Who Would Want A friend Like Me.......I Wouldn't....

               Like any teenager.... I played all the sports that young boys play.... but I have only had two that stayed with me my entire life. One of them was running. I loved to go running. I could fantasize right now if I wanted to.... on this hot and humid day.... going over to our local high school track.... with a bottle of Gatorade.... and a plastic counter around my neck.... to count the laps.... and headphones or earbuds to listen to a sermon. The steam right now is surely coming up off of the rubber track. I could do laps.... maybe twenty or so.... sweating and getting this exercise that I loved.... and hear the glories of God proclaimed at the same time.... from either....'preachers of the past.... or preachers today who preached like preachers of the past.'
               My other athletic endeavor was lifting weights. It was Christmas 1964....and my mother and I were Christmas shopping in downtown Pittsburgh. Petula Clark's....Downtown....was a big song at the time.... but it was the Beatles 45....I Want To Hold Your Hand.... that I wanted for a Christmas present.... along with a Robert's 110 lb barbell set.... which we loaded into a cab for the ride home. I used that same bar and about 65 lbs. last night in my basement. So it has been over sixty years of loving lifting weights! Occasionally I will go to Planet Fitness to work on machines.... and I use that plastic counter around my neck to keep track of the sets.... and on my head.... every single time.... are headphones..... to listen to some wonderful sermon.
               So why am I telling you this? Am I trying to brag? You don't even know me.... and those who do know me don't want to be around me too much anyway.... because this type of stuff is all that I love to talk about. Who wants a friend who is always talking about the Antichrist... and is constantly trying to get them to listen to sermons from....'preachers of the past.... and preachers today who preach like preachers of the past?' Who wants a friend that thinks that he absolutely knows that Jesus is so close that if you close your eyes you might actually hear the sound of the approaching hoofbeats? As a side.... you might want to think about ordering Billy Graham's 1983 book.... Approaching Hoofbeats... The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse? Who wants a friend who is always trying to get you to put away the mystery novel and read books like this.... or stop your daily playing Wordle.... and start trying to calculate the number of the Beast?
                Who wants a friend like this? I wouldn't.... until I started.... years ago.... listening every day.... at times two and three times a day.... to sermons.... supposedly.... means of grace..... (and I can assure you that they are).... from....'preachers from the past.... or.... preachers today who preach like preachers of the past'.... and then.... after being saturated with Spurgeon and Lloyd-Jones and Sproul and MacArthur and Horton and Paul Washer.... and many others... I started seeing things a little clearer than I did before.... and my own sins a lot clearer than I did before!
                 So.... if you want the status quo.... if you certainly do not want to become like me.... do not experiment with....'preachers from the past.... and preachers today who preach like preachers from the past!'

                   

                      

Hitler......1919......to......1939

The Confessing Church in Germany unsuccessfully tried to warn the people. The 'confessing church' is not even warning the people today. The following three posts were from the summer of 2025....and I only plan on keeping it up front for a little while....for we need reminded from time to time on how things like this take shape before we even know it....and then we become the frog boiled in the pot:

Hitler....Up To 1934             

                 My disgust with the historical memory of Hitler is such that when I have referenced him a few times in these posts of almost seventeen years I would refer to him as....the German Fuhrer....but I will use his name since this post is about him.
                 The world looked at him as a comical figure...with his little mustache. When he came on the scene in 1919 Germany was falling apart. Hitler wanted a racially pure Germany....and he hated the Jews and the Socialists. He joined the fledgling German Workers Party....and became a prominent member....raging in his speeches. There was something about his speeches that mesmerized....and people just wanted to follow him. He demanded that he was to be the sole leader of the now newly named Nazi Party. If someone didn't get on board they were taken aside and....'urged to reconsider'....but Hitler and others moved too quickly and what followed was the infamous....Munich Beer Hall Putsch in November of 1923....a rally meant to be a coup in Bavaria that would then march to Berlin. The coup failed and Hitler wound up in prison for nine months. His sentence was longer than that but he knew people high up and he was pardoned. He started writing Mein Kampf while in prison.
                  As the 1920s wore on...the Nazi Party fizzled in the elections because things were looking a little better economically....what with the United States and others providing low interest loans. And then came the crash of 1929....the best thing that could have happened to Hitler....or so he thought at the time.
                 The army of Brownshirts was now large and strong and brutal....and Hitler would then form what would be the SS as personal guardians.....and then the secret police....the Gestapo.
                  Everyone higher up who also hated the Weimar regime....disliked this raging former corporal....but they thought that they needed him to stop the violence in the streets....and they thought that they could control him....so they gave him power...and he was appointed as Chancellor. By this time though everyone except his growing group of rabid worship followers knew that there might be a problem.
                  Hitler wasn't even a citizen....being Austrian....and he needed that citizenship in order to run for office. The second time around was a whole new ballgame. The people from all areas of society flocked to him as the savior who promised to make Germany great again.
                  This new Third Reich was forming now....and Hitler flew from city to city to rallies....promising a 1000 year reign that turned out to be only twelve years. That's when he made his biggest decision yet....and the first in his incarnation as savior. It was time for paybacks. His forces rounded up all of his old opponents and others who could not be trusted....hundreds died....many of whom were executed....including his long time closest ally....the leader of the Brownshirts....who worried that Hitler was betraying the movement. Rohm was thrown in jail....given a gun with one bullet to kill himself....and then shot in his cell when he refused to kill himself. This night that extended over a couple of days and nights came to be known as....the Night of the Long Knives. Would the Brownshirts accept him after he had their leader killed? Hitler gave one of his patented speeches on protecting the country....and wallah....they were all back in the fold.
                   Most of the Christian church came on board....believing the promises that were made....that the church was too much of an important German institution to do anything to. Of course that promise went by the wayside.
                   It was too late now. The popular Hindenburg....elected again as president....who was talked into naming Hitler as Chancelor....was now only an old-man figurehead....and died shortly afterwards....as he could only watch the change in the country and its people. It was only 1934.

Afterthought: We need to be aware of history. Germany after World War I was divided as we are today. They were susceptible to the rantings of a man who promised to restore nationalism and greatness. He used fear and hatred to push all the opposition out of the way. Even the church fell for the promise of prosperity and greatness. Paul asked of the Galatians....who had bewitched them? Were they so foolish to begin in the Spirit....but go on to perfection in the flesh?

Hitler Up To 1938

                One of the problems we face....those of us who know there are multiple serious problems with who Donald Trump is....primary mental and psychological....is that when Hitler is mentioned then Trump supporters fly off the handle....outraged that he would be compared to such an evil man. It's a deterrent to even bring up the subject....and a win for Trump....but the issue is with the methods that the German Fuhrer used to captivate the German public....the promises and gifts and threats and intimidations and instilling fear and anger....and their similarity with the rise of Donald Trump.
                 During the 2016 election reports came out that Ivana....Trump's first wife....told her lawyer that Trump kept a copy of Hitler's speeches by his bedside. Trump called that fake news....as he calls everything negative on him fake news. Reports continued and Trump then said that he didn't have such a book but if he did have such a book he would not have read it. That absurd statement is typical Trump that just makes you roll your eyes. Reports continued and Trump then was forced to say that a Jewish friend of his gave him the book. Reports continued and then it was reported that the friend was identified....and that friend said that he is not Jewish. This is Donald Trump. This is a man whose social is called....Truth....but he himself cannot now nor could he ever in his life....distinguish between truth and lies....but the point remains that he....a man who is famous for not being a reader....apparently was interested in why Hitler's speeches were so effective!
                    A couple of posts below this is a narrative on Hitler's rise up until 1934. This post takes it a few years later. After He had purged all of his enemies and potential enemies....the work towards building the broken economy started. Hitler expanded the autobahn and provided an opportunity of German cars for the people to drive on the autobahn. He was building everywhere which put people to work. Pensions were increased and many and various benefits were awarded to the people such as paid vacations and child care benefits. The army doubled in numbers almost immediately and work started on building a powerful Luftwaffe. Submarine building took off. The Nazis confiscated a lot of money from the Jews to finance their projects. They just took their money! As all these other projects were being built....so were concentration camps!
                  Germany had previously been awarded the 1936 summer Olympic games....and Hitler was determined to show the world the greatness of Germany. We get the term....Olympic village....from the changes that he made in hosting the athletes. The stadium was....state-of-the-art. Everything went almost perfectly and the games were a great success.
                   Young people were mobilized to grow into patriotic and physically fit adults...ready and willing to serve in the army. Propaganda was one of the keys....particularly through radio and the film industry and newspapers and posters!
                   Hitler began to expand the territory. They just sashayed into the Rhineland and no one said a thing. The Austrian government....'requested'....that the German army enter the country for stabilization. The people cheered them....and then Austria became part of the German Reich. Hitler then occupied the Sudetenland....and again England and France said nothing. It was now only 1938.
                    The point here is that the destitute economy was now expanding....and the people were told to take pride....and they were rewarded....propaganda was now the key to win over the hearts and minds....territories were being added....all opposition was being silenced....they were celebrating Hitler's birthday every year. Germany was great again and he was the reason.
                     We in America are between a rock and a hard place....in that the very issues that should be brought up along with Trump's rise....Trump uses to 'prove' that there is a Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Note: There are a number of excellent movies out there on Corrie ten Boom....the most well-known of course being....The Hiding Place....but....Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace....should also be watched.

Hitler Up To 1939

                In 1938....Hitler demanded a return of a part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudetenland....that had a heavily German speaking population. He claimed that the German speaking people were being persecuted....that was his excuse. England and France and Italy gave him what he wanted in what was called....the Munich Agreement. Czechoslovakia was not represented in the talks that ceded the Sudetenland to Hitler. British prime minister Neville Chamberlain famously returned to London with Hitler's signature....holding the paper over his head....where Hitler promised to stop his aggression in Czechoslovakia....but one week later the German Fuhrer proceeded to occupy the rest of Czechoslovakia's Moravian and Bohemian areas. Hitler had already purged most of the Prussian military generals who might not have gone along with his plans of conquest. Although outraged....all that Britain and France did was to guarantee protection for Poland if they were invaded. Does this sound familiar? Putin wants areas of the Ukraine with Russian speaking people. He already was essentially given the Crimea....although he only annexed it....and that didn't stop him.
                Hitler next wanted the free city of Danzig....which today is Gdansk. He then signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union with secretive elements to it....which would free him to invade the western areas of Poland....while Stalin could take other parts of Poland that he wanted. Hitler did invade Poland....and England and France declared war on Germany. Stalin then invaded eastern areas of Poland....but England and France were not ready for another declaration of war....this time on the Soviet Union.
                On the home front in Germany. Hitler always wanted an excuse for his aggression....(the Reichstag fire of 1933 started it all)....and he got it on November 9, 1938 with the assassination of a German diplomat in Paris by a German-Polish Jewish man. Brownshirts and the SS and even some German youth and citizens then tore through German towns....ransacking Jewish stores and synagogues....in what has become known as Kristallnacht....or The Night Of Broken Glass.
                On the home front today in America........Lindsey Graham thinks that Putin should be given some of what he wants but that European boots should then be placed on the ground in the Ukraine....which would deter Putin from any further invasions of the Ukraine!

Stay Inside Today Because Of The Bad Air Quality!....And Since You Will Be Stuck Inside....Stream This Wonderful Film!

               There is an anecdote that I remember from the past about George Whitefield. It would be hard to describe the popularity that he had at the time. He arrived in Philadelphia for the first time in 1739. Here is the anecdote....when Whitefield had arrived at a certain town or area....word of it spread literally like wildfire....and the population also literally dropped whatever they were doing....got on their horse or their wagon....and literally once again....sped to see him! The anecdote described what appeared to be dust storms along the countryside....as men and women and families would almost race each other....similar to what it must have been like in the Oklahoma Land Rush!
                 What are you doing this evening....as the smoke from Canada wildfires makes it hard to breath here in Western Pennsylvania? Well....you have the opportunity to be blessed....maybe even eternally blessed....by sitting down with your family to stream that wonderful recent film....A Great Awakening!
                 It looks like the film is now available on a number of streaming platforms. My plan....Lord willing....is to order the movie right now on DVD.....so that I can watch it again and again and again....which I have done on so many other movies....such as Amazing Grace....and Chariots of Fire....and C. H. Spurgeon, The People's Preacher....and Jeremiah....and Risen....and so many other Christian films!

We Are Going To Be Wrong....Until In God's Timing We Are Right....But In The Meantime....This Is What We Must Be Thinking And Meditating And Praying About

                Prophecy all through God's Word is and always has been for us to meditate upon. For the past two-thousand years it sat in the background of our minds....because it was not God's timing....but was never forgotten or ignored....not by the Puritans or Whitefield or Spurgeon or Martyn Lloyd-Jones or anyone....but today it should no longer be on the back burner....because in the past hundred years-plus those prophecies have exploded in their fulfillment....slowly at first but expanding exponentially now.
                  There are dozens of avenues to go down....whole books such as Daniel and Revelation and all of the Old Testament prophets....but also passages somewhere in just about every book in God's Word....Old Testament and New Testament.
                   In this post I want to bring up one obscure passage....well the passage is anything but obscure but the reference to an exact number of fish....153....is rather obscure. This was in the last chapter of the Gospel of John....and Jesus had shown himself to the disciples for the third time since His resurrection. They were in the boat....unsuccessful in catching any fish....and Jesus appeared in disguise on the shore telling them to cast their net off the right side of the boat....which they did....and immediately caught that large number of fish....153 to be exact!
                    It has always been obvious that Jesus meant to relay something to us in that 153 fish were mentioned....and scholars have forever thought this question over....coming up only with a few not very convincing ideas....and that is all that I have....and I've had this thought for many years....a couple of decades at least.
                    The entire twentieth century had been one of fulfilled prophesies on the end-times....and May of 1948 may have been the most important of all.....but in my mind....the period....give or take a year....of 1980....had been a time of paradigm change in the world.....beginning with an extraordinarily political influential pope in John Paul II....and then came Reagan....and Gorbachev was beginning to assume real power just at that time....and you can throw Margaret Thatcher into the mix. 
                     The world was changing....and it is only now....with Trump....changing again. The thought that had been in my mind for so long was that the United Nations accepted its 153rd member right at that time....1980....it was as if in that....with the 153 fishes....or 153 nations....God's Word was telling us that the stage was now set?
                      These thoughts and this concept very well may be wrong....but that is not the real point....which is that we Christians need to be thinking and meditating and praying upon God's prophetic end-times Word....all the time....at least it being in our minds every day. So....right or wrong....correct or incorrect....we are showing that we desire our Savior to return to this corrupt and violent world!
                       One more thing....related to this....in the seventeenth chapter of Revelation....concerning the Beast....this odd statement is made...."Here is the mind that has wisdom...the seven heads are the seven mountains on which the woman sits.....there are also seven kings....five have fallen....one is....and the other has not yet come....and when he comes he must continue a short time....and the beast that was....and is not....is himself also the eighth....and is of the seven....and is going to perdition." Revelation17:9-11 NKJV
                       So one can come up with all kinds of thoughts on this.....here's one....1980....or thereabouts was the beginning of the paradigm change....Reagan and H.W. and Clinton And W and Obama....were the five kings that were kings no more. That means that Trump was the king at the epicenter of this verse...."one is"....and Biden was the king that was there for a short time....and then comes the eighth....who was also of the seven. 
                     Just a thought....probably wrong....hopefully wrong....but this is an example of where our minds and our hopes and our attention should be right now....for did not Jesus tell us a little earlier in Revelation....13:18...."Here is wisdom....let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast....for it is the number of a man....his number is....666."?

        

This Was An Important Telecommunications Event!

              If you watched Trump on TV this evening.....then you witnessed an extraordinary and possibly even an historic propaganda speech. In other words....you lived history this evening! You saw a president....make allegations that point to speculations. He referred time and again to CIA and FBI and other national intelligence agencies....people who are now all his own.....working at his microscopic direction. It wasn't thirty seconds into the speech that I was rolling my eyes at the gross exaggeration. President Trump needed this attempt....in spite of the great risk involved....because he needs the passage of this bill in congress....to greatly limit voter participation from millions of people who would have difficulty putting any required government document into motion....or else after the mid-terms....he may be in very big legal trouble.

Note: Any voter eligibility laws....changes....to be enacted....to protect the integrity of our electoral system....need also....every bit as much....to protect the voting rights of all Americans. This would be a difficult task....and it would take a lot of time....and under no circumstances should be done with this present bill....which is political and not fairness legislation. The 2028 election would be the earliest date for which to set a goal.

Irreconcilable Differences

                    I am going to try to make this as opaque as possible. A Christian celebrity today announced that she filed for divorce after a ten year marriage. She came to this decision through much prayer....and is thankful for all the support that she is being given. Normally that story would go in one ear and out the other because we hear things like this all the time....but it was less than a week ago that I went to a Southern Gospel concert....of a group that I really liked....and during the concert I learned that two of the ladies had been divorced from their Christian husbands. One of these ladies made this comment in explaining how hard it was to get divorced....she was most sad because she had broken God's heart by getting divorced? 

                   It was Wednesday morning....January 6.....2021. I....along with most everyone else in America....knew that there was going to be a protest gathering on the Ellipse in our capital....so I clicked on the television. I've done this many times....I might be watching something....maybe a Trump rally....or a prayer rally....and I knew that I was going to want to post on what was being said....and had no time to attempt to record it....so I....as I heard it....shorthanded the words the best that I could. On this particular Wednesday morning I just wanted to type my thoughts on what I was watching....and post them later. I did not know that that day would be one of the worst days in the history of our country.....and I was describing the beginning of that day. Here are the exact words that I typed and saved as I watched....
                     
                    "Wednesday morning at 11:30....The melody is beautiful.....there's no denying that....and it gives me chills....but the wrong kind of chills. I'm talking about Leonard Cohen's....Hallelujah. The word 'hallelujah' is special......for in essence it means....'praise Yahweh'.....or....'praise Yah.' I cringe when I hear in used other than where it should be used....and that includes Neil Diamond's.....Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show. So I booted up the computer a few minutes ago to hear what President Trump was going to say in his appearance at the Washington protest/rally.....and Cohen's song was playing. The chills were there.....and I didn't like it....but to make matters worse.....as the video feed showed from the rear of the first twenty or so rows of people....I saw a few raised hands....swaying back and forth to the song.....as if in a charismatic church. What were they praising...for it's hopefully not the object of the Cohen song? Trump eventually came on.....he is speaking now....and I had to turn him off....because folks it is unnerving....the sway he has....as this very large crowd chanted.....fight for Trump....fight for Trump....fight for Trump!"

(I need to repeat that....I was so unnerved by what I was witnessing....that I actually had to turn the television off!)

                    Back to that Southern Gospel concert that I mentioned above....at one point the up-tempo music slowed....and the female singer began a riff on the chords to Hallelujah....only it was not the chords from their own beautiful Halleluyah....but Cohen's famous chords for his....Hallelujah....the same chords that had people raising their hands on January 6 before the violence would begin.
                    January 6th wasn't the beginning of the collapse of evangelicalism....far from it....nor was June 16 of 2015 the beginning....when Trump came down that golden escalator...a false prophet/wolf into the middle of evangelicalism. Maybe there was no beginning? Whatever the answer to that....we today are cheering the footage of human beings blown away as missiles hit their targets....booting up Fox to see what new video they might have of blacks fighting each other....or what new story of an illegal who committed a violent crime....or licking our lips as indictments of some sort are brought by Trump's Justice Department....against his personal enemies.
             It should therefore be no surprise that we have no discernment at all on the nearness of the Lord's coming in glory and righteous judgment....nor do we really want Him to return....for first and foremost....we want our country back....as we have turned out backs on a scriptural truth that we once memorized...."Not by power....nor by might....but by My Spirit....says the LORD of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6 ESV)
           
             ICHABOD....the glory has long since departed evangelicalism....a divorce so to speak....irreconcilable differences....between God's Word....and the church.

Addendum: It's not the divorce....or the lifestyles....or the idols....I have my own idols....it is a general falling away that we have had from God's Word....as we over time choose what verses of Scripture that we want....and ignore the vast majority that are problematic to things like divorce....and lifestyles....and idolatry....and someone like trump! God has taken home R. C. Sproul and John MacArthur....earlier than He might have....and these were the men who reminded us of the....Holiness of God. We have no one of stature left! They are all out there telling us that we have to protect our rights to preach the lifestyles and the idolatries and the freedoms that we hold dear! If there is ever to be a last days revival....it would have to begin with us....with our faces flush to the ground asking forgiveness for going to 'Egypt' for our help!

DISPATCHES

That evangelicals can listen to Trump actually threaten....(and this has been going on for a long time)....to threaten major news outlets....to take away their license....and not do an about-face....and flee this man....is but one proof of many....that they have been totally taken in by a worldly tyrant. God has judged His church first! The day will come when evangelicals will weep at seeing what they promoted....not only in the government....but in God's church!

It was Friday....June 29....2007....and I walked into an AT&T store....simply asking if there was a device from which I could scan the news? I was told that a new device just came out that day....something called an....iPhone. It has now been nineteen years of constantly....(just ask my wife)....of reading the news throughout the entire day. I had been with Fox News since day one in 1997. Everything has changed within these major news outlets. Fox was once the best....now it is near the worst. I am talking about the Internet version....to the evangelical....it is nothing but a Trump tabloid....which is pure poison....and also leaven mixed in with the flour! All I can do is urge them....you....to flee from this tool.....for that is what it is....no longer a conduit for news! Flee....until it itself sees what it has become.

As everyone knows....Trump is pushing passage of a bill that purportedly would ensure that only eligible voters cast ballots in elections. At first glance....on the surface....this sounds more than a reasonable law to enact....but there is more to this. What is being asked of us....is that in order to ensure fair elections through this act....that we empower his administration....which means that we empower him....for no one does anything on their own....that we empower a man who has stayed one step ahead of the law....for his entire adult life....a man with tens of thousands of documented lies....I have personally witnessed thousands of lies....large and medium and small....a man whose life is driven by revenge....a man who demands absolute loyalty....so much so that many have found themselves in prison because of that loyalty....a man who has torn apart long-standing and needed alliances....if those alliances do not personally benefit his greed and lust for glory....a man who would stab a family member in the back....a man who was unfaithful to every wife that he has ever had....a man whose egomaniacal mind is so unstable that at times he can sound as if he is insane....a man who uses purges to destroy anyone in our intelligence and law enforcement agencies to ensure that no one in government would ever investigate anything that he would do....and a man who if he loses the congress in this next election....he will most certainly have numerous and continuous impeachments....of which he knows that he will not escape this time....this is the man who we are being asked to empower to enforce this new law?

Europe....Ten....(10)....countries joined together on Monday.....July 13....2026....and formally established what they call the....Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition. Those ten....(10)....countries are Denmark and France and Germany and Italy and Netherlands and Sweden and Norway and Spain and Ukraine and Britain.

Paul Washer gave the Session 10 talk at John MacArthur's....Shepherd's Conference....back in March of this year. He raised some eyebrows of the 5,000 plus men in attendance when he somberly but matter-of-factly said...."John MacArthur is dead." He then paused and repeated that statement...."John MacArthur is dead." You might just be eternally blessed if you listen to that message. Just Google....2026 Shepherd's Conference Session 10, Paul Washer. On second thought....I'll add it here for you...

                                                                    

Lindsey Graham is dead....Lindsey Graham is dead. God raises leaders....and God brings them down....and this one was a shocker. Lindsey Graham will be missed in the Senate because he was one of the few experienced and sane voices in that once but no longer august body. The enormity of it hasn't even sunk in yet. Deep down he knew who Trump really was....but he also thought that someone has to be there to lay down the law to him at times....and there was no one else to do it....so he took that upon himself. Think about that....there may be no one left with gravitas enough to face up to Trump!  Whoever this Republican nominee might be....he or she will only have two months to build a campaign. Lindsey Graham was not going to lose that election....but this new candidate might very well lose. Meanwhile....Trump picked Graham's sister....to serve in the United States Senate for the remaining almost six months....a half a year! How absurd we have become in the Republican Party.

The following is the last paragraph from a post of only a few days ago...."Lindsey Graham's death is a great loss for sanity in our government I've posted quite a bit lately on how God has taken home all the men who over the past half century had warned us of the judgment that surely lies ahead....men like Billy Graham and MacArthur and Sproul and Keller and Voddie Baucham and David Wilkerson and Pat Robertson. These were men that would have seen what is happening right now....and would be warning us with all that they were worth! Those in our government....who had gravitas enough to get our attention....have either died or have been purged! The church is without leaders of this stature....and so is our government!"

The following is the past paragraph from a July 5 post...."There will be a solar eclipse on August 12,,,,cutting a thin swath from Greenland ....to Iceland....and then northern Spain....but before that will come the Jewish fast day that looks back on nothing but tragedies to the Jewish people....this called the Ninth of Av....(Av being the Jewish month)....or as it is also known....Tisha B'Av....and this year the date is July 22. Considering the extraordinary turn of events in an already evolving maelstrom....it's a date to at least give us a solemn awareness of the times in which we live."

The following is also is from a very recent post....    In 2015 the FBI and the CIA became very interested in a man who they had already taken note of....because he had for decades been courted by....first Soviets and later Russian oligarchs and Putin himself....and this was not your normal businessman or entrepreneur. He already had forty years under his belt of staying one step ahead of government investigations....and loved the life of luxury....and flirted with financial collapse on a few occasions....and to top all of this off....he was always spouting off on protecting American business interests....and staying away from wars....and holding to a transactional ideological view....that didn't want anything to do with....allies....like NATO....but rather business partners....whoever they might turn out to be....and he seemed to agree with Putin's worldview a little bit too much for comfort! So....looking back on all of this.....how did it all turn out? Well....all of those in the CIA and FBI and in the congress and everywhere else....that had enough concern here to do something about it....have been purged....and replaced by fierce loyalists. The country has been torn apart....NATO might as well be considered an enemy....and Israel is not far behind....and right now there seems to be nothing in place to even look into these things.

It Is A Mystery....And Right Now We Should Leave It At That

                  How does the nation-state of Israel fit into God's Word? That is a major controversy in the church today. Classical Dispensationalism....classical but really not that old...says that God is working through history with a number of different plans....and one would be that the Jews of the Old Testament were part of one plan....they forfeited that as they rejected their Messiah....but....that same plan for them will be reestablished at the end of time. Others say that....no....there were no alternate plans....but that the church today fulfilled the original plan....and that any Jewish nation that might come back into existence is no more and no less than any other nation state in the world.
                    These new Dispensationalists at the time....saw a number of passages in God's Word that determined their theology towards Israel....and indeed there are many passages about Israel that are difficult to interpret. The problem is that Paul in Romans called all of this a mystery....a mystery that he described....but did not explain. The Dispensationalists believe that they solved the mystery! They did not solve the mystery.
                     The other side of this is not without problems of their own. They know that they cannot solve the mystery....so they just ignore it. Consequently....all of those verses in God's Word that tell of a reestablished Jewish nation of Israel....and the eschatological importance of it....are of no help to them today. Worse than that....the possibility exists that they can wind up actually working against God's plan for these branches that were previously cut off of the vine!
                      Spurgeon saw through this. He let the mystery stand as a mystery....and saw that the Jews would one day return to the Holy Land....and Martyn Lloyd-Jones acknowledged the same thing. Is it any wonder then that these two men of great discernment were the greatest preachers that the church has had over the past 170 years?
                      So....over time....big words like....replacement theology....have come up....and only muddled the situation more. It is a mystery! There is only one gospel of salvation. This fairly new nation of Israel....May of 1948....is not the same nation of the Old Testament....but they are also not just another nation. It's a mystery....and we are about to find out more on how that mystery plays out in the world.

The Church Is Without Leaders of Great Stature....And So Is Our Government

                When an unfavorable Supreme Court ruling comes down....there are options in an attempt to mitigate....and/or options to attack the judges. If nothing else....a PR campaign can be initiated to stir up the base....but when someone like Lindsey Graham just drops dead....there are no options....and no one to attack. There are no appeals....no threats....and no legal action to reverse what transpired....and one cannot call what happened....fake news. God causes nations to rise and to fall....we all know how Scripture tells us that....and he causes kings to rise and kings to fall.
                America has rightfully been under judgment for at least....over sixty years....since JFK. It was in 1965....and Billy Graham had just completed a manuscript for a new book. His wife Ruth was reading that manuscript....and after one particular chapter on America's move away from God....she reportedly told her husband...."Billy....if God doesn't come soon and bring judgment upon the United States....he's going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah."
                There is a passage in the 10th chapter of Matthew....(also addressed in Mark 6 and Luke 9)....that some scholars put right up there with the Olivet Discourse. Jesus is sending out the twelve disciples...."to the lost sheep of the house of Israel"....to heal and to cleanse and to cast out demons and even to raise from the dead....and to preach that...."the kingdom of heaven is at hand." What follows in the discourse of Jesus is a description of the persecution that is so similar to that which is described in the Olivet Discourse....and some other commands that are....hard sayings....as words like this are sometimes called...as hard to understand as anything that Jesus ever said! Please read over the tenth chapter of Matthew. 
                 Before the disciples were sent out....Jesus gives instructions that even Paul later was not given....as they were not even to take money with them! This is not normal instruction to missionaries. It implies an extreme situation! That situation is such that we may be facing in the near future....preach the word....and if they want no part of it....then go on to preach the word to others...and shake the dust off of your feet! It is here when Jesus also said...."Assuredly....I say to you....it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city." (verse 15)
                  In the past we had more time to have patience with people that lollygagged...or dillydallied....as one dictionary puts it...."wasting time by dawdling....lingering....or engaging in aimless....non-serious activity." I'm not saying that we no longer have patience....but rather that we have a task to do....kind of like taking the tarps off of the lifeboats after an iceberg is hit. That is part of the reason that I put out these posts that I do....warning of Trump...warning evangelism that the glory has departed....and warning that we are in the last of the last days! I don't take comments or questions. I only want these thoughts to be as disseminated as far as possible....and let people make up their own minds.
                   Lindsey Graham's death is a great loss for sanity in our government. I've posted quite a bit lately on how God has taken home all the men who over the past half century had warned us of the judgment that surely lies ahead....men like Billy Graham and MacArthur and Sproul and Keller and Voddie Baucham and David Wilkerson and Pat Robertson. These were men that would have seen what is happening right now....and would be warning us with all that they were worth! Those in our government....who had gravitas enough to get our attention....have either died or have been purged! The church is without leaders of this stature....and so is our government!

Did They Tremble?

It is 3 AM....and I was tossing and turning. A few minutes ago I reached for my iPhone....just to check the headlines....for it had been six hours. Trump apparently had finished speaking three hours ago....a little late because of the storms....the one headline had it that lightning had struck the Washington Monument. I had been praying all yesterday....and this is normal for Saturdays....that should it be God's will....that He would have mercy upon these men in our pulpits....and that the Holy Spirit would awaken them....in that they have not fulfilled their responsibilities to strengthen and warn the sheep of wolves in sheep's clothing! Had they heard or read Trump's words....in that this nation is the...."crowning achievement of human history?" If so....did they tremble?

                

Ultimately......It Is All About Us

               I don't know if you can say that the debate continues....because through digital research it appears to have exhausted all avenues of proving that Abraham Lincon said....in his senate campaign against Stepehen A. Dougles in 1858...."You can fool some of the people all of the time....and all of the people some of the time....but you cannot fool all of the people....all of the time." Personally I believe that Abraham Lincoln said it....because the reason and the wisdom in the quote is extremely profound....and Abraham Lincoln over the course of this life made many equally wise and profound statements!
               If he didn't say this....then someone else fabricated it. I would then have to wonder why that man would not have given whatever opinion he wanted to give about Lincoln....and then add that wise and profound phrase as his own sentiment....thereby himself getting the credit for an extraordinary observation? Add to this that if someone did fabricate this quote....then what we would have would be a basically dishonest man....come up with a very profound statement....an oddity in itself....but a statement that would be directed right back at him....in that he might fool some of the people....much of the time....but not all of the people....all of the time?
               This post is about Donald Trump....the very antithesis of everything that Abraham Lincoln was and stood for! There is another famous quote attributed to Lincoln....and he may have said it....but he may not have been the first to give this observation...."He who represents himself....has a fool for a client." Can you the reader....think of anyone....past or present....who has so consistently and blatantly and shamelessly....defended himself....and more than defend.....but exalted himself....more than Donald John Trump?
                I did not like Trump back in 2015/2016. His constant demeaning of people....and even how they looked....disgusted me....but when Ted Cruz abandoned his bid for the nomination....and Hillary loomed menacingly on the horizon....I wound up voting for Trump....and even celebrating the victory! He fooled me. I thought that he was just despicable....but he turned out to be much worse than that!
                God's very Word to us throughout the Old Testament....described people to stay away from and not be deceived by....false prophets and the greedy and the uncompassionate and the vane and those claiming to faithful to God but were not. Has not Donald Trump consistently....almost every day....prophesied to all of us....and evangelicals....that our best is yet to come....and that we are a glorious people under God? And does not God's Word prophesy to us the exact opposite?
                 Jesus and Peter and Paul and John and Jude....warn us....time and again....on who not to be deceived by....and from whom to stay away. Paul in 2 Timothy 3....speaking of the last days....lists eighteen traits of people to...."and from such people turn away!"....lovers of themselves....lovers of money....boasters....etc....of which is Donald Trump's resume!
                 So....how do evangelicals deal with God's Word on this? Well....they obfuscate! You see....they live their life quoting God's Word....and are faithful to it....until it becomes a little too much....as in this case with Trump....when it is all conveniently pushed aside....because as important as the Bible is....we cannot let socialism or wokism disrupt our American dream! It therefore is...in essense....all about us!

On a personal note....this whole thing is difficult in more ways than one. Evangelicals....and I know so many of them....are wonderful people who want the best for their families....and when most of them grew up....patriotism was a good thing....but patriotism when it distorts the gospel of Jesus Christ....and sets up idols....and leads Christians away from compassion in order to get what a mercenary pied piper tells them is rightfully theirs....is not a good thing. God's Word warned us about this....vehemently....telling us to be vigilant and awake and sober-minded....for wolves and false prophets were coming....and here they are! It is not easy to tell them these things....but the pulpits are not warning them of any of this....because if the pulpits warned against Trump....the church would lose a good percentage of its income....right away....all this because we fell asleep....and let MAGA unchallenged come in and infect most of the church.

Why....Why Would Benedict Arnold Do What He Did?

                 Twenty or thirty years ago I read that students were no longer taught about Nathan Hale. How about you....do you know who Nathan Hale was? In the 60s....he was probably a whole chapter in our grade school history books. What about Benedict Arnold? It's more likely that most know about how he was a traitor to the American cause in the war for independence.
                  It's more complicated than just describing Arnold as a traitor. He was in his mid-thirties....a merchant....struggling because of strict tax regulations of the British government. He was on the other side of the world doing business when the Boston Massacre occurred....and was outraged...at the loss of liberties.
                  He came back and began his military career as a captain in the Connecticut militia. His courageous and successful exploits began to mount up....and he was seriously wounded twice....a genuine hero in the making! When the war was not raging he felt very comfortable living with the amenities of the upper class....of which he married into in 1779. 
                  There are at least a half dozen theories that I have come across....on why such a man would willfully and eagerly become a traitor. There may be some truth in all the theories....but this stands out to me....he had an ego....and he thought that he wasn't getting the respect and the honor that he deserved because of his military accomplishments....and he was probably right about that.
                  Washington liked him and respected his abilities....and put him in charge of West Point...which was not a military school at the time....but an important fort on the Hudson. Arnold's heroics in upper New York state....and particularly at the important Battle of Saratoga....would have cemented him into our history books....but this man flipped over to the other side! Why? The plan was for Arnold to surrender West Point to the British. He had already purposely let the fort's defenses seriously decline.
 
                  "The heart is deceitful above all things....and desperately sick....who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9 ESV 

                   There were other factors....for instance his wife had Tory sympathies....and he was offered today's equivalent of 3 million dollars to....do what he thought was difficult but right....the war at the time was not going well....and a lot of men were dying. A lot of people today are similarly conflicted. Is Tucker Carlson a traitor....he's about as naive as a human being can be....but a traitor? Would he actually......consciously....aid an enemy? Benedict Arnold demonstrated that one does not need to be an Aldrich Ames or a Robert Hanssen to be a traitor.
                    In 2015 the FBI and the CIA became very interested in a man who they had already taken note of....because he had for decades been courted by....first Soviets and later Russian oligarchs and Putin himself....and this was not your normal businessman or entrepreneur. He already had forty years under his belt of staying one step ahead of government investigations....and loved the life of luxury....and flirted with financial collapse on a few occasions....and to top all of this off....he was always spouting off on protecting American business interests....and staying away from wars....and holding to a transactional ideological view....that didn't want anything to do with....allies....like NATO....but rather business partners....whoever they might turn out to be....and he seemed to agree with Putin's worldview a little bit too much for comfort!
                    So....looking back on all of this.....how did it all turn out? Well....all of those in the CIA and FBI and in the congress and everywhere else....that had enough concern here to do something about it....have been purged....(considered by some as traitors!)....and replaced by fierce loyalists. The country has been torn apart....NATO might as well be considered an enemy....and Israel is not far behind....and right now there seems to be nothing in place to even look into these things.
                    Maybe Trump actually believes that going it alone is best for America? Maybe Putin doesn't have anything on him after all....maybe this is all just incompetence....but whatever it is....everything is a royal mess! Russia is estimated to have suffered 450,000 mortal casualties....and Ukraine 125,000 to 150,000....because of Putin! Can we even wrap our minds  around that? That fact alone seems to do away with any real concern for human life or for doing what is right.

The Man Who Would Be King

             He came down that golden escalator on a white horse....wearing a mask....a lone ranger....lone only because he cared for no one other than himself. He was answering an ad for a new sheriff....with a resume composed by the artificial intelligence of the day....Donald Trump himself. He surprised even himself and was given the job....didn't have a clue who to hire....and wound up getting rid of them later anyway. He became the hero of Jerusalem when he....in a down period at the polls....moved Israel's capitol....and lo and behold....the most vile wolf in sheep's clothing....became the good shepherd of the all the sheep!
            It was a good ride....but it was over....only he refused to get off the horse....and was banished for four years from the kingdom. The first term was an inauguration....the second a coronation. The first was a cabinet....the second a round table of knights who had taken an oath for him. He came out...."conquering....and to conquer"....on a crusade to the Holy Land....and the battles were shock and awe...until they weren't. No one seems to know the reason for the change....maybe he just got bored....or maybe some pressure from somewhere was placed on him....whatever the reason....his crusade to free the Holy Land....had turned into a crusade to rebuild the Middle East....according to his liking....irrespective of petty annoyances such as thousand year old hatreds....while utilizing the love of money as a tool of bribery to bring peace....temporary peace of course! He might do this today....or he might do that....nobody really knows.

Note: The title alludes to an 1888 Rudyard Kipling short story. Interestingly....to me anyway....Kipling spent a few weeks in the summer of 1889 visiting a friend only a few hundred yards from where I type.
             

Does Soccer Still Explain The World

              It was twenty-two years ago that Franklin Foer's bestseller came out....How Soccer Explains The World. I was only mildly interested at the time....and cannot remember much of the book....except when it tied soccer into globalization.....because globalization was a big topic back then....big tech having since then taken over as kingpin in this digital world.
              I used to add a little bit of humor on this topic....but as far I knew it was true....that I had on-and-off watched soccer over my whole life....and never saw a goal. Obviously I would have only watched five minutes here or ten minutes there. The soccer team was not an option when our son was in high school because at the time it was a Sunday practice team sport....but today....'soccer mom'....is a commonly used term.
              This present World Cup....even before Trump made another big mistake....has been dominating the news. I don't think that I have seen anything in the national news on baseball in the past few weeks. I've taken notice of the Norway team sitting down on the field....or pitch as they call it....and simulate rowing....and various special celebrations that teams and fans do....but what really is this sport....and this World Cup....and how does it affect the world?
              Does it strengthen nationalism? Would the average English soccer fan rather have his home club win the Premier League championship....which lasts most of each and every year...or the World Cup which is a month and a half every four years? It seems that these local clubs are loaded with international players....and might even be owned by some oil nation billionaire.
                This whole topic is just a passing thing with me....the sooner it ends the better....but today I saw in the news on my iPhone that Argentina was down 2 nothing....late in the match....oh well....so much for Messi....and fifteen minutes later....while checking the same headline news....saw that they were up 3 to 2! I turned on the television and witnessed the celebration....which had more passion in the players than I have ever witnessed in our own sports....and this wasn't even the final!
                  Ultimately....where does all of this fit into the problem of idolatry that America and the world and even Christians struggles with....and how might it fit into the cataclysmic dystopia that the world is heading into?
                  Two days ago I might have thought that after this World Cup....soccer would gain a much greater foothold in American culture....but after the Trump blunder....I would think the opposite....that the sport might take a hit....and we Americans might become even more isolated.
                  I would think that a month from now....baseball would take over again....and our football would be picking up where it left off in February. The most important thing that might result from this World Cup might be that Trump seriously blundered....again.....and that this blunder might hasten Europe's independence from the United States....and its own necessary uniting in order to defend itself against countries like Russia and China....who are non-entities in this World Cup....and it might further weaken Trump's poll numbers....and it might even wake up some of us in evangelicalism?

"For This Reason I will Not Be Negligent To Remind You Always Of These Things...."

               Writing a post like this is....rehashing....what I have put in so many past posts. The words are arranged different....and there will be a new thought or two....but essentially it is the same thing....the same warning....summed up by what John MacArthur said many years ago....that when Israel became a nation in 1948....God put the world on notice!
                It is really as simple as that. It didn't give us any specifics....and it didn't even stop us from at times going off into wild speculation....but it set in motion a learning curve that goes up....and then may flatten out before it goes up again....and here in the last of the last days....is rising almost exponentially!
                In the 70s and 80s they talked about the mark of the beast....and new technologies....and most everyone laughed. They pointed out a new and unified Europe would be formed....centering around ten nations....but that didn't make sense in a NATO-driven Western Civilization. They talked about earthquakes and pandemics and geological and meteorological and cosmic disasters....and everyone went...."Yawn." 
                Well....one would really have to be blind....particularly spiritually blind....way too involved in our own plans and goals....with literally no help from shepherds in our pulpits....to miss the technological and financial and nation-state dystopia that has already been unleashed!
                I'm not trying to convince anyone of some future deception and delusion and chaos and falling away in the church. It's too late for that. I'm trying to prepare the reader....so that we are not totally shocked by future events....and that whether we picked up on them or not....the fact....in retrospect....that God clearly warned us....and described events that will come....in detail....well beforehand....that that alone should renew our faith and our hope in He of whom not a single molecule in this universe can stay together unless He wills it to be so!
                And we can look at this from a totally different perspective. It is natural....and it is not evil....and it can even be good....to simply want to live a long life in peace and watch families grow....but if we more fully understood just how bad....artificial intelligence is for example....or transhumanism....or even drone warfare....pushing a button here in America....a couple miles away from a KFC or a Kroger....and killing a hundred people on the other side of the world...or the horror of mind manipulation through some new digital gadget or social media scheme....then we not only would not be depending on personal goals leading to retirement....but we would be....as they did in the days when the New Testament was written....look to....and yearn for....the coming back of the Lord Jesus Christ....in power and righteous judgment and glory....along with His mighty angels!
                So yes this is a rehashing....but then I have often thought of and taken to heart Peter's words....(2 Peter 1:12 NKJV)...."For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things....though you know and are established in the present truth."

An Extraordinary Turn Of Events

Preface: For those who follow the Jewish fasts and feasts....and solar and lunar eclipses....the saddest day in the Jewish calendar is coming up on July 12. Senator Lindsey Graham died only a few hours ago. Israel lost one of its strongest defenders....and Trump lost one of the few adults in the room. The following post....An Extraordinary Turn Of Events....is from June 15....a little less than a month ago:

                There is no real peace agreement....and there is no end of this war. This whole mess is a study in the absurd. No we do not know the details....but that does not matter.....because we know enough. Trump wants this to appear to be over....and now....during the World Cup and his White House gladiator battles....and before his July 4th celebration. It only has to last until the mid-terms.
                 This current conflict started on February 28....just before the Purim holiday that began two days later. What followed was a month of....shock and awe....and then came Passover....April 1-9....coinciding with Easter.....Sunday....April 5.....and texts from Trump that should have casted doubts by everyone on his sanity...."48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them. Glory be to God." This was an Easter message....the second is too vulgar to put up here but it does end with an odd mockery...."Praise be to Allah."
                  Something happened somewhere! Maybe powers that be....whoever or whatever those powers might be....got a hold of him and said....act like you are sane or leave now? At one moment he was threatening the entire population of Iran with extinction....a population....half of which probably supported him....and the next moment....right up to today....he was just trying to get out of this conflict? 
                  It turned out that he wasn't going to destroy the entire country of Iran....fair enough....but since then he basically gave up everything that had been gained by the....shock and awe? As I described it in an earlier post....these Iranian rulers were in effect....crawling around in the rubble....looking for air pockets....it was that bad....and somehow....they not only survived....but they seem as entrenched as they have ever been?
                  Trump had coaxed the Iranian people out into the streets....apparently....in retrospect....only to get slaughtered? How did this regime stay in power? I know I'm repeating myself....but it is truly amazing?

                  I have written for ten years now that Trump could not care less about Israel. We are no longer conservatives by any stretch of the imagination. Our....whatever we are today....our support for the state of Israel....is really in jeopardy! There are anti-Israel influencers literally everywhere....on our side! 
                  From a biblical perspective....America has....or is in the midst of....turning against Israel. If that is the case....it is the proverbial....last nail in the coffin....for us! All that God demanded of us was that we treated this nation....fairly. All that God has demanded of any nation....at any time....even in the Old Testament....was that they treat Israel....fairly! 
                  God does things in this world on Jewish feasts....and He....when He wants to....uses blood moons and solar eclipses as signs. It is something that one can look in the future to....but only with an increased alertness....and then when they do happen....which is often....one can look back on them in awe. For example....this is Trump's 80th birthday....and he was born on a blood moon....and he famously came down that golden escalator....right smack dab in the middle of evangelicalism....in the middle of that extraordinarily rare tetrad of blood moons on Jewish holidays in 2014 and 2015!
                  There will be a solar eclipse on August 12,,,,cutting a thin swath from Greenland ....to Iceland....and then northern Spain....but before that will come the Jewish fast day that looks back on nothing but tragedies to the Jewish people....this called the Ninth of Av....(Av being the Jewish month)....or as it is also known....Tisha B'Av....and this year the date is July 22. Considering the extraordinary turn of events in an already evolving maelstrom....it's a date to at least give us a solemn awareness of the times in which we live.

                  

                   There are hundreds of what are generally called....prophecy books.....out there. They range from very good to pure Gnosticism. Some are scholarly....even textbook type of books. J Barton Payne's 1973....Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy....would be one of them....Ron Rhodes....Daniel & Revelation another. Some are so popular that you can say that they have been read by the masses. Hal Lindsey's all-time classic....The Late Great Planet Earth....would be one....and also Tim LaHayes Left Behind series.  Some are the ultra-popular recent type....full of speculation and nonsense and worse....Jonathan Cahn's books would be like this. There are quite a number of solid books from Reformed scholars....excellent....and safe....but very limited....in that they are never going to believe that God is lifting veils on the Second Coming.
                   All I want to do here in this post is to highly recommend one author....and one particular book of his....his most recent. His name is Mark Biltz. He is the one who started the Blood Moon....craze....if you will....back in 2014. He was right on with his commentary on the prophetic importance of blood moons. That extraordinarily rare tetrad back in 2014/2015....of four consecutive blood moons....all on Jewish holidays....came and went....and people thought to themselves that nothing really happened. Well something did happen....as Donald Trump....came down that escalator....right into the middle of conservatism and evangelicalism....and proceeded in the past ten years to destroy and at least neuter both of them! I've read a lot of commentaries on the prophet Jeremiah....and Biltz's 2020....Decoding The Prophet Jeremiah....was the most helpful.
                    So please....spend a few bucks....and go out and buy....The Final Tyrant....Unmasking The Antichrist And His Last Days Agenda....and read it in no more than three days. Now that might be an odd thing to this say....but folks...it is long past time to start preparing for what is ahead! Put down the baubles and the novelties and the trivial and get to work.

                    There are a number of....'prophecy teachers'....out there who I think are honest and pretty good....but this Mark Biltz....a pastor and founder of El Shaddai Ministries....out in Washington state....is bringing up some things that no one else is touching....things that we need to consider right now! No one is perfectly right on this topic....Mark Biltz included....just as R. C. Sproul and John MacArthur....or Spurgeon and Lloyd-Jones....or even Calvin or Luther....were not perfect in their teaching....but we can do our very best to test everything....and pray in humility for wisdom and discernment....all to His glory....not to any author or teacher....and certainly not to us! 

             

Lord's Day Post

"I don't usually use the word but I have always had heroes....and one of the most long-standing of those may be Joni Eareckson Tada....that wonderful Christian woman about my age who at 17 years old became quadriplegic from a diving accident. I am always in awe at her faithfulness and her testimony." 

             The above paragraph is from a very recent post. I once asked a question in these posts...."Who will have more crowns in heaven....the Apostle Paul or Joni Eareckson Tada?". 
              As a brand new Christian....back in late 1982 to early 1983....and about to embark upon a near decade long study in apologetics and the cults....it was the devotional writing of Corrie ten Boom that captivated my newly beating heart the most....and in my forty-plus years now....it is probably Christian women friends that would come to mind when I think of praying Christians. So how do we reconcile Paul's words about women....particularly of some widows who...."cast off their first faith....and besides they learn to be idle....wandering about from house to house....and not only idle but gossips and busy-bodies....saying things which they ought not," (1 Timothy 5: 13,14 NKJV) Paul wrote glowingly about other women in the church and partners in his work....so why these comments?

              I'll give you three examples from my experience. In the first....this wonderful Christian woman....whose main desire to serve God was in spreading the good news of His salvation....had through the influence of others....primarily from charismatic women's cell groups....become as she thought....a leader and teacher in spiritual warfare. Everything was in the casting out of demons. I witnessed her and friends of hers literally march around a coffee table....casting out the demon of alcohol from some one not present....and they regularly marched around communities....casting out the demons in the air. 
                A second woman that I knew was from our church....a sweet children's Sunday School teacher....who when I met her years later....again after she moved to a charismatic church....it seemed that she could not say one paragraph without quoting something that the Holy Spirit had personally told her. Whatever it was....it could not be called a conversation that we had that day that I met her again.
                And a third....a seeming prayer warrior if there ever was one....who could not go a paragraph without offerings something up in prayer....and this over a few years....but she had no interest in finding a church....or listening to a sermon....or reading a book. Everything was prayer....the contents of which were developed from praise music....which was her only source of instruction in the faith. There came a day when added to her praying....was strong Christian advice for someone....instruction as if from God....the only problem was that it was bad advice....for she never had genuine instruction in the faith....only music induced emotion.
                  Paul gave more specific concerns about men....but in this culture today....they do not raise a red flag as comments on women might. I have more concerns about myself....and my own faithfulness....than these comments on wayward Christian women in the faith....but I feel that I need to at least address this issue....as I see many Christian women today....captivated and taken by the most anti-woman false prophet that one might even imagine....and this because music or some other alternative to steady sound doctrinal teaching....lured these women off of solid ground....into a swampy quagmire of doctrinal compromise and misplaced passions.

Note: I'll add here an anecdote on the very best Sunday School that I ever attended....this back in the early-to-mid-90s. She was elderly....probably 80 years old at least....and she waddled instead of walked. The church had a wonderful pastor....the best preacher that I have ever sat before....but there was a mixture of newly reformed and general evangelicals in the session of elders. So it was hard to find Sunday School teacher for the adults....but this lady stood up and said....'ley me try.' So each Lord's Day morning....as the dozen or so of us were already seated....she waddled into the basement Sunday School class.....set her little cassette tape player on the table....inserted a teaching by R. C. Sproul....and we all were greatly blessed!

Young George Washington

Preface: I had called every Barnes & Noble around....one was an hour away....to see if they had a copy of Maggie Haberman's (along with Jonathan Swan) new book....Regime Change....but all of them had sold out. It's not like me. I'm usually at the book store the very day a new book comes out that I want. It's the same with movies....and today was the first day for....Young Washington....and my wife and I were there. I thought it a very good film....on a subject that even when I was young....the schools did not do justice to the importance of the battle. I don't think that there was any political message in the film. One side might say that the film proves that we have to fight for our liberties and freedoms.....and the other side might say that before we fight....we need good and decent and honest men like George Washington. The film began at the Battle of the Monongahela....(and then looked backwards)....fought in what is now Braddock, Pennsylvania....the very field on which my father was born....and just over the hill from where I was raised. The following was first posted on April 2, 2015....74 days before Donald Trump famously came down that escalator in the atrium of the Trump Tower....which I find interesting:

The Battle Of The Monongahela

                 My father was raised in a small community in Western Pennsylvania called North Braddock, which is on the Monongahela River only a few miles from Pittsburgh. The house that he was raised in was on the site of one of the most important battles ever fought on American soil. Never heard of it? Don't worry, most people living in that area never heard of it either, at least they aren't aware of the significance of it. The battle really doesn't even have a name but is generally known as the Battle Of The Monongahela. George Washington was an aide to General Edward Braddock who was the 'Generalissimo' of all British and American forces in Colonial America, and who was mortally wounded in the battle. Daniel Boone, before he became famous, drove a wagon in service to the British soldiers in the campaign, and many in the campaign fought a few years later on both sides of the American war for independence!
         In the 1750s the French had their sights on the territory west of the Allegheny mountain ranges. The forks of the Ohio River which is Pittsburgh today was a key focal point for their strategy. The British knew this and assembled what would be the largest British military force ever gathered in the colonies, over 2000 British and American soldiers, and put them under General Braddock to drive the French from Fort Duquesne. They, the Braddock Expedition as the force was called, were to hack their way over the mountains and up the Monongahela River. It would turn out to be more than a disaster. The British in their bright red uniforms and the Americans in their blue uniforms crossed the Mon (as we know it in Pittsburgh) just past Turtle Creek and then shortly after that, to the cadence of the drums, they marched back across the river (it was only knee deep at the time). It was here on the east banks of the river that they were ambushed by the French and Indians.
         Thomas E. Crocker, author of Braddock's March, How The Man Sent To Seize A Continent Changed American History, described the battle as pure pandemonium among the British and Americans, almost 500 of whom died in the battle. The enemy lost only 11! The British would like to forget this battle... one of the worst defeats in their history.... and Americans were not that interested in remembering it either.... but the importance of what happened in that battle cannot be overestimated.
         As a child my father had played on those streets below the bluffs from which the French and Indians had descended upon the British and Americans. My mother went to dances on what was at one time a battlefield, and later met my father at Braddock Hospital where he was recovering from injuries sustained in the Pacific in World War II? She passed away last year but only a few years ago we visited the house that she grew up in which was only yards away from the bluff where one could see most of what had been the battlefield.
         George Washington's reputation as being invincible began at the Battle Of The Monongahela as he survived with bullet holes in his coat and horses shot out from under him, but this post isn't really about George Washington...or the battle itself as history....but rather the battle as a study in chaos and pandemonium. The British and Virginia officers stood their ground but could not bring order to the men who could not see their enemy who hid behind the trees. Many were killed by friendly fire. The British had all the skills and all the knowledge and more than enough firepower but were decimated because chaos was all around them. That is the reason for this post. Christians will one day experience such chaos and pandemonium....and that day may be in the very near future. We need to know this...and we are not being told!
           Mankind hasn't changed. As brilliant as he can be, he can be just as foolish. We read in Scripture about the very last of the last days and think that we have it all down pat. An evil man arises and takes over the world....he demands that everyone have a mark placed on them in order to buy or sell anything.....Christians say no....he kills many of them....and then Jesus Returns. Only it is not going to be as easy as just recognizing the Antichrist and saying no, for just as the British and Americans experienced chaos and pandemonium on the banks of the Monongahela, so will Christians in the great delusion of the last days. Family and friends will be taken in...making it much harder! "This...mark... is just technological progress in a digital age" they'll be told. 'friendly fire' will be everywhere. Confusion will reign supreme. Friends....we fall for just about anything now...and this deception is minor compared to what the church will one day experience!
          From personal observation of end-times conversations over the past thirty years, and even recollections of my own thoughts when I held to a Pre-Trib Rapture, I don't remember the topic of the Christian experiencing chaos and pandemonium being at or even near the top of the list. That's probably because the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory tends to make Christians a little less worried about something they won't even be around to experience. That's the short message of this post...if our Lord's return is near, the pandemonium and confusion ahead may be so great that we may even question our own decisions! Whatever generation experiences this will need to know....beforehand.... what God has written to us about those days.... and discernment does not readily come while one's main interests and passions are on the baubles of this world and not on God's Word.

Note: If you are in a reading mood....two older books that you might consider are....

George Washington's Sacred Fire....2006....by Peter A. Lillback....and....as mentioned in the post...

Braddock's March....2009....by Thomas E. Crocker

By the way....streaming....A Great Awakening....is now available on Prime....and a few other streaming sources that I am not familiar with.

"Easy To Do Justice....Very Hard To Do Right"

                       Even an infant needs a passport to travel outside of the United States or its territories. If a South American woman gives birth while here....she does not need a passport to take her child home....but if she stays and claims the child to be a United States citizen....and later wants to travel back to South America....she would need a passport for the child. I believe that would be the case anyway. I always....going way back....looked at the 'birthright' issue to be indicative of the greatness of America. This was such a special place that even if one is just born here....they have the right to be a citizen. I don't have an opinion as to the actual constitutionality of the birthright issue....in spite of all that is written about it in the news....because I haven't been able to fully understand all the particulars....but I know this from God's Word....because I do understand the particulars....if a widow needs help....give it to her. If the poor need help....give it to them. If a child needs help....give it to him or her. We know that if the government tells us to do something against God's Word....then we should not do it....but in this case....are we not demanding of the government that it does something against God's Word? God's Word says in effect that if a man asks for a loaf of bread....give it to him....but Paul said that if a man does not work.....do not give him a loaf of bread? These are not contradictory statements. The Christian has the mind of Christ to see this. We need the mind of Christ to deal with this birthright issue....not the mind of Donald Trump. There was a movie about thirty years ago....based on a play of about a hundred years ago....where the chief protagonist on the legal issue of the plot.....made this statement...."Easy to do justice....very hard to do right." It might possibly be easy to do justice on this issue of birthright citizenship....but it is very hard to do right....yet that is what we have to endeavor to do!

I Have Seen The Elderly......And They Ain't Me

                   I have heard this plea numerous times from elderly people....hmm....before I continue....I probably should define or at least categorize the word elderly. I just put the word into Google....and AI said that it generally means people over 65 years old! I'm 76....and write about elderly people in a fair number of these posts....and they ain't me! Even Donald Trump is not elderly....a demented sot....paranoia-plagued and forgetful that he told the very same lie five minutes before....but not elderly. Joe Biden is elderly.
                   Now that we got that straight....I have sat and talked to real elderly people many times....and there is either a great sadness there....if they are not Christian....or a great joy....if they are. Some have been kind and gentle.....others irascible. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said once from his pulpit....later in life....that he had found that people generally died the way they lived. That is mostly what I have seen also.
                   He lived to 81 years of age....and I guess that you could say that he was elderly when he died....but he still powerfully preached the Word of God! John MacArthur was not....elderly....at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020....but he appeared elderly in his last few years in the pulpit....and preached a couple of his most powerful sermons while speaking softly and pausing often between sentences.
                    It appears that being elderly is not just phyical....but a state of mind. My state of mind wants to help a 65 year old carry her groceries....because I may need that help some day....when I get to be that age?  I finally....a few years ago....accepted the fact that I will never go back into the army. I would like to know about two or three languages...."Te puedo hablar de Jesucristo?" I've been saying that for 55 years now. I should probably start with English.....but I ain't even going to do that!
                     I obviously digress....please bear with me....that plea that I have often heard....from a real elderly person....who might be in pain....and lack any mobility....or any physical strength at all....is....'Why is God waiting to take me?'

                     Forty years ago I ran a marathon. There were probably 8,000 to 10,000 other runners in it. I finished second to the last. I could have finished fourth to the last....but there was an elderly white-haired couple before me at the end....a real elderly couple....at least 76....and they were holding hands as they waddled towards the finish line. Had I....a 35 year old....passed them at the last minute....I would probably have been booed. I ran a lot at the time....and the first eight miles went real well....but I was not ready for a marathon!
                      Most of the elderly that I talk to....and hear them give that plea....on why God does not take them....are not Christian.....maybe outwardly they proclaimed their whole life to be Christian.....but they also....their whole long life....have shown absolutely no signs of being born again at all! They were just church-goers....that prayed before a Thanksgiving meal.
                       So I'll look at them....and try my best....recently as a matter of fact...and explain to them that the answer to that plea that Jesus Christ might give to them....is a merciful answer....that they are not ready to stand before Him in judgment!
                       Do you know a better answer to give them? That's the best that I can do....but I am thankful that they asked that sad question....for it is at least an opportunity. Just asking an elderly person who is about to die...."Would you like to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior" is not enough! That would be like me saying to an elderly person on the way to a  regular doctor checkup....'I think I'll bring an umbrella....just in case." 
                       They need to know....you need to know....I need to know....that upon leaving this life....all the excuses are gone. Everything will be blindingly obvious from the power of the righteous King of Kings before us! So if anyone is going to pray...."Lord....why don't you take me right now?"....they might want to change that a little to...."Lord....if you are going to take me....make me acceptable in your presence....and if I am not acceptable in your presence....if my belief in you is no different than the belief that devils have....then please do not take me...."I believe....help my unbelief!" Mk 9:24 ESV