Calamity Howling

"...one who makes dismal predictions of impending disaster."

I remember vividly talking to my grandmother as a boy of ten in 1942. This was in Idaho Falls, Idaho, about six months after the start of World War II. Lilly was making "glorified rice" in the kitchen and I ran in excited to tell her the latest news of the war from H. V. Kaltenborn. I was also amped up by all the radio after-school adventures we kids were addicted to back then.

My grandmother said to me, "Skippy, you are a Calamity Howler"--- and she laughed. Her prophecy proved true!

Years later I came to hate management meetings at my job and avoid boring church meetings with ponderous slow and irrelevant sermons. At work, I posted cartoons and satirical short stories poking fun at my colleagues ruthlessly. See the true story here.

Hans von Kaltenborn (July 9, 1878 – June 14, 1965), generally known as H. V. Kaltenborn, was an American radio commentator. He was heard regularly on the radio for over 30 years, beginning with CBS in 1928.

He was known for his highly precise diction, his ability to ad-lib, and his depth of knowledge of world affairs.
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Never mind, I am just now in my old age catching on more fully to the "unsearchable riches of Christ."

In his message on John Chapter 17, The Longest Prayer, Ray Stedman said,

That is it. We become part of the glory. Thus everything we do is a beholding of his glory. What a marvelous fate awaits us!

A lot of water has gone over the falls in the ensuing 79 years since my grandmother predicted I'd be a "Calamity Howler." I could easily been one of those many prophets of gloom and doom, well-meaning, often, but not well grounded in the Bible or in church history. I'm eternally grateful for good teachers, good mentors, godly men and women who have come into my life to steer me back to knowing Jesus one day at a time, and majoring in the entire Bible.

I dare not write off my enthusiastic younger brothers and sisters who are "works in process." True Christians are "members one of another," and members of the Body of Christ. God is building a wonderful family having great diversity!

When any person “dies” physically the person (soul and spirit) exits earth time and “instantly” time travels to the next scheduled event in the unseen realm. In thinking about this, forget for a moment our usual understanding of time. Events in the spiritual realm are not simultaneous with events in history for a time traveler. In linear time as understood by an observer trapped on earth, the Rapture and the Last Judgment are understoodd as ~1007 years apart. A non believer, upon dying, does not enter limbo, a waiting room and stay there for the interval in history between his physical death and the Last Judgment. The physical body is what locks us into earth time. At death we (soul and spirit) shed the body and time travel to our next appointment. The destination we time travel to is different, of course, depending on whether we know Jesus or not. New bodies of one kind or another are already waiting us at our final destination. Concepts such as limbo, purgatory, an intermediate-state body, soul-sleep, waiting rooms, holding pens, or long delays in transit come about because we don't avail ourselves of revelation from God concerning the unseen realm.

Jesus said to the thief on the Cross “this day you will be with me in Paradise.” The forgiven thief was immediately there at the destination, along with Jesus, as soon as he died.

In the account of the rich man and Lazarus we see the two communicating back and forth across a great barrier between them. Both are conscious and aware of where they are.

“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

“Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’

“Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said to him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ” (Luke 16:19-31)

The first martyr of the Christian church, Stephen, was stoned to death after giving an impassioned message on the history of Israel before the leaders of the nation. He saw “Jesus standing at the right hand of God” which would seem to contradict earlier evidence in the Book of Acts that Jesus was then “seated at the right hand of God.” Stephen’s last words suggested he would “time travel” to the Rapture upon taking his last breath. When He receives His Bride, we would expect Jesus to rise from His throne to welcome her. 

Stephen said in part...

“However, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
‘Heaven is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
What house will you build for Me? says the Lord,
Or what is the place of My rest?
Has My hand not made all these things?’

“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:48-60)

We accommodate our present entrapment in linear, historical time by saying a person “falls asleep” at death. "Asleep in Jesus” is engraved on many tombstones. The actual dying Christian undergoes an immediate transformation of his or her body and arrives at the Rapture “in a twinkling of an eye.” The Rapture is overdue now but could happen today.

Ray Stedman notes: “A vivid picture, is it not? It is noteworthy to see how God stands by his faithful martyr here. Stephen's eyes are opened, even in the presence of the council, and he sees the Lord Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. It is my conviction that every believer who dies sees this event, that when a believer steps out of time into eternity the next event waiting for him is the coming of the Lord Jesus for his own. Here Stephen sees him waiting to step out and receive him in a few moments, when he will be taken out of the city and stoned to death. This is the sight that greets the eyes of those who fall asleep in Jesus, and Stephen sees it. He prays to him in words that echo those of Jesus himself on the cross. Jesus had prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," (Luke 23:34). Stephen says, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit, and do not hold this sin against them." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Todd Hamson is a gifted brother in Christ. He summarizes the views of many today--because people are panicking on every side. There have always been false teachers setting dates based on current events. Todd does not do that, nor is he off base in my opinion. Todd writes:

They say a watched pot never boils. Well I’ve been watching and it seems like things are beginning to heat up! It appears we are in an era when the water is not only heating up, but the bubbles are beginning to form more rapidly than any other time in history. Consider this sampling of earlier signs of the times and how spread out they were.

• In 1897, Theodore Herzl chaired the 1st Zion Congress with the goal of creating a home for the Jewish people. That was (arguably) the first concrete step toward setting the stage for prophesied end-time events.

• In 1946 Winston Churchill called for a United States of Europe.

• In 1948 Israel became a nation.

• In 1967 Israel miraculously won the Six Day War and gained control of Jerusalem.

• In 1968 the Club of Rome was founded.

• In 1991 the Gulf War turned the worlds attention once again to the Middle East.

• In 1993 the European Union was created.

• In 2001 the terrorist attacks on the symbols of the US military and the US economy took place.

• In 2011 the “Arab Spring” led to civil war in Syria (creating the Ezekiel 38 playground for Russia, Turkey, and Iran).

Take a moment to ponder the prophetic implications of these key events and how spread out they were. (By the way, I wish I had time and space in this article to unpack how each of those connects directly with key end-time Bible prophecies.) It was about the time of the last event on the list (civil war in Syria), that I began carefully studying eschatology and the signs of the times—and felt called to do so.

The 2011-2012 time-frame was prophetically significant on many levels. It seemed we had entered a new era where end-time signs were noticeably increasing. In addition to the events listed above, there were scores of other significant events including extreme weather, the weakening of America, and the coarsening of society. It was as if the pot was beginning to bubble—but those of us who were watching the signs could still keep track of each bubble and take the time to analyze it in light of Scripture.

Enter 2020. The events of 2020 including the Covid-19 man-made (excuse me, I mean “gain-of-function”) virus was released—as was lawlessness, violence, deception, deep political corruption, and other moral evils on a broader scale than we had ever seen or been made aware of. And this time, these signs were happening globally! It was as if we entered a “medium-boil” phase. Whereas those of us paying attention to signs that lined up with end-time conditions used to be able to identify just about every significant prophetic stage-setting event fairly easily, now I literally cannot keep up!

I liken it to battlefield tactics. As long as it is possible, a soldier on the field carefully notes each detail that will help him understand the coming battle. The more the the better. But once the battle begins to get thick, the soldier’s attention has to turn to more pressing matters. The soldier must decide on what is priority in order to complete the mission. This necessarily means the soldier must decide what to focus on, even though he knows there are more key details he could assess at any given moment. The pot is beginning to boil and I can’t keep track of all of the bubbles! 

Here are a few noteworthy details that have come to light the past few weeks that I have looked into on a cursory level, but haven’t had time to research fully.

The recent list includes: record-breaking wildfires, heat waves, flooding, mass animal deaths, droughts, famine, and major riots (in South Africa and Cuba to name two). Meanwhile inflation is occurring, the workforce in America can’t keep up with the demand because people are being paid to stay home. People who have been fully vaccinated are still being infected with the Cover-19 virus. A video shows a school function where a woman is saying those opposed to critical race theory should die—and the crowd applauses. The San Fransisco Gay Men’s Choir put out a creepy music video informing anyone who believes in traditional marriage that they are “coming for your children.” A Brazilian taboo artist turns himself into a demonic looking ORC (from the Lord of the Rings Series) by tattooing his eye balls, removing his nose and implanting horns. More shows celebrating witchcraft and the occult are launching in the fall. So many in the world are ready to welcome and embrace all things demonic and evil.

But wait, there’s more…A company in Ireland is looking to fund the creation of a colossal moving, speaking statue known as “The Giant” in 21 cities by the end of the year. There have been 321 mass shootings already in 2021 leaving 352 people dead and 1,331 injured. The “vaccines” have caused the death of thousands (according to official/verifiable records) and various whistle-blowers are claiming these numbers are much lower than the reality. Russia and China are flexing their military muscles regularly. Iran is close to having nuclear weapon capability at the same time Israel is facing major internal challenges. Macron (surely having consulted with other European leaders who will follow suit) announced a “vaccine pass” to be implemented in order to take part in normal activities. On top of all of this, apostasy in the church is growing steadily through “wokeness,” teachings by people claiming to be apostles (which is a Scriptural impossibility since they did not witness the events of Christ’s ministry in the first century [See Acts 1:21-22, and Ephesians 2:20]), and other mind-bending heresies that gut the truth of Scripture and the fundamentals of the true Christian faith.

I could go on and on. This is just the tip of the iceberg! Ten years ago globalism was a conspiracy theory, the conditions needed for the Ezekiel 38 war seemed impossible, technology had not yet reached the mark-of-the-beast level, and America was sick but still fighting. In 2021 all of that has changed. We are trending toward a rapid boil and could be there at any moment. Liquids boil at different temperatures depending on the molecular structure of the liquid and the amount of air pressure (due to altitude) that is pressing down on the liquid. The air pressure restrains the boil until such a time when the pressure of the boil is greater than the air pressure restraining it.

The Lord could cause the heat to be turned down and the water could cool a bit, but it doesn’t seem that is the case and I don’t read anything like that in Scripture. Jesus said he would come quickly (Greek word tacos, which means rapidly/when things are revved up), and end-time birth pains (whether Braxton Hicks or the real thing) won’t stop once they have begun. We are heading full speed into everything the Bible prophesies about the future tribulation period—and our generation is seeing it all unfold!

By the way, if you are taking note of end-time signs and conditions you are in good company. The Old Testament prophets and even the angels have longed to understand the time frame we are currently in. In 1 Peter 1:10-12 we read, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah (1st coming) and the glories that would follow (2nd coming/Millennial Kingdom). It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things (emphasis mine).”

Notice the key details I highlighted in the verses above. The prophets longed to understand the “time and circumstances” related to the 1st and 2nd coming! In the midst of the struggle to live in our day we need to remember how blessed we are to see these things! Thankfully God’s people will be removed (via the rapture) prior to God’s judgment of the world (as has been the clear pattern of his activity in times past and his stated intentions at the end of the age), but that doesn’t mean we won’t live in dangerous times prior to the rapture. In fact, 2 Timothy 3:1-5 tells us as much. We are not left uninformed.

My friends, it seems the air pressure is about to be lifted and the rapid boil is soon to begin. When the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit indwelling Church is removed via the rapture—the preserving pressure of the salt and light will allow the world to move immediately into a rapid boil. I dare not set dates or even years, but unless the Lord intervenes in a major way (and He could, he’s done it before), it seems to me that we are nearing the time of the rapture.

I know several generations of believers in different eras of church history have thought the same, but never in the history of the world have there been so many signs and conditions in place as they are right now. We have a front row seat to prophecy and end-time conditions. Let’s rise to the occasion, wake the Bride, and reach the lost! And let’s keep in mind only God knows the day or hour so we must keep courageously planning as we continue to watch for His return.

If you are reading this article and have never accepted the gift of salvation offered and paid for by Jesus Christ—please do so now! Noah seemed crazy until the rain started. But soon, the world was covered by violent water like a massive boiling pot. Please don’t ignore the conditions that are screaming at us that the Lord is real, that time is short, that judgment is coming, and that Jesus paid it all. It doesn’t matter what your past is, or how hard you have run from God. Today is the day of salvation. Jesus paid it all. Please come to him now! You too can have hope, clarity, and joy in the midst of these increasingly disruptive world conditions. He promises to never leave us.

Matthew 28:20—”Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Luke 21:28—”When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

My reaction to these insights is, "I've been there, seen that. There is nothing new under the sun." In spite of the intensity of disasters everywhere I still don't expect anything unusual until the Rapture. After that, yes, all hell will break loose. To rethink these current events through again I retreated to Ray Stedman's teachings after the returning of Jesus Christ to our beleaguered planet:

Ray Stedman: From "Presence" to "Unveiling"

Notice that the Lord Jesus distinctly separates this event from the Great Tribulation. The tribulation will be essentially the manifestation of the naked brutality of man, the exhibition of the cruelty and unbelievable violence of the human heart unrestrained by grace. It is described for us in detail in the book of the Revelation, especially in the judgments of the seals and the trumpets. It will be a time when the horrors of Nazi persecution, reflected in the gas chambers of Buchenwald and Dachau, will be repeated all over the earth; a time when violence stalks the streets, and the nuclear witches of terror scream through the skies. As Jesus said, it will be a day of unprecedented human evil, of terrible slaughter and human suffering.

But immediately following this tribulation terrifying signs appear in the heavens. The phrase, "the powers of the heavens will be shaken," suggests severe gravitational disturbance of the solar system. This in turn would produce phenomenal effects on the earth. Showers of meteors will flash through the darkening skies. Earthquakes cause the land to heave and shake, and great tidal waves sweep the coasts. Luke reports that, "men [will be] fainting with fear," and there will be great "distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves." Volcanoes erupt, spouting out streams of lava and vast clouds of cinder and ash which obscure the sun and the moon. The sun is darkened and the moon reddens and is finally unable to shine at all.

Unbelievable as all this may sound to our ears, nevertheless, it very likely does not include anything which has not happened before within the memory of mankind! The Russian scientist, Immanuel Velikovsky, has amassed a tremendous amount of evidence from many sources indicating, quite apart from any religious connotation, that in the past there have occurred similar times of volcanic eruption, seismic activity, and disturbances in the solar system. It is the conviction of this scientist that the plagues of Egypt during the time of the Exodus under Moses were part of a worldwide upheaval in nature caused by a comet closely approaching this earth. Its gravity drew the waters of the sea into huge tidal waves and caused volcanoes to disgorge great flows of lava which came pouring from the mountain ranges of earth. The comet then went on to become the planet Venus, which often appears in our sky as the morning star.

There is, at first glance, perhaps a paradox in our take on the matter of climate change. When I say “our,” I mean those of us in Bible prophecy circles who examine the climate-change matter, which is considered by the Biden administration people to be the greatest crisis faced by mankind today.

The seeming incongruity in our thought process comes by considering the following. While we believe that there is no climate change in terms of the definition given by those on the ideological left, we acknowledge that climate change indeed does exist. And it is becoming exponentially more manifest.

Those who are in the man is destroying the planet camp proclaim all who disagree with that premise to be climate-change deniers. They vehemently declare the same about anyone who disagrees with their dire assessments on any crisis as they delve, in full rage, into whatever problem they believe they must strive to control in their insatiable quest for ever-increasing power. For example, anyone who opposes their claims that COVID-19 is the deadliest virus in modern times is a pandemic denier, and, no doubt, an anti-vaxxer.

Not too many months ago, I have to admit, I was somewhat of a climate-change skeptic, to say the least. And I yet hold that, regarding those earlier times, I still can’t point back to them and see changes in the planet’s weather patterns as being extreme to the point of representing changes of the profound sort.

The evidence is now compounding, however. Reports from around the world of drastic weather events, especially involving flooding and at the same time droughts, continue to erase the skepticism.

Some of the reports just in recent days blazed across our Rapture Ready News headlines. I’ve put a few of these here to display the compiling evidence.

• Europe floods: Rescuers race to find survivors as hundreds remain missing

Rescue crews have been racing to find survivors of floods that have wreaked havoc across western Europe, killing more than 150 people. Hundreds are still missing after record rainfall triggered severe floods in Germany and Belgium. Heavy rains also hit Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – where PM Mark Rutte has declared a national disaster in one southern province.

• Flagstaff declares state of emergency as Arizona hit by devastating floods

Parts of Arizona have been hit with devastating flooding, with the city of Flagstaff declaring a state of emergency after being inundated with torrents of water that turned streets into murky, fast-running streams.

• Amid a mega drought, federal water shortage limits loom for the Colorado River

The Colorado River is tapped out. Another dry year has left the watershed that supplies 40 million people in the Southwest parched. A prolonged 21-year warming and drying trend is pushing the nation’s two largest reservoirs to record lows.

• “Wither away and die”: U.S. Pacific Northwest heat wave bakes wheat, fruit crops

An unprecedented heat wave and ongoing drought in the U.S. Pacific Northwest is damaging white wheat coveted by Asian buyers and forcing fruit farm workers to harvest in the middle of the night to salvage crops and avoid deadly heat.

• Extreme flooding hits multiple provinces of China, capital Beijing brought to standstill

Prolonged heavy rainfall affecting parts of China over the past couple of days caused extreme flooding in several provinces, including Sichuan, Hebei, Shaanxi, Henan, and Shandong. Severe thunderstorms also affected the capital Beijing, bringing the entire city to a standstill. On July 12, authorities have issued an orange alert, the 2nd highest in the country’s 4-tier weather warning system.

• Flash floods cause travel chaos in parts of London

Heavy rain has caused flash floods in various parts of London. Cars have been submerged as roads filled with water while train services have also been canceled. Photos on social media showed parts of south-west London including Barnes, Raynes Park and Richmond had been affected, as had areas of north London including Golders Green and Highgate.

• Shandong hit by largest tornado outbreak in more than a decade, China

Eastern China’s Shandong Province was hit by its largest tornado outbreak in more than 10 years on July 11, 2021. At least 10 tornadoes were reported, with at least 3 of them [reported as] violent. The reports are still coming in and the number of reported tornadoes is rising.

• Extremely heavy rains hit Kyushu, JMA issues year’s first Level 5 torrential rain alert, Japan

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has issued its highest level rain alert for parts of Kyushu, southwestern Japan on Saturday, July 10, 2021, leading local authorities to instruct hundreds of thousands to take immediate safety measures. Reports of river flooding and landslides are coming in.

The floods and droughts are not merely seasonal occurrences. They are indeed phenomenal weather events, and they are in unprecedented, multiple numbers—occurring almost simultaneously in most every part of the planet.

So this prophecy watcher, at least, fully recognizes that something of last-days significance is taking place almost daily. The way I and others who are likewise watchers differ from the leftists who claim there is climate change is they see it as man-made, while we see it as God-induced.

It is a foreboding weather warning from on high. The storm that’s coming is the Tribulation. The Lord, we sense, is warning of things to come by way of His judgment and wrath.

He wants all to come to repentance. He wants no one to be caught in that final great, destructive storm.

The rebellious, progressive mindset declares that man alone can fix the climate. They are making a globalists-elite-engendered, Mother Earth worship system to do exactly that, they think. We know, on the other hand, that only God can either break or fix the planet He, alone, controls. 

The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? (Psalms 24:1–3)

The Rapture of the Church is fixed on God's calender but He hasn't shared that time, date, month, or year with us! Think of the Rapture as an event happening in another time domain which will pour into our world at a very specific date! Most of us are unaware of the complexities of time as God designed it. God Himself is outside of time, He is "the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity." from His vantage point in the highest heaven are "now" as He sees things. Our imprisonment in time is one of the consequences of the fall of our forefather, Adam.

But each Christian life reenacts the story of death, burial and resurrection. When anyone of us believers dies, he or she "time travels" to the Rapture. to the departing Christian, there is no discernible time lapse. This is not intuitively obvious but discoverable truth hidden in the Bible. The subject of "time" has been a favorite of mine for decades. A list is here for your convenience, and a homework assignment.

 "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority." (Acts 1:7)

A conservative approach to the end of the age may be found in numerous articles by Bill Perkins and colleagues at Compass International.

Supplemental Reading

Times and Seasons

Seasons of Stress in the World

Israel's Birth Pangs

Not a Chance!

The Olivet Discourse

If the Rapture Happened Today

Hunkered Down

Rapture Shock



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Newsletter #44 Summer 2022.

July 1974. July 27, 2021, June 16, 2022. November 5, 2022. December 6, 2022.