Imagine my surprise when I found out that the Left Behind series did NOT end with Glorious Appearing!  Somehow, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins felt like 12 books were not enough, and that they should end with one more.  Most people, like myself, were ready for the series to end by book #10.  But being the "finishers" we are, we faithfully read the rest of the series so we could say we read them all.  So, of course, when I found out that I hadn't really completed the series, I was determined to finish it - and be done with it forever!

It should be pretty obvious by now that I've been very interested in End Times prophecy for the last year or so.  I've been reading the works of primarily one author, so I thought I would branch out and read the second most popular author (according to Amazon).  Of course the always-reliable Austin Public Library had this book too!  APL continues to rock my face off. 
 

I'm glad to report that both authors are similar in their views and interpretation of Biblical prophecy.  Here are Dr. Jeremiah's 10 prophetic clues we cannot ignore:
 

1.  The Israel Connection - Why is this tiny nation with a population of less than 6 million always the center of attention?  Why does so much of the world hate Israel?  If you study the Israel's history, it's amazing that its people are still in existence today.  Compare them to their neighbors in ancient history: have you ever met a Moabite?  A Hittite?  What about an Ammonite?  Edomite?  The fact that Israel is a sovereign state is even more incredible.  It is truly nothing short of a miracle, an incredible act of God.  There is one reason alone that Israel is so important and in the center of History -  God's covenant with its founder, Abraham: to bless him and make his name great, to make him into a great nation, to make him a blessing to all peoples, and to bless those who bless Israel and to curse those who curse her.  
 

Jocelin and I really enjoyed our first SXSW experience.  Riding our bikes around town and hanging out at the different venues listening to unknown bands was fun.  We were able to meet up with random friends at different locations, and we even ran into several people we knew on the streets.  The only thing I wish was different was that there would've been a better way to search for bands by genre, because Jocelin and I would've liked to hear more Blues/Jazz/Hip Hop instead of all the Rock/Alternative Rock.  But whatever.  It was all free.  What can you expect?
 

We also went to the house party next door with the two bands from the UK.  We went with a few people from the Stone (Phillip, Sharon, Shawn) and it was fun to meet everyone, hang out, and EAT ALL THE FOOD.  Chef Lugany cooked up a TON of great BBQ.  At first we were kindof nervous going over there, but then it was pretty obvious that no one knew ANYONE, so it was perfectly natural to walk up to someone and be like, who are you?  I'm Marcus.  Not only did we meet all members of The Cheek and GoldieLocks, but I also met some other interesting characters like (1) Derek, a band manager person who supposedly managed Elton John at one point and (2) Jason, the manager of the gentleman's club down the street called Expose.  Here's a funny conversation between me and Jason: