DISPATCHES

I just now came home from the movies after watching for the second time....A Great Awakening. I took a friend this time and he loved it....which I knew that he would. The theater was filled the first time....two weeks ago....but only four were in attendance today....so it is running its course.....but there is still time for you. A short summary on the film is on the relationship between George Whitefield and Benjamin Franklin....with vignettes of both men in their youth. The film will go back and forth from The Great Awakening itself....to the debates which led to the drafting of the constitution in 1787. The gospel message strong and powerful....and I hope that you go and see it. It will surely be streaming sometime in the future...and there will be a DVD....but don't wait....break the habit of waiting to do things....for this age that we live in does not give us that luxury.

I do not know if the bombing will resume in Iran....or if some sort of peace agreement will be signed.....nor do I know the outcome of the war in the Ukraine....but I do know this....on Iran or Lebanon or the Ukraine or Venezuela or Cuba....Trump will do what he believes will benefit him....in the short run. It has nothing to do with the people in any of these places....or even with Israel. He needs his poll numbers....or at least the projections for the Republican Party....to go up before the mid-terms....and even before the planned celebrations around July 4th. I know this after ten years of studying him....after voting for him in 2016....and celebrating....but shortly afterwards seeing a big problem....that has since then taken captive just about all of evangelicalism....taken our eyes and our hopes and our trust off of Christ....and onto our own powers.

We have been informed that an asteroid the size of three football fields will pass by the earth....within 20,000 miles....on April 13, 2029. This is an extraordinary event even though astronomers are confident that it not affect the earth....with "zero risk"....a "once in a 1,000 year" event....observable with the naked eye for some. I point it out because when reading....hopefully studying the book of Revelation....that we are fully aware that some of the cosmic scenes depicted....are not unimaginable....but might even in due time be predicted!

I did watch Trump's remarks at a 'roundtable discussion' in Las Vegas.....where he described the war in Iran as...."a little diversion."  The longer it goes....fewer people can say that they followed the lives of politicians more than I have....for it is about 58 years....but to watch something like Trump tonight....which is really no different than the other fifty or so rallies where I studied him....is to watch history in the making....'real time'....as some like to say today....not everyday history.....but such as only when the Bolsheviks or the National Socialists took over....and tried and true mind control techniques deceived multiple-millions....even tens of millions. The biblical aspect of this is that even as of today....evangelicals that I not only know....and have known for decades.....and respect their basic discernments on so many things....they have fulfilled....for now.....for it will in due time change....Matthew 24:24...."so as to mislead....if possible....even the elect."

The following three paragraphs are from different DISPATCHES posts within the past few months. Friends....brothers and sisters in Christ....you have been duped. We....all of us....brought all of this upon ourselves. Every one of us should be shedding tears....it is that bad. What we are seeing with Trump is not peace....it's not good....it is lies.....illusions....blasphemy....mockery and horror. Oh but you will say...."Just trust in God"....but then you steadfastly refuse to trust in the very clear warnings He has given us! 

"Donald Trump's....rise...fall....and rise....demonstrated for all with eyes to see....one colossal weakness in man. With all the intellect....and zeroing in closer....even among many of those who have actually been....born again....with all that....we can look at Trump....at eleven years of the....'let Trump be Trump'....and not fall to our knees in repentance for one of the most egregious mistakes that Christians have made since Jesus ascended to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit! It just has to be end-times related. It just has to be part of the great end-times delusion. It is so extraordinary in weakness....that when we finally see what we have done....it may separate the chaff from the wheat....and beckon the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior and King."

We knew there would be a falling away....we just didn't know that we would be part of  It......The following is from an October 2025 post...."OK.... we know this.... that before the Lord returns.... there will be a falling away.... (1 Thess 2:3).... that is the church folks..... us.... there will be a falling away.... in the church! Matthew tells us the same thing.... in the words of Jesus.... in the Olivet Discourse.... 24:10...."at that time many will fall away." I submit to you that what we see in the church right now..... with Christian nationalism reigning over the gospel of salvation.... is part of the falling away".

"And If Any Man Shall Take Away From The Words Of The Book Of This Prophecy......The following is from a January 2026 post....What about...."Not by might or by power but by My Spirit?" (Zechariah 4:6) What about "come out from among them and be separate?" (2 Corinthians 6:7) What about all the admonitions to stay vigilant and awake and alert? What about all the warnings of false miracles and false prophets and a great delusion and a falling away that is coming.... so strong of a delusion that even the elect.... that is you and me folks.... that even we can be taken in.... if it were possible.... which means temporarily.... which is already what has happened to so many!"

               It was reported that in his first term....Trump while traveling....carried around with him a box....not of briefing materials....but news articles. This is in line with reports over decades of how on his desk at Trump Tower was stacks of magazine articles about himself. What this man does is stay up at night and read the news that mentions him....and then reacts. It is just one more symptom of a serious mental illness.
               Trump didn't like what the American Pope was saying about the war in Iran. This came after Trump threatened to obliterate an entire people. Much of the Iranian people were....(I'll use the past tense)....on Trump's side in the war.....but Trump threatened to destroy the entire country....bridges....electricity....and he had previously mentioned water. Pope Leo's remarks were about what one would expect from a pope....but the Pentagon called in some Catholic prelates....and....well you decide.....did they threaten the pope by bringing up the 14th century where the emperor essentially took over the entire papacy? I think that it is pretty obvious that it was a coded threat.
                It was the beginning of the 14th century....France was at war with England....and the French King wanted church finances to help with the war....the pope didn't like that and was going to excommunicate the French king....the pope was then arrested....mistreated....and died soon afterwards....another pope lived for a short time.....and then the French king made sure his own man was made the next pope.
                The next seven popes resided in Avignon....which is now France. I could easily picture Trump trying to threaten....or coerce in some way....Cardinals in a conclave....to get a pope that he wants. Evangelicals need to know that under the right circumstances....they would be told to speak along the accepted lines.....or keep their religion to themselves.

Two Whole Chapters In Revelation!

             Theoretically....I would think that Revelation is the most important book for the Christian today. Let me break that down....for the Christian in question would already have been immersed in the doctrines of salvation from Romans....and the Gospels....and the Acts of the Apostles....the beginning of the church....(and also possibly descriptive of the last days for the church)....and all of the truths from Paul and Peter and Jude....and the creation account....and the OT books describing the redemptive history of our covenant God....and the beauty and worship and truths of Psalms....and the warnings of all the OT prophets....in other words....everything else!
              To that Christian....I would think that Revelation is not only for them....but vital. The Pre-Trib believer would have to look at most of what happens in Revelation....almost as after the fact....for they would have been taken up to meet Jesus by then....but to us....hopefully you also....we know that there is a greater purpose to the believer in the book of Revelation....the third verse in it which reads...."Blessed is he who reads....(spacing mine)....and those who hear the words of this prophecy....and keep those things which are written in it....for the time is near." The time has always been...."near"....to every Christian....but to us it appears that it is near in a very special way.
               So what about the second and the third chapters of Revelation? These contain the seven letters....to the seven churches. We seem to pass these chapters almost....as I once wrote....as if they were nothing but historical filler....but that just makes no sense.
               As a Reformed....or Reformation Christian....for about thirty years now.....I had come to consider the letter to the church at Ephesus to be directed to us....sound in our doctrine....but having since lost something.....something that needs to be regained. It is amazing to me that this letter to Ephesus could only have been a short thirty years or so since Paul wrote to Timothy who was pastor in Ephesus....but then I only have to look back thirty years in evangelicalism to see how far and how fast we can stray.
                We know that over much of the world there is a persecuted church such as described in the letter to the church at Smyrna....although we do not know what that designation of "ten days" means.
                 We do not know how the church....(Pergamos)....located where "Satan's Throne" is....although many think that they do know. What we can glean from that letter is the warning about holding to the doctrines of Balaam...who taught them to Balak....and we can go to that passage of scripture to study and scrutinize....just as we can study and meditate upon the warnings to the church at Thyatira.
                  Sardis had the "works"....yet they were dead! Should that not stop all of us in our tracks....especially the part where if they are not vigilant....and do not watch....that judgment will come as a....thief.....not knowing the hour....or the time period....that this judgment will come?
                  There is no warning for Philadelphia....other than to...."hold fast." They will be kept from the trial coming upon the whole world! Folks....the beginnings of whatever the tribulation turns out to be....including the riders on the four horses....cannot be that final trial upon the whole world. Maybe it will be that....hopefully we all will be....as the church in Philadelphia by the time these things comes upon the earth?
                  And then there is Laodicea....a wealthy and what was considered a....'free city"....by Rome....known for its entertainments....and so metropolitan and international in its makeup....with many Christians and Jews....that even the persecution for not worshiping the Roman emperor was lax....because it was difficult to enforce in such a city! They thought that they were safe....just like we do here in America.
                  My hope in this post is simply that we might take these letters more seriously than we have in the past....for to reiterate what I said at first....God would not have put these chapters in such an important book relating to the end-times.....if they were not meant to speak to those at that time....which by all of the signs that God has given those who have "ears to hear"....is us today. Maranatha....Lord Jesus Come!

           

"Trouble Ahead: Prepare To Meet Thy God"

                I am in a Barnes & Noble at least fifty times a year....most of those visits are on Tuesdays....when the new releases come out. It only takes me ten minutes in the store....for I already know what is there in both the 'Current Events' section and what they now label the 'Religion' section....so I only have to walk slowly by....for it is easy to spot books that were put out that morning. 
                 The average B&N bookstore carries about 100,000 titles but some have a lot more. My wife and I have been bibliophiles our whole lives. We met in 1975 as students working at Pitt's Hillman Library....and she went on to be a wonderful....if I do say so myself....but I think that everyone would agree with....a wonderful librarian for 47 years before retiring. Together....thirty years ago....we owned a Christian bookstore.
                 From the moment that I walk in the door at B&N to when I make it to the 'Religion' section....I am almost overcome with sadness....as I pass by people browsing all the various sections....but mostly the fiction....for I know what is out there....and what is popular....and what they are wasting their lives away on.....nonsense fiction....maybe a little romance and a little crime....maybe a fluffy tale of a dog or a cat? I know what the bestseller lists look like....and I know what the children's books consist of.....and the teen sections....and the biographies and the history....and the various business and self-help....and psychology and technical reference sections. As for the Christian books....there are at least a thousand titles in the average B&N....all of them almost worthless....save a few classics from C. S. Lewis....and maybe once a month at most....a good critique on evangelicalism that slips in there....of which is what I am looking for.
                   I'll often look at the faces of the people....and more than once I felt like crying....for there is pure gold out there in the form of books....if you know where to mine for it.....but they don't.....and would have no interest in that kind of gold anyway.
                   The Christian bookstore in America is dead. The best authors are dying off almost on a monthly basis....with very few if any coming up to replace them. Christian television programs are a hundred times more in quantity than in the 80s....with one-hundredth of the quality.
                    No one has to be born again anymore to be a Christian.....for they only have to be conservative church-goers. Holiness is in not voting for Democrats. Preaching is therapy. Sermons are Bible studies....and Bible studies are the level of what should be given to children.
                    This is the church age that we live in.....but have no idea of. As for prayer....we are as if on a catamaran....heading swiftly for a hundred foot waterfall....praying that the boat might soon be paid off....or that grandma or grampa in the rear might be healed....or for another conservative Supreme Court judge....for our preachers told us that God's Word tells us that we will never know when the big waterfall is coming....even though God's Word actually gives a map of the river and the falls....a map of which we are told does not exist.
                     Newspapers are just about dead. Conservative talk radio is long gone. We have no trustworthy news media. Fox News....once 'fair and balances'....is now poison. Podcasts are like drone warfare. AI will strangle us before we know what's happening. In summary....evangelicalism has gone the way of Judah and Samaria....and we are witnessing the fall of the American Empire....along with Israel's final war....but few know any of these things....because we thought that we were invincible....and that God was on our side...."God bless America"....unaware that we were as Nineveh....given time to repent by Jonah....of which from time to time we did....but now we have a message from the prophet Amos....who no one reads....relayed to us by Billy Graham....who at least many of us read...."Trouble ahead....prepare to meet thy God!"

Lord's Day Post

Preface: The following post is from July of last year....and I'm bringing it back for this Lord's Day Post. It was titled....

We Need Each Other

               Economist Milton Friedman rather famously in 1980 gave a talk and produced a video....in which he held up a pencil and said that there is not...."a single person in the world who can make this pencil." He then went on to talk about the need for wood and steel for a saw and the compressed graphite and the rubber from the eraser and the yellow paint and the glue....all coming from different parts of the world. His point was that it takes everyone working together to make capitalism work.
               The Apostle Paul made a similar point many centuries before as he described....through the Holy Spirit....how believers are all part of the body. Some parts may have more glory than others but we all need each other.
               A friend was talking to me the other day about how divided the church was. He was really distraught. Some have more glory than others. John MacArthur had more glory than my friend who is the janitor in his small church....who has more glory than me.....because everyone has and deserves more glory than me....but we need each other. John MacArthur could not do it without the janitor in his church....for if there were no janitors in that megachurch....there would not have ever been a megachurch.
               Christians known as....Reformed....with their history of doctrinal soundness....have a glory deservingly unto themselves. Pentecostals in my experience with them....share the gospel with a passion more than anyone. Some in the church today know more than others that Jesus is coming back right now....because they have a passion for Jesus to return right now....and Jesus rewards that passion, There is a glory for the churches in Africa and Asia and Eastern Europe that we in the West can only read about. There is a glory for the common uneducated laborer that the genius billionaire will never know.
               There is a glory for the humble....and a glory for the servant.....and a glory for the minister of a small fundamentalist church that the megachurch pastor of tens of thousands will never know.....but the grandest glory of all....is the glory that any one of us....Jew or Greek....man or woman....master or bondservant.....can give to the only who deserves all the glory....the Son of Man who came to set us free....who ascended to the Father....and who pleads our case and gives us strength to persevere until He comes again....to receive from all creation the glory and honor that has always been His! Marantha.....Lord Jesus.....come!

Afterthought: It is easy to find through Google....a nine-minute YouTube testimony from Pete Maravich....given at a Billy Graham crusade. Please find and watch this and be blessed.....but in it....towards the end....he says this...."I want all of you here tonight to know this about Peter Maravich....you may never have heard of me....it makes no difference....I'm just one person on this earth....saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ...." Billy Graham was just one person on this earth....as was Pete Maravich....as am I....and as are you. Each one of us is given something to do. This is what I do. What it is that God has called you to do? If nothing else....please pray for me....and I will pray for you....as I pray for each visitor that comes to these posts!

This Is the Day......There Is No Guarantee You May Have Another One!

                You are troubled! You want God at one moment....and then you are mad at Him....and then you want Him again? This has been going on for a while. What more could God want? You came to Him and demanded of Him that if He was real then He should somehow make Himself known to you....but He never did. You even pleaded with Him....but nothing worked!
                 So you decide to get back at God. You tell anyone who might be listening in your mind...that you are done looking for this God. That will show Him! The responsibility is no longer yours....any sane person could see that....but you are as troubled as you ever were....and probably even more so.
                 Or....or....you do the opposite? Instead of telling God that He has to make Himself known to you....instead of being on the defensive....you tell Him that you have nothing....nothing to commend yourself....and nothing to offer....nothing within you with which to even make a promise! You lay there defeated....destitute....with no hope....you cannot even get up for your legs are useless....and then something happens!
                 A man speaks to you....from somewhere? Is there a pulpit there....or a TV....where is the voice coming from? You have heard this man before....and you never liked him....but this time....instead of looking for an exit.....or the remote....you cup your ears as if to hear better what he is saying. He says that every man has sinned against God....and lies there in defeat....destitute. You want to shout out...."Yes! That is me!" There is a shadowy figure there. He says....look to Jesus and you will be saved....run to the light and you will be healed. You listen to every word that he says....and then he disappears....but behind where he was is a light....and you run to it....shouting...."Life! Life! Eternal Life!

              The following is one of the last sermons that John MacArthur gave....before crossing the river....but it may be one of the best that he ever gave. In this instance....concerning you....he can be that shadowy figure....if you feel yourself destitute....if you are finally humbled....or....you can just 'X' out of this post....and regret that you ever came here.
              

A Foray Into The Eleventh Chapter Of Daniel

               As one reads through all of the marvelous words of the book of Daniel....of the beginning of the Babylonian captivity....and the visions and the lion's den and the fiery furnace....and Greece and Persia and the prophesies of what was going to happen in the future....there is always that eleventh chapter that must be dealt with. Although some of the chronology is hazy....time passes and different Seleucid and Ptolemaic kings come and go and do this and do that.
               It seems that history books alone can identify much of what is happening....but where is it all going. Is it as easy as at times it seems? It does seem so right up until the arrival on the scene of one of the Seleucids from the 'North'....one called....Antiochus IV Epiphanes....this roughly 175 to 164. 
               This man is called "vile" by Daniel. From the time that he gained the throne it had been all "intrigue." He goes to war against the Ptolemys of Egypt a couple of times....victorious mostly.....(which can help us if we look at Egypt as the world in general)....and then each time he has to pass through the "glorious land" on his way home ....and deal with the Jews in Jerusalem....and he seems to win some of them over to his Hellenistic ways....flattering and bribing them....and leading them away from their own Jewishness.
                I think that we have all heard the story of how Rome at one point had had enough of Antiochus IV fooling around in Egypt.....and sent a representative....(remember this is the power of Rome we are speaking of).....and that representative lays down the law to Antiochus....'go home'....and Antiochus tells him that he wants to think about it....of which the representative then draws a circle in the sand around Antiochus....and tells him to make up his mind before he leaves the circle. It's an awesome display of the power of Rome....and the humiliation of Antiochus IV Epiphanes....who is now already mad as he passes by Jerusalem again....where some of the Jews rebel against him....which leads to.....as we all know of....that which God's Word calls the....Abomination of Desolation!
               And that is it with Antiochus IV Epiphanes....for he has served his purpose....and thus in God's perfect design....gives all of us today....a glimpse through Antiochus IV Epiphanes of another that would come.....at the end of time....(this beginning in verse 36)....of which Antiochus IV was but a type!
               It is odd in that not much is said about the Antichrist in what is left of Daniel. It's as if God in the book of Daniel....wanted us to see what this Antichrist would be like....more than what he would do....for Scripture elsewhere tells us more of that. So what do we know? Well we know that the man will be...."vile"....that he will sit down at a table with another leader....and they will both tell lies....as he is that type of man....and that he will flatter and bribe....and if you cross him he will....if he can....even if you are an ally....utterly desecrate your religion and humiliate you!

               

Charles I......Charles II......And Now Charles III

 Preface: The following post is from February of 2024. My surname is solidly English. That famous Tower of London is actually a group of individual towers....one of which has my last name. Although I do not take a great interest in it at all....(the only ancestor of mine that is an influence on me was Adam....and the only character trait....his sin)....I was told that my ancestors were Roundheads. It is hard for me not to think of him as Prince Charles.....since we are about the same age....but now he is King Charles III....(see the post below)....and I have always considered him to be New Age....and certainly no friend to Christianity or even Christendom. So at the end of this month he is scheduled to visit with our king. Nothing good can come of this. One thing that I do not mention in the following post is that the Great Plague of London started in 1665....and the Great Fire Of London was in September of 1666"

The Restoration   

              "England.....and Scotland and Ireland at the time....experienced what became known as its....Restoration....this in 1660. Charles I previously had been beheaded. Oliver Cromwell became the Lord Protector in 1653....but he died five years later....in 1658! Two years after that came the Stuart Restoration. If you think that there is division today....when Charles II became king....they dug up Cromwell's body and put his head on a pole. Anyway....it's not that the government in the Restoration closed the church doors....as in a pandemic....rather it just told the preachers how to run their churches. It was estimated that 2500 faithful ministers refused to do that! That became known as....The Great Ejection....and those who were essentially kicked out became known as....nonconformists!
                 America is facing a restoration of its own....in Donald Trump. We....the roundheads....are long gone. The blockheads are coming back. Puritan divines...(Sproul, MacArthur, Wilkerson, Keller, Boyce etc.)....are dying out one by one....replaced by Johann Tetzels who promise indulgences for a vote in the ballot box.
                 The pressure is on to support this king....the few royals and nobles around him....his own aristocracy....and the vast gentry notable for their pleasure craft and golf cart parades.
                 So where are the nonconformists that we so drastically need? Where are the men who would rather be removed from their pulpits than let a king dictate how they are to preach....and what they are not to say....and who they are not to offend? "

           

                
         

      

And along Came Anna

                 Simeon....from the second chapter of Luke....was a devout man....who did not just sit there....and tell everyone that the Messiah will come in God's timing....and go about his business as if the coming of the Messiah could be hundreds of years away....for as Luke wrote.....it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would see the coming of the Messiah before he died. The Holy Spirit led Simeon into the temple on that day just when Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the temple. He would have had to have been old....and waiting a long time. Maybe the people tried to discourage him....maybe he heard a lot...."Oh Simeon....you have been saying that the Messiah was coming for a long time. You're wasting your life away!"

                So as Simeon gave his prophecy....along came Anna....who was a prophetess....and she was really old....older than me....and she spent all of her time her whole life in the temple....fasting and praying every day and every night. It's impossible to perfectly interpret the description of her age that Luke gives....but she might have been over a hundred years old! And there had been no prophets in hundreds of years....so why is Anna called a prophetess....and why did Simeon give that prophecy about the child Jesus? Well I think it was because during both of their long lives....the Messiah was getting nearer and nearer....and God was speaking again....and the demons were becoming more active....just like they are today.
               The Holy Spirit leads Anna to that part of the temple just as Simeon finishes prophesying....and she starts telling all the people about this child....all the people who also were also waiting for their Messiah.... or as God's Word puts it...."the redemption of Jerusalem.
               Somehow today....we have been led to believe that it's not a good thing to always be looking for Jesus to return! It's even worse than that because we are told that there is no way that we could know even if we wanted to know! There is no indication that Simeon was more than just a devout and just man living in Jerusalem who wanted the Messiah to come.

              Expect to see this friends....as the horrors of AI begin to unfold....and the new world order.....whatever it turns out to be....begins to take shape....and love grows ever colder and colder....and the rule of law more and more rare....and even greater delusions appear than what we are subject to now....expect more Christians to become as Simeon and Anna....in that they....as was the case with Simeon....wanted only to see the Messiah return to restore righteousness.....and as in the case of Anna....told everyone how that redemption of....'Jerusalem'....was nigh! 
               May God....should it be in his good and perfect will....have mercy upon our shepherds tonight even as they sleep....for if they do not begin to speak out that our Lord and Savior and King is near....then as Luke reported later that the stones would cry out.....the sheep may cry out from the pews! I've read that sheep do not make many noises....and usually only when they are in danger or not being fed.

The Irony And Incongruity Of It All

                 It is generally perceived by evangelicals that since America was once good....and since the Trump Party is trying to restore that goodness....that God's blessing upon America at this time.....economically and domestically in general and in its national security....is directly related to the success of this Trump administration. The irony and the incongruity here....is that the very Trump administration that they are trying to sustain and empower....is intent on making the poor and the disadvantaged fend for themselves....in order to increase the coffers of the treasury....so that more military might can be produced....in order to conquer more oil fields....and develop more resort areas....for even more profits....and all of this done as opulence is celebrated throughout the White House and now imperial environs of what was once the people's city.

One of the news reports on the proposed new military budget titled its headline this way:

"White House seeks massive increase in defense spending and looks to slash housing, social services and health care."

DISPATCHES

You have to be kidding me? Trump and Rubio....(on Trump's orders of course)....have been hammering NATO countries for not immediately jumping in on Iran. Not only since day one of his first term....but since 1987....after the Soviet Union wined and dined Trump in Moscow....Trump has been a voice against NATO. This was a solid alliance.....and a great strength of the Western world....that Trump purposely....much to Putin's delight....utterly destroyed. In the past year....in his madness....Trump has verbally attacked and attempted to humiliate these allies....as he expects everyone.....as does ..his own cabinet and much of the new MAGA Party....(formerly the Republican Party)....bow down and not only kiss his royal ring buy give constant praise and obeisance to him. So to have expected NATO to jump as he snapped his fingers....was absurd....and then to attempt to humiliate them again....as if they were the bad ally....is even beyond ludicrous. Trump is and always has been....a destroyer.

To Russia With Love....there are at least two former KGB operatives who had defected from the Soviet Union who have stated that at the very least Trump was....back in the 80s.... prime....primo....Kompromat material. Trump may have had....may have had....more financial dealings with Russians....primarily new money oligarchs....than dealings with big money from any other country....(although that is changing with Middle East oil and crypto money)....our intelligence agencies knew all of this....and did what they were supposed to do....investigate it.....but they are ones now under investigation....by Trump. Russians helped Trump in 2016 and then celebrated again in 2024. Trump had a habit of trying to get alone with Putin....with none of his aides present. Putin has always hated NATO....and so does Trump. 

Trump uses the word 'Hell' all the time...."48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to  God." This was one of Trump's Easter messages....the second is too vulgar to put up here but it does end with mockery...."Praise be to Allah." It has been said that there is a....'fine line between genius and madness'....well there is nothing near genius with Trump....in fact he is the quintessential example of stupidity and the gangster rising to the top. None of the above posts were surprising....but what is continually amazing.....even frightening....and immediately humbling is to realize that even a Christian man can be so deceived....as to not discern the horror in the deception of this man. There may though be a fine between physiological madness....and demonic possession.

Possible Diagnosis....Noted medical analyst Dr. Vin Gupta posted the following after President Trump's wild flourish of Truth Social texts over the weekend...."Erratic. Can't finish sentences. Often confused, Illogical train of thought, Word finding difficulties. Developing and worsening gradually over time. The President is exhibiting all the signs of dementia."

Another Prayer Abomination....On February 13....after watching this year's National Prayer Breakfast....I titled a post....National Prayer Abomination.....and I just now finished watching the Easter Prayer Luncheon....which is yet another abomination. Franklin Graham looked physically frail....and that surprised me....as he compared Donald Trump to Esther. Robert Jeffress was also there on the stage....applauding the words of a genuine biblical false prophet and pastor to our presdient.....Paula White. There are a number of once faithful ministers whose ministries were damaged....to one degree or another....because they let the wolf in the sheepfold. These dais events are usually all the same...as Paula White calls forward one minister after another to give his or her prayer....and they pull out their piece of paper to read....or put away their piece of paper after rereading it....for their moment in the sun....but without the Son. Robert Jeffress and Franklin Graham need our prayers....good men....just taken in because they did not remain vigilant.

Trump made a joke about French President Macron's wife....and he got a laugh....at the above....Easter Prayer Luncheon.

The White House put the video of Trump at the....luncheon....on the web.....then they figured out some of the things that he said....and they took the video down right away....but it was too late....for other sources had already posted it....and you can easily Google it and view it....and take note of how at one point Trump said that the federal government cannot give money for things like daycare....and Medicaid.....and Medicare.

I think that the tide is definitely turning in all of America....and more and more people are starting to see who Trump really is....and how heartless he is....the problem is that has been purging everyone and everything that is not vetted and certified as rubber stamp....never question anything.....just obey. He is grabbing firm control of all of the agencies that were established to protect the constitution.

Hegseth fired another top general today.....the purges have been going on consistently. This firing....or rather forced retirement....is related to the general having a different opinion....but is relayed to us as just not being in line with Trump's beliefs. The following paragraph and Stephen Miller quote are from a December 2025 DISPATCHES post...."An individual was charged and convicted of some serious terroristic threats around the time of the January 6, 2021 insurrection. He is set to be sentenced. Two prosecutors....in a memo to be given to the judge....stated the facts....and included were some of the events in that insurrection....(the prosecutors referred to it as a 'riot'). Things like this do not sit well in the Trump Justice Department....the two prosecutors were removed....and replaced by two new prosectors....who filed the same memo....only they removed the references to January 6. Show trials and purges are the absolute norm in the Trump administration. The horror of January 6 is being purged. This is revisionist history at its worst."

Not Ready For Primetime President.....One would think that there would be some kind of news....in a primetime address....during a war....but there wasn't. It was rally material...'I did this'...."I did that"...."people are saying that it has never been done this great before.' The speech seemed to be thrown together. That was my take on it anyway....but Trump has a habit of talking up negotiations....and then striking as an element of surprise. Then again....he also is in the habit of giving constant 10 or 14 or 40 or 50 day warnings....or "I'll release this or that great secret in the near future....(JFK or UFOs etc.)".....the purpose being that every time he does that....it puts everything on hold for 10 or 14 or 40 or 50 days....buying time....until another threat or time period is given.

Coming To The Rescue....On January 2 of this year demonstrations were building in Tehran....and Trump warned Iran that if they start to kill the protesters then the US would step in. He told the protestors that he would "rescue them." It was commented on at the time that a comment like that would only encourage more protests and more people....and that happened. In tonight's primetime address....Trump gave the figure of 45,000 protesters killed by Iranian forces. The figure is stunning. The number of reported deaths was 13 when the rescue comment was made.  President Trump was previously taken to task for claiming that there already was regime change in Iran....so he expounded on that tonight....in that what he meant by 'regime change' was that all the top leaders were killed....so the 'regime' was gone....the new leaders were the 'regime change.' That is not regime change....nor is it rescue.

"Rather Hysterical"....The Jerusalem Post is reporting right now that Trump threatened Europe with taking away its military support of the Ukraine. Rubio verified that in saying that if the US finds that it needs weapons for its own defense....then it would keep them for itself. There is a double-edged sword here in that it does expand the Iran war into the Russian/Ukraine war....and it also seems to admit that US war supplies may indeed be getting low....which has been implied by others earlier. One report said that NATO Secretary General Rutte described Trump as...."rather hysterical" on the phone. That in itself is not a good sign.

Hitler Derangement Syndrome....Winston Churchill had it....and England should thank God that he did.

Do you believe in UFOs? A Republican congressman from Tennessee said this after being briefed on top secret information on aliens. "We just need to disclose it all. I'm sick of it, you're-ah, well,-I was briefed, I will just tell you this, I was briefed last week on an issue-or excuse me, two weeks ago-and it would've set the earth on- this country would've come unglued, I think, if they would've heard all that I heard." Folks....these are the last days....for real....if you don't believe that then go back to your March Madness....and there are going to be....and are now....feverishly increasing....evidences of demonic activity. I have a March 19 post that addresses this issue....please go there and read it.

Mind Setting

 Preface: I thought That I would bring back this August 15 of 2023 post...seven weeks before the October Sukkot attacks in Israel. Any Christian....reading his or her Bible as if they really believed that it was the very Word of God....would have known....or should have known....many years ago....that war was coming....and that a false peace was coming. "For you will hear of wars and rumors of wars..."....we don't know how many wars....or even how many times they will falsely say "peace." There are at least a hundred very specific verses in God's Word that identify the day and the age that you and I live in. John MacArthur....who is mentioned many times in the posts preceding this post....once said that in May of 1948...."God put the world on notice." This is not date setting! This is....mind setting...."Set your minds on things that are above, not the things of earth." (Colossians 3:2 ESV)

For Whom The Death Knell Tolls            

               Many of us....possibly most of us.....but certainly not all of us....have some kind of defining characteristic on how we lead our daily lives. My wife's would be in that she is always making a note of something that she has to do. She is famous for it....and it works out very well. Jonathan Edwards was famous for that also as he would take long horseback rides....to meditate...and when he returned it looked like it had snowed....for all of the white pieces of paper that he had pinned all over his clothing.
               Well I also have a very strong characteristic. I need to at all times have a constantly updated view on the big picture of things. I need to more than occasionally go over the many possible changes that life can present. For example....there may not be any imminent household expenses....a new furnace....or a new roof....but provision has to be made anyway for those possible emergencies. That characteristic dominates these posts.
               There is war ahead. One has to be able to step back to see this. It can't be stopped. The dies have been cast. If there is another virus....we have already shot ourselves in the foot....vaccinations are bad....scientists are bad.
               When Jesus said that...."If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand"....He was letting us know what it was going to look like at the end. When He said...."Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth"....He was describing this world today....for as much as we say....'God bless this' and 'God bless that'....our faith has dwindled down to nothing more than those trite phrases. The carnival barkers have our attention today.....pointing to the clowns....or the bearded woman....or the world's strongest man....or the world's smallest man.
               AI alone....is a death knell! Drone warfare is a death knell! Our division is a death knell! Hemingway's famous words were...."For whom the bell tolls....it tolls for thee." Only God's Word gives us hope...."Jesus said to her....(Martha).... 'I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die."

As Enemies Are Being Conquered......So Are The Righteous

                     Whereas Trump is concluding the fourteenth month of his second term....quite possibly defined by words used in the sixth chapter of Revelation that seem apropos...."conquering....and to conquer"....there are two wars or conflicts in general going on....one of which evangelicals know of and celebrate....and the other of which they know nothing about...that is being waged against them!

                  In the first they see enemies....progressives and socialists....there's a long list....and in spite of who Trump has shown himself to be for the past eleven years....a divider extraordinaire and a destroyer magnus....and a congenital liar with serious psychological disorders....and this most particularly the past five years....in spite of this....they applaud Trump as he seemingly is out there conquering those enemies....but Trump has a much more important war going on....unbeknownst to the evangelical....as he seeks to amass all the power that would be necessary....to rule the world....or at least dictate to the world....and America....in spite of its constitution....and in the face of all the warnings that God's Word gives evangelicals who still prayerfully read God's Word....that such tyrants and false prophets with false miracles and signs and wonders and deceptions and great delusions will appear....as the return of the Son of God nears....even to the very door....in power and righteous judgment.
                 So as enemies are being conquered....so are the righteous....the "elect"....if only for a time....until the deception is finally too great for even the most ardent defenders not to identify....and flee from....if there is still time.

Passover

                 The Feast of Passover begins in Israel in a few hours....at sunset....(I am typing this around 9 AM on Wednesday....April 1....or Nissan 14 on the Jewish calendar)....and will last until sunset on April 8. Right now would be the 3 PM hour is Israel....right when Jesus said from the cross...."It is finished." The feast of Firstfruits will be sunset to sunset beginning on Apil 4....and this is when Jesus was resurrected. All of the Jewish feasts and fasts have prophetic meaning and fulfillments along with the historical events. They are not given to us to predict when something will happen....but rather to show us....or remind us through events of the day...of what happened. 

Note: We have not celebrated Easter....as Christendom observes Easter....in....well probably never since I became a believer. There were never any chocolate bunnies or egg hunts or baskets....except when grandparents might have given one....and we politely accepted. Easter Sunday was never a special Sunday....because every Sunday....is a Lord's Day....and every Lord's Day....celebrates the Resurrection! Others hold to different observances. We all can deal with this. The importance is that....Jesus is risen!

Waiting For The Feeling Of Oppression To Break

               Every member of our family has had a bug or a virus of some nature over the past month....and I'm sure that many of you have also. We all know what to expect....as when one person gets it....it's only a matter of time. With me...after only a couple of days....it seemed to break overnight. You know what I mean I'm sure....maybe all of a sudden there was no fever....and you can feel a general coolness over your whole body....the feeling of oppression lifts...although a weakness may remain....as it may be that you feel like you were banged up in a car accident?

              So I woke up this morning....and thanked and praised God for another day....and ran through a litany of prayers for the people that I love....and others who I know are in need of God's help and mercy in some way....and eventually I am downstairs booting up this laptop to check the news....and it is the same every day....and has been the same every day for over a decade now....for a different blanket feeling of oppression is always present because of this troublesome man who seems to scour the earth for some way to get richer....some person or country to belittle....some great monument to build for himself.
              That some people claim to love this man....or think that he is great....is irrelevant....for the time will come when the hangover begins....and they look around at the house strewn with empty champagne bottles....and broken glass....overturned furniture....and a lingering smell of carnage.
              To one degree or another...and that degree can vary widely....it is a vexation of God's children....those anyway who like Lot were hurrying away from Sodom....leaving others like Lot's wife to disobey the command not to look back. Lot was given the choice on where he could live....and he chose the lusher valleys....but that oppression....and that vexation....would surely come....just as it has to us today in our own version of Sodom.
              Just as with a bug or a virus....with no resort other than to rest and medicate....wait and pray....this oppression will surely lift in due time...in God's perfect timing....and the healing comes to our souls....that will be bathed in repentance....and administered a balm....and a restoration of the hope and a love that we had at first when we saw the love that was poured out on us at Calvary....and in the tomb....and on that hill....and in that upper room!
              
               

Things Will Not Go How We Expect Them

 The following post....Things Will Not Go According To Our Plans....is from January of 2023....the following paragraph....a month after that....in a former preface to that post:

"On this deception that is surely ahead....it is quite likely that evangelicals will think that God is moving greatly in some way....where it will not be God that is moving! Charismatics are particularly susceptible in falling for false movements of God. Right now they are an army of false teachers. This is a time that calls for serious and solemn meditation on God's Word....an extreme soberness on what lies ahead....a humility in prayer....and the true joy that rejoices in God's glory....secure in our meekness....His sovereignty in all things....and our dependence on His power....not ours."

Things Will Not Go According To Our Plans           

                This we are familiar with....at the Passover supper Jesus told Peter that he....Peter....was in danger of temptation but that He....Jesus....had prayed for him. We know that Peter then said....with supreme confidence...."Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."  Everyone is familiar with how Jesus responded to Peter that before the rooster would crow in the morning that Peter would deny Him three times....and we know what happened in the morning. Cut and dried right? We know everything here that we need to know.
                Well there is more. All four gospels tell us how on the Mount of Olives that night....as the mob came for Jesus....one of the disciples cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest. John was the only gospel writer to identify Peter as the one with the sword. It seems that Peter's boast of going to prison and even to death with Jesus was pretty sound up to then. So what happened between the time they took Jesus....and before the rooster crowed? 
                This is not insignificant.....nor trivial....I do not believe....for this principle will directly affect many of us....in one way and to one degree or another.....probably in the near future. Something collapsed in Peter as he saw Jesus led away. All the evidence of miracles and power from the previous three years suddenly disappeared. This was not going according to plan. There were surprises. Peter began to unravel and then came completely undone. 
                We today think that we know it all as to what will happen in that which is called....the Tribulation....maybe not all the specifics.....but we know that it will be so bad that our own family members may be against us. We are humble to a certain degree....for we know that we will need the Holy Spirit to stay strong....but here it is folks....just like with Peter there will be surprises.....and things will not go according to our plans! 
                We need to be prepared for whatever it is that comes against us at that time....that it will be worse than we thought....that confusion will reign because of it....and that we...."if possible even the elect"....will be in danger of coming completely undone just as Peter did! It is not enough to boldly proclaim that Jesus will hold on to us.....if we have not shown any concern at all over His coming....nor His warnings. That would be an extreme....and even absurd presumption.
                We have been warned to be vigilant a number of times in God's Word....and we in effect blow the warning off every time.....for we do not think that Jesus is coming back right now. We don't even want to talk about it. For if we did.....if we even leaned that way....we would at least attempt to become a people separated once again....and right now that is too much to ask.
                Peter was taken by surprise....and if we are not sober-minded and vigilant.....then we also will be taken by surprise. We are knowledgeable of Peter's weaknesses during the ministry of Jesus....but we tend to relate those weaknesses a little bit to easily....rather than having the fear of God instilled in us in seeing how frail we can be.            

Lord's Day Post

                   In R. C. Sproul's last sermon....preached only a couple of weeks before he died....his voice was raspy....but the evangelistic message in it was as strong as I have every heard him preach. You can easily Google....R. C. Sproul's Last Sermon....and listen to it. John MacArthur's last sermon....and he also sounded very weak....was titled....A Glimpse Of Heaven....and you can easily listen to that also. Billly Graham desperately wanted to give one last message.....and he was able to do so from the armchair in his North Carolina home. The last words in David Wilkerson's blog in April of 2011 were...."Hold fast to your faith. Stand fast in His Word. There is no other hope in the world." Martyn Lloyd-Jones last written words....penciled in because he could hardly speak....were...."DO NOT PRAY FOR HEALING. DO NOT HOLD ME BACK FROM GLORY." I encourage you to Google and listen to the last interview with Tim Keller before he died....and a very recent interview with Ben Sasse as the prognosis for his illness is for a very near resolution....but in this post....with the Lord's Day tomorrow....where the unction of last anythings will most likely be absent....in a church age that wants to dwell only on the positive....I'm adding a reading of John Bunyan's last sermon....preached in August of 1688. You see he was not only a great Christian author....but a great preacher....so much so that the great scholar....John Owens....when standing before the second.....King Charles....of England....and asked by the king why he would go to hear an uneducated handyman/preacher....responded thusly...."I would willingly exchange my learning for the tinker's power of touching men's hearts." (or words very much to that effect)

                                                                      

Put Your Bible Away......Until The Mid-Terms Are Over

                Franklin Graham....spoke yesterday to CPAC....which was just another poor decision....and in his talk he gave the same excuse for Trump that has been given by evangelicals for ten years now...."He's not perfect."

             How can one say that about Trump when he is and has been the whole time....a false prophet....(that's an enemy of our Savior folks)....telling evangelicals the exact opposite that God's Word tells them? There is no 'golden age' coming! No one that I have ever even read about in history....lies as easily and more consistently than Donald Trump. What does God's Word say about liars...and the "father of lies?" Trump divides everyone and everything....families and congregations and nations within themselves and ally against ally!
             He destroys....either purposely....or followers are destroyed simply by flying too close to his flame. He builds and uses fear and rage in his followers! He leads evangelicals away from loving others....or forgiving others....or having mercy on others. He promotes pride....and envy in evangelicals. He gives false witness against good people. He ignored Covid for a month....because the then upcoming election was more important. He sat by for hours on January 6....as people were hurt and died...and as his advisors pleaded with him.
             He will cancel someone's pension....or Secret Service protection....or health insurance....in a moment....if it can get back at a political enemy. He is a champion for AI that has biblical end-times destruction coded all through it! He is a champion also of crypto currencies....amassing billions in the process....while others take foolish chances.
             Trump has lived one step ahead of the law his entire life....saved by the power that billions of dollars has in the American legal process. What does God's Word say about the "lawless one"....and what does God think about judges....(which includes presidents)....who rule with prejudice?
             Jesus said..."Take heed that no one deceives you"...."many false prophets will rise up and deceive many." Jude warned against those that 'mouthed great swelling words....flattering to gain advantage'....and tells us to "contend earnestly for the faith." Paul warned Timothy that men would come who...'loved themselves....and loved money....boasters....unloving...unforgiving....slanderers....without self-control.' It was Trump's resume.
             
Solomon filled Proverbs with warnings about these type of people...

"A worthless person, a wicked man,
 Walks with a perverse mouth;
 He winks with his eyes,
 He shuffles his feet,
 He points with his fingers;
 Perversity is in his heart.
 He devises evil continually,
 He sows discord."

"Do not enter the path of the wicked,
 And do not walk in the way of evil.
Avoid it, do not travel on it'
Turn away from it and pass on.
For they do not sleep
 unless they have done evil."

The Psalms are filled with warnings...

"No king is saved
 by the multitude of an army;
 A mighty man is not delivered.
 by great strength....
 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him."

Or as was read in our own worship today from the 26 Psalm....in words of David....

"I do not sit with men of falsehood
 nor do I consort with hypocrites
 I hate the assembly of evildoers,
 and I will not sit with the wicked."

               The prophets speak of these men. God's Word says to flee from them....and not even to go near them....so how....how can a renewed mind look at all of this....(and this was only a sampling)....and excuse it all with...."He's not perfect?"

               What this does is tell us that all of the warnings in God's Word....all the commands about who and what to avoid or even flee from....are not to be taken too seriously....and that defending the Bible may be important....if time and situation permits....but all of that is put on pause....if the American Dream needs defended. Friends....brothers and sisters in Christ....if that were the case then one might as well just throw the Bible away....or at least put it aside....until the next election is over!

Crusader Mentality......And How Not To Experience Revival

                 I think that it would be helpful for the reader to view what Wikipedia has to say about Secretary of....War....Pete Hegseth....and his most well-known mentor in pastor and theologian Doug Wilson. We need to be informed on these things because this particular brand of Christianity is in charge....at least in Pete Hegseth's responsibilities in this Trump administration....and it is influencing by way of Trump and MAGA most of evangelicalism today. What you will find in these Wiki descriptions is a man....in Pete Hegseth....who since college has considered himself a crusader for Christendom....not necessarily Christianity....but more recently the two have unfortunately melded into one. 

                 It has been almost thirty years since we had a Christian bookstore....in which I sold the books that Doug Wilson had authored up to then. They were reformed and family oriented Christian books. The debate existed at the time on a last-days or end-times eschatology called....postmillenialism....where it is believed that the gospel will eventually be received by all nations before Jesus returns....but since there was no one in the government who espoused such beliefs....it remained a theological debate. Today....it has become a political debate under the name of Christian Nationalism.
                 There is no set definition on what Christian Nationalism is but all of the assorted definitions revolve around America as having been a Christian nation from its founding....and that we have since departed from that....and from the Bible....and in order to survive and fulfill God's calling and anointing on our country....we have to return to being that Christian nation.
                 America in 1776 was not founded as a Christian nation....in fact the Christian Faith was very weak in Jefferson's day....as what is known now as the First Great Awakening had already waned....as all revivals do....and what is known as the....Second Great Awakening....that followed in the early 1800s....was very problematic in that man's part in his salvation began to equal and at times even eclipse God's sovereign work! We have never fully recovered from the influence of Charles Grandison Finney....who held heretical views on revival.
                  At best....Pete Hegseth is still a new Christian....at best. Let me segue here to my own mistakes as a new Christian....and I have to return to Finney. I was a new Christian....three to five years....I cannot remember exactly....but that is still new....and I was still attending our first church after conversion....an Assemblies of God....with a wonderful congregation of believers....strong in their faith....but not very knowledgeable of the Faith in areas in which we need to be knowledgeable....this with no help from me....as I asked for and received permission to stand at the door after a Lord's Day service....and distribute 100 copies of Charles Finney's heretical paperback book....How To Experience Revival.
                  The Apostle Paul warned Timothy about ordaining or sending out men before they were ready....(1 Timothy 5)....and that was my problem....and that definitely is also the problem with Pete Hegseth....who like me....became a crusader too soon....which by the way....that is what happened to Charles Finney....as those around him wanted to send this extremely charismatic individual off to seminary....to learn....before he would attempt to teach....but he choose to become a crusader right away.....and disaster followed....as it will with Pete Hegseth!
                   

The Gospel Today Is....That America....Needs To Be Born Again

             All of the debate today....on all of the issues....is regulated by the various forms of media....radio and cable TV....and social media and podcasts and books and political parties and politicians. It is fashioned and spoon fed to us....so that there is really no debate....only a shouting match....where the louder 'debater' wins....but this was not always the case....for there was a time....up until about ten years ago....when we could actually think for ourselves. So if the topic is.....illegal immigration....the narrative is narrow and only facts that support the narrative are provided. We view this topic as two entities....us....the good guys....and others....who send their bad people to us illegally. In this narrative the solution is short and sweet....get rid of the bad people who came here illegally with their crime.

            The reality is much wider....and there are no simple answers....but it starts with this...we are all responsible in one way or another....to one degree or another....for the culture and the world that....we all created!  
            It started out as an industrial revolution....where a cotton gin was invented....and then trains....and planes....and automobiles. There was the flapper dress or the zoot suit....and then the sports car or the pleasure craft....and sports and games....trivial pursuits....everything and anything that one person or company or corporation could produce and convince us that we absolutely needed it in order to be happy....or to live the American dream. The church itself....the new 'successful' ones....have become more a corporation than the body of Christ...well-run and well-oiled businesses....upbeat family Lord's Day-care centers....with team members....state-of-the-art everything with websites in some cases that would put to shame Silicon Valley.
            When we became so rich that our youth had lots of disposable income....they naturally went after them....our children....and we let it happen....so that we would have more time for ourselves and our own pleasure pursuits. Essentially this is sacrificing our children....but we would never admit to that....as we are too busy condemning others who sacrifice their children. All of this expanded exponentially until today....once again as we let it happen....AI and cryptocurrencies and any technology that can make someone a billionaire....plants its data base....and calls it progress....and freedom. I personally watch FRNDLY cable television because that is where I can watch the Weather Channel....and it seems as if every other commercial is how you can gamble right there on TV. Who needs Las Vegas? How did we let this happen?
            So we have been programmed to believe that the answer to our problem is to get rid of the illegals. We like that answer because we have for ten years now had our diets changed so that we want lots of red meat. We want the rage. We thrive on it. If others are hurt in the process through collateral damage....so be it...they should have been born in the USA....like we were! That's part of the new God Bless America Gospel.
            Somewhere in our psyche still resides a conscience....so any guilt that might rear its ugly head must be assuaged....but if it does we need only to be reminded that we are making America safer....and it goes away.
            There was a day when we were given warnings....similar to Ninevah....and a window of opportunity so to speak....to repent....and we had plenty of Jonah type of preaching....particularly from Billy Graham....and we did turn slightly back to God a few times....during our Civil War....and in the Born Again Revival of the 70s to mid-80s....but today's 'revivals' do not necessarily require anyone to actually become....born again....for today's gospel is based on America being born again....which would then somehow corporately save all of us?            

This Is At Least In The Back Of My Mind......If Not In The Front Of It....Even If We Are Talking About The Weather

                 I am the same as everyone else in that I have friends....some very good long-time friends....and many who I have just known for a lot of years....and even new friends....and many acquaintances....and relatives. What might be a little different is that although I might meet them....and the conversation might be perfectly normal....there is no time when somewhere at least in the back of my mind....and often right up front....is that ultimate eternal question....are they in Christ? Have they been born again....born anew....born from above. Have their eyes been opened to God's Word....as what it is....His very Word.....perfect and powerful....to save and to guide.....and to warn.....and to enthrall? 

                What am I missing here? Shouldn't this be the normal with every Christian? Granted....we have a lot of difficulties in this pilgrimage of life....and often we might be overwhelmed by all of our responsibilities....where it would be hard if not impossible to think of everyone that we meet....and wonder....or be concerned about their eternal well-being....but even if it is not until later that night....while in bed....thinking about the day that has just passed....would not these faces come back to us....and would we not wonder if God had given them the greatest of all gifts....salvation?
                 So there are regular readers to these posts that come in for various reasons. Some I'm sure totally reject everything that I write....certainly about Trump.....but they might come in just to stir up that anger or disgust. Some....friends and relatives....come in I'm sure just out of concern for me....not totally rejecting what they read....but also not really accepting any of it either. To these visitors....friends and relatives....know this....I never look into your eyes during a conversation....no matter how trivial that conversation might be....without silently pleading that God might open those eyes....as He did mine....and as He did for multitudes of others!
                 The topic of love might be the most preached on topic? What could possibly compare to having or showing love than wanting someone to receive the grace of God in salvation? You would have to agree with this....or it would show that you do not really believe that there is a heaven and that there is a hell. So....the first part of my concern is that you would know what comes after death....and then to take it an uncomfortable but necessary step further....you have parents still alive....or children....or a spouse....or other people who you truly do love....or do you truly love them....for if you did....and you understand the gospel that is referenced by the delicate gold cross that you wear....then you would never truly sleep well....or never really laugh without some uneasiness....unless that parent that you would do anything for....or that child that you would give your life for....or that spouse that you love more then anyone....was safe....and secure....in Christ!
                  I can prove that I believe what I write....for why else would I attempt such an odd post like this? For what other possible reason could I....year after year....even to the point of ridicule and rejection....plead with God for words to move even one soul....from ignorance....to a revelation that makes sense of everything....except one thing....that being why....why would such a Holy God....give such a wonderful gift....to one such as I....or you?

"Life! Life!....Eternal Life!'

                 The general consensus of the crowd....or we can call it the world....is that person A won the hypothetical debate....therefore person B would have lost the debate. Person A therefore might be elated....or maybe just satisfied....while person B may be downcast....or at least deflated. That is the logical construct that the world runs on. We may not always win....we may even always lose....but we must at least.....want to win. In a footrace it would be relatively easy to determine who wins....but in a academic debate the winner is often....though not always....chosen through opinion....the opinion of judges....but if we move into the realm of politics....there is no judge.....and not even the crowd....or the world....or even the electorate....determines who wins....but the media....using and/or manipulating appearances....tell us who won or lost the debate.

                With me and these posts....that logical construct does not come into play at all....at all. There is no winner in my mind....so I am not trying to....quote unquote....win anything. Even the appearance of losing means nothing to me. The only thing that matters is that there are X number of people who might read my posts....they generally do not know me....I generally do not know them. I see people who are unsaved....the total number in the world is probably nearing eight billion of those. And I see people who are....saved....(I purposely use those words....because using them is not keeping up appearances)........but are unknowledgeable of so many important things....having accepted the compromised modern gospel of the day....and are lacking even in basic discernment on the day and the age that we live in!
                  I am 76 years old....and believe that the Lord Jesus....King Jesus....waits with His myriads of mighty angels....whose swords are already unsheathed....they only waiting for the command from He who sits upon the White Horse....(of Revelation 19....not Revelation 6.)
                  It is as if the train whistle has blown....with the sound of the air brakes releasing that pent-up pressure....and all I can do is turn on the train platform to the people and shout...."The train is leaving....follow me!" There is no 'winner' or 'loser' in that situation....only those who depart the City of Destruction....for the Celestial City....and those who refuse to leave!
                  I don't offer rebuttal to these posts....for Fox News gives that 24/7....7 days a week....52 weeks a year....and talk radio reaches everyone inclined to tune in....and hundreds if not thousands of podcasters and authors have loyal and dependent followers. 
                  I type fast....and I have typos that I do not catch....but it matters not....because there is no grade given to this....it doesn't even matter if anyone reads what I post....only that as the ship is sinking that I shout out as if someone is out there....that there is only one lifeboat that will save....but it is big enough to hold everyone who raises their hand and prays...."Lord....I am a sinner....and deserve to be cast away from Thee forever....but I heard from a man wearing a robe....and holding up a book...and he said that Thou has called everyone to a feast....even those as low and dirty as I am....and there is a white robe waiting....and forgiveness......and mercy! I believe what that man said is true....because something like scales have fallen off of my eyes....and wax oozed from my ears.....and although I cannot see Thee....I see the glory all around Thee....and I hear the praises....and I find that I am shouting those praises along with others! Thank you Lord for your mercy of salvation on one such as Me!"
                   Do you by any chance think this post ridiculous....maybe laughable? Maybe it is....but guess what....that doesn't phase me....for I can only continue to shout as I run...."Life! Life! Eternal life!"

Note: The quotes in this post...."City of Destruction"....and...."Celestial City"....and...."Life! Life! Eternal Life"....and from John Bunyan's....Pilgrim's Progress....and if you have never read a Christian book....that would be a blessed place to start. There is a song within that book....that I use in my 'Profile' of this website....and the last stanza of that song is this:

"Hobgoblin, nor fowl fiend, Can daunt his spirit; He knows, he at the end shall life inherit. Then fancies fly away, He'll fear not what men say, He'll labour night and day....To be a pilgrim

Burger King Church.......'Have It Your Way'

                 I am one of those people who feed the birds and the squirrels. If I see a bird out there in the winter I might throw some bread out.....but I spread some peanut butter on it because the white bread alone might fill their stomach but provided few if any of the nutrients that they need. In other words....bread alone may do more harm than good.

               We all are familiar with when Jesus mysteriously told Peter three times to feed His lambs and feed His sheep. We sheep....we lambs....are to be fed primarily by the preached Word of God. It is meant to be a....means of grace. It is an absolute necessity....or else we can spiritually die.
                Just by the nature of the way I spend my time....and it's been pretty much the same for over forty years now....I have become very familiar with the average preached sermon in America today....and folks it is white bread.....with an occasional spread of peanut butter on it.
                Look for yourself....visit the websites of some of the bigger churches in your area....and more likely than not you will not even find a link to the sermons....and if you do....those sermons are by and large either Bible studies....where the pastor preaches what we should be learning for ourselves....or they are therapeutic....alleviating pain and encouraging.  
                This lack of preaching does not show up in sunken facial features or bones showing through the skin....but quite the opposite actually as without the needed mortification in the sermons....we might very well spend all of our free time at Planet Fitness....building as I called it over thirty years ago....the Church of the Fit and Buff.
                The church today treats the epidermis....that protective layer of skin that has no blood vessels to provide nutrients....and ignores what is below....but it is what is below that provides the nutrients. So our sermons today address only that which appears bothersome on the surface. I'll give one example of a plethora of areas of which we constantly need self-examination....that example is this....we look at this world and we identify the evils....fair enough....but we need also to identify the evils that we have added to the situation. Yes....Trump is a cluster of evils....but we built the culture that gave us Trump. What evils lurk within us? We are blind because our spiritual eyes lack the nutrients that the preached Word provides!
                 Does Burger King still use the phrase? I don't know....but the popular commercial a half century ago centered around the words....'Have It Your Way.' If you didn't want tomatoes or pickles on your burger....then they were taken off....so in today's church....if we don't want this or that....or we ain't coming to church....then they are taken out.
                 Church attendance and personal ministries and even being generous and helping others....and even evangelizing....can be nothing but a clear skin....even a beautiful skin....protecting a diseased body....with a spiritual heart may not even be beating.
                 I'm not advising people to leave their church because they probably would not be able to find a pastor who can preach as men of the past....but I am....and always have in these posts....strongly recommended....even pleaded for....literally begged in some cases....Christians to supplement their brick and mortar churches with CDs or Internet sermons from....as I have always labelled it....preachers from the past....men like Spurgeon and Lloyd-Jones and Ryle and Bunyan and Whitefield and Edwards and so many more....and Preachers today who preach like preachers from the past...men like MacArthur and Sproul and Piper and Paul Washer and Michael Horton....and so many more.....spread thinly across America.
                 These posts are littered with sermon links that you can easily go to. Please consider listening....which may include watching....one or two of these each week. If you do....you will see what the fuss had always been about concerning the weak preaching age that we live in.
               

Special Dog's Idol Factory....Downsized....But Still In Business

                 The average idol that a family might have in their house in ancient Israel would have been about 4 to 6 inches tall....small enough to fit into the palm of the hand. The Oscar....is 13.5 inches tall....with eyes that cannot see....and ears that cannot hear....and a mouth that cannot speak....holding a sword that cannot cut.

                I have had many and various idols over my long life....and still do. They are hard to do away with....and I will never be totally free of them. Some of them I try to hide from God....some of them I try to tell God that they can be of use to the spread of the gospel. Some of them I keep and congratulate myself because they used be twice or ten times as big.
                Calvin described man's mind as an idol factory. My son was an idol at one time....now he's just a hero....(yes our children can be powerful idols)....as was my physical fitness....my hair....(believe it or not)....and even my smile....before God marred its appearance....thankfully.
                 We need the preached Word to identify the idols in our life....for therein is the two-edged sword that can cut...."living and active"....(unlike Oscar or a gold medal or a house or a car or an ounce of gold)....that pierces....continuing in Hebrews 4:12.....of the ESV...."to the division of soul and of spirit....of joints and of marrow....and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
                  We need that preaching as a lamb needs a shepherd....but as Jesus warned the people....they had "grown dull....their ears hard of hearing....and their eyes they have closed" ....(Matthew 13:15 NKJV)....they didn't....nor do we....desire to hear any more than we do....for if we did....we would be healed....little by little....of the idols that we collect....as a dog might collect fleas.
                  

A False Prophet....Giving A False Prophecy....About Another False Prophet

                   The video below is from the inaugural National Faith Summit in Atlanta in October of 2024....shortly before the election. According to Jonathan Cahn who speaks in the video....there were 3,000 "faith leaders" present.....and that the administrators put Cahn last in line to speak to ensure that Donald Trump would be in the sanctuary and seated by then.

                   In the message....the author of numerous prophecy best-sellers over the past decade....gave what he himself has said was a 'Word from the Lord." So in effect....this was a false prophet....(Cahn)....giving a false prophecy....about another false prophet of a coming golden age for America....(Trump)....in an event hosted by yet another false prophet in Paula White....Donald Trump's chief spiritual advisor! (Please....please....at some point....Google and view Paula White calling on angels from Africa and South America to aid Trump in the election....this on November 5, 2020)
                   Please watch the video below and take note of the method that Jonathan Cahn employs as a crescendo builds to a level of screaming the prophecy....as he points to June 14, 1946 and Trump's birth as the "beginning of a mystery"....(although that specific date was also a blood moon but was this not mentioned)....and his "destiny"....as a...."trumpet of God"....and a "warrior king"....and looking at Trump sitting in the front row....Jonathan Cahn prophesied...."The glory of the Lord has risen upon you!"
                    Brothers and sisters in Christ....this is what we have brought to the White House. This is what we proclaim as the work of the Holy Spirit. These are our shepherds.
                   

'I Know Him....You Don't....Stay Away From Him'.....What Else Can I Do?

                  The person reading this might be too young to have heard a story like this.....but at my age it has come up occasionally over the years....maybe in a movie or on TV or in a book or even in real life. It's a story of two brothers....(in fact I did a post on this once.....maybe I can find it)....where one brother is a normal young man....but his brother has been bad his whole life....always telling lies....caring only about himself....hurting people and laughing at other's misfortune.....with absolutely no compassion at all. Well they grow up....and the first brother is the only one who really knows what the other brother is like. They live in the same community....and the second brother has become 'successful'....and has deceived just about everyone in that they have been taken in by his outgoing and confident personality....and they begin to be friends with him....and even admire him....as he takes on positions of authority in the community or even in church. All this time the first brother can only sit back and watch his friends and/or the community and the church be taken in....for he cannot come out and tell people to stay away from his brother....for who would believe him anyway?

                  In that post that I wrote some time ago....Trump is that second brother....and I am as the brother who knows him.....because I spent the last ten years reading about his whole life....(110 books)....and his relationships with his family....and watching maybe fifty of his rallies....and checking just about everything that he said over that ten years....and applying everything to my extensive knowledge of cults. In reality it is not just me that knows who Trump is....but multitudes across America....even across the political spectrum. The older Democrats know Trump very well because they both came from the same culture....the liberal....Studio 54....tabloid celebrity culture. This is why they so often ask how it is possible that evangelicals can accept this man? They do not hold to our religious beliefs....but they know what they are....because we have told them all the time.
                   So I ask the same question....only I know the answer. What the average Democrat or the liberal 'Christian' does not realize is that the Christian is on a very perilous journey. There was....(and is)....a children's book from maybe thirty years ago with the title....Dangerous Journey. I gave it to our young son....and our son later gave it to his young son. This pilgrimage that we are on is fraught with dangers....to the left and to the right....and if we do not stay on the straight path....then we will pay for it. Bunyan told about this gloriously in Pilgrim's Progress. We might wind up in a legalist bondage....or taken in a trap....or decide to take and easier path and wind up in total depression....that can even be a fatal depression. We may have to go through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.....and we definitely have to go through Vanity Fair....in fact we live in Vanity Fair. We in the church had few shepherds to protect us....and little to no preaching to strengthen us....and no warnings of Trump whatsoever! Thus Trump came in....a wolf in sheep's clothing....and today our bodies are strewn all over the place. 
                     So that young person today....for example....has absolutely no way to discern the dangers of Trump. The church grid that they may have been raised on is not a sound biblical grid. The talk radio grid today is not the same that it was thirty years ago....nor is FOX NEWS the same....'fair and balanced'....news media that it once was. 
                     When Trump talks of a golden age....or "winning....winning....winning"....or getting what is rightly ours through tariffs....or telling us how all illegal aliens must go....(except those maybe whose IT skills make them useful to us getting richer)....we suck it up like a stray dog at a fishing hole on a hot summer day. We think that this is great....making America great again....even though we know little to nothing about what greatness is. And we think that we are not only patriots....but valiant Christians....fighting the good fight....against the evil darkness of progressives and wokism. We actually think that what we are doing is part of revival!
                     We brought all of this upon ourselves.....as we played around with our entertainments and our sports. We passed through Vanity Fair....and bought properity.....and built our home on it. We hired the pastors and the teachers that we wanted. We put a carving knife to the gospel....getting rid of everything that we did not like....and thus we are where we are....cheering a man....who the Apostle John described as an....antichrist....an enemy of the gospel!
                      Here is an axiom....a tyrant cannot help but do some things right....but he is still a tyrant. To some of us on our side of this mess....we know who Trump is....and what he is....so when he does something that should be done....we see it like it is....pouring a tablespoon of honey into a glass of tainted water....it doesn't change the water that will make the one who drinks it sick....but all that the rest of us see is the honey!