GUEST POST - Does The Bible Say Anything About Storing Food

By Daymond Duck

Prophecy Plus Ministries

While teaching on Bible prophecy I often point out that Jesus mentioned that famine is one of the signs of the Beginning of Sorrows (Matt. 24:1-8). This usually leads into a discussion of the rise in food prices and the impact that natural disasters are having on food supplies. It is about this time that I am asked if it is okay to store food. Some people seem to have the impression that storing food is a sin, or at the very least, it demonstrates a lack of faith. This is a good reason to ask, “Does the Bible say anything about storing food?” Yes! It does.

In Genesis chapter six, God told Noah to build an Ark, board it, get his family to board it, put animals on it (verses 14-20), “And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he” (Gen. 6:21-22). Simply put, God intended to send a great natural disaster upon the earth (the Flood) so He commanded Noah to gather a variety of food and store it on the Ark for him, his family and the animals. Could God have spoken food into existence anytime Noah or the animals needed it? Of course, He could. But He didn’t. He commanded Noah to gather food and store it. Did God provide for Noah? Of course! He provided food for Noah to gather and plenty of time for him to gather it.

For those who may wonder if Noah sinned by obeying God and doing this, Paul said, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (Heb. 11:7). Noah was obeying God and acting by faith when he built that Ark and put food on it.

In Genesis chapter forty-one, Pharaoh dreamed about seven fat cows and seven lean cows. He had a second dream about seven fat ears of corn and seven thin ears of corn. When he got around to asking Joseph to interpret his dream Joseph said, “What God is about to do he showeth unto Pharaoh. Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt. And there shall arise after them seven years of famine’ (Gen. 41:28-30). This is a second story about God planning to send a natural disaster upon the earth. And to make that everyone understands that it was God would send this natural disaster the Holy Spirit said, “And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass” (Gen. 41:32).

Did God provide for His people? Yes! God blessed Egypt with bountiful harvests and more food than they needed for seven years. And Joseph said, “Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years. And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine” (Gen. 41:34-36). Pharaoh believed this was a good thing to do; he put Joseph in charge, and the food that God’s man stockpiled became a blessing to others and saved the lives of many.

It is important to understand that God often provides for His people before they have a need. He provided the seven fat years before He sent the seven lean years. He provided extra manna on the day before the Sabbath so the Jews could collect and store food to consume on the Sabbath (Ex. 16:5). He provided triple crops in the sixth year so the Jews could store plenty to eat while they let the land rest during the seventh year (Lev. 25:20-21). He even considers the ant wise because it stores food for the winter during the summer (Prov. 6:6-11; 30:24-25).

Natural disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity. This is a major sign that the end of the age is near. The good news is that the Rapture will be before Jesus breaks the third seal in the Book of Revelation that leads to worldwide famine (Rev. 6:5-6). The bad news is that no one knows the day or the hour of the Rapture or how far Christians will go into the natural disasters and famine before God removes His Church. When it comes to something like food it is better to be over prepared than under prepared. If we wind up not needing it, we won’t have any problems finding people who do. If the Rapture happens and we haven’t used it, that’s great. Others will benefit from it.

Peanut Butter Shoots Up - So Does Other Food Staples

We have been warning that unless weather trends change, the world would see major food shortages. For the past three years I have been reporting to my PZ Insiders on the global droughts and floods that have been wrecking havoc on the food producing countries.

Now we are beginning to see the effects of this and the peanut butter market is a great place to see it happen right before your eyes.

What is going on?

This past year was the worst peanut harvests in decades that have ever taken place. Peanut butter prices are shooting up as high as 40%

Here is what is being reported.

CNNMoney reports that Kraft is raising prices for its Planters brand peanut butter by 40 percent while ConAgra has already increased the price for its Peter Pan by 20 percent.

CNNMoney also states that J.M. Smucker, the maker of Jif, will hike their prices up about 30 percent.

AP Reported that U.S. farmers were expected to produce roughly 1.8 million tons of peanuts this year. This is down nearly 13 percent from last year, and we may be lucky to see even that happen.

Georgia, the largest peanut-producing state in the country, saw record-breaking heat and a lack of rainfall that prevented some peanut seeds from even germinating in the field. Plants that did grow were literally cooked in the summer heat. The result being poor-quality nuts or sometimes nothing at all.

This year was Georgia's worst peanut crop in more than 20 years.

But it is just not peanuts alone, many other crops were effected as well.

We are beginning to see drastic spikes in prices across the board when it comes to food staples.

You may be asking yourself "What is causing such a drastic spike?"

First, farmers have diverted more resources to growing crops for biofuels, such as ethanol made from corn and biodiesel made from palm oil.

Currently, the United States diverts millions of bushels of corn to fuel-production. Where 10 years ago corn was still going to the food supply, today we are literally burning up our food and for what?

Biofuels are now eating up 6.5 percent of the world's grain supply and 8 percent of its vegetable oil.

This is almost one tenth of grain and vegetable oil taken out of the food supply.

Think about this for a moment, one tenth is a large chunk.

what is also taking place is the simple laws of supply and demand are in play as well.

As I stated, corn and soybeans are going to biofuel production.

The rising Asian and Middle Eastern demand for higher-value foods.

We are seeing more developing nations buy more food.

We are also seeing more of the world's countries buying more meat producing animals which also depend on grains to help supplement their feed.

The ever rising transport costs AKA gasoline and Diesel are also playing a major part.

But the biggest issue at hand is crop failures.

Besides the US, Russia and Australia have suffered brutal droughts or floods that have severely effected many of the crops in those countries as well as globally.

Russia is no longer shipping grain out, China, the same. More countries are holding on to their food stores for their own use because other primary sources for food are drying up.

This past winter here in the US we had an extended winter with massive snow fall.

This caused flooding in the central US and prevented crops from going into the ground as well as destroying winter crops that were to be harvested.

The cold winters also extended into Florida damaging much of the citrus crops and also hit Mexico which damaged 80%-90% of the crops destined to the US.

With all these things that have already taken place, we are now begininng to feel the effects all these issues have created.

GMO Comes Into Play

Did you know Monsanto has now given the go ahead for their GMO seeds to be distributed to people for food crops? Farmers may get these seeds, but the drawback is that these seeds were genetically engineered for biofuel and not nutrition.

So even though we maybe filling our bellies, we are still lacking the nutrients needed thanks to seeds that have been genetically modified to produce more starch, which equates to sugar, which equates to alcohol the primary ingredient that makes Ethanol.

To top that off, the production of corn on a large scale is very damaging to the soil, basically stripping it of any usefulness in the long run.

Scripturally we are told to rotate our crops as well as give the land a break and not plant every seventh year.

Exodus 23:10-11  And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof:
11  But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard. 

This no longer is taking place and "mono cropping" the continued growing of a single crop, has depleted much of the US farmland.

So even if we wanted to grow, due to our greed we have depleted the soil and we can not grow. That is unless we stick a bunch of other chemicals in the ground, which in turn damages the soil even more.

Where's The Beef?

The Texas Cattlemen's Association sent out a notice that there is going to be a beef shortage starting before the end of this year and is predicted to last until 2014.

Since the biggest beef producing states in the nation have suffered the worst drought in history, ranchers have liquidated their herds earlier this year. The cows that would normally give birth in the spring time have been sold off, therefor there are not as many cows to produce the fall offspring that would normally be sold at auction about this time of year.

When the winter demands for beef take hold, the supply is not going to be there, thus the prices will skyrocket.

One PZ insider that I know is already paying $6 lb for high fat content ground beef in Oklahoma.  Here in Texas it is just a few cents short of that. Prime ground beef is already selling between $9 and $12 lb.

If what TCA is predicting does in fact come true, then we will be looking at $15+ lb for hamburger meat before next summer with a monthly price increase until the cattle market picks back up around 2014.

What does this all mean?

It means that beef will become the next "caviar" in the years to come.

So What Can We Do?

Knowing that food prices are going to go up drastically, what we need to do is create a "hedge" against inflation.

How we do this is by "investing" our money in food now vs later paying for higher priced food.

For example, ground beef is $5.00 a lb now. We believe that it will probably hit $15.00 a lb by end of next summer. So what we do is stock up on ground beef now.

When you are at the store look for sales in the beef area and if you see some good prices, then purchase some extra.

With the cost of beef going up, that will also cause the prices of other meats to go up as well due to the larger supply and demand due to the lack of beef.

But we do not stop there, stock up on Peanut Butter as well. We KNOW that peanut butter is going up in price, so estimate how many jars of peanut butter your family uses per month and then go out and buy a years supply.

Some of you may be thinking "Oh my.. a years supply??"

If you are like us, a years supply is about 12-14 large jars of peanut butter.

In fact just checking the Walmart Website I see that you can get 5 lbs of Skippy Peanut Butter for $8.98 per two pack.

A year's supply would be 14 jars or 7 two packs, that comes to $125.72.

Now that may seem like a lot of money to spend, but would you rather spend that now or spend the same amount and only get 7 jars around March/April 2011 time frame?

Prices could be that high by then.

Now if you do not have the $125.00 to spend now, what you need to do then is buy in "baby steps." Purchase just one or two jars every time you go to the store.

In fact do what we are doing and start keeping an eye on coupons. When you get a coupon for peanut butter, hold on to it and then the next time you are at the store, use the coupon to purchase extra peanut butter. Often you are able to use store coupons on top on newspaper coupons, thus saving you even more money. Look for these offers, they are out there.

We Bought A Lot - Now What?

Let's say that you have gone out an purchased a large amount of beef. How do you store all this?

Well there are several ways.

First there is freezing, and the best tool to use to freeze with is the Foodsaver. This is a tool ever prepper kitchen needs to have. This is a home vacuum sealer that costs around $80.00+. You can pick it up at Walmart as well as buy it from Amazon. If you have Amazon Prime, that means shipping is free and you also do not pay sales tax on the item.

You can divide up your meat and then put them in individual bags. Suck the air out of them and get a real good vacuum seal. Once sealed mark the bag and date it and then put it in your freezer. The Foodsaver people say that you can keep beef of over a year in the freezer. There isn't any freezer burn and the meat stays fresh.

Second there is dehydrating, and the best tool to use is the Excalibur Food Dehydrator. This is one of my favorite kitchen prepper tools out there. I use my dehydrator quite a bit. More so than freezing in fact. You are able to marinade your beef, cut it in strips and then dehydrate the beef, AKA..Beef Jerky.

But what is great is that you can create different marinades that have different flavors, spices, etc and then make jerky out of it.

Once you have made your beef jerky, I have found that putting into a mason jar with an oxygen absorber will help keep the beef jerkey for some time.

How you use this is by rehydrating it, using it in soups, stews, caseroles, sauces, just about any way that you would use and cook standard beef.

The great thing is that the beef is already seasoned and will help add more flavor to the items you are preparing.

Now the dangers of this is that your family will eat all the beef jerky before you can use it. This is what happens a lot here at the Gano home, so make sure you make extra to compensate for the pantry raids that will be conducted. Another interesting thing is that the beef jerky will disappear and no one in the house will know who ate it all. I am sure that "Mr. Idunno" lives at your house as well. He seems to be the culprit most of the times.

Finally there is canning your beef. One of the best ways to do this is to cook up your ground beef, beef strips or cubed beef and then can it in some sort of brine type liquid.

There is a lot of mystery in doing this and people are afraid of getting food poisoning. But if you follow your instructions in your canning cook book, you will do fine, the canned meat will be safe to eat and you will have meat that will last several years in the jar.

Now the tool that I recomend you to use for this is the All-American 21-1/2-Quart Pressure Cooker/Canner. The best prices that I have found these were actually at Amazon. You can purchase one for $199.99. The average cost is usually over $210-$225.00+.

What I like about the AA-21 is that not only can you use it canning, but you can also cook a full dinner in it in about 15 minutes.

In fact if you raise chicken and have wondered what to do with all those roosters that missed the ax at 90 days old, the pressure cooker is a great way to cook these tough birds and when they come out, they are very tasty and tender.

You can then pressure can the meat and use the broth that it was prepared in as the brine all in the same AA-21 pressure canner.  

Now I know that there are some of you out there that are saying " But Ray, I don't know how to can."

Well I will share with you how we learned. We pruchased a great DVD series titled "Food Storage Secrets." In fact we liked the series so much we now offer it on the Prophezine website.

With this series you get the 2-DVD set, "Food Storage Secrets"as well as another DVD titled "Food Dehydrating Secrets." On top of that they also include a 63 page canning book that goes along with the DVD series.

All this costs $39.95 plus $5.00 shipping and handling.

This is how Tracye and I learned how to can up some of our food stores. I highly recomend this series for anyone who is starting out learning how to can.  To learn more, click on the DVD picture and it will take you to the website.

Conclusion

The world is feeling the famine that drought, floods, excess snow has produced. Prices of food will go up, that is a fact. But if you plan now and start building up your pantry by "investing" in food; you will create a hedge against inflation that will free up resources so that you can then create other hedges such as dairy products, veggies, fruits, etc.

All that we are doing is just what our grand parents and great grand parents used to do. It was un-imaginable to not have at least a years worth of food storage in the days before the grocery store. Everyone canned and everyone dehydrated.

In fact do you know that God even told Noah to store up food?

Genesis 6:21-22  And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
22  Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Folks, Noah knew that hard times were coming. Like Noah, we have a chance to also store up in our familys "ark" food that will create a hedge against inflation.

We KNOW that higher prices are coming, we can either learn from our examples like Noah, Joseph and others in scripture, or we can pay much higher prices down the road.

Be prudent, be practical, but above all...be prepared.





By Ray Gano



About the Author:

Ray & Tracye Gano are the Executive Directors of Prophezine. Prophezine deals with Bible Prophecy and World Events. They currently serve people  through the internet with a weekly newsletters, daily news updates, community based website, internet radio shows and You Tube broadcasts. Ray recently released his latest book " Survive The Coming Storm - The Value of a Preparedness Lifestyle.

You can purchase his book at - http://www.survivethecomingstorm.com

Visit his main website Prophezine by going to http://www.prophezine.com

Or visit Ray's Blog Survival4 Christians = http://survival4christians.blogspot.com

Watch Ray's Videos at - http://www.youtube.com/survival4christians

If you would like to have Ray Gano come speak at your church or community event, please contact him at ray.gano@prophezine.com

What Is Your Legacy?

Over the past several years I have gotten emails from people concerning the fact that I am one who is preparing for hard times.

Folk have accused me of not "trusting God" and taking matters into my own hands.

Not trusting the government because they will "always be there for us."

Being a "post tribber" thinking I can hide in the mountains for 7 years and make it to the other side.

The issue is that when I am accused and then I question these people's logic.

Their response?  It usually does come down to the "well the rapture is coming so why should I prepare?"

I then ask them, "how many people do you know that do not know the Lord? Friends? Family? Co-workers?"

Everyone knows someone.

I then ask them if they have earnestly presented the gospel to these people and know without a shadow of doubt that they truly understood and have rejected the gospel.

I ask did they show these people from God's Word the eternal plan of salvation? Did they share verses with them that they have memorized?

I ask this because we read in Romans the following…

Romans 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

I do not believe that people come to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ through looking at stars, looking at creation, checking a box on some yellow card in church or raising their hand when the pastor calls upon them.

Can they come to the understanding that there is a God through these things?

Yes they can, but these things do not present God's sacrifice of His only Son on the Cross who shed his blood for our Sins and through that we come to the understanding of needing to accept that we are sinners in need of a savior.

In fact to expand upon this we know from what Luke recorded in Acts about a certain man named Cornelius the Centurion.

Act 10:1-2  There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,

2  A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

As we know Cornelius was a devout man, loved God, gave alms to the poor, and prayed to God always.

But Cornelius was not saved nor did these things lead to His salvation.

That is until Peter came to this man and preached the gospel to the gentiles.

Here is what happened…

Acts  10:44-45  While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.

45  And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.

As we see here, Cornelius "heard The Word. He and his household became Christians. In fact these people are the first recorded "gentile Christians" who came to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

I say all of this because I believe there are many who have possibly gone to church, listened to some preacher, watched some Christian TV show, heard some Christian radio show, etc, etc, etc.

But they are not Christians.

We know people whom the gospel has not struck home with them in the heart, they were not convicted, the knowledge of God.

It did not become apparent to them for one reason or another and it just did not click.

So what does this have to do with Preparedness?

A lot and in fact, it is one of my driving forces and why our family prepares for hard times.

See I am of the firm conviction that not only will I have a voice and a testimony on this side of the rapture.

I strongly believe that the legacy that I leave behind will also speak for me and hopefully through the teaching of The Word as well as through action and deed of my witness on this side will impact those on the other side of the rapture.

I know people, even some who are close to me,  who do not know the Lord. Some of these people I have spoken to and some I have not.

Sometimes I have tried to open the doors to share, but I just know that the timing is not right. The people I talk to stare at me like some deer in the headlights. It just is not computing with them and it seems that all I am doing is saying "blah blah…blah blah blah."

Now, I have to say that I strongly believe that even though "I" went through the proper paces, the Holy Spirit did not prepare that person's heart for that time to "hear" the gospel.

So I cannot say with conviction that the person I spoke to truly heard the gospel and was able to make a clear decision as to their fate of their eternal soul.

We learn from Christ's parable of the sower and the seed that even though the "seed" (the gospel) is sewn, the seed often does not take root and hold.

Mat 13:3-9  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4  And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5  Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6  And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

8  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Timing and preparation of that person's heart needs to be "fertile" so as to accept the seed and then have it fully germinate in ones heart, mind and soul.

To him who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Thing is that there are many, who at that time, do not have "ears to hear."

You Gotta Serve Somebody

I am one who believes that there will be no such thing as "Atheists" after the rapture has taken place.

See, I believe that once the age of grace is over, you will have one choice God or the Devil.

I do not think Buddha, Confucius, dali-lama, Joseph Smith, or even little green men will be preached during this time.

It will be the gospel of the antichrist (Satan) or the gospel of the Lord (Jesus Christ). Those will be the only two choices man will have at that time and they will have to choose one of them.

Yes, I know that there are some who believe that once the rapture takes place then it is "to bad, so sad, You missed the boat" for all those gentiles who are left behind.

In fact I think this is a very sad attitude indeed.

There will be gentiles and Jews who will come to God during the Tribulation. We know this for a fact.

How do I know this when so many preach a "To Bad, So Sad you missed the boat" message of doom and gloom?

There are two primary issues that many people refuse to look at.

The Great Multitude

First we read in Revelation the following…

Revelation 7:9-13  After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

10  And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

13  And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?

14  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

To back this up we continue to read in Revelation 20 the following…

Revelation 20:4  And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

So this I believe is the first evidence showing that there will be millions upon millions of tribulation saints from all walks of life who come to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then,… they died for Him.

But not all will die, some do live.

Christ Judges Sheep Nations and Goat Nations

The second piece I want to show is that we know that there will be nations and people who DO survive the tribulation and that DID NOT take the mark.

We know this for a fact because those who DID take the Mark of the Beast were in fact thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation 19:20  And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

We also know that there will be many because Christ himself will judge the nations and separate those who stood with Israel or who stood with the Antichrist.

Matthew 25 tells us..

Matthew 25:32-33  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

33  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

Knowing that scripture will back itself up, we read in both Isaiah and Micah the following…

Isaiah 2:4  And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Micah 4:3  And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

There are those who believe that since it is the great tribulation that anyone who is saved during the trib are only from the house of Israel or that only a few gentiles come to the Lord.

I can't believe this for reasons I have shown above.

We know that millions upon millions will suffer and die for the Lord during the tribulation.

We also know that when Christ has finished His war with the Antichrist and his followers that He will judge the nations.

Nations are people, and not just a few here and a few there.

Now to caviat this, when one does the math, the statistics will be about 1 in 5 who will survive the tribulation.

Folks, those are not good odds at all and many will die, this is a fact.

Finally, we know that during the millennial reign people will once again populate the earth and Jerusalem will be the head and center of the world where Christ will rule from His throne.

What is Your Legacy That You Will Leave Behind?

We know that millions will make it through the tribulation. But we also know that this will be the worse time man has ever seen.

Millions upon millions will die during this time where the wrath of God is poured out. But that is not all. We often forget that the hatred of Satan will also be poured out upon man as well.

Man will be literally in the middle of these two immovable forces, God's Wrath and Satan's hatred.

The great tribulation will not be a cake walk, but there will be people who do in fact choose Christ and make it through this hell on earth and to the end.

It is for this reason that I know that, we know that we will leave a legacy to someone. Maybe a friend, family member, maybe even someone we have no knowledge of what so ever.

But because we as a family have prepared for hard times today, maybe we can leave a legacy for someone or some family after the rapture.

This is the reason why I ask the MANY Christians who are on this side of the rapture the following question…

"What Is Your Legacy That YOU Will Leave Behind?"

How will you be a positive witness to people on the other side of the rapture?

We have an opportunity to be a positive witness here as well as on the other side. But so many have been so self absorbed with the "great escape" of the rapture that they have not even considered those we could impact for the Lord on the other side.

This is one of the primary reasons why we are so convicted to be good stewards over what the Lord has provided for us.

Why?

Because what He has provided for us today, may be what He provides for that person or persons who missed the rapture on the other side.

Think about it. One may never need the "prepps" that they have put together.

Maybe the reason that God has impressed upon that person to prepp is to have something for those on the other side of the rapture.

I know for a fact that we have bibles, literature, DVDS and information sharing the gospel. We have in place things that will give that person answers as well as provide a safe place and hopefully the time to find an answer to their questions and through this come to the saving faith by grace of our Lord Jesus.

See the key is not having that person make it to the end of the tribulation,. The key is to have that person come to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Odds are that they will in fact die and it is their eternal soul that is important, not making it to the end.

It Has Always Been Grace Though Faith

What people do not realize is that salvation has ALWAYS been the act of faith through the grace of God's gift of His Son on the cross that has saved man.

It was that way during the Old Testament time, it is that way today, and it will be that way once again during the tribulation.

The only difference is that we live during the time of Grace. The Holy Spirit is with us the moment we accept the Lord as our personal savior.

But I believe that once the age of grace is over, that the holy spirit will return to His prior role as he did during the Old Testament times.

We know that people were able to have the holy spirit during the time of the old testament, but He did not indwell them like He does today. People could lose the indwelling of the holy spirit.

We know this because David begged God not to take the holy spirit from him due to his sins with Bathsheba when he said the following…

Psalms 51:11  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

I do not believe that the Holy Spirit will be whisked away never to be seen again like so many teach when it comes to the rapture.

To say that the Holy Spirit will depart completely is not within the character of God who is in fact omnipresent.

Meaning that He, God, The Holy Spirit, cannot vacate time and space, otherwise He is NOT omnipresent. If He being the Holy Spirit is NOT omnipresent, then it makes God a liar and we all know that God cannot lie. (Titus 1:2)

What can and what I believe will happen is that the role of the Holy Spirit be changed back to what His role was prior to the Age of Grace. What that was I am not sure, but we do know that the Holy Spirit was in fact present in many forms.

What this means is that if one is to come to the saving grace of our Lord during the time of tribulation, it will be very difficult to be a Christian because they will not have the full coverage from the Holy Spirit as we do today.

I do not believe that they will be able to lose their salvation, it will just be a much harder walk and then couple that with the  Wrath of God and the hatred of Satan and one can see that it will be a living hellish nightmare to be alive during this timeframe.

This is why I say that we, as those who had the foresight, can make a difference possibly in someone's life during the tribulation.

In fact who knows, maybe because we prepared today, someone from tomorrow might be the next Moody, Sprugeon or some great evangelist who does lead many to the Lord and away from the Antichrist.

We know that millions die for the Lord and they came to that saving grace prior to the 144,000 as well as the angels who preach the gospel.

So prayerfully consider storing up food, supplies and other items with the knowledge that you may be making a difference in someone's life not only today, but possibly during the tribulation as well.

Where To Start?

If this article has convicted you in hopes of being a voice on the other side and you do not know where to start, please contact me at ray.gano@prophezine.com and I can point you in the right direction. I have some PDFs that I have written to give you a good idea.This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

In fact a very good place to start is by getting my book "Survive The Coming Storm." Not only will this help you prepare your home now for the coming hard times today, but can also help you prepare in hopes of leaving a legacy to help someone on the other side.

I encourage you to get my book and please use one of the following links below.

If you live in the US, ($20.00) please use the following link

http://tinyurl.com/STCS-US-ORDER

If you live outside the US, ($25.00) please use the following link
http://tinyurl.com/STCS-NON-US-ORDERS

This is a conviction of mine so expect to see more articles in detail on how you can better prepare as well as articles to those who are on the other side of the rapture.

Finally..Always Be Ready

Knowing this does not negate our responsibility on this side of the rapture, what we need to be doing is being diligent about the Lord's work and share the gospel with everyone we know.

Prepping and then saying "well I have done my job" is not the right attitude. We need to work diligently "until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in."(Romans 11:25)

In other words, till the last Gentile comes to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We do not know when that time will come, nor what that number will be.

We are living in the last days of the last days and we have the chance to impact people for the Lord not only on this side of the rapture but quite possibly on the other side as well. But to do so, we need to take action now while we still have time and resources to do so.

That is why each and every one of us has a duty to God, to be diligent stewards and to occupy till He returns and Always be ready to share the hope that is within them.

By Ray Gano

What Did You Do To Prep This Week?

By Ray Gano

With the fires in Texas taking place, I ran through our preps and looked at what "holes" we had and what did I need to do to fill them.

A MAJOR hole that I discovered is that we do not have Bug Out Bags.

Yea, believe it or not, we don't have the basic B.O.B.

Why?

Well since we live in the country I have always planned to Bug Out in Place. We live on high ground, so no need to worry about floods; which happen a lot if we get any rain.

I got four neighbors with the nearest being about 1/8 mile away.

We live on a "hill" so I have full field of view almost 360 degrees around us.

So why the need to bug out?

Fire.

Wow.. Something that I did not even think about. It is strange because twice we have had fires here at the ranch but never needed to bug out.

So I started preparing my B.O.B list and starting to compile a budget to start saving for.

Interesting how events 40 miles away can get you thinking again.

It is always good to review your preps at least once every three months. Look over what you have, where you can improve, what you need to add and then put it on a list.

There is a GREAT little app for all you who have smart phones it is called Cozi and it is a great little app that also allows everyone in the family to share a Calendar, TODO, Shopping, and Journal. It is updated in real time and you can access it via the Internet or your smart phone. I think you can even access it via these smart pads / iPad as well. You can learn more by going to - http://cozicentral.cozi.com

So I have started a list to start compiling our Bug Out Bags and now when I am out and about, I can slowly acquire what we need and start putting them together.

So what did you do to prep this week?

Coming Food Shortage

Hello All,

As many of you know I have been warning people for several years now about a coming food shortage. This year I have tried to ramp up my information and warned people about the 3rd-4th quarter 2011 and 1st-2nd quarter 2012.

Well here is some videos that I want to share with you...

Do You Know?

What is the best food storage system that is truly affordable? Page 87

Not much money? What is the best "getting started" handgun one can purchase? Page 93

Do you know what it means to be a "Grey Man" and then become one? Page 128

The dollar has died, the "new normal" is here. Do you know what to expect? page 171

Do you know that one of the most common house plants in the nation is also completely eddible? Page 199

In this book the author, Ray Gano, takes examples from history as well as from a Christian biblical standpoint showing what you can do to prepare. Is your family prepared to Survive The Coming Storm?

If you live in the US, ($20.00) please use the following link - http://tinyurl.com/STCS-US-ORDER

If you live outside the US, ($25.00) please use the following link - International Orders Click Here

If you wish to pay by check, let me know so I can hold it for you. For those of you who wish to do that, here is our mailing address...

PROPHEZINE
PMB #230
651 S. Walnut Ave. Ste. D
New Braunfels, TX 78130-5764

Please make checks to PROPHEZINE.

Pray that God uses this book for His glory and that it will really do well and make the best seller list.

In His Service,

Ray & Tracye Gano
Prophezine

Are You Tempting God?

For the past 5-6 years I have been writing about what I am calling "The Coming Storm."

Well the storm is now coming towards us and is upon our horizon.
What is interesting is that both heathen and Christian both see hard times coming.

We know from scripture that times are not going to get better, they are going to get worse.

2 Timothy 3:1  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

God's Word has warned us that cataclysmic events will be taking place. War, famine, pestilence and natural disasters.

Have we had these types of events before? Yes we have, but not at the levels we have seen in recent days.

One does not have to be a believer to understand that hard times are coming. The air is so "thick" with this knowledge that you can cut it with a butter knife.

Over the years I have gotten many, many emails and it is interesting, I see two types of Christian.
First there is the Christian that says You do not have faith - God will protect us - He saved Israel with manna, He will do the same for us - Your just an alarmist, chicken little, sky is falling, you need to rely on God.

The second group of folks are those who see the writing on the wall and are doing something about it. They are making physical preparations knowing that hard times are coming.

For those of you who do not know, you can count me in the second group of people.

It is my hope to share with you from scripture why we need to be preparing and why I believe it is our duty as Christians to do so.

Proverbs 22:3  A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Proverbs 6:6  Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:

Proverbs 30:25  The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;

We see example after example where God's people were warned in advance and then prepared themselves and their families.

We see Noah being warned of the rain and floods. He was told to build an ark. He was obedient and God spared his family. Please note that God did not drop an ark out of sky. It took Noah 120 years to build it. All the while he was warning / preaching to the people.

Noah prepared, the storm came, he and his family were sparred. Now God did not just "whisk" them away, they went through the storm in the ark that God told them to prepare and build.

We also see Joseph who was warned that a terrible famine was coming. He was given seven years to prepare.

Now, did Joseph lack faith? Do we view him today as an alarmist? Chicken little? Doom and gloomer?

No we don't in fact he is held in high regard because he acted on the warnings God gave and made proper preparations. Not only did Joseph save Egypt, he saved Israel and many other of the surrounding countries as well those who might have starved to death.

We see Lot and his family, they were warned of impending destruction. Now they did not have time to prepare, in fact they were told to leave now.

In fact Lot went to some of his family and they did not listen to him about the coming destruction.

Genesis 19:13 - 14  For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. 14  And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

Like many out there, people are not listening. They see what is happening right before their eyes, but like the ostrich, they put their heads in the sand. Because of this, they and their families will become victims of the coming storm.

Genesis 19:15-17  And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.

16  And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

17  And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

We see here even in Lot a certain reluctance, but he still was a righteous man and acted upon God's warning.

We as Christians are called to be aware and to foresee coming dangers and prepare for them in advance while we still have time.

Even the animals know to store up for the winter and hard times. But it is our free will that allows us to see the coming storm and do nothing about it.

Like with Noah, Joseph and Lot, God gives His warning and he expects His people to act on these warnings.

Matthew 24:7  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Luke 21:10 -11  Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: 11  And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Friends, often people think that Christ is describing the tribulation, he is not. These things must come to pass prior. We know this by what is given of the very same account from the book of Mark.

Mark 13:7-8  And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. 8  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

These things are just the beginnings of sorrows. We are warned, it is here in black and white, perilous times are coming and in fact are here. Things are going to get worse not better.

Those of us who are bible believing Christians see the writing on the wall. Like Noah, Joseph, Lot and others in scripture, we need to be obedient and act on these warnings.

Folks, I am not the only one out there saying this. The holy spirit is moving in the church. This very same warning is coming from small town churches, pastors being sensitive to the spirit and preaching this from the pulpit. Solid brethren who blog on the internet, same message of warning. I just attended the Future Congress Conference, I had many people come up to me, people I have never known and who have never read my website say almost the exact same thing that I have been preaching for the past 6 years. They see the coming storm and as God's people, we need to prepare.

Even if these people did not raise up a warning, we still see it on TV, in the newspapers, on the internet. As I have stated before, even the heathen sees the warnings and the air is so thick you can cut it with a butter knife.

God is warning His people and we must act.

Look at what we have facing us…

- Earthquakes in CA
- Floods in the mid-west
- Hurricanes
- Bird flu - pandemics - illness & disease
- Financial collapse / Bank Holiday - Bank Day
- Manmade disasters / terrorist attacks
- Wars, revolutions, riots, crime, social unrest

We are sitting upon the cusp of the perfect storm, one that will effect just about everyone in the world.

How can you not see this and sit and do nothing?

Men of God, how can you sit idly by and allow your families health and welfare to be put in danger. 

Do you know that if you are doing nothing you are worse than the infidel?

1 Timothy 5:8  But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.

Some of our parents, our grandparents and specially our great grand parents always kept food and provisions on hand. In fact it was very common to have at least a year's worth on hand. It wasn't till the dawn of the super market and mega store that we have neglected our duties to being good stewards in this area of providing for our family.

Folks like it or not it is prudent of us to at least have 30 days worth of food and critical commodities / necessities on hand to fulfill the needs of our families. And this is the bare minimum.

It is the enemy who has made being a good steward something that is wrong in today's world.

Scripture says…

Isaiah 5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Today people who are good stewards are hoarders, survivalists, extremists, domestic terrorists, and the list of negatives goes on.
 
Are You Tempting God?

Matthew 4:6-7  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

7  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

We can see clearly that by putting yourself in a dangerous situation and then expecting God to protect or rescue you is tempting God.

Now if it is God's Will and we have been called to put our lives in this situation, then that is a completely different matter.  The outcome in most cases is dying a martyrs death or paying the highest price for the sake of the gospel.

We have been given warnings, we see the writing on the wall, the Holy Spirit is speaking through many the same message all over the land. That message is for God's people to prepare for hard times ahead while we still have the time and ability to do so.

I strongly believe that by refusing to make preparations when God has given advance warnings is not only tempting God by ignoring God‘s warnings, but being disobedient to Him and denying the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Friend, if this is you, you are living a very dangerous life and putting not only yourself, but your families in harm's way due to the consequences of sin and disobedience to God.

God has given us plenty of advance warning. Just in the scriptures alone from Matthew, Luke and Mark alone that I have shared with you should give us heed for concern.

So with all that is going on in the world, the air so thick we can cut it with a knife, shouldn't we be taking God seriously and prepare for these dangers that lie ahead?

Joseph and Noah prepared and saved their families, are we better than them?

Look at it this way.

We have…

- Home owners insurance just in case our home is in danger or destroyed

- Auto insurance in case are car is damaged in a wreck or destroyed

- Health insurance in case we get sick or have a serious illness

- Renters insurance to protect and replace items that might be lost due to fire, theft or other damage

Why do we then shun, put down, disregard, having any sort of food and provision insurance so that our families health and welfare is provided for in times of disaster or upheaval?

You do believe in God's Word don't you?

You take it as absolute truth don't you?

You believe that we are living in the last days don't you?

Then wars, pestilence, natural disasters and the like are coming and in fact are here now.

You see perilous times right here, right now don't you?

Folks, no matter what you believe regarding the rapture and the timing of the rapture we are where we are. No one man has the all seeing all knowing crystal ball telling us exactly when the rapture will take place.

Don't believe me, look at Harold Camping. This was his third time at dating the rapture and guess what, we are still here. He was wrong.

We are told in God's word to trust in the Lord and not lean on our own understanding.

Listen, I stand on the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ. But I submit myself to Him and His Word.

We are told in scripture that only God knows the day and the hour

Matthew 24:36  But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Mark 13:32  But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

So I strongly believe that those who state that we do not have to worry because God is going to rapture us out are in fact tempting God. They are putting themselves and their families in un-needed danger, in turn they are sinning against God.

Now I know by now I am really upsetting people, getting the "he is a pharasee" "being legalistic", " how dare he judge me" thing going on.
 
Well I am just the messenger folks. What you need to do is ask yourself are you truly submitting to 

God's Word or are you just "cherry picking" what you want to hear and believe?

Lean not on our own understanding, lean only on God's Word.

Proverbs 22:3  A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Right there in black and white.

Are you a prudent / wise obedient person or are you a simple / fool disobedient person?

We know the signs, we see what is happening right before our eyes, it is our duty as Christians being obedient to Him to prepare for hard times.  This is a fact in light of God's  Word.

You know what you and your family need. We must be acting on God's council and make preparations for the Coming Storm now, before the storm hits.

Friend, IT IS the act of faith to take God's Word and then act on these warnings so that you and your family can "Survive The Coming Storm."

It IS NOT the act of faith to be tempting God.

It takes God's power working in us and knowing God Word to act on something that we do not know when will hit.

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Not Only You and Your Family - But Others

Christ tells us in Luke 19:13 to "Occupy Till He Returns"

1 Peter 3:15 tells us…

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Not only should we be making preparations for the health and welfare of ourselves and our family, but we need to also be making preparations to offer charity and help others if we are called upon to do so.

Now am I saying that we need to turn our garage into a soup kitchen?

No, I am not.

But think that if we are able to assist a family in need and help them get over a rough time, don't you think that we will also have the opportunity to share the gospel?

See not only will we be able to share the gospel, we will be able to share the gospel with credibility because we did heed God's warnings when others did not. We saw the writing on the wall with others ignored it.

Now again, I am not talking soup kitchens or anything like that.
But what I am talking about is when the holy spirit moves you to reach out to a family or individual and be of assistance. This is an example of "always be ready."

Scripture says…

Ephesians 4:28  Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

Where To Start?

One of the best places to start is to find a place where you can store your supplies. See if you have a place for your pantry, it is a lot easier to start.

Next you need to determine what sort of events and situations could possibly effect you and your family.

For example, if you live in California, then you need to be concerned with earthquakes. So prepare.

If you live in Kansas you need to be concerned with tornados.

Knowing and identifying these situations will help you better determine and prepare what you need to do and what supplies / critical commodities you will need to have on hand.

One of the best places to start is by educating yourself. There is a lot of great information out there. You can utilize your local library, the internet as well as people in your church who have been preparing.

Now you can't prepare for every event, even the US Army has the saying "adapt and overcome."

Also, do not buy into the hype that Hollywood has sold us all these years.

No there will not be some massive "zombie attack."

Nor will the world melt down into a mad max nuclear apocalyptic word. Take a look at Japan today. We do not see mutant biker gangs roaming the roads of Tokyo do we?

What I believe that we need to be preparing for is an economic downfall of the US dollar. In turn this will affect many people and in fact it will impact many countries.

There are people out there that say that this will bring on the reign of the antichrist. Could this be true? I could very well come about that way. But again we do not have an all seeing crystal ball. 
What this could do is bring about another dictator like we saw in WWII and the death of over 6 million Jews and thousands of Christians.

What we need to do is stop leaning upon our own understanding and lean upon God's Word. 
God's Word tells us to prepare, so we need to be obedient to Him.

Proverbs 22:3  A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Finally, it does not matter what we have been concerned with. Our job is to do the best that we can do with what God has given us stewardship over. We have a brain to think with and two hands to work with. He has provided for us the tools we need to do the right thing according to 
His Word.

What we need to do now is to act and stop making excuses while we still have time.

The one thing that will come out of all of this is that you will have a certain peace of mind knowing that you have done all.. and when that evil day comes… you will be able to stand.

Ephesians 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

By Ray Gano

---

 
Survive The Coming Storm By Ray Gano
 
Insane spending by past and current administrations has led us into staggering debt. Paying back the loans and interest gathered in the attempt to spend our way out of that debt has become impossible.

The demise of the dollar is looming, poised to die in flaming downward spiral. When it hits bottom, this nation will fall into chaos like she has never seen before, plunging into third -world status. Food, gas, and most everything else will become drastically more expensive, coupled with a rise in crime. The "New Normal" for our nation will be upon us as these changes take place.

Hollywood has painted an apocalyptic world, filled with mutant "Mad Max" biker gangs and zombies as this nation's future.

What is sad is that the masses have bought into this false idea.
In this book the author, Ray Gano, takes examples from history as well as from a Christian biblical standpoint showing what you can do to prepare. Is your family prepared to Survive The Coming Storm.

The cost is $20.00 each with shipping and handling included in the price.

If you live outside the US, the cost is $25.00 each, shipping and handling also included..

I will be more than happy to add a something special in the book when I sign it, just let me know in the comments with the order, or email me what you would like me to sign.

Also, consider purchasing two so that you have one to give away as a gift or if you know someone who would benefit from the book.

If you live in the US, ($20.00) please use the following link - http://tinyurl.com/STCS-US-ORDER

If you live outside the US, ($25.00) please use the following link - International Orders Click Here

If you wish to pay by check, let me know so I can hold it for you. For those of you who wish to do that, here is our mailing address...

PROPHEZINE
PMB #230
651 S. Walnut Ave. Ste. D
New Braunfels, TX 78130-5764

Please make checks to PROPHEZINE.

Pray that God uses this book for His glory and that it will really do well and make the best seller list.