Professional Idolatry

                  "It's been a brutal winter so far in Western Pennsylvania....-5 degrees as I type at 4 in the early hours of Monday morning....after tossing and turning for hours over the condition of the American church....but then it has been a particularly rough weekend....as the Olympics began....in Italy....and people rushed home from church to sit in front of the TV....until the Super Bowl began....and here it is 4 AM....but 10 AM in Milan....so we can turn on the TV as soon as we wake up to see what skier or skater is making news! So It's like a lost weekend."

The above paragraph is two weeks old. The Winter Olympics closing ceremony is going on as I type. From what I read....the gold medal hockey game was one of those classics....an overtime win for the USA....and I'm guessing a little bit here....but that game winning goal was probably scored....with millions of American evangelicals at home literally jumping out of their seat in joy....just as tens of thousands of pastors were in their pulpits giving a benediction....something like this...."The Lord bless you and keep you...the Lord make His grace to shine upon you and be gracious to you...the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace."

I take it also that Spring Training games started two days ago....with opening day in late March. March Madness starts in a few weeks...and the Masters kicks off the 2026 golf majors in early April. The Stanley Cup playoffs take up most of March and April...and on into May....and we will start hearing about the Summer Olympics about that time. Sport itself is good. It can be restful.....or character building....but this isn't sport in America anymore. It is professional idolatry....if I might attempt to coin that term....and it has reached this peak just as Jesus is about to return in righteous judgment. There is nothing new under the sun. We didn't invent this ignoring of God's warnings....but we are definitely an inductee nominated for the Hall of Shame.

Tens of thousands of our American service members are in the vicinity of Iran right now....kept busy with PT and meetings throughout the days....to keep their minds active...and quell the natural fears that come as they wait anxiously for the call to fight....or to go home. Just yesterday....while weeding out my books....I pulled a copy of Edward Gibbon's two volume The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire....to give to a library's book sale....for there's nothing more to learn from it....or to put it more succinctly....we never learned anything from books like this....nor from Isaiah nor Jeremiah nor Daniel nor Revelation....nor anywhere else in God's Word.
                 
The word is....ICHABOD....the glory has departed. I used it many times as titles to posts. Evangelicals do not want Jesus to return. They want their country back! They are ignorant of....and it wouldn't matter anyway....that that country they want back....is the same one that God's faithful shepherds had given warnings to for the best part of the twentieth century. Let me say that again....in a different way....to try to make it understandable....when we say that we want to make America great again....that same country that we want to go back to....was under God's judgment! We have been on a....fool's errand....sent off to bring something back....a 'Christian nation'....that did not exist....and if it were possible to go back to an America when there was legitimate revival....and a genuine holy reverence to a God that we would prostrate ourselves in the presence of....or collapse in fear of His holiness....we wouldn't want to go back to that....for that was an old outdated gospel....before we became so enlightened!

The following is the end of that post from two weeks ago....a paragraph from that I began this post"

                  "We lost our power for a little while over the weekend....and I have a solar-battery generator.....but we did not have to use it. Folks....brothers and sisters in Christ....God's Word speaks of the battery power more as oil in a lamp. How is your oil? Maybe you had better go and get some more....or when things start to unwind....as Jesus is returning....you may find yourself in a pickle....or on a pickleball court?  Here below is where you can go to get some oil! This is only one of six parts of this series. You can easily find the other five parts. This teaching series by R. C. Sproul was listened to or watched by just about all evangelicals back in the 80s....and that is one reason why there was as strong movement of God at the time."                                             

DISPATCHES

Preface to DISPATCHES....If you are interested in reading a good book on the Russian Revolution....then I highly recommend a 2016 book by Helen Rappaport....Caught In The Revolution....Witnesses To The Fall Of Imperial Russia. I'm sure that you can get it through any library. I started titling these posts as....DISPATCHES....after reading it.....because the author's main sources were dispatches from journalists....from Russia. I consider these posts to be dispatches of sorts....as I am out there in the middle of what is going on....through my constant reading and researching and observing....and simply sending back those observations as dispatches.

The FBI director....with all of what is happening in America...was in Italy....chugging beer while celebrating a hockey win. The Secretary of.....War....with war a possibility....was into the big game also. Who knows where Noem was over the weekend.....probably the hair dresser....and Pam Bondi is probably still in hiding after her appearance before congress. Probably half of this cabinet should be relieved of duties....but I wouldn't even recommend that because Trump is at the root of all of this....and firing cabinet members only makes him look like they disappointed him.

About this time of year back in 2011 the Congress came up with the idea of having Democrats and Republicans sit together at the State of the Union. They called it....Date Night. I probably began posting on the S.O.TU. in 2012....and I think that my recommendation was for the Republicans just to sit there....and not clap....for then President Obama was skirting the constitution all over the place. Nothing in the constitution says that a speech has to be given....or that everyone has to get together....."Just the facts ma'am." Well....these speeches have gotten worse every year. 2020 was the worst....as Trump sounded like Nebuchadnezzar's  speech coach....."Is this not [America great again] which I have built by my mighty power....as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty." This isn't just a....Speech from the Throne....anymore....as it's turning into a speech from the asylum. As of today....maybe twenty Democrats said that they won't attend this Tuesday. On February 4, 2020....as Trump said that our greatest days were ahead....about twenty times....the coronavirus was dividing....for God had other plans.

Yesterday was a very sad day for America....in my estimation. Previously....Trump very unwisely....to put it mildly....had embarked upon a method of gaining vast sums of income for America....essentially through wielding a tax. The Supreme Court correctly put a stop to it....but not without apparent great dissension even among the conservative justices. So the court is being torn apart. Trump for his part....immediately took to the airwaves....lashing out without even thinking....and imposed a tariff essentially on the world....in an attempt to make up for the money lost in the Supreme Court decision. That 10% boost will hurt a number of people....and countries....but nothing like that ever matters to Trump. His words in front of the microphone....are increasingly showing forms of mental illness....as he said that he can destroy countries....and he can do whatever he wants. He wrote this in a post...."It is my Great Honor to have just signed from the Oval Office, a Global 10% Tariff on all countries..." "A Great Honor?" He said in his response that he will use alternative methods....
"Could be more money....We'll take in more money....we're taking in hundreds of billions of dollars." It is like he is drunk on power and riches. 

When someone wields absolute authority.....whether it be the head of a family....or as a CEO or the leader of a country....and there are signs of mental illness....but there is no recourse to examine that person....then that is big....big....trouble....and that is what we have in America today.

You probably saw the news of all the celebrations of the Chinese lunar new year.  So what is the animal this year? Well it's the horse....but a little more detailed than that....for it is the year of the fire horse....thus the celebrations all had some sort of fiery red horse. It's the first time in 60 years for this fire horse. The Chinese Zodiac has only twelve animals....but each animal has five modifiers....so every animal comes along every 12 years....but every animal with a certain modifier....every 60 years! Of course God's Word speaks of a red horse also....in Revelation chapter 6....as the red horse follows the white horse that came out...."Conquering and to conquer." Revelation 6:4 NKJV...."Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted on the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword."

A 'Ring of Fire' eclipse occurred early this morning primarily in Antarctica. Only about 2% of the world's population saw it. There will be a....'spectacular'....as NASA has labelled it....Blood Moon on March 2/3....and there will be a total solar eclipse on August 12.....visible primarily in Greenland and Iceland and Northern Spain.

The Secretary of War....(that name never should have been changed)....announced three more strikes on narco boats....eleven killed.....and released the videos of the strikes for us to enjoy in our new warrior culture. What a sick web we evangelicals have been ensnared in!

They asked former president Obama if aliens were real.... and he said...."They're real." Here is what is real...... Demons are real!..... Bible prophecy is real!...... End-times...."signs and wonders so as to deceive.... if possible.... even the elect".... are real!

Trump destroys. Much of it is him destroying others in revenge....but much of it also is he luring others....and escaping as they fall. Much of it is collateral. He always moves on....and when he moves on....there is always someone new lured by the promises of golden goblets and silver stick pins.

Voter ID and white privilege..... theoretically.... requiring every voter to produce identification.... would make for the fairest election. There would be less voter fraud. It would also disenfranchise low-income voters and minorities. Trump will claim that he is for fair elections.... but disenfranchising many voters is just another way of not having a fair election. Many of us have no idea.... or have forgotten.... what life in poverty or near-poverty is like. I come from the latter.... and I remember. We had trouble paying the rent and every utility bill. I cannot pinpoint the reason for the lack of mental acuity.... or a healthy situational awareness. I just know that it exists.... because I lived it. I am a benefactee of white privilege. I would not have escaped had my mother not found.... (I continue to praise God for His mercies).... a cheap apartment right smack-dab in the middle.... of middle America. Of my friends.... (their houses no further than thirty yards from our duplex).... three became university professors.... (Pitt, Carnegie Mellon and Clemson).... another was an economist... another an architect.... another a child psychologist.... and another a government official. I came in on their coattails. From what I have observed.... when evangelicals.... (friends of mine who for decades have been the most loving and compassionate of Christians).... when evangelicals are presented with problems like this today.... amazingly they seemed to have lost all compassion. They see no further than the first sentence in this paragraph.... because Trump's world that they live in.... has told them to go no further.... and they obey. Much of Christian Nationalism today is that church in Ephesus from the second chapter of Revelation.... who "cannot bear those who are evil".... but have...."left [their] first love." Revelation 2:5a...."Remember.... therefore from where you have fallen.... repent.... and do the works you did at first..."

Trump promises another executive order to force voter ID if the congress doesn't. There was a day.... long ago.... and in a different country..... when conservatives would rightly be against something like this.

The following is from an October 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.

The following is from a January 15 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!

Love has grown cold on our side.... and lawlessness abounds!

The 1933.... Enabling Act....allowed the Fuhrer to make laws without the Parliament.... and Germany was transformed.

If an interviewer would ask of a research scientist....in any field of science....if after say fifty or sixty years of research....and numerous accolades from the scientific community....maybe even a Noble....if  the interviewer would ask if everything has been discovered that can be discovered....that scientist would obviously be taken aback....and probably say that only the surface has been scratched. The Christian's study into biblical prophecy would be similar to that. In both science and prophecy.....God removes veils according to His perfect timing....for His perfect purposes. There were many times when scientists had to admit that the textbooks would have to be revised. I've seen that quote numerous times over the decades....and with prophecy....speaking from my own experience....there have been times when I had to change an opinion and admit to it....and there will be more times like that. That is not necessarily bad....but a glorious reality....as the revision is usually seen to be much clearer....and therefore much more glorious. Veils were lifted slowly over the centuries.....even millennia.....but they are flying away today like pages blown by the wind in an open book.

I posted the following on October 2, 2018: "United States dollar became the world's chief currency after the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 and it developed into the world's reserve currency after President Nixon made a deal with Saudi Arabia on its oil sales. Being the world's reserve currency enables the United States to more freely print money. It is therefore an advantage the world gives to the United States. President Trump's hard line approach with everyone over trade disparities...unpaid bills....and unfulfilled promises....has many of these countries saying....'wait a second....he's complaining that we have an advantage on trade but they have a greater advantage on having the chief reserve currency." There is definitely a move on to replace the dollar as that reserve currency. This movement has been making slow but steady progress where it would take years to replace the dollar....but there are plans in the making that could upend United States hegemony with a quick succession of moves."

Update on the above: China has made some very real moves recently in an attempt to replace the dollar as the world's reserve currency. (Trump never mentioned to us that the world's making the dollar the chief reserve currency was a great benefit for us....as he told us every hour of every day how the rest of the world was stealing from us) This we saw coming for a long time....but what is new is that Trump is working against the dollar now. You see....whether it is the dollar....or crypto....or gold....or oil....or AI....if Trump sees a way to manipulate....and make a bundle....he will do it....and it doesn't matter what the collateral damage might be to us or anyone. This is but one of the areas of Trump's character that evangelicals are not aware of....but they need to be aware of....to make a decision on whether or not to support him.

The Trump administration is helping those who want to restart the nuclear powerhouse....Three Mile Island....not because of how supportive they are for nuclear power....but because of AI....which is more important....and will need the monster-loads of power.

I posted the following in December of 2008....in one of my first posts...."We have become a society that relies more on visual sources of information than the written word. Newspaper circulation is near a crisis point. (update: the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will stop operations in May) Libraries continually add more computers and rely on their DVD collections." Drudge has an article up right now under the heading...."USA $30B to ditch textbooks for laptops; Result is first generation less cognitively capable..." In summary....the goal is for everyone is to get a free computer in schools....and after a couple of decades....student's scores on aptitude tests....for the first time in the modern era....have gone down!

 I can see a similar trend to the above in evangelicalism....as we all learn today from podcasts or videos or television shows. Unless it is a novel....we do not want to sit down with a book anymore. When I turn this computer off....in about thirty seconds....I will grab God's Word that is already on the left arm of my chair....to read.....slowly....with a pencil and highlighter in hand....all of it....but Jeremiah in this case....words...."breathed" by God....that are to instruct me....and to convict me of my sins....and to guide me where to go....and to train me!

Facebook Was Wicked From The Drawing Board

               I had been posting warnings about Facebook and social media in general since close to the beginning of these posts in 2009. Facebook was started with the grand idea of humiliating college women....and it was followed by backstabbing partners. It has been an evil concept since the beginning. My initial concern was in what it would do to Christians....as they spent their time following others....to see what was new and exciting in their lives...and then try to show others how exciting their own lives were. All of this is the exact opposite of what Christians should be doing....and social media has turned out just like this....only about a hundred times worse....as new ideas for social media developed.
              Christian ministries should have seen through this but did not. They only saw how they could use Facebook et al to proclaim the gospel even more. The fundamental mistake they made was that they did not realize that God did not need them. They thought themselves too important. What they did in effect was encourage and add to the popularity of these companies and new social media ideas. They actually led their sheep into the Facebook culture. They may indeed have increased their viewers....but they wound up working against the gospel that they only wanted to proclaim! 
               The initial excuse given by many Christians was that it made it much easier for their children to share new photos of the grandchildren. Well congratulations to them.....for they certainly can do that....but in the process they made it a much more dangerous world for those grandchildren!
               The problem extended into other areas....as the charge against many of the social media companies is that they planned and developed their companies with the express purpose of causing addictions in young people. The problem gets even worse as AI entered into the picture....but all of this is what man does....as he tries to become rich....and then richer.....and powerful.....and then more powerful. God's Word warns us of all of this....but we in the church.....in evangelism in general....have long ago redacted just about all of the warnings in the Bible....to clear the way for us to pursue our personal desires....and to have this new....fast food....gospelburger....done our way.         

The College Chapel Service

      

Preface: I got my BA from Pitt back in 1976. Twenty-four years later I went back to college to work on a degree in....Higher Education. I wasn't looking to change jobs....I wanted to know more about what college was like....circa 2000....because our son was beginning to think about college. I have visited college campuses every chance I get since then. Sometimes I talk to people....and I always gather up as many student newspapers that I can. Today was one of those days. Most of my posting has to do with how evangelicals need to supplement their weekly sermons....with sermons....from preachers of the past....until God might.....if it be in His perfect will....awaken the men in our pulpits today. As for the college age evangelicals....they are being heavily recruited by politicians....in the name of the Christian Faith. They need that chapel service from the past. They need something to keep them reverent and sober-minded....for that same reason....until the Holy Spirit might move mightily in our pulpits again. The following post is from January of 2025:                                                              

             Last evening my wife and I dined with some Christian friends....a husband and wife....and I discovered that the gentleman....who is a couple of years older than I am....was a graduate of Wheaton College! My mind went back to an extraordinary episode of....desiringgod.org....John Piper's ministry....where Pastor John....twenty-two years old at the time....was in the audience of 2000 students....this was in a Friday morning chapel which was mandatory....and the date was September 22, 1967....where the college president....V. Raymond Edman....spoke for eleven minutes....and then collapsed and died at the pulpit! I texted the above link to my friend this morning....and I'll wait to see if he had matriculated to Wheaton at the time....or if he was a year away?
            The eleven minutes of Dr. Edman's sermon were profound....and in retrospect they were breathtaking....in that Dr. Edman spoke of one day standing before the King of Kings....and in eleven minutes he himself would do just that! Why would God do something like this?
            Yesterday afternoon while rearranging books in the many bookshelves of our basement...an old yellowed paperback fell to the floor....a book that I had read forty years ago....Through Gates Of Splendour....a first-hand account by Elizabeth Elliot of the martyrdom of her husband and four other missionaries in the jungle of Ecuador. Why did God permit that? Well...that book probably had sent thousands of people to their knees while reading it....and many others to the mission field....as it humbled me greatly yesterday in just reading parts of it. John Piper's telling of the death of V. Raymond Edman in the pulpit....with his commentary on the topic that Dr. Edman was preaching on....probably  greatly encouraged and motivated and humbled just as many believers today? Maybe it will even do so to you?
             On the topic itself....Dr. Raymond Edman was describing how he once met Ethiopia's king Haile Selassie....and how extraordinary measures were taken to be given an audience with this king....so he was asking the Wheaton student body back then in 1967....(and it is the same today)....how it was that Christians enter into the presence of the King of Kings....(college chapel in this instance)....often laughing and joking....not taking seriously who we are meeting with? 
             I personally don't have much of an alternative....because we are with an elderly loved on the Lord's Day....a loved one who needs 24/7 care.....so we stream our services....but in a way I thank God for that....because I don't have to deal with the gaiety and the laughter....(honest and good as that at any other time may be)....that the average American church service gives us both before and after what should be a meeting with the....KING of KINGS!
             The glory has indeed today departed in much if not most if not all of evangelicalism....particularly when politics is involved. We nonchalantly summon God in our prayers....and we throw around....'God bless America'....as if we believed that we were the new Israel...and folks....believe it or not....there are those who believe just that! There are few warnings anymore....no burning bush....nor taking off of sandals for the holy presence that we are in....no mortification from the sermons....and no falling prostrate before a Holy God! May He have mercy upon us and restore to our pulpits the awareness of what happened on that sandy beach in Ecuador....and in the Wheaton pulpit....and may He do this for His name and His glory alone!

                                                                             

             

"Not A Famine Of Bread.....But A Famine Of Hearing The Words Of The LORD"

                Social Security.....for example....can be a....means of support. With a lot of people it's their only means of support. Well....theologians have a job to tell us everything in the Bible that we can't see on our own....and one of those things is that listening to a preached sermon....is a means of grace.
               Let's go back to those people where Social Security is their only means of support. They are not going to eat very well without it....consequently they are not going to get the nutrition that they need....but I heard an infomercial just today that said that obese people can and usually are....malnourished....because they become obese eating a lot of food....but its the wrong kind of food!
               Folks....it's the same in our Christian walk. We can get all kinds of sermons....and yet be totally malnourished. That is what we have today in evangelicalism. You see the reason I know this is that at about the age of forty-five or so I was just walking the concourse of a shopping center....the Northern Lights Shopping Center in Baden, Pennsylvania actually...and I stopped into this restaurant that had food that I had never eaten before.....(actually it was a Christian bookstore that had books that I had never seen before....and the name of the store was....It Is Written.) All the energy in these three-thousand-some posts over seventeen and half years....and the pleading and the warnings and the hopefully encouraging....all of it....comes from the preached sermons that those books in that bookstore over time led me to. I overeat....I admit it. I listen to on average two to three sermons each and every day....each and every week....each and every year....(for quite a number of years anyway)....of my life! I binge sermons from these men who God has used so mightily.
                 And because of this sermon binging....or binging the means of grace....I cannot stop telling people so many things....that Jesus gave us the greatest gift that any man could ever be given....and that God is loving and merciful....but also just and righteous....and that we are like sheep....always going astray....and that Jesus keeps His sheep....with either His rod or His staff if necessary....and that this world has run its course....and we are Noah all over again....the following few sentences are from an earlier post...."If you read the Genesis account in chapter six you will find that...."[men]....took wives for themselves of all whom they chose." In the next verse we see God's response in...."And the Lord said, 'My Spirit shall not strive with man forever...'." A few verses later we read "for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth." (This is transgenderism....this is everything today folks....and avoiding our culpability...and blaming everything on the Democrats....will not get God's ear!) And once again a few verses later "....the earth is filled with violence."....but no one will see any of this if their passions are on things of this world....things that withereth as the grass....and fadeth as the flower!

                 Here is a verse of God's Word that should make our hair stand on end....from the prophet Amos....eighth chapter....eleventh verse....this from the ESV...." 'Behold....the days are coming'....[they are here folks!]....declares the Lord God....'when I will send a famine on the land-not a famine of bread....nor a thirst for water....but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD'."
                  I do not even know you so I can't take you by the hand....and that is good....because we live in an evangelical age where everyone demands to be led by the hand....'won't you please come to this Bible study'....or....'Won't you please join this cell group'....but it's long past time for each of us to take the bull by the horns....or put our nose to the grindstone....and push everything else away....and find out once and for all what all the fuss is about with some Christians!
                   I have posted so many times on this over the years....and I usually use this phrase...."preachers of the past....[such as Spurgeon and Martyn Lloyd-Jones]....or preachers today who preach like preachers of the past....[such as John MacArthur and R. C. Sproul and David Wilkerson]....this is what you need.....and it would be easy to do....it just takes a passion....a passion to finally know what all this is about when some talk about...."the preciousness of Christ!" "Preciousness".....who uses words like that today. Well Christians who are fed by His Word....by....preachers of the past....or preachers today who preach like preachers of the past....they use this word....and other humble and joyful words like it!

I have offered this wonderful movie many times. Take the bull by the horns....finally address this nagging that you must have....and watch it....

                                                                                  

Twelve Days To The Shepherd's Conference!

              I've posted around this time in February for the past few years about John MacArthur's Shepherd's Conference....with the hope....pleading with at least inward tears....that God's Holy Spirit would move mightily in that conference of pastors in Los Angeles. 'No more nice conference talks....almost like a vacation'....I would plead....and I plead it again now as the 2026 Shepherd's Conference....'is scheduled'....(for only God knows what a day might bring)....is scheduled for March 4 to 6. It so happens that this year's conference begins just after a blood moon....O God....may that be a sign that you are about to work mightily in our hearts....in my heart! 
               Well God has taken home or in some way removed those who seem to be His mightiest and most faithful workers....but a few remain....and one of them is a remarkable preacher named Paul Washer....who is scheduled to speak at that very influential conference. Quite frankly....he preaches so boldly....and so fearlessly....that I wonder why evangelicalism has not banished by now....let alone invite him to conferences?
                So the following sermon was given primarily to young people. I was....am....working in my basement as I am listening to it....and I needed encouragement....for my own sins often bring me down to discouragement....and I am typing this before....(about 10 minutes)....before the sermon even concludes!

                                                                          

"O Say.....Can You Hear"

Preface: God gave Daniel visions of things that would happen in the end times....and they made him physically ill....even incapacitated for a while....but God strengthened him. Few today have experienced that temporary incapacitation....because not many have any idea of what is ahead....because even less have desired to know what was ahead. The following post is from last November:                  

                   For what it is worth....my forty-three years of hearing sermons have produced this opinion. Expository sermons....explaining the true meaning of the text....necessary and helpful and a blessing as they can be....is like basic training. When the LST is loaded with troops and tanks....and the command to weigh anchor is given....and the secret destination is heard by those on board....then the Holy Spirit must guide the chaplain....or in our case the pastor....on what to preach. I've found that a rigid schedule for preaching months at a time....on one book....inhibits that guidance....and in the case of the church in America....prevents us from hearing the warnings that are needed to hear....in our particular time and in our particular place.

                   Charles Spurgeon's primarily topical preaching enabled him to listen to the Holy Spirit on what to preach....and hence he became known as the Prince of Preachers. The blessing of his preaching is as strong today as it was in the latter half of the nineteenth century....as pastors and believers everywhere still read his sermons....and as I just this morning....before our own church service began....listened to a sermon of his from 1877.
                   Ready or not....we are out of basic training. We are on that LST....and we have to know what is ahead. My father was on a ship like that in 1944....on the way to Okinawa....when kamikazes attacked....and he was seriously wounded and spent months in the hospital. We can and usually are....'green'....as the inexperienced are described on something like this....on a spiritual beachhead so to speak. I personally know a few Christians....usually missionaries....who are no longer 'green'....because of what they have already been through....but not me.....I'm still green....and I need this preaching....and these warnings....and this preparation for that spiritual beachhead that I know to be just ahead....for word got out....for anyone with ears to hear! (O Say....Can You Hear)
                   In 1969....after my basic training in the army was completed....and in the midst of my training in signal intelligence....they gave us what was called a....dream sheet....to fill out.....asking us what our preference would be for our first duty station. We all laughed but filled it out anyway. I think that I may have written in....Germany. That sounded good. I'd like to go to Germany. They sent us all to Vietnam. We may put one thing on our Christian dream sheet....but word has gotten out for those who have ears to hear!
                   So there is a pastor out there who is on....oh say....week nine....of an....oh say....thirty two week series from....oh say....Ecclesiastes....or 1 Samuel....or Philippians....if they would but just put down that schedule that they made that fit in nicely....between the end of summer and the beginning of the new year....and plead with God for words and warnings that their sheep need....they might just winding up preaching on....oh say....the ninth chapter of Daniel....and Daniel's prayer....which is a prayer that we in America need to pray....right now!

 "Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession saying, 'O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you, To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the LORD our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity...." 

Daniel 9:3-12a

Addendum: My habit is to Google a Spurgeon sermon....and scroll down the offerings until I come to a sermon that I had not already heard....which is taking longer and longer since I have heard so many. So a few days ago I was doing this and clicked on an 1877 sermon titled....Remember Lot's Wife....only for some reason that particular YouTube had no volume? I tried it again a few days later and still no sound....but by now I really wanted to hear that sermon. So early this morning I found a different offering of the same sermon....with a different man reading Spurgeon's sermon....and this one worked fine. The sermon was so good that I'm adding it hear if you are interested....

Note: Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached sermons often in a series....and he was an expository preacher....but I noticed that he would often deviate from that schedule when he felt the necessity to preach on urgent matters.
                  

'Boots On The Ground' Praying

                 Roughly three million Americans served in uniform in Vietnam....with over fifty-eight thousand who died....and there are enormous numbers who were seriously wounded....or 100% disabled. Over seventeen thousand of those who gave their lives for our country were married. All the statistics together point to tens of millions of wives and children and parents....who were praying.....boots on the ground praying....as opposed to rally around the flag praying. Consequently....it was in the middle of that war that stirrings of the gospel began among young people....and it was around the end of that war that the gospel movement in America literally took off....lasting at least a decade....and possibly two decades before it had almost totally waned. All of that was surely part of that....boots on the ground praying.....and that is what we need today....and that most likely is what is ahead of us!

               If you by chance had read some of my recent posts....on the Super Bowl and idols of all kinds....you would have read some very bold statements. We evangelicals do not like these kinds of statements. We want no more than what we get in our churches....which consists of encouragements....with no real warnings of any kind.....nothing to bring us down before we leave church....mild Bible studies to assuage our conscience....and various ministries to partake in to mask the cost of discipleship that always brings rejection and ridicule and even persecution.
               Well it matters not what the prophets of today say....that great things are ahead of us....for even though we walk around today as if with blinders on....the collapse....or the landslide....or the avalanche or the tsunami....however it might be described....is already in full swing....and boots on the ground praying....will be beginning according to God's timetable and perfect will.

DISPATCHES

Cruise Down The River Styx....If you are around 40 years old....an adult for say twenty years....then the last ten years of your short twenty year adulthood had been a graphic novel...TV reality show....tabloid....true crime....seedy stateroom cruise down the River Styx. You have never experienced the America that once was....even in its last few decades....and you have never experienced the gospel as a mainstay in the church....or preaching that mortifies man and glorifies God. Read Daniel 9....and see what a prayer for national repentance is supposed to sound like.

We live in abject fear....petrified at the possibility of a Harris presidency....or some other progressive. Without that fear Trump would have been given the heave ho years ago....but he perfectly and diabolically plays that fear to his advantage. We should rather live in abject fear of standing before a Holy God....after ignoring His clear warnings....and going after other gods!

"Any Republican, in the House or Senate, that votes against TARIFFS will seriously suffer the consequences come Election time, and that includes Primaries!" We all know who typed this text out....for this is ten years running....and getting worse all the time. This is a cult leader. And to those who read these threats....and think that they are good....he will come after you some day....if you dare to disobey him....or stop taking your Trump media....(formerly conservative media)....medicine.

The New Testament....in various places....goes into great detail....on the type of person that the Christian must stay away from. That person is Donald Trump. Reading through Proverbs one can see Trump come up again and again and again. False prophets appear all through the Old Testament....with the same message of peace and prosperity to Israel and Judah....that Trump gives to evangelicals....but this information means little to today's Christian Nationalist evangelical....who thinks that defending America is more vital than defending the gospel of Jesus Christ.

"And it shall be, when you show this people all these words, and they say to you, 'Why has the LORD pronounced all this great disaster against us? Or what is our iniquity? Or what is our sin that we committed against the LORD our God?'....then you shall say to them, 'Because your fathers have forsaken Me.' says the LORD; 'they have walked after other gods and have served them and worshiped them, and have forsaken Me and not kept My law."

Evangelicals will at some point ask the same thing....'Why....the other guys were the bad guys....we were trying to stop them!'  God is not concerned with what the pagans of this nations have done....but what we have done....and what we have done is to go after other gods.. 

"Now all these things happened to them....[our fathers]....as examples....and they were written for our admonition....on whom the ends of the ages have come." 1 Corinthians 10:11

I offered a commentary on Jeremiah to a Christian brother recently....highly recommending it....but he was not too interested. Friends....Jeremiah and Isaiah and Daniel and all of the prophets are there for us....telling of all the things that the people of Israel and Judah had done....as examples for our benefit....so that we might see that we are doing the same thing!

Paul summarized these examples in verse 14...."Therefore....my beloved....flee from idolatry."

Trump is an idolator....and what he has led us by the nose into....is either pure idolatry....or tinged with idolatry....and yet we tell ourselves that we are trying to honor God?

We have become racists. Do you remember Trump campaigning in 2024.....at a rally....when he said....(I'm watching it again right now)...."I think that suburban women like me a lot....(cheers from the crowd)...."why wouldn't they".....and then he told them that he was keeping low-income housing away from their suburban homes! He was keeping criminals away. He thinks of low-income people as criminals! On that day....in August of 2024....after that rally....evangelical pastors should have totally disassociated themselves with Trump....but of course that did not happen.

What would it take for the average everyday pastor in America to admit that Donald Trump was a false prophet? He has 'prophesied' great things for ten years straight...every day....and directed primarily to evangelicals....of which they believed....when God's Word warns that judgment is coming! Pastors cannot admit that right now because their only excuse for not speaking out against Trump is...."We elected a command-in-chief and not a pastor-in-chief." If Trump is identified as a genuine biblical false prophet....then there goes their only excuse!

When we start to protect religious freedom so much....that we make alliances with he who may appear to champion religious liberty....but who at heart is the biggest tyrant of all....then we start to prove the warning of Martin Niemoller who said in effect that he stood by while they arrested others....but eventually they came for him!

The elephant in the room has always been.....what if a madman....whether a physiological madman....or mental....or political....or even spiritual (demonic) madman....became president of the United States? Well we may not know which one....or what combination....but unfortunately we do now have growing evidence on what would happen.

No one on planet earth knows more than Donald Trump....that if his praetorian guard in the congress....formerly known as the Republican Party....should lose their committee power....then he will be investigated with multiple special counsels and even impeachments....particularly in investigating if he used the White House to amass billions of dollars in personal profit. 

I have been a conservative....evangelical....republican....for forty-four years....a veteran and a Reaganite....avid conservative talk show listener....Tea Party before Tea Party was cool....who voted for Trump in 2016....but today you could not pay me to vote for any republican....who did stand up and challenge what is going on with Trump. Do you think that serious and experienced republican polling operatives might be interested in my comments?

I Obviously Think That This Is Important....Or I Wouldn't Bring It Up So Often

 Preface: The following post is only a few weeks old:

 Let me start with this paragraph from May of 2025:...

"There were at least three major book publications at the time of the 2014/2015 tetrad of total lunar eclipses....or blood moons. The first by Mark Biltz. The second by John Hagee....and the third by Mark Hitchcock. Most but not all of the articles written at the time indicated that the tetrad was a sign of a major catastrophe....of some sort....in the world. When the tetrad passed and there was no war or pandemic or any other major catastrophe....the blood moon theory was considered to be bunk....and forgotten. In May of 2022 I first mentioned that something extraordinary did indeed happen during the 2014/2015 blood moon tetrad....that being that Donald Trump came down that escalator and proceeded to take America by storm. I've also mentioned a number of times that Trump was born on a blood moon on June 14....1946. NASA noted....[concerning the tetrad]....that all four blood moons of 2014/2015 were visible in all or parts of America. So in summation....something did happen during that 2014/2015 tetrad....repeating it here....Donald Trump began his quest that is still dominating America and the world!"

                   So there you have it. After forty years of studying biblical prophecy....and fully aware of the history and the temptations to go further than what God permits us to go....I do believe that God most definitely uses the sun and the moon and the stars as signs....and I am forced to concede that this tetrad was one of them. It did point to a catastrophe....Donald Trump.

                   Here is something else that concerns me....Trump's first term was a disaster....where towards the end even his own cabinet was debating whether to invoke the 25th Amendment. After January 6th....everyone in the world thought....and rightfully so.....that he was done....even his own closest advisors....but from January 7th on....he lied and threatened and twisted arms and used fear and flattered and incited revenge...and it was all successful! 

                   This may be a second term but this is not the same man. He has come out from day one...."conquering....and to conquer." This is the emptiest man that I have ever come across in a half century of studying political science. There is not a word that he could say that can be believed at face value. It has been the greatest con game on earth for ten years now. He has developed a following.....yes....but world history is replete with stories of disastrous mass movements. The only thing different about this one is that it 'conquered'....through delusion....and an already weakened evangelicalism....that was ripe to be misled.

                   We have to be patient....for there is no way that we can know the specifics of what is going on in the world right now....but this we do know....there is a new world order coming! Trump has already divided the power of a unified West. Europe is being forced into becoming a new military power....and we do not know where that will go. So....if it turns out that Trump is not that rider on that white horse from Revelation six....then he may very well be paving the way for that rider. When half of the church falls for a false prophet....and the other half says next to nothing about it....that is part of a definition for what God's Word describes as a...."falling away."

For your information....if you are interested....the next blood moon will be on March 2/3....and the next one will not be until the last day of 2028.

Update: That March 2/3 2026 blood moon will also fall on Purim....the same as last year....2025. The follow....on that Jewish holiday....is from last year at this time:

 Purim And A Blood Moon            

               It may be the most joyous of the Jewish feasts.....Purim. It probably gets a little more than joyous....toward wildly festive. Jews will dress up in costumes....and celebrate....ostensibly anyway....how the Jews were given one day by the Persian king to defend themselves against those who hated them. They will give gifts of food to each other and do charitable works and read together the book of Esther.
               The holiday begins in Israel this Thursday....March 13....on the Gregorian calendar....(14 Adar on the Jewish calendar).....at sundown....which if that is about 6 PM there....then it would be about noon here in Western Pennsylvania....and the celebration would last until sundown the following day....March 14....or 15 Adar on the Jewish calendar. Of course Jewish people here will be using our sundown to sundown.
                Are you familiar with the story from the book of Esther? Hopefully you are. The king gave Haman an edict to kill all the Jews on a certain day. Mordecai found out about it and persuaded Esther....the queen....who kept her Jewishness secret up until them....he persuaded Esther to go to the king in an attempt to save her people. This was a very dangerous request that Mordecai made....because you just didn't go into the king on your own. That's where that famous...."If I perish....I perish" comes into play.
                Esther did go to the king who came to see that Haman was an evil man. He could not rescind his edict....so he gave the Jews that day to defend themselves.
                 It gets a little more complicated because most of those who hated the Jews were in the city of Shushan....and it would take more than one day for the Jews to defend themselves....so the king gave them two days....an additional day....in Shushan and other walled cities. In like manner today....in Jerusalem....a walled city....they celebrate a day later.....or our Friday March 14 to 15....and they call it....Shushan Purim....after the city Shushan.
                 Well that's the feast....that's the holiday....but it is harder to have a celebration in this time of war and uncertainty. Nonetheless....Purim....is only days away....and this year will fall on a....blood moon....the first blood moon since 2022.

Two Prayers....Nine Years Apart

Preface: The following post is from this past October....and consists of an opening paragraph....a prayer for Donald Trump....written down as you will read in December of 2016....and the prayer that I would give today. Since March of 2017 I have read 109 books on Donald Trump....even some of his own books....and plenty of those books think that he is great. I've watched at least fifty of his rallies....and as a news hound....I read everything that I can find time to read on him every day. I've explored every decade of his life. I bring these two prayers....nine years apart....fairly regularly so that the reader can see that this isn't frivolous research....a drum to beat.....but that I hoped for the best for this man at one time....but I have never encountered anyone like him....in that he has no conscience....and literally everything is transactional. If this were just politics I would not have embarked on this research....but the gospel is at stake. Everything....everything about Trump....shouts out to the believer to flee....and not be entangled. I've done my homework....and yet I talk to friends who have not....yet they continue to defend this man....as if they know who he is.....which they do not!

                 I posted the prayer that is directly below in December of 2016. You can clearly see from it how I looked at Donald Trump at the time. I voted for him....although I admit that I did not like him....and celebrated his win! Only four months after this post....this prayer....it was March of 2017....Trump started doing some things that candidate Trump gave us no clue of. I started reading....and watching....and taking notes....and researching.....right up to today....[nine years]....later. I mention in this prayer that Trump in his first term had some people around him....and some in his cabinet....who were humble and God-fearing....and a wonderful and capable Vice President....but that is not the case this time....not with his appointed loyalists....or with his cabinet....or with his vice president. President Trump in his first term was just bad....an amateur and an egotist....but something happened to him from the day of the 2020 election to January 6 of 2021. He is not the same person....for the vile has become diabolical. How can I use such a word? When someone in essence enters into the church....the American church....the conservative evangelical element of it anyway....and leads them like a pied piper....away from trust in and obedience to Christ....and when the result is a decimated evangelicalism....with a gospel of works and patriotism....lacking compassion for those who have not been given what we have been given....when in this case that man....strongarms and threatens....and then carries out those threats.....and causes pastors to cower and remain silent....then the word diabolical applies. Shame on evangelicals....not for making this mistake....for we are all sinners who err....but for ignoring the compelling every day evidence that show this to be a troubled and despotic individual....who will do what he has done his whole life....and that is deceive and destroy.

 Posted. December of 2016:

            Lord I lift this man up to you who is to become our president.... for mercies upon his soul Lord and for wisdom that might in turn lead to mercies upon we your children. I see myself in him Lord, not the fame or wealth or great abilities in business but in his blindness and even arrogance. I see myself when I was cast off from your blessings of grace and knowledge of your majesties....I see myself even now in need of the same mercies. Lord, you permitted him to attain that which this world calls great success...show him that it is but a dung heap. He finds himself in a position that he believes talent and purpose has brought him....maybe even fate as he perceives fate to be. Surely his countenance of supreme confidence must dissipate at night when he has nothing to do but lie in bed and contemplate what has happened to him in the last year. Surely Lord the responsibilities must unnerve him. Does he marvel Lord? I pray that he doesn't, for he would not marvel at what you have done for he has shown no inclination to consult you, therefore he would have to marvel at what he perceives he himself to have done....just as Nebuchadnezzar had marveled. In whatever is in store for him in this exalted position he is to assume I pray that if it be thy will that his eyes would be opened to the realities surrounding him...the realities of a world that has rejected its Creator and will therefore be judged by its Creator...and the reality that he also has fallen under this prideful self-exaltation and is in need of the mercy of redemption. Cause him to tremble Lord....at your holiness....at his sinfulness....and if it be in thy plans to have mercy upon us then cause him to humble himself before you just as you did so with us.... and that the accompanying eternal and unsurpassable blessings would also be his as they are ours. I ask not Lord for him to be the champion that he projects himself to be, for you alone Lord are our champion...our captain...and our king. I ask not Lord that our nation would merely be granted more time to move further away from you... but that it would...in whatever time you give us...display clearly to the world a refusal to follow the schemes of those whose plans are for building a new world in total antithesis to you its Creator. Lord, this man is not alone in need of mercy for we ourselves have failed miserably. Show us this Lord....and set us apart once again....for your purposes. If you should will it that we return to you then no force on this earth or in the heavens can thwart our return. Lord, this man has advisers all around him. Some acknowledge that only you cause nations to rise and to fall but most do not acknowledge you. Blind this man who will be called the president to those that are blind to you Lord! Give this man no strength apart from trust in you Lord, for any other perceived strength is worthless and deceiving. Then should turmoil come, we shall have perfect peace Lord...not necessarily peace as man views peace...but peace in the midst of travail....our minds set upon you who not only created the heavens and the earth but controls everything and everyone in this your creation.....and if peace should come....as man views peace....we could do nothing but gratefully acknowledge that you have brought order out of chaos for thy glory alone.

My prayer today:

         Lord.....if it be Thy will....and to Thy glory alone....I pray that Thou might open the eyes of Thy children to see who this man truly is. Have mercy upon us for going the way of Balaam....for profit. Have mercy on our pulpits for not warning of this false prophet....and on us for not demanding that they warn us. Lord....we forgot that Thou and Thou alone hast protected and sustained us over these many years and even centuries. We have thus went to Egypt for help. Bring us back as prodigals Lord....for Thy name's sake! Use this falling away for good....in winnowing us....that we might come together.....repenting together.....hoping and trusting together....free from the bondage....with the fog lifted that restricted our view of Thy imminent return....and the doldrums replaced by gales of wind from Thy Holy Spirit....guiding and empowering us even in our weakness....that we might show that Thy mercies are as great as Thy judgments....and Thy staff as gentle as Thy rod was harsh!

Jonathan Edwards

  

               I would like to be able to describe how the above sermon recording was made....but right now I do not know. I know that it is produced by Banner Of Truth.
               My guess is that it was around 1990....and by this time....about eight years into my Christian walk....I was in Christian bookstores all the time....and there were a lot of them near me....in fact about ten years later we owned one! Anyway....there was this one Christian bookstore in New Castle, Pennsylvania....that I and my wife and son would drive to about once a month. I was Pentecostal in my theology at the time. Well I would return home after each visit with a new book.....but there was something different about a lot of the books that were on the shelves of this Christian bookstore. They had an icon on the spine of the book....of a man in a preacher's robe....holding up a Bible with on hand. Whatever they were....they were changing my Christian theology. I soon found out that the publisher with this little man on the spine was Banner Of Truth. We would later sell those books....and promote them....in the Christian bookstore that we opened up!
               So that same publisher produced this recording of a sermon....not a sermon by Jonathan Edwards.....but it appears to be a sermon constructed around the thoughts and teachings....and other sermons of Jonathan Edwards. Whatever it is....it is profoundly powerful....as wonderful as anything that I have heard from Charles Spurgeon. By "profoundly powerful"....and...."wonderful".....I mean that the words penetrate....and like a fish hook....they do not want to pull out. Well that is how they affect me anyway. I've listened to it three times in the past week....and cannot wait to listen to it again.....but I'm wondering how these words would affect you....or if you would even listen to the sermon....but then I think that you might....for if it did not intrigue even a little bit.....I do not think that you would have read this far in this post!

How Do You Answer A Question Like This....In A Minute Or Two

                 I had a call last night from an old friend who I had not seen in about six years....and the first fifteen or twenty minutes were fun. He knew from our past that I did not like Trump....and he brought it up....and within two minutes he was raising his voice to me. These type of conversations are all the same....as I hear....."So you do not have any problem with illegal immigration.....or "So you have no problem with crime and drugs in the streets"....they are all....'so you have no problem with this'.....or....'so you believe that.' 

                How do you answer a question on why you do not like Trump....in a minute or two? I kept the tone light....slowed his pace down a little....and said....."Well....I voted for Trump in 2016.....but a few months later I became concerned....and started to read about who this man was....and it has been over a hundred books so far....and about fifty rallies....and daily observation for over ten years now".....that was the easy part. What do I say next on what I had learned...."Trump has been a destroyer his whole life....he is either purposely destroying people....or they are destroyed by flying too close to his flame"....or...."Trump has severe mental illness?"....or...."Trump has probably told fifty to a hundred lies every single day of his life in the last ten years"....or...."Trump is a genuine biblical false prophet and enemy to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ?....or...."Trump is far worse than even Biden on corruption?" I did mention a couple of things and was told that that was fake news.
                 I've posted on this before.....it may have been late 2017....and Trump had told some gigantic whoppers....so bad that even Rush and Sean and Mark could not deny them. It had to be that they coordinated within themselves....for within one week....all three....on their radio show....had admitted that yes Trump does tell lies...but added....."but that's just Trump. That's just who he is."
                 I've posted this before also....when I came into the faith....back in 1982.....for whatever reason....I went immediately into apologetics....particularly the cults. I used to put an ad in the paper in an attempt to reach some people who were being recruited into a particular cult....while they still had the ability to think on their own. So I know a little bit about cults. For one thing they all started with a charismatic figure.....who rules everything....and absolutely everyone in the cult....and that is Trump. Cults have their own scriptures....and MAGA's scriptures are FOX primetime....and talk radio....and many and various podcasters. These are who are to be listened to or read....and no one else....and if there is any deviation at all....the offender is to be shunned at the very least....smeared or fired or investigated....and certainly primaried if they are in government.
                 So we all know that Trump tells lies....we are just not too concerned about it....but if we ever should begin to question....that if Trump lies whenever he wants and to whomever he wants....then theoretically....why wouldn't he....if necessary....lie to us also....to Israel....to anyone....and if we do finally begin to think on our own again....then the power of the cult may begin to collapse?

We Quote Them All The Time....So We Should Know A Little Bit About How They Preached

                I'll name five men here. I could easily name ten....and if given some time to use Google and jot names down....I surely could come up with a hundred names.....but five will do.

               Four of these men hailed from England....three of the four from London....and one from Connecticut....a colony of England at the time. Two were Anglicans....one a Baptist.....one a Congregationalist....and one a Presbyterian. All were Calvinists.
               These fives names....in chronological order according to their births were....Jonathan Edwards....1703-1758....George Whitefield....1714-1770....J. C. Ryle....1816-1900....Charles Spurgeon....1834-1892.....and Martyn Lloyd-Jones....1899-1981. MLJ was born less than six months after J. C. Ryle was called home to his Lord and Savior and King.
                We hear today on FOX and Trump talk radio shows....and particularly from Trump himself....that America is the greatest country in the history of the world. Well....Israel of old was a nation to itself....and I'm sorry fellas.....but they get that number one rating. Even England gives the USA a run for the money....and they got rid of slavery long before we did....and it didn't take a civil war to do it....but this number one ranking is ridiculous. It's something that our culture has been hooked on for a long time....making number 1 lists. Let's just be thankful for God's mercy and provision for us as a nation for so long....and for at times such a wonderful sacrificing people when that sacrifice was needed!

Proverbs 27:2...."Let another person praise you....and not your own mouth....a stranger....and not your own lips." ESV

                Here is my point in these five men. Whether they were Baptist or Presbyterian or Anglican or Congregationalist....the glorious gospel they preached was the same! That is point number one. Point number two is that that gospel is not quite the same gospel of that which is predominant today....consequently it produces a different preaching....similar sure....but fundamentally different as to what a sovereign and holy God demands of us.
                OK....third point....we evangelicals today use the names of these men all the time....but we do not acknowledge the difference in the gospels.....because we do not know of the difference in the gospels preached. We need to find out that difference....and the only way to do that would be to either read what they wrote....or hear what they preached! You can take any one of these five men....and Google their names along with....'sermons'....and set out on a journey.....so to speak....to hear what preaching in the past was like. Most will not do this....but for those who do....it will be a blessed journey that they will not want to come back from!

The Great Failure Of The American Pulpit

 Preface: The above is the title of the original post from March of 2021....The Great Failure Of The American Pulpit. The following is a consolidation of parts of that post....with two prefaces to that post....both from 2022. The American pulpits have failed us....aah but if you want them to finally get angry about something....just tell them that. They cannot preach anymore....and chose not to warn anymore....unless it is about Biden or vaccines or the mid-term elections. They did nothing as a wolf in sheep's clothing came in and scattered and devoured the flock!

                  There are numerous occasions in the Old Testament where God severely chastised the shepherds of His flock....Ezekiel chapter 34 being one...."Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel....Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves....the weak you have not strengthened....so they were scattered because there was no shepherd....and no one was seeking or searching for them....Behold I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hands....Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out." Verses 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 11)
               To these shepherds....every single available hour should have been spent in sweat-soaked prayer and attempting to learn something from the Spurgeons and the Ryles and others of the past! Had they done this they would not have missed the false prophet Donald Trump come right into the church. They will be called to account by God for blindly incorporating today's....lackadaisical/encouraging/comforting/make no waves/avoidance of anything that might make sheep leave the church....and deplete the collection plate....fake love/safe space church embalming tactics....this concerning the flock that vitally needs awakening and not comforting.....and warning more than encouraging. 
                Pastors....God will ask of you why you did not warn the sheep. Your certificate....or your seminary degree....guarantees you nothing....other than it will be required of you to answer what you did with such responsibility. Donald Trump is right now floating a 2024 White House run....to see the response of the evangelical. Are you going to just sit back and let this false prophet continue to raid your congregation....politicizing everything....and bringing division right smack in the middle of the pews....or will you lift up Christ as our only hope....and our only rock....and our only harbor in this coming storm?

Addendum: Consider shepherds and their flock traveling from one country to another....and they come across a glistening pool of water off on its own with pastures all around it. Off to one side is another pool of water in amongst trees and dark woods. The shepherds can lead the flock to the living waters....but if they do not use their rod and their staff....the flock will wander off into the woods. That is the church today that will lead the congregation to living waters....at 10:00 AM on the Lord's Day morning.....but will leave them alone to wander off the rest of the day....only to drink from a poisoned pool....or be devoured by wolves.

Pastors might as well meet every leaving at the church door and wish them....'Go in peace....and have fun with your other gods.'

All Is Indeed Lost....But Instead Of Looking Back....Look Ahead....To The Coming Of Our Great Lord And Savior And King!

                 In 1859....a twenty-four year old Charles Spurgeon was forced to move temporarily to a larger venue in London to preach....during that time of his preaching to enormous numbers of people....God did a marvelous work. Those sermons preached at that venue are sometimes considered to be 'revival' sermons. In one of those sermons....his method was simple....as he simply reminded the people of the great works of God in the past. In my own way....that is what I want to attempt to do here....for the benefit of brothers and sisters in Christ who are vexed beyond management because of the horrors that have overtaken America in the past decade....through God's judgments upon us....in giving us the two most disastrous presidents that the United States have ever had....in Joe Biden and Donald Trump....while adding to that vexation the fact that the vast majority of the church....were not only taken in by the latter....Donald Trump....but they abandoned all compassion and common sense and ethics and even decency in the process.

                 So if this is you....and the vexation is increasing....lift your head and take heart....because God has given both you and I this catastrophe....in order to test our faith....to give us an opportunity to prove that faith.
                 Have you forgotten how the disciples must have felt after Jesus was crucified.....or even as they waited in the upper room....before the Holy Spirit came? Have you forgotten how many times that Paul was brutally beaten....with many having abandoned him? Do you think that our vexation is as bad as was his? Have you forgotten how the Apostle John must have felt....serving time on a prison island....and this decades after the other apostles were martyred....and that the next thing he knew....he was given the visions of Revelation! 
                  Have you forgotten how Tyndale must have felt as he was awaiting execution? More importantly....have you forgotten that he did not lose his faith. Have you forgotten how Luther was public enemy #1 in the Holy Roman Empire? Have you forgotten how Bunyan wrote one of the greatest books ever written....while in prison? Have you forgotten how God gave this country a man like George Whitefield? Have you forgotten how he gave England Spurgeon....and then Martyn Lloyd-Jones? Have you forgotten that great movement of God....(you would have to be old enough....but surely you have read about it)....that great movement of God from the last century....where men like Billy Graham and Sproul and MacArthur and Wilkerson and Robertson and John Piper....and so many more....sprang up seemingly out of nowhere?
                 Have you ever even heard how William Carey ministered for seven years in India....before he saw a single convert? Do you know that Spurgeon and Sproul suffered depression at times over what was happening around them? Can you imagine what went through Billy Graham's mind....in his last year....when he could hardly converse anymore....and as it was obvious that his long ministry was over....and he saw his predictions of God's judgment on America taking place? Do you think about Hebrews 13:3 at least on occasion?
                  Most importantly....have you forgotten your own salvation....and how at one moment you were lost....just as these people all around us....and the next moment the veils were lifted on God's Word....and on our glorious Savior?
                  So yes....it does appear right now that all is lost....and all is indeed lost....but if you would only turn around from looking back at what is lost....and see what is ahead....you would rejoice in faith just as had Peter and Paul and John and Tyndale and Luther and Bunyan and Whitefield and Spurgeon and Martyn Lloyd-Jones and Billy Graham and R. C. Sproul and John MacArthur and David Wilkerson and Pat Robertson and John Piper!

               

National Prayer Abomination

               I've posted a number of times over the years on the National Prayer Breakfast at our nation's capital....and the history of it....but for this short post....what I'm watching this morning....is an abomination....offered up by the president of the United States....in what is supposed to be....a Christian prayer setting.

             Earlier in the proceedings....around the time that the....genuine....biblical.....false prophet....Paula Cain....introduced fellow....genuine....biblical.....false prophet Donald Trump....an announcer on the dais asked everyone to sing along with the next Christian hymn.....but these folks in the audience....which includes about all of Trump's cabinet....just talked and laughed through the hymn.
             Often over the years during Trump rally speeches....I would shorthand comments....(my shorthand)....for a later post....but in this speech I could not possibly keep up with the dozens of outright deceptions and absurdities and lies that Trump has been telling. It is an amazing thing to watch....the power of the delusion....over a supposedly evangelical audience! 
             Evangelicals....in the historic and biblical sense of the word....are a remnant today....a minute remnant in America....and a remnant in evangelicalism....and even a remnant in Christian churches and denominations. This is biblical prophecy unfolding and being revealed before those who have eyes to see....and ears to hear. May God let others follow this man and this world....but if it be in His will to have mercy upon us who do not deserve that mercy....may He open the eyes and ears of His children....that we might easily recognize each other....find each other....and join with each other....in the tumultuous days ahead....of great delusion....false signs and wonders....and false promises of peace and security.

A Feast Fit For A King

               The White House today released an updated graphic of the latest ballroom design. Although the total square footage of the new building may be around 90,000....the ballroom itself should be about 20,000 square feet. Trump originally said that it could seat about a thousand....although the official capacity announced is about 650 people. Trump....as you know....will reside only a short walk away in the White House. In an interview with Laura Ingraham....Trump boasted that it will be the greatest ballroom in the world! 

              We are not sure of the exact relationship between Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar although the terminology in the fifth chapter of Daniel used the word...."father"....for Nebuchadnezzar. Babylon was under siege from the Medes and Persians....but apparently Belshazzar felt secure enough to hold a great feast....in Nebuchadnezzar's South Palace....only a short walk away from where Nebuchadnezzar....(and later Belshazzar).....lived.  A thousand of Belshazzar's lords were invited....about the same number that Trump said would be full-capacity for his new ballroom. The square footage of Nebuchadnezzar's South Palace ballroom was about half that of Trump's new ballroom....but they also probably used the adjoining palace courtyard....of approximately the same size.
               Well you all know the story....Belshazzar brought in the vessels that Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem....that were apparently stored away.....and they drank from the vessels....and partied. Fingers of a hand then appeared on the wall of the ballroom....and Daniel....who was probably in his eighties by then....interpreted the words....and that very night....believe it or not....the Medes and Persians came in under the city walls....because they had diverted the waters....and historians descriptions of what the conquerors did to the Babylonians....was graphic....and terrible.
                We do not know what a day brings....which is why we should always try to preface remarks on the future....even if it is just a day....with...."Lord willing"....or...."if God wills it"....but if Trump eventually gets the new and glorious ballroom that he wants....and he holds his first feast for a thousand or so dignitaries....some present might want to keep an eye on the walls....for fingers of a hand....writing something....might appear....telling those in the feast....(and all of us really)....that after a half century of intense warnings by many men......not the least of which was Billy Graham....that our days also have been numbered....and we also have been found wanting....and our kingdom also....has been divided and given away!

"There Is A Way That Seems Right To Man....But Its End Is A Way To Death

                    It is a major flaw in the human character....in that whatever time period of history....man does not seem to detect the dangers....so he fails to prepare for them. I cannot remember the exact quote....nor even the person who said it....but in essence it said that every man sees himself as the only eternal being....everyone else has an end. It is the type of a thought that might be immediately rejected upon hearing it at first....but if you meditate on it for a while....a little bit of truth in the statement begins to show itself.

                   We all are familiar with this Latin axion....carpe diem....'seize the day'....as it has found its way into our culture from time to time over the past century. There is an iconic and haunting song from the 60s...."Let's Live For Today"....by The Grass Roots....but it is pretty accurate as to how we do not want to face the potential problems that may be ahead of us.
                   This is and has always been Trump's problem....and may turn out to be his Achilles heel....in that he has always went after the big project....a tower or some other major endeavor. It often failed....and he bailed....cut his losses....while others were not so fortunate. 
                   This....Make America Great Again....was the biggest project of all. In his first term he ran into all kinds of snags....including impeachments and a pandemic....but this time around it was go for broke....greatness or bust. Working for him for a time was that he was given the reigns of great power....and a great military. What chance does Venezuela have against this technologically powerful beast? 
                   He never could....and never wanted to....in fact he was never interested at all in the long term....or in consequences.....or in collateral damage. Everything is the present to him....such as an adolescent would think.
                   He has always hated NATO....for whatever reason is not clear. He was wined and dined in Russia back in 1987....came home....and spent a lot of money bashing allies in newspapers. He wields all these new powers that he has with abandon....he threatened Canada again yesterday....with 100% tariffs....and he also threatened South Korea. Our former allies are forming new economic alliances. It is sad....that a man who basically ridiculed military service his whole life....and conveniently had a medical draft deferment....is threatening the whole world as commander-in-chief of  America's powerful military.
                    The Republican Party....as of today....January 27, 2026....is no more.....for it is now the Trump Party....where everyone in congress had better just obey what they are told....or they will get threats of being primaried. He threatens even strong conservatives because he has no...and has never had....any discernable ideology....for it is all just him....and consequently everything America....or anything Israel....is transactional....from the dealmaker....for he may do a great thing for you one day...and stab you in the back the next!
                      Evangelicals....historically the most valuable segment of American society....are not even evangelical anymore....and have little compassion left. Their discernment is all but gone....and there is no power in their pulpits.
                      It was Obama who scared us all when he said just prior to his first inauguration...."We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America"....but he never did....as it was Trump who has fundamentally changed us! Everything it seems has been turned upside down....and changes all the time. America is hardly recognizable at all.
                      Our strong alliances have been broken. To Trump it is only this hemisphere....and he could care less what happens to Europe. This also is sad....as I had been to Europe a number of times in the past....and it was always that these are our friends! There are visitors here to these posts from Canada and the United Kingdom. I feel like we betrayed all of them!
                       God's Word speaks clearly and often about what I so poorly tried to describe above on the flaws in the human character. We can see the rebellion to God in Israel of old....and Judah....and us today....where we all had or have a way that seems good to us....but it only leads to destruction.
                        The Cuban Missile Crisis....in retrospect....was absolutely nothing compared to the dangers today....that are increasing every single day....but we have politics on our mind....and elections....when not entertaining ourselves:
                         
                         I'll conclude this post with this paragraph from a preface to a 2019 post. Billy Graham wrote his book Storm Warning in 1991....and it was updated and revised in 2010. I think that these comments came from the 2010 revision....because Billy Graham's ministry had changed in the latter years of his ministry....as he became even more sober-minded....and more humble....and more concerned about the judgment of God coming to America.  "I look back on my many years as an evangelist and wonder, Have I made the Christian faith look too easy......in my eagerness to tell the world about the greatest gift that comes from God....I ask myself if I have comprehended the price He paid for our freedom....Have I adequately explained the price we must pay in humbling ourselves, turning our backs on pride, and sacrificing our earthly desires out of obedience to the Lord"....and he concluded his book with this...."[This] storm warning carries a booming jolt of truth--Trouble Ahead; Prepare to Meet Thy God." 

 Pors Title....Proverbs 14:12 ESV