Sharing the Gospel with the Whole Universe Tonight!

Posted on June 29, 2012 by admin

Thanks to the National Geographic Channel, I will be one of the myriad of Earthlings who send a personal message into outer space. Actually, you can be one of the privileged representatives of the Human Race to send your message too.

Here is what is happening. Thirty-five years ago the SETI network (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) received an intense 72-second radio transmission coming from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius.

At its peak, the transmission was 30 times more powerful than ambient radiation from deep space, prompting the volunteer astronomer Jerry Ehman to scrawl “Wow!” next to the data on a computer printout, giving the signal its name

Scientists estimated that it would require a 2.2 gigawatt transmitter, which is vastly more powerful than any earthly transmitter, to send the signal. No other recorded sound from outer space stands out from the “noise” that astronomers have analyzed during these four decades.

On this coming August 15, exactly 35 years after receiving the mystery signal, a scientifically encrypted message will be beamed back in the direction that the Wow message was received. It will include Twitter messages of 140 characters or less from as many of us as want to participate.

However, if you want to participate, you will need to send your message tonight, before midnight (PST)! The easiest way to do it is to go to National Geographic’s special page.

I discovered that my message, using the NIV, is exactly 140 characters! Another Wow!

For God so lovedthe world that he gavehis one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.-John 3:16

Probably half of the participants will send the same message. I just hope they get it.

Also see: ‘Alien Message’ to be returned with your 2-cents

Posted in 2012, Peace, Technology, UFOs | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

What about “The Harbinger?”

Posted on June 15, 2012 by admin

I have had so many people ask me for my opinion about Jonathan Cahn’s book “The Harbinger.” I have, of course, read it, and have been willing to tell my associates what I think, but I have waited to give a written evaluation of it. Now I have found someone else’s review that mirrors my own feelings about it and explains it better than I could.

Before I refer you to this excellent online review, let me hasten to say that the Harbinger does sound a strong call for repentance and revival. For that, I am grateful and in hearty agreement. It also gives us a powerful and helpful analogy between Israel’s reaction to their judgment and our own 9/11 disasters. Nevertheless, it should not be taken as direct prophecy about the United States. In the study of Bible interpretation, we learn that there is only one interpretation to any given passage of Scripture, but there may be multiple applications. Thus, like many of the promises to Israel, there may be a similar blessing to other believers, and like this warning to Israel, there is a warning to others who would ignore God’s correction.

The central passage of Scripture for this story is Isaiah 9:10 (noticed by many because it was just before “9/11”). It says:

“The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace [them] with cedars.” “The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace [them] with cedars.”

The context of the verse shows that this was a prideful response by Israel instead of the national revival that they needed. The United States appears to be making the same mistake. I remember my disappointment as a pastor after the terrorist attacks that only a small number of people seemed to return to the Lord. The churches were full for a few weeks, but then everything returned to the lukewarm spirit of our generation.

Here is the article that will help you understand this book. “The Harbinger – A Matter of Critical Discernment” by T.A. McMahon. He writes:

“The clarion call of The Harbinger, which seems to be quite sincere and one with which all Christians might agree, is that the American people must repent of their evil ways and turn to God in truth. Amen to that! The major problem, however, is the way that the fictional story attempts to encourage such repentance.”

He goes on to show the nine harbingers that Cahn finds in the story are not literal prophecies, and certainly not given primarily for the United States. Therefore the readers must use caution and discernment.

Posted in Apologetics, Apostasy, Eschatology, Fearful Events, Islam, Revival, Terrorism, Wars | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Divided Nation

Posted on May 10, 2012 by admin

President Obama’s admission yesterday that he does believe in same-sex marriage did not surprise many people, but it drew a line in the sand – dividing the nation in yet another way. It came at the same time that North Carolina became the 30th state in the Union to adopt a constitutional amendment declaring that marriage is solely a union between a man and a woman. The polls show that the difference of opinion in the nation is very close to 50/50, with young people and their entertainment idols strongly supporting sexual diversity. They do so because of their lack of knowledge of God’s Word, or even animosity to the Bible in general.

I got involved in a Facebook conversation last night when a friend posted that she was discouraged by the President’s decision. She was severely attacked by one of her “friends,” who called her ignorant and said she should wake up.

I posted an encouragement to her that she was right because she agreed with God’s Word.

The abusive writer then addressed me, claiming that throughout history people have invoked God’s word for whatever was convenient for them. Of course he was right, but does the error of some people give the whole world the right to ignore God’s very clear teaching on the subject of homosexuality? Certainly not! I referred him to the Scripture list on our Prophecy Central “homosexuality” page.

He countered with, “Don’t start with me on ‘quotes from the bible.’”

I was tempted to “defend” the Bible. But I learned long ago that the Bible is sharper than a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), and that we don’t need to defend it – just use it. I posted a quotation from God’s Word.

How desperately our young people – and all of us – need to know and obey the Bible. We need to heed the warning of Isaiah 5: 20.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Let’s ask the Lord to send us a great end-times revival!

Posted in Apologetics, Apostasy, Eschatology, Evangelism, Revival | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Remembering Chuck Colson

Posted on April 21, 2012 by admin

It was a great privilege to live in the days of such a spiritual and intellectual giant as Charles Colson. The world will not be the same without him. He accepted Christ as his personal savior during the Watergate scandal, and by God’s grace, he turned his loss and imprisonment into an exceptionally brilliant career as a Christian philosopher and founder of Prison Fellowship.

I had the privilege of knowing him and working with Prison Fellowship for over a decade, starting in 1979. I served as a national seminar instructor, visiting different prisons all over the country one week-end every month or two during that time. At one retreat with him, he gave each person a numbered copy of this classic book, “Loving God.” Because of my interest in prophecy, he gave me the one with the number 666!

There will be a great outpouring of love and admiration for him. Whatever is said and written, it will not be possible to exaggerate his great mind, memory, compassion, courage, and influence. I will always think of him as a cross between the Apostle Paul and Mother Theresa.

Posted in Evangelism, Revival, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

New Ministry Pages

Posted on April 19, 2012 by admin

Since Barbara and I “retired,” we have been busier than ever. Everyone told us it would be that way, and we are OK with it. We want to continue serving the Lord and His People. Solid Ground Church is still our home base, and we are very happy to see how the Lord is blessing our new pastoral couple.

I have posted a new section outlining the things we might be able to do for others in the ministry, and we have a matching brochure. Please visit our new ministry section at www.rongraff.com

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

UFOs Appear On Prophecy Central

Posted on April 19, 2012 by admin

Articles about UFO’s are not really new on the Prophecy Central website. We have occasionally posted information about alien life and the appearance of Unidentified Flying Objects since the beginning of our service in 1996. Even then we thought that the periodic wave of sightings and speculation about UFOs was possibly a demonic deception that could be used by the “Man of Sin” (or Antichrist), who will appear in the End Times, to explain the disappearance of millions of people when the Rapture of the Church occurs.

8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. – 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12

In the past we have posted news about UFOs in our “Fearful Events” section, which also reports on various signs in the heavens, including asteroids, comets, solar flares, space junk, and major storms. But now, thanks to the suggestion of an Internet friend, Brad Myers, we have decided to track UFO information in a separate section of the website. Brad Myers and Jim Tetlow have produces a fictional audio drama entitled The Coming Global Transformation. Brad has researched this phenomenon for many years and contributed to the production of the book “Alien Encounters” by Chuck Missler and Mark Eastman.

Here is a little insight about this subject from our own book, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy (From Chapter 13, “The Plot Thickens”)…

During one week in September of 2010 two sensational stories, reported by major news sources, brought UFOs and extraterrestrial life back into the public eye. The first was about a press conference in Washington D.C. UFO researcher Robert Hastings announced that some 100 former and retired members of the US Air Force claim sightings of UFOs and say that aliens interfered with nuclear weapons.

The second big story was that the United Nations was seriously considering appointing an “Ambassador to Extraterrestrials.” The most likely person to be appointed to such a position was named as Mazlan Othman, a Malaysian astrophysicist. News sources were asked to recast the story to include that Othman denied the appointment. However, she does already hold the position of director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs.

Many Christians suspect that UFO appearances are often demonic manifestations. In any event, the end of the age will be a time of unprecedented deception. Satan’s power to imitate and counterfeit the miracles of God will increase and in those days, separating the real from the counterfeit will become increasingly more difficult.

We invite you to check out the new UFO section today!

Posted in Fearful Events, Heaven, Rapture, UFOs | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Red Skies

Posted on March 29, 2012 by admin

Recently Barbara and I had the privilege of visiting the offices of the Blue Letter Bible and of sharing a prophecy update with their wonderful staff. Although we have used their site for our sermon preparation week after week for nearly 15 years, we had never met Jim Milligan, the CEO of the ministry. I was happy to tell him that I consider the Blue Letter Bible the most valuable site on the Internet. If I could only choose one site to visit from now on, I would miss Google and some other great destinations, but I would pick BLB (the short version of their name)!

I spoke on the topic “Red Skies.” Jesus said,

“When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky
is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.– Matthew 16:2-4

Of course he also warned the Disciples that they could never know the exact day or hour of his return, but this verse is a warning not to ignore the signs of the times. I shared four “Red Skies” developments in these critical days. You can download a pdf file of the notes if you wish. But here, I would like to say a little more about the first one: “Apostasy and Revival.”

Apostasy, or a “falling-away” from the truth, is a major sign that the End Times are approaching (Matthew 24:12; 2 Timothy 4:3; Revelation 3:16). Revival is not guaranteed, but the Lord always gave warning before sending great judgment. In many cases the warning was ignored (people of Noah’s days, inhabitants of Sodom in Lot’s days, etc.), but in others, they repented and experienced revival (the Ninevites in Jonah’s days).

Today, even though many people are interested in prophecy and world events, most pastors do not share what the Bible teaches about the End Times with their flocks. Here are some of the reasons for this:

1. Anti-prophecy attitude – Some well-meaning Christian leaders neglect prophecy. One example is a prominent pastor who ignores the subject on purpose, and told his readers, “If you want Jesus to come back sooner, focus on fulfilling your mission, not figuring out prophecy. “ This might sound pious, but it ignores passages like Acts 20:27 where Paul spoke about teaching the “whole counsel of God,” and 2 Timothy 3:16-17 where he made it clear that all Scripture was inspired by God and was therefore profitable. After all, more than a quarter of the Bible is prophecy.

2. Others say – “Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Peter 3:3-4) They are turned off by too much speculation and false date setting.

3. Others won’t preach anything that is controversial. (2 Timothy 4:3)

4. Still others are Anti-Semitic at heart. They teach that the Church has replaced Israel. These folks need to read Romans 11!

Pastors today have a choice to make: Will they faithfully proclaim the truth so that people may understand the remarkable events of our time, or will they be like the Pharisees who withheld the truth from the people and were called “hypocrites” by Jesus?

Posted in Apologetics, Apostasy, Eschatology, Revival | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Let’s Go To Israel!

Posted on February 28, 2012 by admin

What are you doing November 8 to 18? We would love for you to join us for a journey back in time to Israel, the world’s most famous vacation destination. It will also be a look into the future as we consider incredible Bible prophecies that are being fulfilled right before our eyes! A trip to Israel is truly a life-changing event. The experience is worth more than a year in Bible College. Imagine walking where Jesus walked, and hearing His story in a fresh new way! Once you have visited the places where our Bible stories took place, you will never be the same. We will learn so much even before we visit the Holy Land. While we are in Israel we will take time for group worship at the Mount of Beatitudes, baptisms in the Jordan River, singing in a church near the Pool of Bethesda, Communion in the Garden where Jesus’ Tomb was found, and so much more. We look forward to this great experience together! There is also an optional trip at the end to the rose-red city of Petra.

Prophecy Central has devoted a special section to our tour. Visit it to see pictures and read the fabulous itinerary for this luxury tour! Half of the joy of a trip to Israel is the anticipation! We will study Bible history and prophecy together on the Internet and each person (or couple) will receive the beautiful Holy Land pictorial guide!

Click here to check it out!

Blessings,

Pastor Ron and Barbara Graff and

Pastor Darrell and Lenora Ward

Posted in 2012, Israel | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Bible Prophecy: Who Can You Trust?

Posted on February 7, 2012 by admin

 

Why we wrote

“Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy”

There are so many ideas floating around about prophecy in these fascinating times. How does one know what is true and what is just speculation? Fourteen years ago Lambert Dolphin and I teamed up to write a thoroughly Biblical book on the subject. We called it “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done: The Prayer Offered Most Often is about to be Answered.” It was posted on the Internet, and during that time more than 340,000 people have downloaded it. It was used by countless pastors and Bible teachers over the years and proved itself to be reliable. In all that time there was nothing we had taught about Bible prophecy that we needed to change or retract.

We realized that the world has changed in many ways during those 14 years: including the 9/11 attacks and the war on terrorism, the rise of Iran’s fanatical regime, and the financial meltdown of the past few years. These issues needed to be addressed. We also knew that many people would prefer to have a real book in their hands that they could mark up and return to as a trusted resource. That is why we updated the book, changed its name, and released it in two major formats: a large attractive paperback book, and an eBook for Kindle and other eReaders, tablets and smart phones.

Here is a note from co-author Lambert Dolphin:

The Bible is full of good news for all who wish to know the truth about the One, true God and the great future He has lanned for our race. Over 20% of Scripture concerns the future of mankind. But all the positive things God wants to do for us are thwarted by careless neglect of these prophetic Scriptures. Connecting the Dots has been written to help ordinary people understand the essentials of our future. Radio, television, movies, the media of every nation, the teachings of most churches and schools mislead, distort and warp the straightforward account of how our benevolent Creator will soon step back into history to bring about real peace on earth with justice for all.

We have had an excellent response so far from the readers of the book. It gives the “big picture” of prophecy and explains the major predictions about the End Times in a step-by-step way. There is also a free downloadable study guide that can be used for personal enrichment or for group study. If you don’t have a copy of Connecting the Dots yet you may order it directly from Prophecy Central or from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your Christian bookstore.

Order book from Prophecy Central

Order book from Amazon.com

Order eBook from Amazon.com

Free Download of Study Guide

Spiral-bound copy of Study Guide for $10

More information about the book

Posted in 2012, Apologetics, Apostasy, Connecting the Dots: A Handbook of Bible Prophecy, Creation, Earthquakes, Egypt, Eschatology, Evangelism, Fearful Events, Gog and Magog, Heaven, Hell, Islam, Israel, Libya, Mark of the Beast, Middle East War, Missions, New World Order, Peace, Persecution, Prayer, Rapture, Religions, Revival, Revived Roman Empire, Syria, Technology, Terrorism, United States of America, Wars | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Where is Syria in Prophecy?

Posted on January 30, 2012 by admin

The question is often asked, “Where is Syria in prophecy?” How significant was the surprise bombing by Israel of a secret nuclear development site in Syria in 2011? When will the Isaiah 17 prophecy of the utter destruction of Damascus, their capital, be fulfilled? Syria’s capital, Damascus, is considered the oldest continually-inhabited city on Earth, but Isaiah predicted its sudden destruction in the distant future.

Psalm 83 also predicts a war between Israel and her neighbors that will have the support of Assyria (Including modern Syria), but this war is different from the even-greater future war of Gog and Magog (Russia with Iran and other major Islamic countries). One would expect that war to include Syria, but it is not mentioned, perhaps because it will have already been eliminated by then.

One possible scenario that would include all these factors would be an escalation of the current tensions between Israel and the Palestinians so that a regional war erupts. Russia and Iran would not be involved directly because the time is not yet right for the War of Gog and Magog, but Syria might take the lead in the regional war against Israel. If Israel were to suffer an attack from Syria by a weapon of mass destruction, they could respond with overwhelming force to utterly destroy Damascus.

Such a victory for Israel could produce the temporary peace that will exist a little later according to Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, when the War of Gog and Magog will begin.

Posted in Gog and Magog, Israel, Syria, Wars | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments