First of all, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season, blessed by God’s presence. What an appropriate time to remember the real reason we have been called and to remind ourselves of the importance of sanctification—letting our actions show forth Christ.

Environmental movements cause us to ask ourselves the question, “Has God gone Green?” The answer would depend upon your definition of “green.” The short answer is “no.” He hasn’t gone green, because He was green from the beginning. Scripture tells us, “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”

As was mentioned at the beginning of this series, after being Christians for more than 50 years, what Chuck and I have learned in our research for this material has totally revolutionized our personal walk with the Lord.

Our Lord repeatedly instructed us: “Be not deceived.” That is an imperative: a command, not simply a suggestion. But how? What are the tools to prevent our being deceived or misled?

Previously, we’ve discussed the cycles of history that promise to converge to create the anticipated apocalypse of 2012—a time when life as we know it ends and a new “spiritually enlightened” world emerges.

As we discussed in Part 1 of this series, wading through the mystique surrounding the popular focus of the year 2012 is actually a study in cycle theory. Without regard for the Mayan Long calendar, scholars and analysts, extrapolating from the cycles of human history, have reasoned that the coming years will be extraordinary.

From the War Department (now the Department of Defense) archives comes a 63-year-old military intelligence review, entitled “Islam: a Threat to World Stability,” that inadvertently provides incredible insight into the challenges faced by Christians in today’s world.

Over the past couple of months, we have been exploring the real reason for our salvation, which is ruling and reigning with the King of Kings in the future Millennial Kingdom and, after that, for eternity. Our life here and now is simply the training ground, the proving ground and the testing ground for that next life.

It is disturbing to discover how much we are all victims of our own presuppositions.

Jesus declares in John 17:17, “Thy Word is Truth.” Mature believers use objective reasoning skills to compare unfamiliar or new teachings and practices with the Truth of God’s Word to prove all things.

In 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini seized power in Iran, unleashed the Islamic Revolution, and changed the world forever.

During the 1980s, Bible-believing pastors, teachers, and watchmen for “The Faith” stood up and began to prevail against the New Age Movement.

As 2009 is rapidly passing, I have been approached by many friends asking, “What do you think of all of this 2012 nonsense?” I had to admit I hadn’t given it much thought except for the attention to the Mayan Long Calendar I had studied years ago (many years ago) in college.

In many respects Ruth is the ultimate love story. It’s a love story because Ruth falls in love with Boaz—that’s the main plot line. But overlaying that is the ultimate love story, a love story written in blood on a wooden cross, erected in Judea two thousand years ago.

Thank you for the hundreds of calls, letters and e-mails that we have received about our new book. It has been so exciting to see so many “receive the Word with openness of mind,” but then “search the Scriptures to be sure these things are so.” (Acts 17:11)

The final installment of this series focuses on the most controversial member of the treacherous trio of Ezekiel 38—Russia. Parts 1 and 2 of this series discussed the rise of Turkey and Iran, respectively. Historically, each of these three countries enjoyed grand imperial pasts. All are ambitious. All are making a move to achieve a measure of their previous success.

On June 26, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Waxman-Markey Global Warming Bill by a narrow margin of 219 to 212. Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) has called the bill’s Cap and Trade system on CO2 “a great big” tax.

The headlines have been filled with speculation of either a U.S. or an Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear sites. When George Bush was in the White House, many analysts had determined that it could go either way. However, the election of Barack Obama changed the odds in the minds of many.

Two months ago, Chuck and I released a new book called The Kingdom, Power and Glory. Since then, we have received many wonderful comments about the hope the book has given them.

Hosea, a contemporary of Isaiah (for most of his ministry) and Amos (in his earlier years) was the “Jeremiah” of the Northern Kingdom. His main target was the Northern Kingdom, yet his message was for the people of God.