Connect with us

Headline News

PARENTAL WARNING: Demonic Online Game ‘Blue Whale Challenge’ Urges Young People To Kill Themselves

The family of a Texas teen who hanged himself says their son was involved in a ghoulish online suicide game called the Blue Whale Challenge.

Published

on

blue-whale-challenge-warning
SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

The family of a Texas teen who hanged himself says their son was involved in a ghoulish online game that calls on participants to complete a series of tasks before taking their own lives, and some schools are warning parents about the so-called Blue Whale Challenge.

“Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.” Colossians 3:20 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: The very first “challenge” I became aware of was the incredibly stupid Cinnamon Challenge where people swallowed whole spoonfuls of cinnamon to see how much of a throat burning they could take. Then there was the Eraser Challenge, the Ice Bucket Challenge and various others. So while it’s incredibly sad, the Blue Whale Challenge, which has claimed the lives of over 130 teens around the world, seems to me like the natural and logical progression in the ‘challenge’ world. The Devil doesn’t get you in one, big bite, he gets you in a bunch of little steps. Parents, if your child participates in any ‘challenge’, take their phones away and suspend their social media accounts. Take the ‘I Love My Child’ challenge. 

Jorge Gonzalez told San Antonio television station WOAI that he wanted to caution others after his son, Isaiah, was found hanging in his bedroom closet Saturday in the family’s home with his cellphone propped up on a shoe to record his death.

A report on the boy’s death from the San Antonio Police Department does not mention the challenge. But Gonzalez’ family said in the days after the teen died, they pieced together from his social media and communication with friends that he had participated in the game.

His sister, Alexis, told the TV station that a person behind the challenge had gathered personal information from Isaiah and had threatened to harm the family.

The police department did not return a message left by The Associated Press asking whether authorities were investigating the game as a factor in the case. Many parents and other authorities are skeptical that the game actually exists, citing a lack of suicides directly attributed to it.

Agent Michelle Lee of the FBI’s San Antonio office said the agency is not assisting in the investigation, but urged parents to monitor their children’s online activities.

“It’s a reminder of one of the many dangers and vulnerabilities that children face using various social media and apps online every day,” Lee said. “Parents must remain vigilant and monitor their child’s usage of the internet.”

Gonzalez is the second parent this week to tell news outlets about a child who died by suicide allegedly as a result of the game.

A Georgia woman spoke Monday to CNN about her 16-year-old daughter killing herself as part of the challenge but asked that their names not be used.

Educators, law enforcement officers and parents across the country have reported rumors about the challenge for months. But until this week, there had been no allegations in the United States about a death directly linked to the game. Suicides in Russia, Brazil and a half dozen other countries were reportedly linked to the challenge in cases that usually involved teenagers or young adults.

Mississippi teen with ties to Florida says she took part in Blue Whale Challenge:

Notes have been posted on school district social media pages and sent home to parents in school districts across the country, including Vacaville, California; Baldwin County, Alabama; Warwick, Rhode Island; and Denver.

In Connecticut, Danbury Public Schools Superintendent Sal Pascarella sent a short note to parents around May after administrators from the district’s 19 schools started hearing about the challenge from kids as young as elementary schoolers.

“The elementary school principals started hearing their kids talk about this thing. Then the secondary principals started mentioning the same thing,” he said. “We discovered on our school network content about the challenge had been looked at on YouTube. … I decided I would rather err on the side of information with parents.”

Parents allege that teens reach out to game administrators called curators through various social media platforms. Those curators lead the players through 50 days of challenges including watching scary movie clips, cutting symbols into their arms and legs and taking pictures of themselves in dangerous positions such as on the edge of a roof or on train tracks.

The participants are allegedly required to take pictures of their challenges being completed and share them before being directed to end their lives on the 50th day. A search of related hashtags on Instagram shows users posting pictures of scars and cuts or memes that depict suicide, and a similar Twitter search shows users reaching out for curators to lead them through the game.

Instagram warns that some images tagged under some of the related phrases could be harmful and directs users to mental health resources. Twitter assesses reports of self-harm or suicide and also directs users to mental health or suicide-prevention resources.

The Center for Missing and Exploited Children is aware of the challenge and encourages parents to report it and similar activity to the center’s cyber tip line even if they feel like they do not have enough information to go to police, said Eliza Harrell, the group’s director of education and outreach.

Harrell said she had not heard about the use of threats and intimidation, but said it was particularly concerning.

“That really adds another level to this,” she said. “We do not tend to address specific apps or games when we give advice to parents.”

When parents talk to their children, “the underlying conversation needs to be about dealing with strangers online and putting themselves in a position of trust,” she added. “It’s an issue that a child is listening to someone anonymously and doing what they are told by a stranger to do.” source

 


 

Comments

Donald Trump

Economic D-Day Or Another TACO Tuesday? Trump Threatens To Isolate Iran While Tehran Bets The President Will Once Again Abandon His Own Deadline

Published

on

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

TACO Trump Says Economic D-Day Will Completely Isolate Iran, But His Seven Abandoned Military Ultimatums Reveal Why Tehran May Not Believe A Word Of It This Time Around

Trump’s declaration of “Economic D-Day” against Iran is designed to sound final, crushing and historically unprecedented. But after six months of abandoned deadlines, cancelled attacks and endlessly extended ultimatums, the question is no longer whether Trump can threaten Iran. The question is whether anyone in Tehran still believes him. This is where TACO—“Trump Always Chickens Out”—becomes the unavoidable lens through which his announcement must be examined.

They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.” Hosea 8:4 (KJB)

The United States unquestionably possesses the financial power to devastate Iran. Washington can sanction Iranian banks, seize assets, blacklist tankers, close exchange houses, expose front companies and exclude foreign institutions from the dollar-based financial system. Treasury is already attacking Iran’s clandestine banking and oil-payment networks under Operation Economic Fury. U.S. Treasury enforcement action But Trump is promising something much larger. He says that any country, financial institution, business, airport or government agency providing Iran with an economic lifeline will face “tremendous economic consequences.” That amounts to an ultimatum directed not merely at Iran, but at the entire world: trade with Tehran and America will punish you.

That is an enormous threat. It is also precisely the kind of threat Trump has repeatedly failed to enforce once the financial and political consequences begin coming home.

The TACO Playbook

Since the Iran war began, Trump’s pattern has become painfully predictable:

  • Announce an apocalyptic consequence.
  • Establish a supposedly final deadline.
  • Cause oil markets and regional governments to panic.
  • Receive telephone calls from frightened Gulf rulers.
  • Claim that secret negotiations are making tremendous progress.
  • Postpone or cancel the promised attack.
  • Announce an even larger threat several weeks later.
  • On March 21, Trump gave Iran 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or America would “obliterate” its power plants. Two days later, he postponed the attack for five days.

When those five days expired, Trump granted Iran another ten days. In April, Trump threatened “Power Plant Day” and “Bridge Day,” warned that the entire country could be destroyed in a single night and declared that “a whole civilization will die tonight.” Hours later, the supposedly final attack was cancelled and replaced with a ceasefire.

  • In May, Trump warned that there would be “nothing left” of Iran and said a major attack was being prepared. The following day, it was postponed.
  • In July, Trump promised a “massive attack” that would be “bigger than ever before.” Days later, he returned to negotiations.

At the beginning of August, Trump cancelled another major assault against Iranian energy infrastructure because the “perimeters” of an agreement had supposedly been reached. Iran then denied that negotiations were even scheduled. Trump subsequently called the situation Iran’s “last chance before decapitation.” Iran was not decapitated. Instead, the president has now exchanged military Armageddon for “Economic D-Day.” ABC News documented at least seven threatened attacks that Trump subsequently postponed or cancelled. Every time Trump establishes a red line and then moves it, Tehran learns that the red line was never real.

China Is The Real Test

The success or failure of “Economic D-Day” will be determined in Beijing, not Tehran. Iran survives through Chinese oil purchases, shadow tankers, shell companies, financial intermediaries and disguised payment networks. If Trump is serious, he will have to sanction major Chinese banks, refiners, shipping companies and businesses. He will have to accept Chinese retaliation, disrupted supply chains, falling markets, higher oil prices and increased gasoline prices for Americans. That is where the TACO clock begins ticking.

Targeting a few Iranian exchange houses and obscure front companies will generate impressive Treasury press releases, but it will not completely isolate Iran. If China continues purchasing Iranian oil while Trump issues exemptions, waivers and negotiating extensions, then “Economic D-Day” will become Economic Delay. Trump loves maximum-pressure announcements. He is considerably less enthusiastic about enduring maximum-pressure consequences. The public declaration supplied no detailed list of countries being targeted, no implementation timetable and no explanation of precisely what penalties will be imposed. Reporting on the announcement says its language suggests secondary sanctions—but suggesting punishment and imposing punishment are two very different things.

Clouds And Wind Without Rain

Trump’s strategy assumes that theatrical unpredictability creates leverage, and initially, it can. But unpredictability becomes predictable when every cycle ends with another postponement. Iran’s leaders understand that Trump watches oil prices, stock markets and domestic polling. They know that a modest diplomatic signal can provide him with an excuse to cancel an attack and proclaim that his negotiating genius has produced another historic breakthrough. That means Iran does not necessarily need to defeat the United States. It merely needs to survive Trump’s deadlines until TACO strikes again.

The King James Bible describes boasting unsupported by performance:

“Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.” Proverbs 25:14 (KJB)

That is the danger surrounding “Economic D-Day.” America possesses the financial storm capable of crushing Iran, but Trump has repeatedly filled the sky with thunder only to deliver another extension. “Economic D-Day” may prove to be everything Trump promises. But after seven cancelled attacks and months of movable deadlines, Iran has every reason to ignore the thunder, watch the markets and wait for TACO Trump to chicken out again.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

nteb-free-king-james-bible-program-750-550

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Continue Reading

Free Bible Program

The East Arkansas Regional Unit Is An Intimidating Facilty Housing Over 1,600 Inmates Who Desperately Need To Receive The Preserved Word Of God

Published

on

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

The East Arkansas Regional Unit Houses Some Serious Inmates Who Have An Overwhelming Need To Receive The Preserved Word Of God

Seen from above, the East Arkansas Regional Unit is an imposing fortress of concrete, steel fencing and razor wire, housing more than 1,600 men across minimum, medium and maximum security classifications. Many of those men are serving long sentences for serious crimes, and we neither excuse their sins nor dismiss the suffering of their victims. But behind every prison number is a living soul who will one day stand before Almighty God, and incarceration does not place anyone beyond the reach of the gospel of the grace of God. To date, we’ve received word back from many chaplains placing the number of souls saved through this ministry at up over a thousand. Praise the Lord for that!

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17 (KJB)

The state can confine a man’s body, but it cannot imprison the word of God. Steel doors, guard towers and electrified fences are powerless to stop the Holy Spirit from using the Scriptures to convict a sinner and point him to Jesus Christ. Every King James Bible placed inside this prison and every facility we send to, is a missionary that never sleeps, never compromises and never stops preaching the truth. Chaplain Ray reached out to us wanting to know if we could supply him with Bibles, and I very happily assured him we would. Bibles Behind Bars is a lifeline for many chaplains and pastors who have no other place to turn to for Bibles, books and scripture portions. Come help us!

If God has prospered you, please take a moment to click on the donate button to help us in this monumental task of providing King James Bibles, New Testaments, scripture portions, gospel tracts as well as Spanish Bibles to inmates in jails and prisons from Florida to Alaska, and every state in between. We need your prayers, we need your generous financial support, and we need you to stand with us in the closing days of the Church Age. Thank you so very much, TO THE FIGHT!!!


NOTE: If you need a 501 C3 Letter of Donation for tax purposes, please send your donation to:

NTEB Ministries
1340 N Great Neck Rd.
Ste. 1272-129
Virginia Beach, VA 23454.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

nteb-free-king-james-bible-program-750-550

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Continue Reading

Headline News

THE PROPHECY NEWS PODCAST: The Rise Of Christian Deliverance Ministries Has Turned Demons, Curses And Manifestations Into A Thriving Business Model

Published

on

SHARE NOW THE END BEGINS:

The Rise Of Christian Deliverance Ministries Has Turned Demons, Curses And Manifestations Into A Movement—But Is It Biblical Warfare Or A Charismatic Counterfeit?

The explosion of so-called Christian Deliverance Ministries has created an entire charismatic industry built around the idea that born-again believers can remain inhabited by demons, bound by generational curses and dependent upon specially “anointed” apostles and prophets to set them free. From Kathryn Krick and Greg Locke to Prophet GeorDavie and countless social-media imitators, the formula is remarkably similar: dramatic manifestations, screaming, shaking, falling, claims of hidden spirits, supernatural impartations and repeated deliverance sessions presented as evidence that God is moving. But spectacle is not Scripture, and manifestation is not doctrine. The apostle Paul never once instructs a member of the Body of Christ to locate a demon of lust, rejection, anger or addiction and have it cast out. Instead, Paul tells the saved believer that he has been sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, that his body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, and that God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness.” That creates a massive problem for a movement whose entire ministry model depends upon convincing Christians that darkness is still living inside them.

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:” Colossians 1:13 (KJB)

On this episode of the Prophecy News Podcast, the more closely you compare modern Deliverance Ministry theology with Pauline doctrine, the more the whole system begins to unravel. Paul does not tell Christians to cast out their flesh; he tells them to mortify it. He does not tell Christians to seek an apostle with a greater anointing; he tells them to put on the whole armour of God and stand against the wiles of the Devil. He does not teach generational demon bondage, spiritual “legal rights,” endless impartations or recurring deliverance appointments. What he does warn about are “seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils,” false apostles and religious counterfeits masquerading as ministers of righteousness. Satan is real, devils are real and spiritual warfare is absolutely real—but none of that gives us permission to invent doctrine God never gave the Church. Before accepting the screaming, the manifestations and the testimonies, there remains one devastating question every Deliverance Minister must answer from the King James Bible: Show me where Paul taught the Church to do this. Today we tell you everything you need to know about the modern-day Deliverance Movement.

calling-evil-good-the-lie-of-christian-rock-and-roll-music-spencer-smith-doctrine-matters-nteb-christian-bookstore-palatka-florida

Study Helps And Links For Today’s Podcast

We Are Broadcasting Live Four Days A Week

  • The BIBLE BELIEVERS Sunday Service

Every Sunday morning, from 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EST, we invite you to join us live and in-person at the Bible Believers Church here inside the Bible Believers Bookstore in Palatka where we lift up the Lord Jesus Christ in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and preach a message from the pages of the King James Authorized Version Holy Bible. If you’ve been looking for a First Century house church, you’ve found it.

OUR MOST RECENT SUNDAY SERVICE VIDEO: The Point Of No Return


• The RIGHTLY DIVIDING Radio Bible Study

Every Sunday evening from 6:00 – 8:00 PM EST, we offer an in-depth rightly dividing and dispensationally correct rocket ride through the preserved word of God as found within the pages of the King James Holy Bible. 

  • SUNDAY NIGHT: Our original Sunday Night Radio Bible Study, it’s from 7:00 – 9:00 PM EST, and we have praise, singing, testimony and of 90-minute King James Bible study. All our King James bible study programs are archived here.

• The NTEB PROPHECY NEWS PODCAST Hour

Every Monday Wednesday and Friday afternoons from Noon to 1:30 PM EST, we examine breaking news and current events  in light of bible prophecy. 

  • The Prophecy News Podcast: Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at Noon EST, we review all the latest news and events related to bible prophecy, and examine what is happening in light of what is written. If you miss the live show, all of our Prophecy News Podcast programs are archived here.

Your Generous Donations Make These Live King James Radio Bible Studies & Prophecy News Podcasts Possible!

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

Listen to What Our Donation Angels Have to Say About the Ministry of Now The End Begins

  • “You are truly an end time ministry and I appreciate how our Precious Lord is using you to educate his very own flock. There is a lot of confusion , but your ministry is putting scripture in the right prospective. Thank-you so so much Geoffrey S Grider for standing firm and putting in a lot of hours of your time. God Bless You , also your Ministry and your family. IN JESUS MIGHT NAME.” T. Muto
  • “Jesus. I am now 64 years old and never in all the years I’ve been a Christian was I able to grow in the Lord as much as I have in the last past year. All because of our blessed brother’s work Geoffrey Grider who as the bravery of standing fast forward without fear of claiming the truth of God by the power of his love in Jesus Christ. May God bless you abundantly to the end my dear brother… ROMANS: 8: 36,37,38” Mireille Anderson
  • “I met you at the car dealership earlier this year. We spoke briefly, then you handed me a card and told me to check out the website. You left. A few minutes later, you returned to tell me not to forget to look up the website. I told you…” I already did. I already subscribed.” In that short time we spoke, I experienced from you…a total stranger…peace, joy, kindness, gentleness, compassion, and love. I am convinced that God sent you to share the Good News that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. For that, and for the work you are doing for the Kingdom of God, I say…Thank you and God Bless You.” Sonia Merced
  • “I really enjoy the emails and Bible studies! I haven’t found a church and enjoy your services very much! Be blessed brother!” Marcia Mann
  • “You and your organization are on the front lines in the Battle For Truth…. current events, end times, and trying to awaken a sleeping Laodicean Church. Thank you brother for fighting for us and all your teaching and insight God bless…” Daniel Cartrette
  • I just want to thank you for the teachings you give every Sunday night on radio.  You are such a blessing to me. I absolutely love your way of teaching the scriptures.  I don’t have a church where I can have fellowship and teaching, so you have been my teacher for many months now. Thanks God you are there for all of us who have no church to go to.  I pray that the Lord will bless you abundantly in your ministry, and your loved ones too.  You are such a blessing to me, and many others, in these last days before the rapture.  Thank you so much Geoffrey, from the bottom of my heart. May the Lord keep you, until He comes back for us. You are in my prayers.” Donald Godin
  • “Thank you for the work  you are doing brother.  Your page and your testimony were a blessing to me this morning as I came across it for the first time.  Thank you for the reality of your testimony and what God has done for you in introducing you to Jesus our Lord.  God has brought me, in salvation, to Himself as well, through His love and mercy and grace in salvation.  How can we praise Him enough?  How can we not share this good news!?  I pray this day for God’s blessing on your ministry that He may save many souls through the work He has called you to.  Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)” Mark and Melissa
  • “Love the Sunday night bible study. I want to support someone who has the passion for the lost like Geoffrey does and rightly divides the word of God. God bless you.” Teresa Carey
  • “I give because not many news outlets are brave enough or Godly enough to tell these stories from a Christian’s point of view. I see stories here that will not be seen anywhere else.” William Grayshaw
  • “It’s hard to find solid biblical teaching in America these days. It’s a blessing to be able to take part in a ministry financially without being concerned about false teaching. All glory to God! God bless!” Maximilian Swan
  • “I donate because you are reporting the truth about the increasing wickedness of our time, as God’s word foretold. In so doing we are reminded to “Keep looking up” as we wait in joyful hope for the Lord’s coming, Maranatha! ” Anthony Sloane
  • “Geoffrey has the best End Times News out there. I have been receiving his emails for years now and always enjoy his Sunday night messages although I don’t always think exactly as he thinks. We are all in this “boat of life” together and as I come to the end of my life’s journey here, I am more aware of Jesus’s call for us to be one as He and the Father are One.” Deborah Cleaveland

STREET-TESTED NTEB GOSPEL TRACTS:

This is the official gospel tract of NTEB, used here on the streets of Saint Augustine and sent around the world as they are purchased through our website. We ask you to prayerfully consider supporting the work of Now The End Begins by purchasing a box of these full-color, high-quality gospel tracts. Thank you in advance!

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORTTO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Continue Reading

Trending