The first “vaccine passport” in the nation is now available in the state of New York.  It is being called the “Excelsior Pass” and is an app that will display the person’s COVID-related information.  It will show the date of a vaccination or if a COVID test was negative.

The pass can be stored on a person’s smartphone using the “Excelsior Pass Wallet” app.  Alternately, the pass can be printed out and carried with the person.

Participating businesses and venues will scan the pass before the person is allowed to enter.  Last week, Governor Cuomo’s office said that major venues would begin using the app this week.  It also was reported that, on April 2, “Excelsior Pass will expand to smaller arts, entertainment and event venues.”

Probably, before long in other states, a “COVID passport” may be required and to attend public events and social gatherings.  Also, at some point, it may be required for international air travel.

Today begins the week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, following Pesach or Passover.  I enjoy eating crispy strips of unleavened bread or matzah each day, especially with peanut butter spread on top.

Unleavened bread has no yeast, which is why it is flat.  From the religious perspective of Christians and Messianic Jews, yeast represents sin, such as malice and wickedness.  Our sinless Passover Lamb, Yeshua/Jesus, was sinless but took our sins upon Himself on the cross.  As described by the apostle Paul:

Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast—as you really are.  For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.  Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Corinthians 5:7,8)

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

       
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Today is the first full day of Pesach or Passover, which began at sunset last evening.  There also was a full moon last night, as there always is on Passover.

This also is Palm Sunday, the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey four days before His crucifixion, as explained in parallels between Jesus and the Passover lamb.  Very rarely do Passover and Palm Sunday fall on the same day, but this year they do.

Passover is a commemoration of the exodus of Israel out of Egypt, as described in Exodus 12:1-51.  It is followed by the week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Just as lambs were slain on the first and subsequent Passovers, the Lamb of God, Yeshua/Jesus, also died on Passover.  His shed blood atoned for the sins of all who will accept His unique sacrifice on their behalf.  According to John the Baptist and the apostle Paul,

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5:7b)

His death, of the righteous for the unrighteous, is the only thing that can bring us to God the Father.  According to the apostle Peter,

Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. (1 Peter 3:18)

There are clear links between the life, death, resurrection and future return of Yeshua/Jesus and the feasts and holy days of Israel.  (See more in Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 of my online book.)  More connections also can be found in my Good Thursday commentary.

Indeed, Yeshua/Jesus our Passover Lamb was slain, and He lay in the tomb during the first few days and nights of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  Fortunately for us, He did not remain there; He rose from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits = Resurrection Day (Easter Sunday).

He is in heaven now waiting to return to earth, at which time He will sit on his throne in Jerusalem.  There, He will rule and reign as King over all the earth.  I hardly can wait.

Recently in Jerusalem, there was a Passover lamb sacrificial offering ceremony:

At Olive Tree Ministries today, Jan Markell spent the hour with Dr. Ron Rhodes at Lamb & Lion Ministries.  They talked about how Satan’s main strategy, throughout the ages of humanity, has been to deceive, divide and destroy people, including those who believe in the one, true God.

Spiritual warfare has been increasing markedly in the world.  We need to live our lives in such a way that we minimize and thwart the attacks of Satan and demons on our lives.  There are many things including immorality, looking at pornography, lying, cheating and other sins that can open up opportunities for Satan to “get his foot in the door” of our lives.  This enables him to launch even bigger attacks on us later.

Initially, Lucifer had unparalleled beauty and might.  His desired for his throne to be above all the stars (angels) of God and to make himself like the Most High God (Isaiah 14:13,14).  As such, his great pride, envy and jealousy resulted in his permanent fall from God’s favor and grace.  Demonic spirits have most of the same wicked traits, and they want to do what they can to disconnect us from God, ruin our lives, and make us fail.  We are targets of their “flaming darts,” often when we least expect it.

However, God wants us to depend on Him and to search for him.  He doesn’t for us to fight these battles using our own strength.  He is good to those whose hope is in Him and who seek Him (Lamentations 3:25).  Greater is He (God’s Holy Spirit) who is in us than He (Satan) who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

         

         
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Today’s program, lasting 56 minutes, can be heard here:

The Israel election count has been completed.  With 30 seats, the Likud party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, became the largest seat-holder in the Knesset.

However, there are 120 seats in the Knesset, requiring 61 seats for a majority.  For the fourth time in about 2 years, Netanyahu and the Likud party have not achieved a majority in the governing body.

At this point, there will be an attempt to form a new government.  Presumably, if this cannot be done in the alotted time frame, another election—the fifth one in less than 3 years—will be scheduled for the Fall of this year.

In other news, this is the fourth day that a gigantic cargo ship has been wedged across Egypt’s 120-mile Suez Canal.  The Ever Given, a huge Panamanian container vessel, is operated by Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine Corporation.  It is about a quarter mile (400 meters) in length.

Due to very strong winds on Mar. 23, sand swept up from the banks along the canal, causing poor visibility to those guiding the mega-sized ship.  The crew lost control and the ship careened sideways into a sandy embankment, where it got stuck.

There is a considerable backlog of other oceangoing vessels, coming from the north and from the south, which have been forced to stop.  This assemblage of ships is building up due to the impossibility of getting around the Ever Given ship.  The blockage is preventing about $10 billion of traffic a day.

The Ever Given is hauling a large amount of oil and consumer goods worth several billions of dollars.  About 12% of global trade goes through the Suez Canal.  The present stall is creating another setback for global supply chains already strained by the COVID-19 pandemic.

So far, tugboats and diggers have been unable to get the Ever Given ship to budge.  The effort probably will take at least several more days, or possibly even a few weeks.

       
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Joe Biden has been the U.S. president since Jan. 20, for 65 days.  Today, he gave his first formal press conference.  Members of the press in the room wore masks and were distanced at least 6 feet apart.

Here is the number of days that the previous 5 presidents waited to hold their first press conferences after being initially elected and inaugurated:

• Donald Trump: 7 days
• Barack Obama: 20 days
• George W. Bush: 30 days
• Bill Clinton: 9 days
• Ronald Reagan: 9 days

Biden’s press converence lasted a bit over an hour.  In the video below, Biden walks in at the 1-minute 47-second point:

The final results of yesterday’s election in Israel are, as yet, unknown.  It is possible that a final vote will be reported by the end of the week, but perhaps not.

National elections are happening today in Israel today.  Official final results may not be available for several more days.  It is the fourth time for these elections to take place in about two years.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won the 2020 Israeli Legislative election last year.  Yet, he fell short of a governing majority.

A governing coalition with Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz resulted.  However, that coalition and power-sharing alliance fell apart in December.  As a result, today’s election became necessary.

The Dead Sea Scrolls in Israel were discovered decades ago, mostly in the late 1940s and early 1950s.  The majority of them were found in the Qumran Caves in the eastern Judaean Desert in the West Bank.

Last week, Israel archaeologists announced the new discovery of dozens of Dead Sea Scroll fragments.  These fragments were from the biblical books of Zechariah and Nahum, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority.

One week from today, on Mar. 28, is Pesach or Passover.  It also will be Palm Sunday, the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, four days before His crucifixion (as explained in my commentary, Good Thursday).  Very rarely do Passover and Palm Sunday fall on the same day, but this year they will.

It seems to be quite possible that we are nearing the middle of the final 7 years of this age.  If this hypothesis is correct, that point will be sometime from Apr. 1 to Apr. 30 this year.  Extensive details can be found on the following very lengthy pages, with the second being more comprehensive and detailed than the first:

• 70th Week
• End of the Age: 2024?

The following two events, prophesied by Jesus, presumably will make international news soon after they occur near the middle of the final 7 years:

• armies surrounding (and, presumably, ready to attack) Jerusalem, and
• people fleeing out of the region of Judea (part of the West Bank) to the mountains (Luke 21:20,21).

Spring began in the Northern Hemisphere this morning at 2:37 am PDT = 5:37 am EDT.  It is the Spring or Vernal Equinox, when the daylight hours are virtually equal to the nighttime hours.

After today, the hours of light will increase and the hours of darkness will decrease each day until June 21 (the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere).  Then the pattern will reverse.

Late yesterday, the U.S. House passed two immigration bills.  This is in the midst of an ever-increasing border surge, with thousands of Central American migrants flowing daily into the U.S. over the border with Mexico.  Many, especially in border states, consider this to be a serious invasion and crisis.

The American Dream and Promise Act was passed by a vote of 228 to 197.  It would offer legal status to over 2.3 million unauthorized immigrants, commonly referred to as “Dreamers,” who entered the U.S. as minors, as well as to hundreds of thousands of migrants admitted for humanitarian reasons.

In addition, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act was passed by a vote of 247 to 174.  It potentially would provide legal protection for hundreds of thousands of farm workers who have been working in the U.S illegally.

Eventual passage of these bills in the Senate is questionable.  The 50 Democrats would need 10 Republicans to join them to overcome the 60-vote filibuster.

In June 2020, a recall campaign was begun against California Governor Gavin Newsom.  Last month on Feb. 11, it was noted that at least 1,497,000 signatures, in favor of the recall, had to be collected by Mar. 17—which was yesterday—to force a Special Recall election.

So far, over 2 million signatures have been collected.  That is far more than enough to cause a recall election to take place this year in October.  A few more things need to happen first, though.

For one thing, the office of the secretary of state must verify those signatures, as well as any additional signatures that still may come in.  Verification of the signatures must be completed by Apr. 29.

After that, any people who wish to do so can withdraw their names from the petition.  They will have a 30-day time frame to do this.  Whether Newsom is recalled or not, the next gubernatorial election in California will take place in 2022.

       
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Happy St. Patrick’s Day to my Catholic friends and acquaintances.  Today is a celebration of St. Patrick.  He was a Romano-British Christian missionary who became the primary patron saint of Ireland in the 5th Century.

Supposedly, March 17 is the date of St. Patrick’s death.  It is observed both inside and outside of Ireland as a religious and cultural holiday.

I like how St. Patrick used the three-leaf shamrock as an illustration of the Holy Trinity or Triune God.  Indeed, God is One and Three at the same time.  More about this can be found in my singular and multiple section.

I also like the background picture on the Bing.com browser today.  It is the greenish Inisheer Island, the smallest of the three Aran Islands in Galway Bay, Ireland:

The influx of undocumented immigrants into the U.S., at the border with Mexico, is creating layers of chaos, complications and confusion.  Many of them are wearing shirts with “BIDEN PLEASE LET US IN!” on the front.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has refrained from referring to the border surge as a crisis, but he has said that it is a “difficult situation.”  However, today he did disclose that “We are on pace to encounter more individuals on the southwest border than we have in the last 20 years.”  Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) has called the rapidly spiraling situation at the U.S. border a “crisis.”

In the first 2½ months of 2021, Border Patrol officers just in the Rio Grande Valley sector of Texas have made about 110,000 apprehensions of illegal migrants; whereas, in all of 2020, only about 90,000 apprehensions were made.  Included in the apprehensions are a great many criminal aliens who previously have been arrested and exported from the U.S., as well as sex offenders and violent gang members.

Furthermore, countless drug cartels in Mexico are making huge amounts of money off the people that they are smuggling into border states, as well as bringing large amounts of opioids and other illegal drugs into the U.S.  Also, numerous migrants have been diagnosed with COVID-19.  There is no doubt that many manifestations of illegal immigration are very problematic.

Yesterday, a number of Republicans traveled to the border to tour several border facilities.  During their tour, several spoke out in criticism of President Biden’s border policies.  House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said that the situation is “more than a crisis.  This is a human heartbreak.”  Biden has continued to face criticism from many after rolling back a number of immigration policies previously imposed by former President Trump.

The U.S. House has indicated that it plans to vote, later this week, on two immigration bills.  In case the bills are passed in the House and later in the Senate, they would provide a path to citizenship for several million unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S.

Two states, including the state capitals, experienced extreme blizzards both days this past weekend.  Denver, Colorado, received over 24 inches of snow, the fourth greatest amount in its history.  Cheyenne, Wyoming, received over 30 inches of snow, the greatest amount in its history.  Some other places in those two states received a great deal more snow than that.

The snowstorm has continued toward the east into Nebraska.  Winter weather advisories are in effect for parts of South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois.  The storm is expected to head into the northeast U.S. in a few days.

In most of the United States (except Hawaii and most of Arizona), and in some other parts of the world, time has “sprung forward” an hour today.  These regions observe Daylight Saving Time, where the sun will rise an hour later in the mornings and set an hour later in the evenings.

Daylight Saving Time begins tomorrow, Mar. 14, in most of the United States.  At 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning, the time will become 3:00 a.m.

I like the fact that there will be an extra hour of daylight at the end of the day for almost 8 months.  However, I don’t particularly enjoy losing an hour of sleep the first night.

Therefore, at noon today, I set my watch and the clocks in the house and in my car an hour ahead.  So I will be adapting to the new time the rest of the afternoon and evening.

At Olive Tree Ministries today, Jan Markell spent the hour with Ryan Pitterson at Judgment of the Nephilim.  He is a Biblical researcher and writer with an emphasis in ancient Hebrew thought and theology.  They discussed how society is getting further away from God and Jesus Christ, and things in society are becoming progressively evil and demonic.  People increasingly are being attracted by traits that will be associated with the Antichrist, including the supernatural and the paranormal.

There are many things in society and online that appear to point to Christ but really do not.  They actually are based in the occult, sorcery, paganism and witchcraft, yet they are disguised as New Age Christianity.  It commonly, but inappropriately, is referred to as “Christ Alignment.”  A survey is mentioned indicating that 6 in 10 Christians hold to at least one central New Age belief.

Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times, some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. (1 Timothy 4:1)

An example is “destiny cards,” which essentially are “Christian tarot cards.”  The are cards showing images and symbols that are used to give people readings about their futures.  This is divination and fortune telling, and practices such as these are detestable to God (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).

Another example is the use of an enneagram.  This is a nine-sided figure used in a particular system of analysis to represent the spectrum of possible personality types.  It allegedly helps people to become their “authentic” selves and regain their “perfect” god-like individuality that they had in infancy and childhood.  Yet, all humans have been instilled with sin from conception and birth, and only God can cleanse our iniquity.

Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. ... Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.  Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Psalm 51:5,9-12)

There also are crystals and stones that allegedly have healing powers or can channel certain types of spiritual energy into people.  This has become a huge industry, and many people have been deceived into investing and participating in it.  Even many in the Church are doing this, and it is pulling them into a state of apostasy.

Furthermore, all kinds and types of drugs and pharmaceuticals are becoming more widespread.  This includes the legalization of previously illegal ones.  Many of them, especially very addictive ones, can cause people to become more susceptible and vulnerable to demonic and satanic influence.

All of these things are laying the groundwork for the worship of the coming false christ.  Whenever the Antichrist and False Prophet come onto the scene (Revelation 13:1-18), they will dazzle the masses with their occult, supernatural and satanic abilities and powers to deceive people into following them.  The time of the Harlot, Babylon the Great (Revelation 17:5) is approaching, and never before has it been more important to focus on Jesus Christ, who is our Victory.

         

         
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Today’s program, lasting 56 minutes, can be heard here:

President Biden has signed the American Rescue Plan Act, a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill.  In just a few days, the first payments of $1,400 are expected to be deposited directly into many people’s bank accounts that are on file with the IRS.  Payments, by direct deposits or by checks, should continue for several weeks.

Also, today is the one-year anniversary of the declaration on Mar. 11, 2020, by the World Health Organization, that the spread of the COVID-19 virus is a worldwide pandemic.  It has been reported that during the past year, more than 529,000 people in the U.S. have lost their lives due to coronavirus.

Today the U.S. House approved the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, which it received from the Senate on Mar. 7.  The vote in the Senate was 50 for and 49 against, while the vote in the House was 220 for and 211 against.

The bill, named the American Rescue Plan Act, is expected to be signed by President Biden two days from now.  To those with adjusted gross incomes less than $75,000, payments of $1,400 may begin a few days after that.  These payments could be received by checks or by direct deposits into bank accounts on file with the IRS.

Thousands of National Guard troops have been in Washington, DC, since Jan. 6, when the U.S. Capitol was stormed by violent protestors.  They are scheduled to leave three days from now, on Mar. 12.

However, amid worries of continued threats by militia groups, Capitol Police have requested an extension of the National Guard deployment for about two more months.  At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to give approval for this soon.

If approval is given, the National Guard troops presently patroling the Capitol grounds will be allowed to leave, but they will be replaced by other troops from various states.  The troops there now might need to stay an extra day or two while the new forces arrive and and get trained and settled in.

The U.S. Senate passed a massive $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan yesterday.  This was after 27 hours of making final deliberations on the package.  All 50 Democratic senators voted for the bill, while 49 Republicans voted against it.  Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) was not present for the vote.

Republicans have described the measure as bloated legislation that disproportionately benefits blue states and large cities with assistance that has nothing to do with the pandemic.  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said that “the Senate has never spent $2 trillion in a more haphazard way or through a less rigorous process.”

The plan includes $1,400 relief checks, an extension of federal unemployment benefits, billions of dollars for COVID vaccine development and distribution, and funds to help reopen schools and colleges.  However, it does not include several things that Democrats wanted, including a $15 federal hour minimum wage.  Also, weekly unemployment benefits were reduced from $400 to $300.

The bill now heads to the House, where a vote is expected to take place in a few days.  If it passes, it will be sent to President Biden for his signature.

At Olive Tree Ministries today, Jan Markell played a video of prophetic teacher Amir Tsarfati.  He lives in northern Israel and is the founder of Behold Israel.  He talked about the Bema seat, or Judgment seat, of Christ.  Figuratively, the seat is on an elevated podium or platform in heaven, where Jesus will sit and judge the deeds of believers who come before Him.

It will not be a judgment to determine who will be saved and remain in heaven.  The sins of believers will not be an issue at the Bema seat judgment.  Being saved unto eternal life comes through the shed blood of Jesus.  Their sins will have been forgiven, so this judgment cannot remove their eternal salvation.

Our good works do not enable us to attain eternal salvation.  Rather, once we are saved by the blood of Jesus, our good works eventually will help us to receive good rewards.

You, then, why do you judge your brother?  Or why do you look down on your brother?  For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. (Romans 14:10)

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10)

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27,28)

For the believers who appear before the Bema/Judgment seat of Christ, they must give account for the things they thought, said and did after becoming believers in Jesus.  They will receive rewards for the faithfulness to God that they exhibited in their lives.  For the things they did in their lives that were contrary to God’s will, they will suffer loss of rewards as though they had been “burned up.”  People’s personal motives in the things they did will be a significant factor in the judgments they receive.

If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.  If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3:14,15)

From an eternal standpoint, our earthly lives are very brief.  Therefore it is important, as much as possible, to “look up” and set our minds on the Father and Son above rather than on ourselves and on the corrupt and lawless world around us.  The things that we who believe in Jesus can look forward to in the heavenly realm will be infinitely more wonderful and glorious than any of the things we have experienced in our mortal lives here on earth.

         

         
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Today’s program, lasting 58 minutes, can be heard here:

A friend in Hawaii was kind of nervous yesterday after a tsunami watch went into effect.  This was due to a whopping 8.1 earthquake in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand.  The quake happened at 9:29 a.m. Hawaii time.

Fortunately, almost 3 hours later, it was determined that there no longer was a tsunami threat to Hawaii.  At 12:20 p.m., the watch was canceled.

It seems that the number of major earthquakes (magnitude 6.0 or greater) have been increasing for a little over a month.  The 8.1 temblor, preceded by 3 major quakes in the same area yesterday, is significant.

Yesterday morning, the acting sargeant-at-arms of the U.S. House of Representatives, Timothy Blodgett, sent an advisory to congressional lawmakers.  It said that the Capitol Police had received “new and concerning information and intelligence indicating additional interest in the Capitol for the dates of March 4th – 6th by a militia group.”

Some conspiracy theorists believe that former President Trump will rise again to power on March 4 and that thousands will come to Washington, D.C., to try to remove Democrats from office.  March 4 was the original presidential inauguration day until 1933, when it was moved to January 20.

About 5,200 National Guard members continue to be in Washington, D.C.  They have remained there since Jan. 6, when the U.S. Capitol was stormed by violent protestors, and are scheduled to leave on Mar. 12.  However, Capitol police have requested that they stay for two more months.

Today, law enforcement is on high alert around the U.S. Capitol.  The U.S. House wrapped up its work for the week last night; but the U.S. Senate still has a busy day today, with votes going well into the evening.

There appears to be an ongoing escalation of tensions in the Middle East.  Today in central Iraq, 10 indirect rockets struck al-Asad airbase.  Troops are there from the U.S.-led coalition that is combating the Islamic State (ISIS) and other extremists in Iraq and Syria.

This follows a U.S. airstrike, on Feb. 25, against pro-Iranian militia at a location in Syria.  This was a retaliatory strike in response to a series of attacks by pro-Iranian forces against U.S. installations in Iraq.

Many in the U.S. are wondering if and when more stimulus checks might be coming.  The U.S. House passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill late last week.  The very lengthy bill is called the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.  It includes payments of $1,400 to each person earning $75,000 or less per year.

It is expected that the Senate will take up measure this week.  However, there are some roadblocks in the bill that may prevent its passage in the Senate.  One of these is a provision raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025.

The Senate may vote on the measure later this week.  If it passes after modifications are made, it will go back to the House for a final vote.

Yesterday was the final day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which took place for several days in Orlando, FL.  Former President Donald Trump gave a 1½-hour speech last night.  It was his first public appearance since leaving the White House about 5½ weeks ago.

A third COVID-19 vaccine has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use.  The Janssen vaccine is manufactured by Johnson & Johnson (J&J).

Unlike previous vaccines, which require a second shot given a few weeks after the first one, the new one is a single shot vaccine.  According to the FDA, the J&J vaccine had a 72% overall efficacy rate in U.S. tests.  However, it had a 86% efficacy in protecting against severe disease.

At Olive Tree Ministries today, Jan Markell spent the hour with Dr. Erwin Lutzer and Chad Thomas.  They discussed how the secular left does not believe that America can be fixed; they feel that it must be destroyed and rebuilt on a secular Marxist foundation.

However, Marx saw the nuclear family as a unit of oppression.  In his view, men oppressed their wives, parents oppressed their children, and God was the ultimate oppressor.  Therefore, the family model needed to be destroyed.  Those who agree with these things are committed Marxists.  These ideals are taught in many U.S. universities today and have filtered out into the culture.

They further believe that there is no God but the government.  The “cancel culture” is trying to cancel believers in the true God and in the reverent foundations of America.  However, if most Americans come to embrace a godless agenda, the future will not be one of goodness but of destruction.

The Secular Democrats of America want the separation of church and state to be restored.  They encourage the purging of social conservatives from all levels of government.  They deem Christians as enemies of the State.  The 28-page document, which they sent to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Harris, encourages that Christians be ostracized from society.  Extremists in this organization want Christians to be sent to re-education camps.

Christians do need to understand that Jesus did say that this day would come and that believers would be persecuted.  He also indicated that believers should stand rather than fall.

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong (1 Corinthians 16:13)

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. (Ephesians 6:13)

         

         
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Today’s program, lasting 54 minutes, can be heard here:

Today is Purim, which began last evening at sunset.  There always is a full moon during Purim.

Many communities observe Purim tomorrow as well.  It is a time celebrated by Jews everywhere in commemoration of being saved from extermination.  This is a very interesting account of how God blessed a Jewish girl to the point of becoming Queen over the entire Medo-Persian Empire.

The annihilation of all the Jewish people had been decreed, and Queen Esther was in a position to prevent this from happening, even though she risked her life in doing so.  It is a fascinating, true story, in case you would like to read about it in the Book of Esther.  In that biblical account is written the mandate that every generation of Jews should celebrate Purim:

These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city.  And these days of Purim should never cease to be celebrated by the Jews, nor should the memory of them die out among their descendants. (Esther 9:28)

       
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In other news, last evening there were retaliatory airstrikes in Syria approved by President Biden.  The strikes inflicted serious damage on the infrastructure of a number of Iranian-backed militant groups, including Kait’ib Hezbollah and Kait’ib Sayyid al Shuhad.  Multiple facilities were destroyed.

These airstrikes came after a series of rocket attacks over the past two weeks.  Those occurred on the Green Zone in Baghdad, the Balad Air Base and the Erbil International Airport.  So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks.

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives debated H.R.5 – Equality Act.  It would prohibit discrimination against people based on sexual orientation and gender identity.  It also would expand areas that already have gay and transgender discrimination protections.

This legislation was passed in the House in 2019, but it was voted down in the Senate.  Today, the House voted on it and passed it again, and next it will go to the Senate.  However, unless the Senate changes its filibuster rule, which requires 60 votes for passage, the legislation’s future is uncertain.

President Biden, who is a Catholic, supports the legislation.  However, U.S. Catholic Bishops are in disagreement.

Franklin Graham (son of Billy Graham) has written a notification expressing why he believes that “the Equality Act is a dangerous threat to our nation.”

Soon after his inauguration, President Biden issued a 100-day pause on deportation of most undocumented immigrants who have entered the U.S.  A few days later, U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton, a federal judge, issued a temporary order halting enforcement of the temporary pause on deportations.

Now Judge Tipton has issued an order indefinitely banning the Biden administration from enforcing the 100-day moratorium on most deportations.  The injunction, sought by the state of Texas, argued that the moratorium was unconstitutional, violated federal law and risked imposing additional costs on the state.

The Texas ACLU intervened in the case on behalf of two immigration groups.  It now is reviewing its options to challenge Tipton’s recent ruling.

The number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. has exceeded 500,000.  This is according to data from Johns Hopkins University.  The U.S. has reported more coronavirus cases and deaths than any other nation.  It has been more than 13 months since the U.S. confirmed its first case of the virus.

President Biden tweeted out the following message: “500,000 lives lost to COVID-19. It's an unfathomable number, but each one represents a family that will never again be whole. To those who have lost loved ones: I know no words can numb the pain, but I hope you find some solace in knowing the nation grieves with you.”

According to the CDC page of COVID-19 Vaccinations in the United States, more than 44 million people in the U.S. have received their first COVID-19 vaccination.  More than 19 million have received both vaccinations.  The number of vaccinations is continuing to grow daily.

I have a good friend in Arkansas, a state that is on Central Standard Time (CST).  He and I have this “thing” about various sequences of numbers containing a repeat of the numeral 2.  Since today is 2/22 (or, in many parts of the world, 22/2), I sent him the following image showing 2:22:22 P.M. CST:

I also sent him some photos, most of which we have exchanged in the past, with lots of numeral 2s in them:

The world wields power with blunt force.  However, God usually hides His power in suffering, weakness and humility.

The first half of the Gospel of Mark focuses on Jesus and His amazing power.  However, this picture of Jesus is incomplete and somewhat misleading.

During His years on Earth, Jesus primarily used His miraculous power directly for people that He encountered in Israel.  Mainly, He healed, helped, cleansed and taught them.

At the end of His mortal life, though, Jesus used His power most intensely and painfully through suffering.  Ultimately, this power was for the people of the world as a whole rather than just for a select few.  When Jesus expired on the cross, He released the Power of the Holy Spirit which had dwelled within Him from the time of His baptism (Mark 1:9-11).

On the 50th day following His crucifixion, the Holy Spirit came to those who were in Jerusalem on Shavuot.  Ever since then, this wonderful Spirit of God has been available to dwell within everyone who has sincere faith in God.

On the Lutheran Hour program this morning (28½ minutes in length), Dr. Michael Zeigler focused on some of these topics.  In the book of Mark, the initial picture of Jesus is blurry, which is due to the myopic vision or sin within His disciples and within us.  The latter clear picture of Jesus reveals that, just as He would go humbly to the cross for us, each of us is to take up our cross and follow Him (Mark 8:34).

At Olive Tree Ministries today, Jan Markell spent the hour with Pastor Mike Gendron.  For about 35 years, Pastor Gendron was a strong defender of his Catholic faith.  After reading the Bible for the first time in 1982, he realized that his previous Catholic teaching contradicted the Bible in many ways.  He realized that the Bible is the inspired, infallible and inerrant Word of God, and it became his supreme authority in all matters of faith.

They discussed how the coming one-world religion will be formed by a union of non-Christian religions and all professing Christians who never have been born-again (John 3:3,7).  An increasing number of churches are degrading the message of God, trying to conform God’s Word to a politically correct world.  They are laying the groundwork for a great worldwide delusion.  This will lead to the coming of the Antichrst and the False Prophet, a world government and religion, and a time of unprecedented destruction.

Pope Francis is the first Jesuit Pope.  He is a very unconventional pope.  He stated last year that he is not the vicar of Christ.  Many considered this to be “theological barbarism.”  One of his messages is that all religions and all faiths lead to the same God, which is not true.  This is preparing the way for a one-world religion, and the pope could be the head of that.

Interestingly, in the 12th Century, St. Malachy O’Morgair, the Archbishop of Armagh, Ireland, had a prophetic vision of the 112 popes following Pope Celestine II, who died in 1144.  In his list of descriptions of all 112 popes, the 112th and final pope is the present Pope Francis:

         

         
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Today’s program, lasting 54 minutes, can be heard here:

The U.S. State Department has indicated that it is ready to join talks with world powers and Iran to discuss a return to the 2015 nuclear deal.  President Trump withdrew from the deal and also reimposed sanctions on Iran in 2018.

Last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged that there are many issues which are problematic with the relationship between the U.S. and Iran.  However, the U.S. has informed Israel that it is willing to accept an invitation from the European Union to attend a meeting of the participants in the original agreement, including Iran.

Former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, has long voiced Israel’s opposition to the Iran nuclear deal.  He has warned, should President Biden opt to rejoin the agreement, that Israel would consider a range of potential responses.

The Sicilian village of Pedara is continuing to clean up volcanic ash and big chunks of stones or lapillus.  A municipality of the Metropolitan City of Catania, Pedara is 15 kilometers (a little over 9 miles) from Mount Etna, which had two eruptions earlier this week.  Earth tremors occurred prior to the eruptions.

Etna is the most active volcano in Europe and one of the most active volcanoes in the world.  During this week’s eruptions, ash was blasted 10 kilometers (over 6 miles) into the sky.  Some of this ash will circle the globe.  Also, from a distance, lava could be seen pouring down Etna’s slopes.

So far there have been no reports, in Pedara or in Catania, of significant damage, injuries or deaths.  However, Catania’s international airport was closed temporarily for safety purposes.  This is a frequent occurrence when Etna is in an active phase.

Radio talk show host and iconic media figure Rush Hudson Limbaugh III passed away early this morning in Palm Beach, Florida.  He was 70 years old.

His radio talk show was the most-listened-to radio program in the United States.  About 20 million listeners tuned in to his program each weekday.  His present program began over 32 years ago, on August 1, 1988.

In 1998, Rush was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame.  He was one of the premiere voices of the conservative movement in the U.S. since the 1980s.

During the State of the Union address on February 5, 2020, President Trump awarded Rush Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  It is the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Rush had been battling stage 4 lung cancer for over a year.  Having to rest after frequent treatments decreased the number of radio programs that he was able to host on the Excellence in Broadcasting (EIB) Network.  There were several guests hosts who would substitute for Rush when he was unable to make it to the EIB studio.

Rush Limbaugh and Kathryn Rogers were married on February 5, 2010.  At the beginning of today’s radio program, Kathryn was behind the EIB microphone.  She sadly announced that Rush had died this morning.  The remainder of the 3-hour show consisted of multiple portions of previous programs hosted by her husband, Rush.

Much of the U.S., from the Midwest to the southern border, has been blanketed by a major winter storm named Uri.  It has caused an unusually large amount of snow, which is not stopping anytime soon.  It also has brought extremely freezing temperatures, very slippery roads and highways, numerous auto accidents, and power outages for millions of people.

This is very unusual weather for the Southern Plains, including the huge state of Texas.  Most of the state has not had weather this severe for over two decades.  Some places have not had temperatures this low—single digits and below zero—in about 100 years.

Governor Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for the whole state of Texas.  President Biden has approved this and has ordered federal assistance to supplement state and local response efforts.

The huge and severe storm also is hitting others southern states, as well as the Tennessee Valley, the Ohio Valley and the Great Lakes.  It will continue into the northeastern states.  High amounts of heavy and damaging ice is expected in many areas.  Unfortunately, this storm is being followed by another cross-country storm named Viola.

Today, the third Monday of February, is Presidents (or Presidents’) Day in the U.S.  It is a federal holiday.

       
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George Washington’s farewell address in 1796 was not delivered publicly.  It first appeared in the Philadelphia Daily American Advertiser and then in papers around the country.  For those with an interest in reading it, it is here:

Many have heard the tale that George Washington, as a young boy, chopped down a cherry tree and then told his father, “I cannot tell a lie.  I did it with my little hatchet.”  Most likely, this is a myth written about by Mason Locke Weems, one of Washington’s biographers.

This morning, I went to Walmart and to a couple of Dollar stores and got 79.59 oz. (4.97 lb.) of 50%-off Valentine’s candy.  I wasn’t able to get most of my preferred candy, since a lot of Valentine candy already had been removed and replaced by Easter candy.  That candy will be 50% off seven weeks from today.

To those who like this day and all that it brings: Happy Valentine’s Day! 

       
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For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)

Ocean waves can be seen crashing over a heart-shaped rock island off the coast of Sydney, Australia:

The Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is over.  There were not enough votes today to convict Trump on one article of impeachment for “Incitement of Insurrection,” which charged him with inciting the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6.

The vote was 57 for and 43 against conviction of impeachment.  All fifty Democratic senators voted to convict Trump.  Seven Republican senators voted for conviction: Richard Burr (R-NC), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Ben Sasse (R-NE) and Pat Toomey (R-PA).  However, at least 67 “yes” votes would have been required for a conviction verdict to be imposed.

At Olive Tree Ministries today, Jan Markell spent the hour with former White House correspondent Bill Koenig.  They discussed how world events have been moving toward a one-world political order, a one-world financial order, a one-world currency, the mark of the beast, the future False Prophet and the world that the future Antichrist will operate in.  A purging of righteousness is already taking place.

Koenig said, “I was there eight years with the Obama/Biden White House, and this is not the Joe Biden that we knew.”  It could be that it won’t be too long before he is replaced by Kamala Harris.  Also, actual unity in the U.S. will be difficult for many reasons, one of which is that over half of Americans polled believe that the most recent president election was fraudulent and that Biden and Harris did not actually win.

We have gotten an idea of how the one-world political order will play out by seeing what has happened with the COVID pandemic, with climate change beliefs, and the one-world financial order with central banks in the world trying to balance things and come up with a digital currency.  If the pandemic gets worse in the Summer and Fall this year, it could lead to the culmination of end-time events taking place.

         

         
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There was a 13-minute video of Jonathan Cahn’s recent prophetic message to Joe Biden.  He warned that the “smiles of heaven are being removed” from the U.S.  He noted how in the very first inaugural address, George Washington gave a firm waning: “The propitious smiles of heaven cannot be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right that heaven itself has ordained.”

If America followed the ways of God, the blessings of God would remain upon it.  But if America should depart from the ways of God, then His blessings will be removed from the land.  America does appear to have fallen into that category.  A house divided against itself cannot stand, and America has become a house divided against itself.

Today’s program, lasting 54 minutes, can be heard here:

During former President Trump’s time in office, about 450 miles of the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico were built.  He also declared a national emergency at the border two years ago, in February 2019.

On President Biden’s first day of office over three weeks ago, he ordered a stop to any further construction of the border wall.  Now, he also has rescinded Trump’s national emergency declaration at the border, feeling that it is “unwarranted.”

Also, under Trump, 3,600 troops were deployed to the border to help the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).  The Pentagon has announced that these troops will remain at the border until the end of the fiscal year this coming September.

The California Patriot Coalition/Recall Gavin Newsom 2020 is the official group behind the recall of Governor Newsom.  At least 1,497,000 valid signatures must be collected by Mar. 17, next month, to force a Special Recall election later this year.

As of today, the Recall Gavin site indicates that more than 1.4 million petitions already have been signed.  Their goal is 1.8 to 2.0 signatures by Mar. 10.

President Biden appears to oppose efforts to recall Newsom.  Anne Dunsmore of Rescue California 2021 says this is an indication that Newsom knows he’s in trouble and has had to ask for Biden’s support.

In the Senate yesterday, a debate took place to determine the constitutionality of former president Trump’s impeachment trial.  The debate was between the impeachment managers and Trump’s counsel.

A majority of senators voted that the trial is constitutional.  The vote was 56-44.  Along with all 50 Democratic senators, these six Republican senators were included in the “yes” vote: Susan Collins (R-ME), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Ben Sasse (R-NE) and Pat Toomey (R-PA).

Today and tomorrow, the trial will proceed with up to 16 hours per side to present their case.  Neither side can go over two days in presenting their case, and each day’s presentation cannot exceed eight hours.

After the presentations are over, senators will have a total of four hours to question both sides.  Then there will be four hours divided equally between the parties for arguments on whether the Senate will consider motions to subpoena witnesses and documents, if requested by the managers.

The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump will begin in the Senate this afternoon.  The initial arguments will be on the constitutionality, or lack thereof, of convicting a president who no longer is in office.

A certain number of hours, for several days, is designated for asking questions, having arguments and issuing subpoenas for witnesses and documents.  The trial probably will extend into next week.  Trump will not be present to testify at the trial.

At Olive Tree Ministries this weekend, Jan Markell spent the hour with Pastor Nathan Jones.  They discussed some connections between digital technology and Bible prophecy.  Jones feels that it is a precursor to the “mark of the beast” system, which will control how people think.

The rise of Big Tech may be setting the stage for scenes right out of the Book of Revelation.  Smartphones have radically changed every aspect of teenagers’ lives, from social interactions to mental health.  Where there are cell towers, there are teens living their lives on their smartphones.  The internet and social media are addictive and cause pleasurable spikes of dopamine in the brain.

Digital technology keeps us informed and enables us to be connected with family members and friends.  However, it also includes clip baiters, identity thieves and cyber bullies.  An increasing number of people, including youngsters, are becoming more attached to electronics and detached from reality, which can become unsafe.

Electronic devices allow people to be tracked and followed without their being aware of it.  All of their data is being stored in huge data centers, and this data can be used against them in the future.  Also, microchips that are similar to credit card chips are being inserted into people’s hands.  The chips include all of people’s important data and information about them.

Ultimately, this is setting the stage for control by a New World Order and the Antichrist, who is likened to a “beast” and who will have authority over the world for 42 months or 3½ years (Revelation 13:5-8).  People will be forced to receive a mark on their right hands or foreheads, without which they cannot buy or sell (13:16-18).

         

         
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Today’s program, lasting 54 minutes, can be heard here:

Super Bowl LV (55) took place this evening in Tampa Bay, Florida.  The Buccaneers were the first team ever to play a Super Bowl in its home stadium.  Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

The final score was Buccaneers 31, Chiefs 9.  It was the second Super Bowl win for the Buccaneers.

The Buccaneers previously won the Super Bowl in 2003, defeating the Oakland Raiders.  The Chiefs were the winners of Super Bowl LIV (54) in 2020.

This was the tenth time that Tom Brady has played in a Super Bowl, and this was his seventh Super Bowl win.  Both of these are records for an individual player.

The U.S. Senate spent many hours yesterday debating a highly expensive COVID relief bill proposed by President Biden.  Two votes ended up being 50-50 ties.

Then Vice President Kamala Harris, who also is the Senate president, came into the chamber.  Normally, she does not attend Senate sessions unless a tie-breaking vote is required.

She cast two tie-breaking votes in favor of a budget resolution.  The $1.9 trillion COVID relief proposal was passed through a special budget maneuver known as “reconciliation.”  This allowed Senate filibuster rules, requiring a vote of at least 60 senators for passage, to be bypassed.  It cannot be done for bills that do not have a direct fiscal impact.

However, this does not mean that the proposal, known as the American Rescue Plan, has become law.  There will be a final vote on the proposal in the coming weeks.  It is possible, but not certain, that the final vote will require another tie-breaking vote by Harris.

Gavin Newsom has been the 40th governor of California for a little over two years.  Over the past couple of months, there seems to have been an increasing recall effort to remove Newsom from office.

Newsom’s approval ratings still tend to be greater tha 50% in many polls.  However, they were on the decline during the last several months of 2020.

He faced a great deal of opposition after attending an upscale party at ritzy French Laundry restaurant about three months ago on November 6.  There were about a dozen people present, and nobody appeared to be wearing a mask.  Prior to that, Newsom had spoken out against such gatherings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At this point, Newsom’s recall is uncertain.  Organizers looking for a recall special election to remove Gov. Newsom would would need to collect about 1.5 million qualified signatures by March 17.  So far, there are about 1.3 million signatures.

The U.S. Senate is equally divided politically: 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans.  As long as this is the case, any tie votes would be broken by Vice President Harris, a Democrat.

Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell have agreed to a new power-sharing agreement for Democrats to control the agenda in the Senate.  The deal has been approved unanimously by Senate members.  The new power-sharing agreement is modeled after the organizing resolution from 2001, which was the last time there was a 50/50 Senate.

McConnell wanted written assurances from Schumer that Democrats would not do away with the legislative filibuster, requiring 60 votes for most major legislation to advance.  However, he retracted his demand after two Democratic senators, Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), said they would not vote to get rid of the filibuster provision.

SpaceX launched another Starship prototype rocket, SN9, yesterday afternoon.  It took off from the gulf coast of Texas, near Boca Chica.

It appeared to be a flawless liftoff.  When it reached its target altitude of 10 kilometers (about 6.2 miles), it performed a complex horizontal flip, as it would do during an operational re-entry into Earth’s atmorphere.

However, as it descended, it did not slow down enough or get vertical for the landing.  Evidently, one of its Raptor thrusters failed to reignite.

Almost 6½ minutes after taking off, it crashed and exploded in a massive fireball.  That also is what happened to its predecessor, the SN8 prototype, almost two months ago on Dec. 9.

SpaceX principal integration engineer, John Insprucker, said that “we’ve just got to work on that landing a little bit.”  SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said that Starship should start launching people to Mars by 2026 and even could do so by 2024 “if we get lucky.”

Today is Groundhog Day.  Punxsutawney Phil came out and saw his shadow, which allegedly indicates that there will be six more weeks of winter.

The northeast USA probably is not happy about this, since this has been one of the most brutal winters ever.  There have been tons of snow and many days with sub-zero temperatures in some places.

On the other hand, the southwest USA has had one of the mildest winters ever.  Southern California has had warm and even hot weather for weeks.  However, winter typically is the rainy season, and there has not been much rain since last winter.

This has increased the extreme drought to an exceptional drought in the state, which is not a good thing by any means.  Maybe if winter lasts six more weeks, there will be a greater chance of rain...hope so.

Incidentally, I like the marmot (not a groundhog) in Austria in today’s background on the Bing.com browser.  I wonder if he’s looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow behind him.

I began making entries in the Ted’s Remarks section of my website on Feb. 1, 2006.  It sure has been a LONG 15 years. 

I started this section of my website way back then mainly so I could reference and keep track of events that I have found interesting and/or noteworthy over the years.  Other information about this can be found here:

A large chunk of one of my favorite coastal highways in California was washed out a few days ago.  This happened on Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, about 15 miles south of Big Sur.  It is on a mountainous stretch of the state’s central coast.

This road collapse was caused by a winter storm that brought heavy rain and snow to that area.  A debris flow from the hillside above the roadway flowed across Hwy 1 and eroded the road, causing a 150-foot stretch of it to slide into the ocean.

       
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It is unknown how long the repair could take, probably at least several weeks.  During that time, many people who regularly travel on that section of the highway will be inconvenienced.

I have driven on Hwy 1 from So. CA to No. CA and back many times over the decades.  That stretch of the coast is beautiful, and I’m sorry that this happened.

At Olive Tree Ministries today, Jan Markell spent the hour with Pastors Tom Hughes and Mark Henry.  They discussed how it seems that Christians in America are on the verge of being severely persecuted, just as the Jews were in Germany decades ago and still are in many places.  Churches and pastors in various places already have been fined exorbitant amounts.  Churches have been threatened to be shut down and pastors threatened to be jailed.

The Secular Democrats of America network prepared a lengthy document exclusively for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to “provide recommendations that will not only reverse the damage done by the Trump administration but boldly restore a vision of constitutional secularism and respect in the land for religious and intellectual pluralism.”  This 28-page document can be viewed here:

There are recommendations advising that Christians be stripped of their First Amendment right of free speech in advocating things such as sanctity of life, marriage, education, family, etc.  It evidently is an attempt to secularize America.  This all seems to be a fulfillment of what the Bible describes as what will happen in the last days of this age.

         

         
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Today’s program, lasting 54 minutes, can be heard here:

A variant strain of coronavirus was discovered in South Africa in October 2020.  Since then, it has been detected in at least 30 other countries.

Now this strain has been discovered in the U.S., specifically two cases in South Carolina.  It is suspected that there probably are more undetected cases in the state.

Other mutant COVID strains, from the U.K. and Brazil, also were detected in the U.S. a few weeks ago.  These variants are much more contagious than the original coronavirus.  However, as of yet there is no evidence that they cause more severe symptoms and illness.

There have been FBI warnings of alleged planned protests over the next few weeks in Washington, DC.  Whether or not these actually will take place is unknown.

John Whitley, the acting Secretary of the Army, recently said, “What I can tell you in terms of what they’re briefing us is there are several upcoming events — we don’t know what they are — over the next several weeks, and they’re concerned that there could be situations where there are lawful protests, First Amendment-protected protests, that could either be used by malicious actors or other problems that could emerge.”  Therefore, at least 5,000 National Guard troops are expected to remain on duty in the nation’s capital at least until March.

Today is the 76th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the concentration camp where over one million European Jews died or were killed by Nazis.  This is only a fraction of over six million Jews who died or were killed in all of the Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

This date officially was designated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2005 by the United Nations.  Here are five Holocaust memorials and museums that can be visited in the U.S.:

• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington D.C.
• The Nancy and David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
• Florida Holocaust Museum, St. Petersburg, Florida
• Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, Los Angeles, California
• Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, Skokie, Illinois

Yesterday evening, the article of impeachment against former President Trump was brought to the U.S. Senate by Democratic members of the House of Representatives.  This afternoon, senators will be sworn in as jurors in Trump’s impeachment trial.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) will preside over the trial.  Normally, Chief Justice John Roberts would preside; however, this case is an exception because, as of Jan. 20, Trump no longer holds office.

It is unlikely that Trump will be convicted in the trial, since it would require a two-thirds Senate vote for a conviction ruling to take place.  The Senate trial is not expected to begin until the week of Feb. 8.

Hmmm...it looks like one of the final scenes from The Wizard of Oz was changed.  I wonder how that happened? 

The NFC champions are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, defeating the Green Bay Packers 31 to 26.  The AFC champions are the Kansas City Chiefs, defeating the Buffalo Bills 38 to 24.

The Buccaneers will meet the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV (55) on Sunday, February 7.  The game will take place at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.  The Bucs will be the first team in NFL history to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium.

In other news, this is National Sanctity of Human Life Day.  It was designated by President Reagan to be the Sunday nearest Jan. 22 each year.  That was the date in 1973 on which the Roe v. Wade decision was made by the U.S. Supreme Court, legalizing abortion.

       
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In the Bible, King David understood that God formed him in his mother’s womb.  So he recognized the importance of a human embryo, which is the beginning of a human person.

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. (Psalm 139:13,14)

It generally is thought that identical twins share exactly the same genetic DNA.  However, studies in the past have shown that these twins often have genetic differences.

A recent study, done by scientists in Iceland, did an even more in-depth analysis than previous studies.  It looked at the DNA of parents, spouses and children of identical twins.  It was found that genetic mutations can occur in two different kinds of cells: those present in just one twin and those inherited by that twin’s children.

Also, it was found that there can be mutations before the developing embryo of a pair of twins splits into two separate embryos.  Some of the information helps explain why one twin and his/her descendants can be more prone to certain conditions, such as cancer, than the other twin and his/her descendants.

It is an extremely complex issue, but very useful information has been discovered.  No doubt, a great deal more studying of identical twins and their genetic makeup will continue to be done.

More than 25,000 members of the National Guard were brought to Washington, DC, late last week.  They reinforced security around the U.S. Capitol building for days prior to the inauguration of Joe Biden as president on Jan. 20.

The day following the inauguration, with Congress in session, it was reported that the Capitol Police requested that all the troops evacuate the Capitol grounds and be relocated to a parking garage.  They were sent to the Thurgood Marshall Judicial Center garage.

This created a very cramped and uncomfortable situation for the guardsmen.  There were automobile exhaust fumes in the air, oil slicks on the floor and limited restroom facilities.  Also, at least 100 of them reportedly have been tested for COVID-19.

There was bipartisan outrage from congressional lawmakers that this had happened.  They complained that this was unacceptable and that the National Guard troops should have free access to the Capitol complex again.

Finally, very late last night the garage was cleared, and they were allowed to gain access to the Capitol again.  More than 15,000 National Guard troops now are preparing to return to their home states.  About 10,600 will remain in Washington, DC, through the end of the month, to help local law enforcement.

       
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After Joe Biden’s inauguration as president yesterday, he signed 15 executive orders and 2 executive actions.  Some of them reversed decisions made by Donald Trump during his time in office.  More executive orders are expected to be signed by Biden.

The executive orders and actions signed yesterday were included in these categories:

• COVID-19 response
• Financial relief for Americans
• Environment
• Human rights
• Immigration
• Regulation
• Ethics

Today the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took place in Washington, DC.  The ceremony occurred outside of the U.S. Capitol building.

         

         
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President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania released farewell speeches today.  His speech is under 20 minutes in length, and her speech is just under 7 minutes in length.  Tomorrow morning, they are planning to leave Washington, DC, and return to Mar-a-Lago, FL.

Today is a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.  He would have been 82 years old on Jan. 15.

       
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He was born Michael King, Jr.  In 1934, his father, Michael King, Sr., visited sites in Berlin associated with the Protestant reformation leader, Martin Luther.  After that, he began referring to himself as Martin Luther King, Sr., and his son as Martin Luther King, Jr.  In 1957, when Michael King, Jr., was 28 years old, his birth certificate was changed to read “Martin Luther King, Jr.”

MLK, Jr., was a strong Christian.  At age 5, he memorized and sang humns and stated verses from the Bible.  One of his main messages as an adult was that people should be judged by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin.

This is two days before presidential inauguration day, and much of the District of Columbia is closed down.  I suspect that if King were alive today, he would be very worried and distraught at all that has been happening in this country, especially since election day 2020.  I believe that he would be praying for a spiritual healing in our nation and that God’s good and perfect will would be done.

It was windy and hot in Southern California this past weekend.  The fire danger was elevated to critical levels, and some fires did start over the past few days in Los Angeles, Ventura and Riverside Counties.  That is very unusual, as this typically is not a dry fire season.

There have been some record high temperatures (for those dates) in So. CA recently.  Some of them are 10-20° above normal.  Strong Santa Ana Winds are beginning to blow in from the east.  Later today and tomorrow, wind gusts are expected to reach 80-100 mph.

High winds can cause powerlines to go down, resulting in live wires sparking blazes.  Therefore, it is possible that power will be cut to some areas of So. CA.

In Anaheim, the most populous city in Orange County, there was almost a record-high temperature yesterday at 1:00 p.m. of 88°.  Today at 1:00 p.m., it was 78°, with an expected high of 80°.  So although it has cooled off several degrees from the weekend, it still is warm.

 

The weather will change later in the week and this coming weekend, with temperatures getting somewhat cooler.  This will occur as colder air from western Canada and the interior Northwest move southward.  Hopefully, there will be some rain showers in So. CA, providing some relief from drought and fire concerns.

Police and National Guard troops are being sent to all 50 U.S. state capitals, as well as into Washington, DC.  They are bracing for attacks after the FBI warned of “armed protests” ahead of the inauguration of Joe Biden.  Capitol buildings are being closed and, in some cases, boarded up.

This weekend in Sacramento, California, National Guard troops have been deployed throughout the downtown area.  Armed soldiers have been stationed on streets around the Capitol building, as well as around other government buildings.

At Olive Tree Ministries today, Jan Markell and Michele Bachmann discussed the political “storm” that seems to be coming upon the United States.  Bachmann was at the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection that happened there on Jan. 6.  She was in Congress from 2007 to 2015.  She had been asked to speak at the rally that day, but she declined to do so.  She joined others to go there as prayer warriors.

Before any of the violence occurred, Bachmann was in the House Chamber to pray there.  Then she was on her way out of the Capitol to go have a meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.  However, uninvited intruders were entering, and she was told that she could not leave the building.  She described what happened after that was similar to a coup in a Communist country, which basically is a planned unlawful and hostile takeover of a government.

She believes that the vast majority of the agitators at the U.S Capitol were the same as those who were in the riots in 2020, in cities like Minneapolis, Portland and Kenosha.  They wanted to look and sound like Trump supporters; but Bachmann is convinced that, for the most part, they were not.  She feels that the majority of them were Antifa instigators and agitators, some of whom had begun congregating at the Capitol 20 minutes before Trump even began his speech.  For the most part, it seemed to have been a case of identity theft but was being falsely portrayed by much of the media.

This divided nation seems to be distancing itself more and more from God and His laws.  Chaos and confusion became rampant throughout the nation in 2020, and earlier this month it took place in Washington, DC.  All of this seems to be a foreshadowing of the end-time lawlessness and defiance predicted in the Bible.

         

         
30-second slideshow

Today’s program, lasting 54 minutes, can be heard here:

COVID-19 vaccines are being distributed to many places across the U.S.  However, they are not yet readily available to everyone in the public.

Scammers have been deceiving people by saying that they can get the vaccine in ways that are not legitimate.  They are doing this to obtain people’s personal information and money.

People can receive this illicit information in various ways, such as by phone calls, emails, texts, online advertisements, and from other unsolicited and unknown sources.  Here are eight things that vaccine scammers try to get people to do:

• Pay for priority access
• Schedule appointments through Eventbrite and other platforms
• Pay out-of-pocket for the vaccine
• Set up a virus test or antibody test before getting the vaccine
• Pay to get their names put on waiting lists
• Pay to get vaccine doses mailed to them
• Respond to emails, text messages and phone calls from fake vaccine centers and insurance companies
• Click on online ads for vaccine doses from unofficial sources

With the COVID pandemic continuing and problems in the world accelerating, food supplies are going down and food prices are going up in many places.  Many feel that things are not going to get better anytime soon; in fact, they very well may continue to get worse, indefinitely.

Therefore, it is a advisable to consider stocking up on food supplies, especially with shelf lives of several years.  Here are lists of suggested foods, as well as non-food items, that it would be advisable to purchase in case their availability is significantly decreased or even depleted:

• Adversity Preparation | • Adversity Supplies Basic Check List

There are numerous sites where dehydrated food can be ordered for days, weeks, months or years at a time:

• Readywise | • Wise Company | • My Patriot Supply | • Ready Store | • Soylent

Here is an email response I wrote to someone a few years ago about making preparations for the prophesied time of tribulation:

• What is your view on how or if we should make preparations for the coming tribulation?

The U.S. House of Representatives voted this afternoon to impeach President Donald Trump on one count of incitement of insurrection.  He is the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice.

Trump was accused of inciting the violence at the U.S. Capitol building a week ago today.  Yet, Trump defenders pointed out what he said to his supporters: “I know that everyone here will be marching over to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices be heard.”

The vote in the House was 232 for and 197 against impeachment.  In more detail, this included 222 Democrats & 10 Republicans voting for and 0 Democrats & 197 Republicans voting against impeachment, with 4 Republicans not casting a vote.

Now, it is up to the U.S. Senate to hold a trial.  It would take a 2/3 (two-thirds) vote in the Senate to convict Trump on the impeachment charge.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not yet decided how he may vote.  He has indicated that the Senate will not have time to conclude an impeachment trial before Trump’s term in office ends a week from today.

McConnell said that the conviction trial could begin as soon as the day before Inauguration Day, but it depends on when Speaker Pelosi sends the article of impeachment to the Senate.  It would continue into President-elect Joe Biden’s term, and Trump could be convicted after he leaves office.  If so, a majority of the Senate subsequently might vote to bar him from holding federal office in the future.  There have been questions as to how much of what the Senate might do would be Constitutional.

The FBI is continuing an ongoing investigation into the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol building.  Investigators have received over 100,000 pieces of digital evidence, which they have been looking through carefully.

So far, more than 70 people are facing charges, which include unlawful entry, disorderly conduct, theft, assault and weapons violations.  It is expected that hundreds of alleged rioters will be facing criminal charges in the coming weeks.

Democrats in the U.S. House today introduced a resolution calling for Vice President Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to remove President Trump from office.  They feel that he incited supporters, at his rally in Washington, DC, last week, to storm the U.S. Capitol while lawmakers were voting to ratify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.

There is virtually no chance that Pence will do this, though.  Therefore, House representatives indicate that they are planning to take an impeachment vote two days from now.

Some Republicans have held the president responsible for encouraging a large number of people to march to the Capitol building.  However, only a handful of Republicans have expressed support for removing him from office through impeachment or other means.

For an impeachment to occur, there would need to be a majority vote in the House to do it.  If that happens, there also would need to be a a two-thirds supermajority in the Senate for a conviction and the president’s removal from office to take place.  An impeachment might happen, but it is extremely unlikely that there will be a conviction.

At Olive Tree Ministries today, Jan Markell spent the second hour of a two-part series with Pastors Brandon Holthaus and Billy Crone.  They continued discussing how many of the World Economic Forum (WEF) policies seem to be paving the way for the global kingdom of the Antichrist.  The WEF did not create the COVID-19 pandemic, but they have used it to push forward their Great Reset agenda.

Many of today’s “reformed” churches have rejected future prophetic topics in the Bible or, at a minimum, do not talk about it in their services or study groups.  Also, many churches have gone the way of the Laodicean Church (Revelation 3:14-22), which was a “lukewarm” church that was a disappointment to God.  Some churches have embraced the notion of replacement theology or supersessionism, which essentially is anti-Semitism.

It appears that we are approaching the end of the age, as described in Bible prophecy.  If so, difficulties and problems in the lives of most people will increase, and great socioeconimc “storms” will be sweeping across the planet.  It is important not to hold onto the ways of the world too tightly; the harder we do that, the harder it will be to let go and to focus on God and on the abundant realm of heaven, which is our ultimate home.  Studying God’s Word in the Bible will help us to focus on Him and to be less distracted by the hardships to come.

         

         
30-second slideshow

Today’s program, lasting 54 minutes, can be heard here:

The U.S. has been distributing COVID-19 vaccines.  There is no doubt that scammers already are scheming to rip off as many people as they can.

For those with Medicare Part B medical insurance, this vaccine is covered.  Therefore, if you are asked by anyone to share your Medicare Number or to pay for the vaccine, it almost certainly is a scam.  Information about how to guard against this type of fraud can be found at the Medicare website:

Also, brief information about the COVID-19 vaccine and related things to know about can be found here:

Congress reconvened last night to continue certifying the Electoral College votes for the presidential election.  The session lasted until just before dawn this morning.

After several hours of roll calls and debate, Vice President Pence announced the election winners: President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.  He stated that the final vote tally was Biden 306 and Trump 232.  By doing this, Pence formalized his and Trump’s defeat.

The White House released a statement by Trump.  Among other, things Trump said, “Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th.”  Inauguration day is 2 weeks from yesterday.

In other news, the results of the Georgia U.S. Senate runoff race on Jan. 5 are final and were very close.  Now there is a 50/50 Republican/Democratic tie in the U.S. Senate.  That means that Democratic Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, as president and presiding officer of the Senate, will break future tie votes in the Senate.

The Senate and House of Representatives convened at 1:00 p.m. ET in a joint session to count and certify the Electoral College votes for the Nov. 3 presidential election.  Thirteen Republican senators, led by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), have planned to object to the election results.

Cruz objected to the counting of 11 votes from Arizona.  House Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ) joined Cruz in the objection.

The runoff election in Georgia, for both U.S. Senate seats, is taking place today.  Voting runs from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. EST.  At least 3 million Georgians already have cast early votes in the election.  The results of that state’s election may not be known tonight.

Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are challenging the present Republican U.S. Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.  The election today is necessary because none of the four candidates won more than 50% of the vote in the Nov. 3 election.

If either (or both) Perdue or Loeffler wins today, Republicans will maintain a majority in the Senate.  If both Ossoff and Warnock win, there will be a 50/50 Republican/Democratic tie in the Senate.  In the latter case, Democratic Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, as president and presiding officer of the Senate, would break any tie votes in the Senate.

Nancy Pelosi has won a fourth term as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.  The margin of victory was narrow, since House Democrats lost several seats in the 2020 election.

Pelosi received 216 votes, while Kevin McCarthy received 209 votes.  Three Democrats voted “present” and two Democrats voted for other Democrats.  All Republicans voted for McCarthy, who will continue as House Minority Leader.

At Olive Tree Ministries yesterday, Jan Markell spent the first hour of a two-part series with Pastors Brandon Holthaus and Billy Crone.  One thing they noted was how “plandemic” is a better term for the present COVID pandemic.  They discussed numerous topics, including how they believe that many things today are paving the way for the global kingdom of the Antichrist.

Two examples are the agenda of the Great Reset and the World Economic Forum (WEF).  The founder and executive chairman of the WEF is Klaus Schwab, who has said, “The pandemic represents a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, reimagine, and reset our world.”

Portions of a letter to President Trump, written by former Catholic Church Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, were read.  Viganò disassotiates himself from Pope Francis and wants to end his days with a clean conscience.  The letter was written on October 25, 2020.  In the letter, among other important points, Viganò described how some of the purposes of a “Great Reset” are dictatorship, the death of liberty and promises of personal wealth.  That 3½-page letter can be read here:

         

         
30-second slideshow

Today’s program, lasting 54 minutes, can be heard here:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home was reportedly vandalized early New Years Day morning.  Her home is in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, CA.  The vandalism was reported to city police around 3:00 a.m.

Specifically, there was spray-painted black graffiti on the home’s white garage door.  The messages included the following:

• $2K
• CANCEL RENT!
• WE WANT EVERYTHING!
• UB1!
• two anarchy symbols

In front of the garage door, there was red paint on the driveway, looking like blood.  Sitting upright, appearing to be in the middle of a pool of blood, was the head of a pig.  So far, no suspects have been named.

Today, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's home also was vandalized.  His home is in Louisville, TN. Graffiti was sprayed on the front door and front wall of his home.  Some of the graffiti said this:

• WERES MY MONEY
• MITCH KILLS POOR

Other messages included obsenities.  No suspects have been named.

Happy New Year!  I hope that 2021 is a good, favorable and prosperous year for you and yours.

       
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Below are links to my annual calendar and a list of 2021 holidays and observances that many like to download and tape to a wall nearby.  That is what I do, with the calendar on one side and the holidays/observances on the other side of one piece of paper.  Both are in DOCX, DOC and PDF formats.

This calendar is not meant to substitute for a 12-page calendar on which scheduled reminders can be written.  I have mine on the wall behind my desk and frequently use it as a quick reference for future dates.

Click on one pair of images below and print out the two pages (either as DOCX or DOC files) on either side of one piece of paper.  Just change my name, at the top of the calendar page, to your name before you print it.

DOCX		DOC

Or else you could print out these two pages (PDF files), with no name on the calendar page.  If you would like a calendar with your name on it in a PDF file, email me and I will try to send you one when I can find some free time.

PDF

If you’ve never read the Bible straight through, from cover to cover, you might want to do it in 2021.  Go to the following page, print out the pages in either DOC, PDF, or HTML format, and check off the passages as you read them:

Another option is a daily reading schedule that skips around the Bible.  I now prefer reading it this way myself.  Samaritan’s Purse has a yearly reading list, which I like, that does this.  You can download and print it in any of these three formats: