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When I started getting along with my sister, I knew there would be an early attack, to try to break it up. The enemy is an abortionist; he kills things as young as possible. Hence the slaughter in Bethlehem in Herod’s time.

Yesterday she called, and we talked about family business, and she said something very disturbing. I tried to discuss it with her rationally, and I did an okay job, but it was obvious that I was angry. And she was angrier than I was.

I prayed about it and thought about it. She called later, and before she could say anything, I told her I was sorry I had gotten angry, and I expressed a willingness to consider her position and make a compromise. In a few minutes, peace had returned. I didn’t require her to meet me halfway; I think that the farther along you are in your walk, the more you have to be willing to make allowances. You don’t plant an acorn and then try to hang a swing on it the next day. Today things are fine. I’m glad I saw this problem coming, so I had some idea how to deal with it. I knew how to get help from God, and he got things working again.

Today I feel like I won an Olympic medal; I got up at 6 a.m. That’s half an hour better than my previous efforts. And when I got up, I felt good. All my life, I have felt miserable in the morning, and I’ve had a very hard time forcing myself out of bed, especially when I had no pressing obligations that required me to rise. These days, when I go to bed, I look forward to getting up. I can’t tell you how weird that is. When the alarm goes off, there are things I want to get up and do. I want to start getting up at 5:30, but I don’t know if that’s practical, because it would mean bed at 9 p.m.

I took care of Communion and prayer, and then I went out to check the plants. It was still almost dark. I decided to get rid of my sugar apple tree. It was a gift; the guy who planted it is an Indian. He said it came from the grounds of some temple or other in South America. At the time, I didn’t think it would matter.

The tree never grew. In fact, I could swear it actually got smaller. I tried to fix it, and I managed to make it healthy and green, but it never amounted to anything. Today I thought about that, and I thought about the temple connection, and I thought about the problems my other trees and plants have had, and I dug the sugar apple up and dumped it in the trash heap. I’ll find something better to put in its spot. Something with no heathen connection.

I spent some time watching a video today. Perry Stone. It was about the Antichrist. As I have said before, I am no eschatology buff, but this is what I had on hand. Interesting stuff.

He believes the Antichrist is the person the Muslims call the 12th Mahdi or 12th Imam. He says they believe this person will emerge from one of two towns in Iraq, and that a couple of well-known mosque blasts were efforts to prevent him from coming. The Shias think he’ll come from one place, and the Sunnis believe he’ll come from another, so each side blew up the other side’s chosen place.

Furthermore, he says the Muslims believe our presence in Iraq is delaying things. And here we are, with B. Hussein Obama threatening to take charge and bring our troops home. Stone didn’t mention Obama. The video was made before Obama rose to prominence. But I couldn’t help thinking about him.

He also says Osama bin Laden considers himself the 12th Mahdi, and that many Muslims agree, and that Muqtada al-Sadr is preparing his militia for the Mahdi’s return.

Stone said Iran’s Ahmadinejad believes in this stuff, and that he is preparing railroads and hotels and so on for the crowds that will show up when the Mahdi comes back. I can’t remember the Iran connection; I don’t know why you would prepare Iran for an event in Iraq.

I had never heard any of this before. I don’t know what to make of it. I can’t say whether he’s wrong or right. Prophecy teachers always jump the gun. After all the things they’ve predicted, the world is still here. In a video, Stone makes fun of himself for telling people (in 1981) that Anwar Sadat was a prominent eschatological figure (Sadat was assassinated two weeks later). But it’s clear that the Middle East is the most important place on earth, and that the reason is that it is a battleground of spirits, not men. It will always be the focal point of earthly existence.

He has a video on the Rapture. This isn’t something I worry a lot about. If I die and go to heaven, or if I’m taken up while I’m alive, things will work out. I worry more about how I live here on earth. Whatever may happen after I die, Christian life is wonderful right now, and I want it for myself and the people I care about. I haven’t really concerned myself about the nature of the Rapture, or even about its existence, which many people doubt. Nonetheless, I was interested in what he had to say.

I had always assumed that all Christians received their reward pretty much at the times of their deaths. But he says that if you lead an unproductive, backward life, you may be shut out when the Rapture comes, and you may have to stay here and suffer–badly–for a while. Imagine living in a world where no one knows God, and no one prays. Evil with no brakes.

I don’t know the answer, but I do know we’re supposed to lead Godly lives. And I know we are rewarded for it, not just in heaven, but here.

Tomorrow I will be up at 6, to see what else I can do to improve my life.