It Doesn't Seem Like America Anymore

The photo below is the tree today (photo taken a few years ago) that I wrote about in the 2012 post that follows. It sits on a small rise....so the photo does not do justice to the crow's nest of sorts that it was in the day. This is Cheektowaga, New York....bordering Buffalo on the west side....the main Buffalo airport on the east of where the photo is taken....so close to where I grew up that I could easily walk to it. Today....almost as near as I could spit from the tree....on the other side of two-lane....dug deep into the landscape....is a major six lane Buffalo highway.

          

                      It wasn't a vision and it wasn't a daydream. It was an awakening of sorts for an eleven year old boy. My guess is that it was December, for the giant snowflakes would not have moved me so in the middle of a winter that had already seen many snowstorms come in off of Lake Erie. The year was probably 1961. There must not have been any friends available to pal around with for I was walking aimlessly as the snow was falling fast and sticking. The tree could not have been more than  twenty feet...more of a big bush than a tree but it still stood above the flat Buffalo landscape. The ground was barely covered by the fresh snow but those large flakes landing on the bare limbs made climbing the tree...bush...inviting....and I did.
                     I sat on the highest limb that would support me. To my right was the apartment complex that I had grown up in, three story red brick buildings placed almost as a maze with plenty of grass in between, perfect for young boys to play football on. If there was anyone outside with me that day they are no longer in my memory. Looking to my right, towards the red brick, gave me feelings of security for almost everyone knew their neighbor. Looking to my left was almost as a frontier. (photo) It was just a very large, seemingly endless, open field that I had explored often finding and breaking open the most interesting rocks. Directly behind me was the United States Post Office where the Stars and Stripes flew proudly above even the apartment buildings. Often, when the flag was not raised, we would swing like Tarzan from the ropes until the local police cruiser pulled in and then we ran.
                    I pondered the beauty of the snowflakes that day. It was as if I never experienced anything majestic before. I remember gazing off over the open field as if I were in the crows nest of the Mayflower looking off to see if I could spot the new world. I revisited that spot and that tree not too many years ago, almost wanting to climb it again. Instead I stood at its base and tried to put myself back into 1961. I looked to my right and it seemed as if not a single thing had changed, for the red brick buildings looked exactly as they always had. No new buildings had been added nor any taken down. Only one change was immediately obvious, the line of metal trees with clothesline connecting them was gone. I looked off to my left and there was no field whatsoever, only a six lane highway dug into the ground so that if you looked straight out you saw houses in the distance but if you walked a little bit closer it was if another world existed beneath the surface of my boyhood. The frontier was domesticated, its treasures pillaged.
                   Oh there was one more change. Looking behind me, the Post Office was gone along with the flagpole and Stars and Stripes. I had the feeling that the people living in these same red brick buildings did not know each other anymore....just a feeling. Had I climbed that tree I would have had to look down into that abyss of vehicles as hundreds of people came into my life and vanished just as quickly without my even getting to see what they looked like. I didn't feel secure anymore as strangers were to my right with the faceless to my left. There was no flag representing America towering over me, no eagle ready to attack a lurking enemy. Nor could I run home and watch Gunsmoke where the good guy always won. I wasn't lost for I knew where I was. It was America that was lost, buried under the soil that provided the ditch for the highway that took everyone somewhere but no one really anywhere that looked like America anymore.

A Dose Of Reality

                It was just a day trip.....going back in time fifty years to 1976....and the Pitt campus....and our wedding at the Heinz Chapel. We walked along and pointed out where we took these classes or those classes....but most of all we went back to see what Hillman Library looked like after a seven year renovation....that included a major glass addition.
                I had gone to high school only two blocks from the Pitt campus....so that is almost eight years in Oakland....and I have a photo from 1966.....as a high school sophomore....where on a snowy winter day....my buddies and I were waiting for the Port Authority bus....(we all commuted)....and someone had a Polaroid....so the photo is of us standing before construction fencing....as they were building the Hillman Library! Less than ten years later....after the army....I met my future wife in that library....(where we both worked part-time as students)....that was just being built! So I took a similar photo today.
                We started on the fourth floor of Hillman....half of which contained the periodicals back in 1976....and probably much later....but periodicals in paper form must be outmoded....for there was only three aisles! I used to spend whole days shelving volumes of Time and Life and all the rest! So we walked down to the third floor....where there once was a little office....to get out instructions on what to do....but all of that was gone.....replaced by glass walls and comfortable chairs....comfortably spaced....everywhere....throughout the whole library of four floors and a ground floor!
                  Where were the books? We did find a few tucked away here and there! It was beautiful....no doubt about that....but it looked more like a grand student union than a library.
                  We also visited probably the grandest university building in the world....the Cathedral of Learning....a 42 story....535 foot tall Gothic structure....(check the images out on Google sometime)....and there didn't appear to be an iota of change from when I would choose a nook to study....yeah study....right....I spent half the time watching the girls walk by....and the other half reading some current event book that I picked up at the National Record Mart just up Forbes Avenue a block!
                   Still....it was a bit of culture shock. I guess that everything is online today....I even recommended Google which obviously we did not have back then. Is this good or bad? Well I've been a defender of the written word over the image for a long time. One question does come to mind....what if we do not have the Internet someday? How would we research anything?
                   I turned the following into a post years ago....but this little amateurish essay was written long before I started these posts....probably the early to mid-90s:

N...E...W...P...A...R...A...D...I...G...M

     The police cruiser pulled up to the curb. There were no markings on it as it was only identifiable by its colors as were the uniforms of the officers. The license plates were holograms that could only be discerned by the hand held scanners carried by most citizens. Immediately, two officers emerged from the car and spray painted over the obsolete and illegal, five-foot graffiti letter "R." scrawled on the wall of the city newspaper, The Image.  The "R" did not stand for anything in particular for "words" were no longer in existence in written form. The year is 2040. Ten years had passed since alphabets, words, and any symbolism other than images, were banned. Anarchists, as they were called, were active but dwindling in number and would occasionally paint a letter or a number on walls to show disdain for the new society of the "image."
     The cataclysmic cultural change came under the headline of "evolving paradigm." The beginning of the 21st century had seen a religious awakening of immense proportions. Traditionalists battled New Classers in the political arena and lost. The "written word" of the religious was deemed the culprit in slowing the evolution of the new paradigm. Had the battle been relegated to words, the Traditionalists would have won. The New Classers, with the help of the media and Higher Education, forced the venue of argument to images. In what may have been the biggest mistake of any ideological conflict, the religionists acquiesced and entered the arena of the image. Television and film captured the sparring between the two sides. The religionists were no match for a debate of images, whether actual film footage or dramatized productions, for the human mind could only go so far in analysis of images. Their most powerful weapon, the written word, sat impotent and useless. The "Image Party," as they were now called, controlled the Congress. The most powerful cabinet position in the Executive Branch became the newly formed Department of the Academy.
     There was a celebration of power going on among academics who were widely viewed as liberators of the mind. It took years, but books were gradually replaced by instruction players of all kinds. New technologies made it possible for instruments the size of a pack of gum, to not only voice instruct, but send a beam of instructive film footage on any blank wall. There was no evening newspaper, rather a slide that fit into any inexpensive player and gave all the news with pictures and commentary on the living room wall. One would choose a certain spaghetti sauce by the picture of either ingredients or a graphic chosen for the taste. They would press the red "instruction dot" on the package to hear directions for preparations. Traveling upon the highway, one might see the image for Pittsburgh or Buffalo on signs. They would travel at a speed indicated by the color of signs. If stopped for a violation, they would produce a drivers license that spoke to the officer.
     That transition had not come easily. Multitudes rebelled at first but the power of Higher Education relegated those who clung to the written word to servile jobs. Even the most staunch Traditionalists encouraged the children to seek the "best" in life. Children ten years old and younger had no idea what the alphabet was. Teens would watch their favorite football team and discern who the players were by the personalized images on the jerseys.  A request to turn on CBS would fall on deaf ears for it was simply Columbia. They no longer associated a "letter" with anything. Numbers existed but as sounds. How did one add or subtract? They simply spoke into a "cypher recorder" and it spoke back. America led the way and the world followed, happy that this former bastion of patriotism and religion had transformed itself.
     Problems with the "new image" paradigm first occurred in the courts. A jury trial would seem normal as it progressed, save for the lack of paper in anyone's hand. The problem was in the mind of the juror. For ten years, the power to analyze remained dormant. They would initially beam with interest as the trial proceeded but when the time for deliberations came, they would sit befuddled. Their inability to analyze could not scratch the surface of intricate problems. they could not easily come to any decisions whether guilty or innocent. Such decisions were becoming rare. Mistrials were flooding the courts and crime was practically impossible to punish. The Image Party countered by doing away with jury trials in many states and letting judges decide the matter. Judges experienced the same problem as juries and convictions increased only because quotas were imposed on judges and they arbitrarily met those quotas.
     Academia squirmed in their chairs over this problem. they were already beset with "grading" problems since no letters remained. Diplomas had to resort to waxen images of the institution. The "great advances" of the New Class had returned society to the imprimatur of the Roman Caesar. The sciences fared no better, The first generation of scientists under the new paradigm took technology to heights not even previously imagined. The second generation could use the new technology but expand upon it not one iota.
     The family suffered the most. There came to be no distinction between father and mother. To begin with, same sex marriages had increased to half of what traditional marriages were. No one could explain adequately to children why they should be obedient. Even the former president of Harvard, now the Secretary of the Academy, wept openly as one  of his students received a Rhodes Scholarship for his work on "the Future Possibility of the Eradication Of Human Conception In Favor Of Satellite Wombs."
     The officers returned their spray paint cans to their sacks when a man emerged from the shadows and began to shout "A...B...C" The officers immediately pounced upon him and dragged him to the car. "D...E...F" he continued. They threw him down before the magistrate who said "You are being charged with speaking letters." How do you plead?  "G...U...I...L...T...Y" he answered. He was held for trial but acquitted for the judges quota had already been reached. The government did not stop at this and he was incarcerated anyway. He appealed. The Supreme court had one more case to fill their docket and he was the last petitioner. The case, "The Government vs the Letter" made nightly news. Television cameras surrounded the justices as both parties squared off. The petitioner chose to represent himself and spelled out every word of his defense. The Government objected but the court, whose average age was 37, could not agree as to if the defense procedure was admissible. The petitioner continued. Americans watched on their screens as letters were brought fresh to their memories. the court received millions of pieces of mail in the ensuing week. Most of these were not made with oral messages of the day but deliberately scrawled letters forming words. The judges sat in their chambers reviewing the case but could not block out the sound of thousands of people outside shouting "A...B...C...D."
    The whole nation awaited the court's decision. Where had the New Class gone wrong? They had successfully obliterated letters and books. How could such an immense groundswell of support for  a return to this archaic paradigm exist? The man who had initiated this furor sat in a pew. His was one head in hundreds looking to the man in a pulpit wearing a black robe who preached from the Bible. Not from a book but from God's computer chip of the mind, the memory. He would recite verses and the people would complete the verses from memory. The church was packed with journalists standing around the back in order to see the petitioner when the Supreme Court came down with the decision. A snippet of the service was played on the national news. Academics from across America sat and watched and nearly to a man and woman, it became clear to them that they had failed to silence the most powerful conduit for Traditionalist thinking of all. They originally thought "Go ahead...preach. what good will it do without the antiquated corresponding symbols?" They had miscalculated. The power was obviously in the preached word, not the symbols. Fear enveloped the New Class as they watched this demonstration.
     Letters were being shouted across the land. Automobile drivers would stop at red lights and yell out their windows "S...T...O...P" and then "G...O..." when the light changed. Cashiers at grocery stores would say "S...E...V...E...N...D...O...L...L...A...R...S...P...L...E...A...S...E" and customers would reply "T...H...A...N...K...Y...O...U."  The populace was revolting. Word was in that a decision had been returned from the Supreme Court. It seemed that the whole world was tuning in. Supreme Court Chief Justice Katlyn Jones stood and glared at the media present. She then said "In the case of "The Government vs the Letter".....we find in favor of the.....P...E...T...I...S...I...O...N...E...R." Celebrations took place in every city and small town in America. Masses of people rushed their municipal buildings and state houses. not with guns, but with books long since secretly stored in dusty attics. Thus was the fall of the New Class and beginnings of a new hope.

Lord's Day Post......This Is No Longer A Drill!

                I know that you are probably tired of hearing about things like this....forty years ago....prayers were often offered in the church for Israel....but then....we also talked about the cults....and prophecy and the Second Coming....and the holiness of God....the majesty of Christ....and most of all the need for one to be born again. Apologetics....the defense of the faith....was in many of the books that we read....and local churches often had a revival or a weekend conference on any of the above. Those things are not the....talking points....of today....for we now talk mostly about family and freedom and patriotism and politics and blessings that God gives....and will continue to give us.
                One might think....considering the extremely existential seriousness of the situation for Israel and the world....that churches would be praying without ceasing.....but that does not appear to be the case. Even in my own church there was no mention today of Israel in our worship service. There was back then....forty years ago and thereabouts....a great concern. There was a concern for the people....for their salvation. If the state of that nation was important to God....which it obviously is....one would think that it should be important to us....but today we are more into confident smiles than concern of judgment...."Praise God for this beautiful day!"....but the joy in the Lord....that we once had....has transitioned into....the joy that the Lord gives us....a subtle but distinct difference!
                My wife and I attended a Southern Gospel concert last evening....for we like Southern Gospel music....and do this fairly often. The particular concert was in a church that I have known about for forty years....and had been in attendance there for various things over the years. Probably 90% of the people there were our age or older. We arrived early and I had the opportunity to look at these blessed....(two syllables)....people as they by design entered the only door to the sanctuary available to them. And I prayed for many of them....one family with a Down syndrome son....(I kept praying for them)....and others in wheelchairs....with a lifetime of worship in that church behind them....and I prayed for the family singing group....and the pastor and the elders.
               Outside in the parking lot was my vehicle with this website URL bumper stickers on the back. I had about thirty minutes before the concert to think about the people....mostly older saints....and the message that I am always trying to get to anyone....that a maelstrom is just about upon us....and great sadness and grief along with it. 
               I closed my eyes a couple of times....purposely examining what I was doing....or attempting to do with these posts....in essence.....rock their worlds....with that which my life was once rocked not all that may years ago....the end of a pleasant and even idyllic American life....of two vehicles.....and vacations....and dreams and goals...retirements.....and the extended future of the families of children....their children.....and their children after that.
                That life is America is a thing of the past....and it wasn't what we bragged it to be anyway. It took many decades....but in this modern life....we kept compiling idol after idol....inventing idols that were never available before....professional sports being them most obvious. I know many men....Christian men....whose entire life has essentially revolved around one particular sport....and maybe one particular team in that sport....and they have talked themselves into believing that it is blessing from God? Today you can gamble from your La-Z-Boy. We have literally hundreds of television channels with which to worship an idol. It is not the same America. Much of the technology today that we are so excited about....is killing us softly with its hum.
                So I come to grips with what I have to do....what anyone would have to do.....knowing what they know....knowing what I know....what God's Word so very plainly tells those who have not cluttered the windshield of their lives with little rubber ducks given to them by those who admire their vehicle. It's certainly not what they want to hear....and it is not in line with an edifying evening of Southern Gospel....but it is what they have to hear....Jesus is near....and that this is no longer a drill....to at least give them a chance to weep at what we have become....pack up and leave Vanity Fair....and look around to see who we might be traveling with?

                 
            

In God's Perefect Design....Some Of Our Theology....Is Imperfect

I would like here to repeat a humorous story that Billy Graham once told to seminary students and faculty and guests....as he was receiving an honorary doctorate.  A man heads south for his annual hunting trip....and he asks of the proprietor of the lodge he was staying at if they had a hunting dog named....Preacher....that he could use. The owner said...."No.....I don't believe that we have a dog named....Preacher"....to which the man said...."Oh but I heard that you had an excellent hunting dog named....Preacher"....of which the owner then said...."Oh yes....come to think of it....we did have a good dog named Preacher.....but then someone came down here and called him....Doctor....and he ain't been a lick of good since."          

               You have heard the lament I'm sure....that there are so many denominations. We will say that the church is supposed to be united....one....and we have messed that up.....but I believe the issue is much more complex than that.....for example....if we had a situation today....protestant or any church...such as it was with Rome....then just as with any governing power throughout history that had absolute power....including our current president....that absolute power would be corrupted. In God's perfect design....in paradoxical form....some of our theology....a little or a lot in everyone....is imperfect.
                On Israel and the church for instance....the truths seem to be very plain in God's Word....in that Israel as a people will be redeemed at the time of the end....and that miraculously....Israel as a state will once again come into being before this happens. Now here is where the Billy Graham humor comes in....as some of the....not all....'doctors'....of the church take these simple and plain truths....and theologize them into all sorts of catechetical and confessional doctrines....that replace the perspicuity with perspiration....literal perspiration as we try to figure out what they are talking about.
                 Yes....the same covenant of grace that saves us....saved the Jews with faith in the Old Testament. No....the church did not replace them....and also no....we did not just fulfill God's promises to them. Yes the Jews were "grafted out" because of their unbelief....but we had better be careful....because God still has a redemptive purpose for them. Many Christian scholars knew of these things long before May 14 of 1948.
                 The world will turn on Israel in the end-times....and that is happening right now....and it will appear to be the end of Israel....but then God Himself will intervene....not through any ally....as all these armies coming to Jerusalem....will be supernaturally destroyed....and the world will be amazed! A number of the Old Testament prophets described these coming events.
                 Here is something else that is very plain in God's Word....and very basic....and also ignored or obfuscated on our side. If a nation....any nation.....blesses these people....it will be blessed....and if it curses these people...it will itself be cursed. Russia is a prime example....as it cursed the Jewish people for a long time....centuries actually....prior to and after the Bolshevik Revolution....and that nation and its people have been cursed for well over a hundred years now. Germany? Germany was destroyed for what it did. America? 
                 George Washington had empathy for the Jewish people....as did Abraham Lincon....as did Harry Truman....and many American Christians. We will be celebrating 250 years shortly....Lord willing....but the tide has turned....and we are in danger of cursing Israel. God's Word told us that Jerusalem would be a stumbling block to the whole world....but instead of seeing this as a prophecy being fulfilled....we double-down on Israel today as to having any biblical significance?
                 There are not and never were any permanent answers for the Middle East. The best that we could hope for was longer stretches of no war....but this whole paradigm shift in culture and governments and the financial system....threatens to void that empathy for Israel. The prophets had an answer for that too....in that God will hold those nations responsible for either ignoring the plight of Israel....or worse yet....laughing at....(taking satisfaction in their woes)....or even worse yet....taking part in their demise!

Addendum: Maybe you have seen the 2000 disaster film....The Perfect Storm. On October 28, 1991....a low pressure system developed suddenly off of Nova Scotia....while Hurricane Grace was forming off of Bermuda....and a high pressure system was forming over the Great Lakes. This took meteorologists by surprise....and the result was that a hurricane was formed that was never given a name....other than....The Perfect Storm. On the same day that the storm smashed into New England....President George H. W. Bush officially started the Madrid Peace Conference....pressuring Israel to attend....which began a series of peace conferences based around Israel's ceding land to the Palestinians....and on that same day....The Perfect Storm's seawall slammed into President Bush's vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine....smashing windows and flooding the entire first floor....causing significant damage. That conference continued....and moved to Washington D. C. on August 24, 1992....the same day that Hurricane Andrew made landfall in Florida! There are just too many of these....coincidences....to ignore....and you can read about them in more detail in a 2006 book by John P. McTernan....As America Has done To Israel. You can order the paperback from Amazon for $9.

We Wanted A Businessman To Be Our President

                  Friedrich....later Frederick Trump was born in Germany. He came to America and then to the Klondike Gold Rush....with thousands of others....to make his fortune....which he did....only he didn't mine gold....but served the miners with a restaurant and a brothel. He returned to New York....and then went back to Germany with the intent of applying for permanent residency....but they kicked him out....because he had originally left Germany to avoid their draft. He met and married Elizabeth Christ....and returned to New York....and established a real estate business. In 1918....a hundred years before the covid pandemic....he collapsed on a New York street and died from the Spanish Flu pandemic. A hundred years later....while dilly-dallying for months in the beginning of the coronavirus....Donald did not even know that his own grandfather died in a pandemic.
                  Frederick and Elizabeth had Fred Trump....who when his father died....he partnered with his mother in running the real estate business....and then she became chairman of the board....as he became the president of the company. Over the many years....Fred....in a shady manner....took advantage of any loophole that he could. He was investigated in 1954 by a senate committee for profiteering on the many programs designed to help returning WW II veterans....and was investigated again in 1961 by the state of New York for the same reasons. There were no charges brought. In 1971 he and Donald were accused of discrimination in their many rental units by not renting to blacks. This issue was settled.
                   Over his entire adult life....Donald would con you if he had to....or schmooze you....or threaten or buy you off. He had multiple failures but would cut his losses and leave others holding the bag. He was not successful when they designed the TV show The Apprentice....but they chose Donald because of his celebrity name. Both father and son would underestimate financial figures if it benefitted them....or overestimate them if they needed a loan. That is exactly how President Trump runs his administration. We conservatives wanted a businessman for a change to be our president......well we got one.

The Wrong Communion

               I had never read....Hillbilly Elegy....possibly because of what I knew it to be....that it might hit a little too close to home....but I had a high opinion of it from what people told me....and therefore of J. D. Vance. I thought he did well in his debate with Tim Walz....in fact the whole debate was a welcome relief in this attack age. My wife and I reserved seats to hear Vance speak at a Black church....and were in the line.....about twenty people from the door....when someone came out and said that they had miscalculated the numbers as they relate to the fire codes....so we did not get in.
               I just finished.....(7AM Wednesday morning).....Vance's autobiographical new book....just released yesterday....Communion....Finding my Way back To Faith....but my opinion of our Vice President had changed quite a while ago. His temper tantrum in the golden Oval Office with Zelensky is not addressed but explained by his life. The book is maybe 50% his personal family life and religious history....30% various social issues....and 20% tops....anything related to politics. 
               I knew what to expect on his conversion to Rome....for it is a normal passage for people who are searching in all the wrong places....and I'll comment on that....but what hit me out of the blue....that I had not considered before....was that ten years ago this was a man that was still trying to mature...who had decided that being a lawyer....after Yale law school and two years of practice....was not for him....and he had made a lot of money through investing in a short period of time.....who within 17 pages of the book....where he was not forthcoming at all about the details on who helped him and how all of this happened....he went from being an investor to a candidate for the Senate....to a Senator....to on the short list for Trump's VP.....to being the Vice President! And now he is on the short list for Republican nominees for president....all in ten years? It is a sobering thought.
                 As for his religious conversion....he had a typical evangelical youth experience at various churches and youth gatherings....with no sound teaching in his life at all....except possibly a sermon here or there....and a little bit of the normal Left Behind hysteria....abandoned while in the army what little of evangelicalism he had in his system....took that emptiness into college and law school....and then....picked a religion that suited his high opinion and confidence in his own intellectual abilities and capabilities. It....(Rome)....was intellectually challenging....(that was necessary)....very tradition oriented....(something he wanted in  his life)....and he had plenty of friends and acquaintances who could encourage him in this area....but it seems none....to give him the biblical gospel of salvation.
                He apparently reads a lot....but once again....not the right books. He made this comment...."I found Lewis (C.S. Lewis)....(whom he read and quoted often)....thoughtful and compelling. But his books weren't the Christianity I'd been exposed to at him." That is an understatement about the great Oxford apologist. His books can stir the mind....but by themselves they are a soup or a casserole without all the ingredients. In another place he wrote...."As a child, I learned that the devil perfected the art of deception." Next to that sentence I put a note in the book....DJT....meaning he knew of deception....but was taken in by the greatest con man of all. I wound up putting that....DJT....for Donald John Trump....in quite a few places in the book....in areas that Vance had contradicted his own beliefs in binding himself to Trump.
                 He gives a very weak explanation on how he can go from thinking that Trump is bad....to thinking that Trump is good. So much of the book was about his wonderful and brilliant wife....so much that I once thought...."enough already".....but does he care about his wife's eternal soul?  I think that the answer to that is probably....yes....but the problem is that he knows how to be devout....and say many of the correct truths and superlatives about God....but chose a convenient method of salvation of faith and works....that does not save.
                  This is a very easy book to read. J. D. Vance does write well....maybe that should have been his primary calling. I address this issue of Roman Catholicism through novel form....and in detail....in my novella....Isaac Crockett....which can be read in a couple of hours if you are ever interested.

Addendum: Back in the 80s and 90s the debate....at times contentious and always lively....between evangelical protestants and Roman Catholics....was literally everywhere. We were all familiar with what was going on....for it was in the news often. John MacArthur and R. C. Sproul led the way with their ministries. Both are gone home now. Will the church today continue to...."Contend for the faith"....(Jude 3)....or will the current....falling away....extend even to the defense of the gospel itself?

Here is an example from this tech age that we live in....of the differences on the two gospels of salvation. You have an IT device....a thermostat maybe....with a few controls....in one set you put the desired temperature....and then there is a delete button....and then there is a save button. The instructions are to put in the temp that you want....and then save it....(faith in Jesus Christ alone)....but the instructions from Rome are that you put in the desired temp....but then you push the delete button....(adding works of various kinds)....and then push the save button! Nothing is saved....neither is anyone saved by these instructions! Fortunately....and praise God for His mercies upon us....many in Rome do not follow the instructions given them....for they just put in the temp....and then save it.

Are There Any Men Out There In The Pulpits....Men Who Have Attained Some Sort Of Gravitas....Who Will Tell The Church What It Needs To Hear?

              I feel that I need to return to this topic.....but let me expand a little on the recollections. We can go back ten years to get but a glimpse....but let's go back thirty years instead....to get more of a full-orbed view of the blessing.
              My wife and I owned and operated a Christian bookstore....about a quarter mile from our home where I am typing this...and there were at least six other Christian bookstores within a twenty minute drive. The Christian bookstore in America was a great supply line....and evangelistic tool....(I was one of its captives)....in the wonderful movement of mercy and blessing that God had given America in the 70s and 80s and 90s. There may be a few of those bookstores left....a very few....and I would now have to travel two hours to visit one....but effectively the concept is dead.....and consequently that supply line....cut off!
              We have no real effective information Christian theology source today for the uninitiated....or the seeker. No one is going to be wandering through a mall and possibly stop in a store where God's glorious truths will catch them. Christians today are no longer able to walk into a Christian bookstore....looking for a religious birthday or anniversary or sympathy card....and walk out with John MacArthur's....Ashamed Of The Gospel....or R. C. Sproul's....Knowing Scripture....or Josh McDowell's....Evidence That Demands A Verdict....or a book by David Wells or Iain Murray or Hank Hanegraaff....or a hundred others.
               Thirty years ago Billy Graham was still saturating America with his crusades...and writing his books that warned us. John MacArthur was at the peak of his influence. R. C. Sproul and his Ligonier Ministries were a solid store of knowledge. Pat Robertson's voice was strong....still shouting from the rooftops.....probably to more believers than MacArthur and Sproul combined. David Wilkerson was there for those who already knew that God's judgment was absolutely imminent. Tim Keller was there for balance. These were tried and true generals in this war. They had gravitas....and the courage to address the issues....and now they are all gone! God has....in His perfect design....removed them all....leaving us temporarily alone. There are others out there....but will they stand up?
                Christian Nationalism has devoured the church. We defend the constitution more than God's Word. Biblical illiteracy is rampant. We are recruited today without being converted....and if converted....are hardly able to share the need to be born again. Maranatha was once a Christian household word. Does anyone today even know what it means? We are an idolatrous people....and the church is not immune. False prophets are literally everywhere....one is even in the White House. We do not want Jesus to return in judgment....in fact we close our ears and run from the prophetic voice....that this generation so greatly blessed in those 70s and 80s and 90s....is the generation that will see His coming!
                 A sifting of the grain from the chaff is ahead....and it will be unpleasant....but then finally having a unity even with our theological differences will be a blessing that we have never really had....the closest being that time period of the 70s and 80s and 90s.
                  My prayer....as always....is that God will....shake the timbers....in our synods and conferences and worship services....and even our Bible studies....that veils will fall off of our eyes as when...."something like scales fell from Saul's eyes"....(Acts 9:18)....that we will see the idolatry that has us in bondage....that I will see the idolatry that weakens my already feeble efforts! May all of this be to God's glory alone! Maranatha...Come Lord Jesus!
                  
                 

An Extraordinary Turn Of Events

Preface: The people of Israel name roads after him....and gave him very special awards....for they thought that he was such a great defender of Israel. Turns out he is not. There was a meeting of some sort back in early 2017....of Trump and one of his economic advisors....and he was told that if he continues on the spending trend....that according to a model....everything would fall apart just about the time of the end of his second administration. (this would have been two consecutive terms) Trump looked and him....and in true Trump fashion....and you can see it with Iran today....he said...."So what....I'll be gone then."                 

                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.

                  

SPOILER ALERT! This Post is On The New Spielberg Movie....Disclosure Day

OK....You saw the Spoiler Alert....there are spoilers in this post!

Did you understand the two Spoiler Alerts? 

If you are going to see the film....you might not want to read this!

                    The film is so Spielberg. Which also means that it is very good! It's 2 hours and 25 minutes....but I think it went pretty fast. The sub-plots are not important....suffice it say that the aliens have been here for quite a while....and they are really nice.
                    There is some dialogue on why it would be common sense that they would exist in such a big universe....but surprisingly....Spielberg wasn't that imaginative. In one short dialogue....they are all short....a Roman Catholic nun tells us that in this great extensive universe....why would God put us here alone? In reality....that the universe is so big....and God then created....'man'.....(generic)....it would literally have to be that there is a solitary dot of a planet with that creation on it somewhere in the great expanse!
                    The main character....one of them....a female....is a Jesus figure of sorts in that when she gets in trouble....she can just walk through the threatening throng....and she heals.
                    Here is an interesting thing....in reality....if these many and varied sightings today of UFOs....if they are real....which they very well may be....not much different than Marian apparitions in Fatima or Lourdes....then the demonic that exists right along with us....has here taken on the appearance of aliens....UFOs....for a specific reason....Spielberg's movie thus bolstering the belief in aliens....and subsequent doubt in the Bible.
                    In this film....the aliens at first take the form of very cute animals....a fox and a racoon and an elk and a cardinal. So Spielberg actually supports the theory that the demonic could take the form of aliens!
                    One last thing....at the very end of the film....it is stated that since the existence of aliens are now known and proven....that...."The world has just changed profoundly....and you....(we)....are not alone." I have posted numerous times....from the past few years....that our pulpits have to meet this possibility head on....and prepare....(for to the Christian it would be easy to do)....prepare believers for the consequences of what our government may someday reveal.
                   The movie ended....with the main character looking into the lens of the camera....and saying...."Listen"....meaning when these aliens come out....that we should listen to what they have to say....but God's Word....through Paul....tells us that if even an angel of light....(something appearing to have goodness)....appears to us in the church....and gives a gospel other than the one that He and others had already given....(which the whole concept of aliens are)....let them be accursed....and he goes on to repeat that warning....giving it an emphasis! 

Addendum: This issue is serious on two points....one being the obvious....in that if the public trends towards an actual belief that aliens exist....and have visited us....and are visiting us right now....then there will definitely be a correlating trend away from belief in God's Word. The second point is this....if you the reader....in any way...tend to believe that indeed aliens from other solar systems may exist....then you have a very big problem in understanding the faith that you probably live and proclaim every day....and the problem will extend into otheer areas of your faith!! This issue is not negotiable. There is no alien life anywhere. You need to attempt to resolve this immediately, Many readers know me....and I would sit down with you if you want....and talk about this in-depth and at length. To the others....I can only give this recommendation....buy or stream or in whatever way you can,,,,listen to or watch  R, C, Sproul's inestimably important series from forty years ago....The Holiness Of God....for we do not have a God that you can play with....and add your own interpretations....but rather a gloriously holy God....who demands the same thing as the end of the above referenced movie....to those who have ears to hear.....LISTEN!

I will add this....we need in the church today....to come out of the world....to separate ourselves....and this current issue of UFOs may turn out to be a catalyst on identifying what evangelicals have been born again....and what evangelicals have not,

We Are A Christian Today....Because Of What....We Are Not!

                Artificial intelligence and bitcoin....drone warfare....smart phones and laptops....'me too' and 'wokism'....MAGA....the collapse of NATO....the collapse of news journalism....the podcast over the radio talk show....Tik Tok and influencers....AI songs and movies and books....pro sports contracts in the hundreds of millions of dollars....a thousand billionaires in America. That is today's generation. In my generation....the transistor radio was a big deal.
                When Daniel was given a vision of the days that we are living in....he became sick and incapacitated for days....but we are told not to think too much about these things. Daniel was left with this...."But you Daniel....shut up the words and seal the book....until the time of the end....(did you catch that word....'until')....and many shall run to and fro....and knowledge shall increase." Daniel 12: 4 KNJV
                That 'knowledge'....is the first paragraph of this post. And then there is verse 10...."Many shall be purified....made white and refined....but (Elon Musk....for example).... shall do wickedly....and none of the wicked shall understand....but the wise shall understand."
                 I'll leave this post with a verse from Luke....18:8b...."Nevertheless...when the Son of Man comes....will He really find faith on the earth?" Folks....the Son of Man is coming....and we are in that falling away. We used to....really only forty years ago...."contend"....as Jude put it....for the faith against gross modern liberal theology....but today it is us....and not liberal theology....that weakens the gospel almost beyond recognition! No one today has to be born again to be a Christian....for it is what they are not....that they think makes them a Christian!

We Have A Gold Medal In The Obstacle Course

           This is difficult….typing a post on my iPhone….but it at least demonstrates how I really do not believe that we have much time left. I am sitting here with an elderly person…..taking care of their basic needs…..but watching them….literally watching them….waste their final opportunities…on things like daytime television….while it seems as if everyone else seems to think that this is just sweet! We live in different worlds….and I do not want to go back.

         We have in the church….lost….what it is to be….lost! What happened on the cross….is also lost to us. This life through which we pat ourselves on the back….is Laodicea. We think we are spiritually rich….but we are not.

          There is so much evidence that we have strayed from the evangel….that it is like an obstacle course….an obstacle course that we have become proficient….even professional….in swiftly and safely running through it.

        No one….most likely….is going to agree with me. All that I can add….is to keep the admonitions in mind…as the days pass….for in the confusion that is ahead….the answers will be in recognizing and then admitting to the mistakes that we made….in ignorance yes…. but also willfully….that will have brought all these disasters upon us.

Update....six hours later....and after a severe thunderstorm halted everyone in their tracks until it passed over: I will observe as major denominations hold yearly general assemblies....and this folks....literally decade after decade....where they do not address what the church needs to address...but rather play a little game of Robert's Rules of Order....and pastor after pastor....year and decade after year and decade....preach a lullaby from the pulpit! Why is this? Why have they so failed the sheep....to warn them or to protect them from the wolves that are everywhere? Whatever the answer to these questions....it will soon be moot. Maranatha....Lord Jesus come!

 

Ezekiel's Riddle

                Jeremiah prophesied from Jerusalem....for forty years....while a younger Ezekiel....who was forcibly taken to Babylon in the first group of exiles....prophesied from far away. Jeremiah was more simple in that God spoke to him.....and he obediently warned the people....whereas Ezekiel had more visions. Jeremiah was more....'repent or our nation will be destroyed and taken away"....whereas Ezekiel was more...."this is why all of this happened....and this is what will continue to happen.'
                 Monday morning I did my needed weekly yard work....one task was cutting back a small tree so that people walking their dog could stay on the sidewalk. I looked at the top of the tree....maybe eighteen feet high....that badly needed trimmed.....but put that off for another day. Later that day I set my mind to read in Ezekiel....starting at chapter 1....and in chapter 17....there are a couple of passages about the top of a tree being lopped off and carried away to be replanted.
                 Last evening I walked out into my yard only to see the top of that tree that I did not have the energy to trim....had been violently lopped off....with leaves scattered all over the yard....as I suspect that our local Peregrine Falcon had surprised another victim. (I have a photo of it which I will try....Lord willing....to add later)

                 Early in that 17th chapter of Ezekiel is a riddle that God had given to the prophet. It was about two eagles...that is interpreted to be political powers....that Israel had come to depend upon. The first is interpreted as being Babylon....and the second....Egypt. The vine....as interpreted as Israel....leaned or turned towards those eagles....one at a time....the first to its benefit....but with the second eagle....which the vine had also turned to....it was pulled up by its roots and left to wither.
                 Here is what came to my mind....Israel had since its inception depended upon the United States....and survived and prospered....but of late it turned to...."stretched its branches toward him"...that second great eagle.
                  These are just my thoughts....but here is what I would like you to take away....it is time....it is long past time....for Christians to delve into God's prophetic word. So please do this if you haven't already.

                                                                          

The Deprogramming Of Benjamin Netanyahu

Preface: The following post is from September 30 of last year. Trump gave that absurd State of the Union address on February 4 of 2020....and then God showed him who really was in control. Benjamin Netanyahu....gave probably the weakest performance of his life on September 23, 2023....at the United Nations....which was a copy in unmerited and vainglory optimism....of Trump's S.O.T.U.....and this a couple of weeks before the Sukkot attacks! Surely by now Bibi knows that Trump is seriously unbalanced....supremely dangerous....and never....ever....to be trusted:

Bibi....We Hardly Knew Ye

             Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had always been an example of pure dedication to the security of his beloved Israel. Indeed....it was always an encouragement just listening to him powerfully and yet eloquently explain Israel's position and determination....but time has worn him down....time and his forced and subservient association with the President of the United States....Donald John Trump. Trump does this to everyone who voluntarily or involuntarily flies too close to his flame. He is the only one who survives the turmoil that he causes.

              On February 4, 2020....Trump gave the most absurd State of the Union Address....where the greatest things were going to happen all over the world....but God had other plans....as the Covid 19 virus was replicating at the time. Here are a few words from that speech.

"Tonight I stand before you to share the incredible results....(of the past three years)....Jobs are booming....Incomes are soaring....Poverty is plummeting....Crime is falling....Confidence is surging....and our country is thriving....America's fortunes are on the rise.....America's future is blazing bright....our pride is restored....("Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" Proverbs)....we are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago....and we are never going back....we are advancing with unbridled optimism"....and the address ended with this...."This nation is our canvas, and this country is our masterpiece. We look at tomorrow and see unlimited frontiers just waiting to be explored. Our brightest discoveries are not yet known. Our most thrilling stories are not yet told. Our grandest journeys are not yet made. The American Age, the American epic, The American adventure has only just begun. Our spirit is still young. The sun is still rising, God's grace is still shining, and my fellow Americans, the best is yet to come."

              On September 19, 2023....Benjamin Netanyahu gave a similarly absurd speech to the United Nations. He had by then bought a condo on the island of Donald Trump. Here are a few words from that speech....and some of my commentary....just as Hamas was finishing preparations for the October Sukkot attack!

"Imagine the blessings of finally cracking the genetic code, extending life by decades, and dramatically reducing the ravages of old age...imagine a world with boundless clean energy." John Lennon is not the person that any God-fearing man should be referencing....but that's what he (Netanyahu) did....by name....and it disturbed me a little in how he felt that he needed to remind people of what he personally had accomplished. He did acknowledge towards the end....the dangers in this latest quest for peace in the Middle East....but it was almost as an afterthought. I also found it odd how he emphasized....first the great potential of artificial intelligence...."the most consequential development of our time"....and then immediately after....the great dangers of artificial Intelligence. Actually I found it very disturbing that he would make AI which he said is...."progressing at lightning speed"....such a major part of a major speech.

Note: "And he (Jesus) said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven'." Luke 10:18 ESV

             

           Mr. Prime Minister....if a seven-year timeframe is ever mentioned on the peace agreement....I refer you to a book that was found in a stack of books on the bed table of David Ben-Gurion....after his death....The Late Great Planet Earth....by Hal Lindsey.

Update....June 8....2026....I brought his older post back after Trump's comments about Netanyahu and Israel....in that Netanyahu better be careful....or he might have to go it alone against Iran. I would ask of you....no....beg of you....think of this whole situation....you have two nations who have been allies for 78 years now....and we supposedly have a congress....a legislative body and a senate....that weighs in on alliances.....but Trump....on his own....threatens to end that....just like he did with NATO! I have to wonder if evangelicals have a problem with this? Folks....if you just buy into this....without examining what is going on....this is cult stuff....this is mind control!

The Beginning....Of The End....Of The End

           Samuel F. B Morse took the words from Numbers 23:23...."What Hath God Wrought....in 1844....in this the first electronic communication over any sizable distance. Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines....to use that movie title....changed the world in 1903....the year which also saw the first World Series....with Pittsburgh being one of the teams....and then also in Pittsburgh....East Pittsburgh to be exact....in November of 1920....atop a Westinghouse building where both of my grandfathers may have been working at the time...for both families were Westinghouse people....the first commercial radio broadcast was the presidential election results between the Harding/Coolidge and Cox/Roosevelt (FDR) tickets.
            The world....over a short period of time....had undergone a paradigm change. We are pushing for another paradigm change right now with artificial intelligence....and we will continue until AI pushes humans out of the way to complete that paradigm change.
             Oh yes there were world wars in the past century....and probably rumors of wars....if we knew exactly what that phrase meant....but in all of this....the year 1948 was the key....with the start of the greatest paradigm change yet....as Israel miraculously became a nation unto itself once again. John MacArthur correctly stated....sometime in the past...that with Israel established...."God had put the world on notice!" His Second Coming was nigh.
             We in the reformed faith....as it is known....tend to focus so much....and rightfully so....on that glorious Nicene Creed....finalized in form in 381 A.D....that we tend to limit God....as if being unchangeable....means that He has no specific timetables....and will not in His perfect will....in due time....remove veils on the end-times.
              That Nicene Creed was a rock of doctrinal truth that had to and has to be affirmed even before we look to the Second Coming....for what good would the Second Coming be....if we were not firm in the faith....and secure in our salvation....based on those truths. But we are firm and secure in the knowledge that the blood of Jesus Christ....shed on the cross....on that hill....has paid that which we could not pay!
               So we know....or rather we can know if we desire to know....(if helps to know)....that 1948 and Israel was the beginning of the....end of the end. We just did not nor do we now know how long it would be from the beginning of the end....to the end....although we are not totally clueless. It's not going to be a hundred years! That would make no sense in line with how God has worked His perfect timing in the past....as for instance....when the people of Jerusalem were taken captive to Babylon....and then later...in God's perfect timing again....Daniel sees that the captivity will last seventy years!
               Personally....(we are allowed opinion are we not....and we are allowed to express our opinion....right or wrong....are we not?)....I think right now that once again....seventy was God's chosen time frame....as 2018 began a tumultuous series of events in which we are tumbling right now as in an electric dryer!
               The five books within Psalms....have a chronological progression to them....as O. Palmer Robertson described in his wonderful book....The Flow of the Psalms....Discovering Their Structure and Theology....from Confrontation to Communication to Devastation to Maturation to....where we are today....Psalms 107 to 150....Consummation!
                Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the entire Bible....

"Oh....praise the LORD....all you Gentiles!....Laud Him....all you peoples! For His merciful kindness is great toward us....and the truth of the LORD endures forever....Praise the LORD!"

               Psalm 118....is a Messianic Psalm....just as was the 18th Psalm....followed by Psalm 119....a Torah Psalm....just as was the 19th Psalm! And then comes the....Psalms of Ascents....Psalms 120 to 134....of which we can only speculate the exact meaning....but we should acknowledge this....that the pandemic of 2020 changed the world...and October 7 of 2023....the last day of the Jewish Sukkot....(another pattern that God seems to follow....major events on Jewish feats and fast days)....set this world on fire.
               If you don't believe these patterns...that's fine....you may very well be right....but as for me....I'm just....as Tyndale would put it...."a boy that driveth the plow"....but I see these patterns....just as I also saw that....the emperor has no clothes!
               We have been given warnings....very specific warnings....for God always warns His people....and they may indeed portend calamities ahead....but they also bring a great visceral hope...an awakening of the hope that we always had by knowing the truth....that Jesus is  coming back for His bride....and that bride will be purified in those calamities!

              

The Greatest Show On Earth....vs....The Greatest Story Ever Told

              It was an 80 year open mathematical problem in....combinatorial geometry....whatever that is....that was recently solved by AI. There are numerous unsolved mathematical problems that remain out there. I'm still working on how it is possible to always....over the decades....have at least six unmatched socks in a sock drawer? Another mystifying problem is....how is it possible to purchase at least six combs a year....over decades....yet often have trouble finding one?
              Revelation 13:18 is very clear...."Here is wisdom....Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast....for the number is that of a man....and his number is six hundred....and sixty six." NASB
              That verse is for every believer since the day it was written by John under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Since the Reformation....the Roman Pontiff has been the usual suspect....but there have been other candidates over the years....most recently Mikhail Gorbachev....and who can find fault with that....for that man had a mark on his forehead....and in a very short period of time....dissolved the Soviet Union....supposedly bringing peace to the world?
               Barack Obama was a legitimate candidate....and probably still is....for here is man whose nominating convention was held in Denver's football stadium....with a giant white horse on top of it....and on the field was a speaker's dais that eerily resembled Pergamum's....Throne of Satan! (You can easily look up the photos of that ancient altar now in a German museum....and compare it to Obama's convention.)
                Apparently....God did not want the idea of an Antichrist completely out of the mind of believers....particularly those who in whatever age it would be....would experience this phenomenon. Can the verse in Revelation be abused? Of course it can....as so many verses in God's Word can be terribly abused....but we do not pretend they do not exist as we do with Revelation 13:18!
                At this time I do not believe that Donald Trump will be the Antichrist....and I certainly hope that he is not....because if he is....then the church ushered in the Antichrist....but he is this....at this time....the chief visible and identifiable candidate!
                I say this primarily because....after studying him for over ten years....and reading over 110 books about him....and watching about fifty rallies....and observing him almost every day over those ten years....and graduating cum laud from Trump Derangement Syndrome University....the most striking characteristic is that he is an empty vessel....ready to be filled with something....with no real ideology....and no compassion....(if evangelicals read about him like they should have....and didn't buy into the fake news nonsense....they would know this)....and absolutely no relation in his life or his businesses or his politics....to the concept of truth. He lies as easily....and almost as often....as most of us blink our eyes.
                He thinks that he is the greatest thing in the world....we all know and recognize that....and he will destroy anyone at the drop of a hat. How many political adversaries did he purposely and maliciously take away their secret service protection....just to get at them?
                His is the greatest show on earth. His first term was relatively normal....an amateur who got in a lot of trouble....and then got out of it....but January 6, 2021 has proved to be one of the most damaging events in the history of our country. There was really no campaign for the second nomination. Something had changed in this man....seriously changed....and for the worse....which seemed hardly possible. The rider on the white horse from Revelation 6....comes out...."conquering....and to conquer?" There may be no more definitive description of Trump since the first day of his second inauguration than that.
                 So we have the most well-known name in the world....who thinks that he is the greatest person in the world....who crushes his opposition....and has built a loyal buffer zone....(mostly out of fear)....and raised....(appointed)....a kennel of attack dogs. He names all kinds of things after himself.....and builds monuments to himself....and has turned the Oval Office into a gilded...white house of ill-repute....of visitors who want something....from someone who wants something from them.
                All of the above is just a primer. AI....artificial intelligence....will be involved....if not the actual False Prophet from Revelation. It shouldn't have to take an Adrian Monk to figure that one out! There will most likely be major surprises here. What is important is for us at least to be vigilant. My main purpose with this post is actually to impress upon evangelical readers that the mere fact alone that Donald Trump is a legitimate candidaate....(let alone possibly the prime candidate)....and that it was us that put him there....should shake us to the very core of our being!
                It should be mentioned....and I have mentioned it before....that whoever turns out to be that man of sin....will continue to gain power for quite a while. It has been 5 1/2 years now....since the deadly insurrection....when in the immediate aftermath it appeared that Trump's power over his people....and their power over the Republican Party....and particularly over evangelicals....was over....but it wasn't over...which is an amazing and astonishing and ominous thing to have witnessed.

Why Am I Astonished?

                 It is sad....so very sad....discouraging and even frightening in the ramifications. This is a common occurrence with me. I will be talking to a Christian friend who has not discerned the false prophet and enemy of the gospel in Trump....and a topic will come up concerning Trump....an atrocious action of some sort actually....only the latest....and it is as if in my friend's mind that someone has wiped the slate clean....or erased the tape....and there is only today....just this issue....no past year and a half of constant threats.....no past ten years of constant turmoil....and certainly no past seventy years of belittling others and exalting himself.
                We have long ago reached the saturation point with Trump. Gone is all the previously recorded data. We have witnessed too many gross temper tantrums....read too many insane texts....heard too many examples of revenge. The threshold has been reached and all additional data no longer computes!
                 So if he says something repugnant....or does something dangerous....the continuity and totality of it all doesn't even register! This might be blasphemous comment number 1,000....but the gauge stopped reading years ago! The long-term memory is completely gone....so there is no recollection of a thousand threats....or ten thousand lies....or the horror of January 6th!
                 I will look into the eyes of my Christian friend and it's like we do not even know each other any more. I used to hear Sproul or MacArthur or Billy Graham speaking through their words....but today I hear the voice of Mark Levin or Jesse Watters or Greg Gutfeld. Edification has been replaced by agitation....renewing of the mind by repeating the talking points....listening for a trumpet sound by listening for Trump to sound off.
                 If Trump is caught red-handed....which is all the time....the horror of an 'anti-weaponization' slush fund no longer even the latest....it is pointed out that the other side does these things also....end of debate. All of this....I believe....revolves around our lack of both knowledge and interest in what God's Word describes....literally everywhere in Scripture....on what it will be like...and what to look out for....and what to flee from....as the Second Coming becomes nearer and nearer.
                 I have written this many times....we....the church....deep down....do not want Jesus to return right now. We want more than anything else that America becomes 'great' again....lying to ourselves in that all of this is for God's glory and the free proclamation of the gospel. We want our life back....(He who finds his life will lose it.) We want our future back! The solemn tolling of the death knell of AI has not reached our ears. The red flags on Israel's existential security....with a collapsing alliance of once strong allies....has not caused us to meditate and ponder God's Word on prophecy. Evidence of 'aliens'....and the demonic everywhere in our society....has not harkened us back to when Jesus came the first time.
                 Yes....it is frightening and it is discouraging....but most of all it is astonishing! Trump's resume is exactly what Paul and Peter and John and Jude....and Jesus....told us to flee from...and yet we ignore the warnings....but then....why am I astonished....for God's Word said that at the end many would fall away....and follow false teachers and false prophets?

           

All Of The Branches Of Our Government Are Equal.....Only One Branch Is More Equal Than The Others!

                The recent animated film....Animal Farm....seemed to bend over backwards to avoid implicating current politicians....while attempting at the same time to retain our current political climate of chaos and absurdity. In other words....this is my take on it anyway....the director wanted to stay out of the fray....and hoped that the viewer could do his or her own thinking.
                I hadn't read George Orwell's classic since high school....from which I graduated fifty-eight years ago....and I hadn't retained a whole lot of the story....other than some of the themes. Orwell of course wrote an allegory of the Bolshevik Revolution....and how the moderated human desires of the people were hijacked by the brutal Bolsheviks who became as bad as the Tsars.
                I easily recognized Trump as Napolean....the pig....who wiggled his way into power....never really caring about the plight of the other animals....only to be changed and become a genuine tyrant....(first term vs second term)....no different than the humans that were expelled from the farm.
                Although I closely followed Trump's rise since 2015....and long ago saw the con and then the shakedown....it is still amazing on a daily basis to see the boldness of his actions....and equally amazing if not more so....to see how evangelicals....many of whom are blood-bought redeemed children of the King....squirm a little....but still refuse to see that they had been taken in....hook....line....and sinker!
                As in Animal Farm....Trump is no different and no better than the corrupt politicians that his movement replaced. That is the political aspect of all of this....but there is a spiritual aspect....a biblical aspect also....much more sinister than mere rebels who claimed to be fighting for freedom....only to impose their own tyranny once they get the power....for we are dealing here with a genuine biblical false prophet...,end-times delusion....a great falling away....and possibly even worse than that!
                Where I was in my eighteen months in Vietnam....this fifty-six years ago....there were two mountain ranges surrounding the river delta....with a quaint town...with really no major buildings to speak of. The communists....through murder and torture...won the day....and today that panoramic scene of a tree line....only yards off the waves slapping against the sand....with old French colonial buildings for the town....and a shantytown and a fishing village on the edges....looks like the Riviera! There are beautiful tennis courts right where my barracks were. That was no ideological freedom seeking war by the communists....only their attempt to be the ones to rule the 'farm.'
                Trump wants to turn Gaza into the Eastern Med-Riviera....and I'm sure he has plans for Cuba. All of this alleviating pain and freedom and liberty stuff....and protecting Israel....is no different to him than being in a Manhattan council meeting where he has to shmooze the council members to get the permits to build and make money....only later to ignore all the promises that he made to keep the traditional flavor of the neighborhood.
                 Back to Orwell's book and the film....Napolean the pig....slowly weaned puppies to become his personal attack dogs. That would be the secret police for the Bolsheviks....but to us today....right now....it would be his personal Justice Department....and many and varied intelligence agencies....and his Republican Party....and now his hijacking of our national media....one company at a time.
                  The book ended with the old guard and the new guard....so to speak....indistinguishable from one another. The most recent film has the animals disposing of Napolean....and returning to their original ideals? In reality....there is not much difference today between the Progressive Left and the MAGA Right....for both just want total control over the minds of those doing the work on the farm.

DISPATCHES

Anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear knows very well how Trump almost pathologically....without letup....and without mercy....sics his law enforcement people on present and past political opponents. We can through this gets some help in understanding history....for we should be able to better understand how the Bolsheviks disposed of their enemies....and how the National Socialists also quickly disposed of present and potential enemies.

Both Ben Shapiro and Mark Levin....whose love of....and support of....the nation state of Israel....have within the last few hours....(I'm typing this at 4 PM on Monday)....called for the release of the US/Iran document. Both calls were succinct....with no opinion....and both can be interpreted as containing some concern.....for they themselves want to know what is in the agreement.

Update on Shapiro and Levin. Ben Shapiro correctly stated that the beginning of this war was done with precision and purpose...(my words)....but this document appears to be a disaster.....(appears?)....he then said that the Vice President as chief negotiator did not serve the president well. You've got to be kidding me Ben....no one in this administration does anything without specific instructions! On Levin....he doesn't often....crumble....but he crumbled here.....as he said that the 60 days continued negotiations better make some changes.

"The traditional American pastime of gathering at a local sports bar to watch Sunday football is being strangled by a technical and financial bottleneck, one restaurateur is warning." That is the title of a recent news article. Yes it is a "traditional American pastime" but many more people just stay at home and watch football. 1933 was a key year in the transition of the NFL from Saturdays to the Lord's days....and we have paid the price.

The Super Bowl though is nothing compared to the World Cup. In America we can't go but a couple of weeks throughout any year without some major sporting event....and this year is a particularly bad year for Lord's Day idolatry.....even the gladiators at the White House was a Lord's Day event. . Many of the soccer players....football players....baseball players....love to point to heaven after a score....but the competitive spirit has long since turned into full-blown idolatry. "As in the days of Noah"....can be today meaningfully yet peripherally rendered....'as in the days of Tiger Woods or Tom Brady.'

The Carolina Hurricanes just won the Stanley Cup. Normally this would be a front page....even top of the front page news....but numerous articles on this tiny nation or that nation....and what they did in their first World Cup game....have dominated the headlines. Are we that interested in soccer....or are we that addicted to any type of sporting news?

Is it called....UFC....I believe it is? There could not be a more fitting example of the total collapse of American culture and society and what we liked to believe was the....American Dream....than the coming (now completed) spectacle on the White House lawn, Boxing was once known....over a hundred years ago....as the gentleman's sport. This that has risen to the top today is violence more than sport.

It was Thanksgiving Day....November 27....2008....and our beloved dog....Special....came in the house....and lay down and died. In my grief....as I buried him with the rain masking my tears. I needed something to occupy my time. I had heard about these things called 'blogs'....and later that night published my first post. That was going on eighteen years....and almost four-thousand posts ago. God had used the grief to turn my life in a new direction.

Jesus had just spoken in parables on the final judgment....and the tares and the wheat....and He then told the disciples how he would have to go to Jerusalem to die....(and be risen)....but Peter was not going to accept that. God's Word....if you can see it....is speaking to us in America today. Judgment is coming....but we like Peter will not accept that. We should read again the admonition that Jesus said to Peter....for it is to us also...."for you are not setting your mind on God's interests....but man's. (Matthew 16:23b NASB) This Christian Nationalism....and all the politics and the power....including the false messiah....or wolf in sheep's clothing....or false prophet....championed by so many....is not in God's interests....but our own!

AI is a genie that cannot be put back into the bottle. It is a done deal....and a death knell. Christian ministries are still debating the pros and the cons. If they knew the nearness of the Second Coming....they wouldn't be playing this little game. This is Bible prophecy on display for anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear.

The new film....Pressure....presents a different take on the D-Day invasion....focusing almost solely on the difficult weather forecast on which the status of the landings rested. There were very few war scenes....but it retained emotion through the descriptions of those who would perish....even if the seas were calm. What I liked most about the film was that it presented the frailties of all in that war room....Eisenhower and Montgomery and other real-to-life characters....without ridiculing them....or tarnishing their reputations....and that there was a true unity of spirit at the end.

Ben Shapiro is an Orthodox Jew who graduated from high school at 16 years old and at 20....in 2004....wrote a critique....Brainwashed....on the American higher education system....of which I read at the time. He quit Breitbart because of ethical reasons....and became ultra-popular with his website....Daily Wire. He was a Cruz man in 2016....as I was....and did not vote for Trump....but did vote for him in 2020....and has gone back and forth a few times. His ideological enemies are gloating right now because his empire is declining fast. Trump spawned a number of horrible influencers. Shapiro seems to be the odd man out right now....or....a conservative between two evils. What he does not realize is that his declining popularity is a blessing....because to be popular in this cultural and ideological climate....means one would be doing something wrong.. 

I know next to nothing about NASCAR. Somewhere back in the mid-60's....my uncle....a Catholic priest....took me to the Michigan 500....(maybe that is what it was called)....and we saw a race where Cale Yarborough beat Leroy Yarborough by a nose....or whatever they call it. This week saw the passing of one of NASCAR's big names. I viewed a tape of him only a week before....after winning a race....and smiling and waving to the fans in the stands....pausing only to lift his arm and cough into his sleeve. We....none of us....knows what a day might bring....and we acknowledge that....but not so much for America....as we are sure that God will keep us. This confidence that we do not deserve....has kept us from humbling ourselves in repentance.

Eventually....Trump money making schemes using the power of the presidency will catch up to him. As with this and everything else about how Trump has conducted himself in this second administration of going out...."conquering....and to conquer"....what is most incredible about it is that evangelicals threw away all of what they knew from God's Word to be warnings and admonitions....to go after money gold and silver and other things that perish.

We Have Found A Way To Defend Ourselves

 "And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals."

              This is Judges 2:11....ESV....but the phrase....or a phrase very similar to it....occurs dozens of times in the Old Testament. At times it boggles the mind....as in the case of Gideon....after he had through most dramatic means....saved the people from the yearly plundering of the Midianites....but no sooner was he gone than the people turned to the gods of the Midianites again! Time and time again we read that Israel was saved from enemies....and then again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD!
               I'm writing from personal experience of forty-plus years of reading these verses....that I tended to view the people of Israel as some strange ancient people that obviously had a problem remembering what God had done for them....and then....incredibly....they followed the gods of the peoples around them....and even wound up sacrificing their children to these demon gods!
               I lived a fairly normal life in American evangelicalism....not realizing that I had also forsaken the God of our fathers in the faith....and followed the Baals! No....there were no little statues that I prayed to....nor did I find a tall sturdy tree under which to set up an altar to one of these gods....indeed I continued to read the Old Testament....and the testimony of the history of God's people....and set myself above them....until I over time became saturated with the preaching of men from the past....Spurgeon and Lloyd-Jones and the like....and men today who preach like preachers from the past....MacArthur and Sproul and Piper and others....and the Word of God as presented from these men....cut deep....and I then could see my own idols that I had set up!
               We are known as pro-life....anti-abortion....an abomination that is the same as sacrificing our children to pagan gods....but as the frog in the kettle was slowly boiled....we came to sacrifice our children in different ways....through entertainments primarily. There is an old and purposely comical fundamentalist phrase....certainly not heard any more....'I don't drink....smoke....or chew....or go with girls who do.' Well that's kind of like what we have become. We don't do drugs....or use foul language....or gamble....or steal from others....or lie or curse others....and we go to temple....(church in our case)....and offer sacrifices of doves and lambs....(everyone has a ministry of some sort)....and we keep the ceremonial laws of Advent and Easter....and rally around the flag....and have our regular Bible studies....but we have our own....and numerous they are...idols that we worship. The little religious figurine became the trophy....and the high hill under a terebinth tree became the megachurch....or the denomination....or our church with a pastor that would never offend anyone by actually telling us that we are sacrificing to idols and have forgotten the old paths of our fathers.
                We have found a way today to defend ourselves....vicariously....by defending our church or our pastor. It makes us appear humble....when in fact we are anything but. So....the Midianites and the Amalekites are here again....plundering....and we are crying out to God. There is no Gideon....and God has taken away most of those men who preached as preachers from the past....but we are not left as orphans....for we can still cry out....Abba Father....have mercy upon our backslidings....and restore us....not as a Christian nation of which we never were....nor as a glorious church....of which we never were....but for Thy glory and Thy namesake alone!