prophecy, John 5:39 (all of the scriptures OT point to Jesus) well we already established that but here you see Jesus say it outright, chapters 6, 7, 8 and 10 all hinge on prophecy. 11:25 another prophecy, in fact chapters 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 are all prophetic in nature. 18, 19 and 20 are all fulfillments of prophecy of the prophets. Even in 21 we have a prophecy to Peter.
1.      We’ve gone through all of the Gospels, and you cannot separate prophecy from the gospels. I’m sorry for those who do not want to study prophecy, but we’ll have to not study the Gospels either.
                                           xxvii.     Acts – Acts 1 starts with 2 prophecies, and establishes that the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus talked about is not just a spiritual kingdom in our hearts, but a physical kingdom that will one day be established on earth. 1:16 “the scriptures had to be fulfilled”, Acts 2 fulfillment of prophecy, chapter 3 expounds on OT prophets, chapter 4 prophetic, chapter 5 power of prophecy, chapter 7 preaches through the prophets, chapter 8 fulfillment of prophecy of Jesus, chapter 10 another fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy, chapter 12 more fulfillment of prophecy, 13:23 prophecy deferred to, 13:40-41 prophecy “Look you mockers! Be amazed and die!” they did not want people to scoff at prophecy. Acts 18:10 a direct prophecy to Paul, 28 snakebite prophecy of Jesus, Acts even ends with a prophecy from the OT.
1.      I know you’ve heard people tell you Prophecy isn’t important. But aren’t they even reading their Bibles? How can you avoid it? I know, let’s just stick to the Epistles, they have so very little prophecy we can safely hang out there to avoid prophecy. But wait…
                                          xxviii.     Romans – Chapter 1 sets up this info comes from the prophets who spoke long ago and then he spend the rest of the book expounding on what the prophets established. Romans 2:5 “because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.” This is the world Apokalypsios which we get the world Apocalypse from. And is another name for the book of Revelation. Because it is Christ who is revealed. This word is also used as another way of saying “a prophecy” in other parts of the Epistles. But again, 2:5 is a prophetic statement. Later, we have Abraham, we have the future glory, we have Israel’s selection all of these are prophetic events that Paul is expounding on. Salvation in chapter 10 was prophesied. Chapter 15 Paul uses the prophecies to establish the authority of his teaching on these matters. Verse 26 the second to the last verse in Romans appeals to the prophecies to prove his point.
                                            xxix.     I Corinthians – A big chunk of this book is prophetic about the 2nd coming of Christ and the resurrection of the dead. Chapter 1 opens with an appeal to the prophecy of the 2nd coming and how we must be strong to endure persecution until that day comes! Chapter 10 appeals to prophecy, Chapter 14 is about the continuation of prophecy for the Church, Chapter 15 is all about prophecy, Paul even concludes the letter with an appeal to the second coming
                                              xxx.     II Corinthians – Opens with the suffering that was prophesied by Jesus and the Prophets, chapters 2-5 are an exposition on the Prophecies of the Old Testament and how they are fulfilled in Christ. 12 shows that Paul had prophetic visions
                                            xxxi.     Galatians – 1:3 “Just as the Father has planned,” an appeal to prophecy.  Chapter 3 appeals to both the law and the prophets, chapter 4 is an appeal to Isaiah to strengthen his case 6:8 a prophecy of what comes from living a sinful life
                                           xxxii.     Ephesians – 1:4 even before the world, God chose us…” a type of prophecy. 1:17 may God give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation (that’s that apocalypse word again, in other words, a spirit of prophecy). 3:5 plan revealed to the prophets. Chapter 5 quoting the prophets.  
                                          xxxiii.     Philippians –  1:6 Return of Jesus is when the good work is finished , Chapter 2 long quote from the prophets, Chapter 3 prophecies that we will be changed when Jesus Returns to place all under His control (pretty strong proof of a Post Trib rapture).
                                          xxxiv.     Colossians – First two chapters hinge on the fulfillment of the prophecies, ends with the fulfillment of prophecies as they are in prison.
                                           xxxv.     I Thessalonians – chapters 4 and 5 are all prophecy
                                          xxxvi.     II Thessalonians – chapters 1 and 2 are all prophecy and no the theory that people were quitting their jobs and waiting for Jesus is not true. The Church Fathers taught that the Thessalonians were surprised by the persecution they were beginning to endure and thought that they had perhaps missed the rapture and were really worried because they thought Jesus had “left them behind!” So Paul had to give them specific instructions that proved they had not been “left behind,” and in fact wouldn’t be because the Tribulation of the Saints had to come before the Return of the Lord.
                                        xxxvii.     I Timothy – 1:18 Timothy’s entire ministry was predicated by Prophecy. Guess we have to throw his books out.
                                       xxxviii.     II Timothy – 1:9 pointing to God’s plan, a plan revealed by the prophets and accomplished in Jesus Christ. Again a prophetic statement. Chapter 3 is a warning about the Last Days. Chapter 4 is about the 2nd Coming.
                                          xxxix.     Titus – 1:2 a prophecy fulfilled 1:3 points to the fulfillment of God’s plans. You cannot extricate prophecy from the message of the Gospel, they are intertwined.
                                                  xl.     Philemon – not really prophecy, but it does speak of persecution in Verse 13 which was prophesied by both the prophets and Jesus. So even an innocuous book like Philemon is a fulfillment of prophecy.
                                                xli.     Hebrews – Drips with prophecy. Chapter 1 is quote after quote from the prophets and the Psalms. Chapters 2 – 8 uses the prophecies of the OT to validate the teaching about Jesus, chapter 9 expands on this. Chapter 10 appeals to the prophets too, and chapter 11 is entirely about the lives of faith. Faith is demonstrated as acting on a promise made by God before the promise is even fulfilled, that takes prophecy in order for that to even happen.
                                               xlii.     James – 1:12 James appeals to the prophecy of the coming reward to set up his entire teaching on Christian living. All Biblical truth is predicated and founded on the proclamation of one of God’s prophets. “Do I do anything without telling one of my prophets first?” Amos 3:7, James is an example of this. James gives his own prophecy in 3:18 of what will come from living a godly life. He ends his book by using a prophet’s prayer life as an example of faith.
                                              xliii.     I Peter – This book is all about living a Christian life because the Day of Judgment is coming! Peter starts with prophecy, uses prophetic passages from the OT and then ends with prophecy all to make the point that we need to be living a godly life.
                                              xliv.     II Peter – Peter continues his prophetic theme by expounding on true prophets and false prophets and then warns again of the coming judgment.
                                               xlv.     I John – Gives us one of the most powerful passages to understand the coming Antichrist, and even coins the term Antichrist. He even goes on in chapter 4 to discuss how to discern false prophets. This is a very prophetic book.
                                              xlvi.     II John – 2 John is a powerful warning about the spirit of the antichrist and about continuing in the truth. This is a prophetic warning because he gives the familiar prophetic “if…then…” arguments. Even though it is a small book, it is still tainted with prophecy.
                                            xlvii.     III John – Again John is fulfilling the role of a prophet here by correcting bad behavior that is going on in some of the churches. He also speaks of the brothers who were traveling teachers who were prophesied by Jesus and commissioned by Him. Not entirely prophetic, but still colored by the prophetic message.
                                           xlviii.     Jude – Then we have Jude which quotes from the apocalyptic book of Enoch 1 in the opening section, and the entire book is a warning about the end to come. All prophecy.
                                              xlix.     Revelation - All Prophecy Can’t Read This – Notice that the Book of Revelation is an expansion of the Matthew Chapter 24. Notice also that Jesus came to John, the last living disciple in a long vision unlike anything else we see in the New Testament, but which mimics how God visited the prophets of the Old Testament. This book/vision was apparently so important that Jesus, after His ascension into heaven, and nearly 60 years after Pentecost. So when you tell me to move on to Matthew 25, perhaps you need to go to Jesus and tell Him to move onto Matthew 25.

Matthew 24 is the book end of the Bible – to move on past that is to reject the power that proves the Gospel message is true.

It is even more important to study prophecy today, because many of the events that we have been warned about as being prophetic markers are starting to see fulfillment within our day, and it shows us that the time is nearer than we want to admit. Here are a few:

Israel becoming a Nation
Damascus under attack
Euphrates drying up after thousands of years flowing freely
Animals dying off
Rise of lawlessness all over the globe
The increase of knowledge
The increase of travel that Daniel spoke about
Scientist talking a lot about Marking people via a chip or a tattoo of some type
One world currency being studied and almost being attained by the internet
Muslim world calling for a caliphate, which mimics the Biblical antichrist in many ways
Jews calling for a temple – which Paul prophesied would be there
Sanhedrin and Holy Priesthood is in waiting to be part of that temple
Global scope of sinfulness
Increase of disease and famine
False Christs – In my book Hard Rain, I mentioned that over the last 2,000 years 70 people have claimed to be Jesus – but of that list of 70 people over 35 of them have been during my lifetime!
Apostasy of the Church – people in the church will not endure sound doctrine
Finally, they will scoff at prophecy
               1 Thess. 5:20 – do not scoff at prophecies
2 Peter 3:3 - Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.
Jude 1:18 - They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires.

It is very dangerous to reject prophecy, because when you scoff at prophecy, you reject the work of the Holy Spirit of God – Revelation 19:10 the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.

Please be careful about scoffing at prophecy and about avoiding the study of Prophecy. It is vital, and only getting more and more vital as time ticks on.