The Temple Mount

                To anyone who stays in tune with Christian news....they would know that the ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem have already prepared an altar for sacrifices....and all of the vestments and instruments needed....including the red heifer. They may also know that whereas only years ago....Jews or anyone else could not pray on the regulated visits to the Temple Mount....that today a lot of people pray up there. They might realize that a temple....a building....is not absolutely necessary for sacrifice on the Temple Mount....which during a total upheaval of some sort in Israel....could start....almost immediately!
                What many of us do not realize....is that any sacrifices that would be performed on the Temple Mount....and they surely are going to take place in the not-too-distant future....that those sacrifices are not ordained anymore by God! That this would simply be a resurrection of a religious system....by a rebellious Jewish people who have rejected the resurrection of their Messiah....two-thousand years ago.
                Many of us in evangelicalism believe that sacrifices on the temple mount would be a wonderful thing....whereas in biblical reality....it would just be one more step in the prophetic return of King Jesus!
                This is important because to believe that God would be pleased with Temple Mount sacrifices....shows a dangerously low Scriptural knowledge on the atonement....and the cross....and salvation! This is also important because although we should....pray for the peace of Jerusalem....although there is no lasting peace coming....and pray for the Jewish people not only in Israel but all over the world....for their salvation....that we should not in any think that the Israel that exists today....miraculous as it has been....is the same Israel that once existed. 
               We need to work through this issue if we are confused in any way. There is no Jew or Gentile anymore....in other words....there is no Jewish sacrificial system that God has ordained and delights in....for it has been gloriously and totally fulfilled....but there remains a promise....that God will have mercy upon the rebellious Jewish people....at the end of days!
                Politics enters this....and the results are not good....and can even be terrifying if we realize where it might lead. A man has arisen portraying himself as a savior to Israel....and much of Israel has exalted him as such....and also much of evangelicalism. The gospel has been for ten years now....essentially forgotten....or temporarily put aside....for the greater glory of making our country great again....whereas we should not simply want to go back to the Reagan 80s....or anything even stronger.....as we perceive 'strong' to be.....safe while playing our games....and making our money....and playing church....for at that time we still had men of God who were warning us....(they are now mostly gone)....warning us that not only the return of Jesus was near....but so was the wrath of God!
                Israel is going to be deceived. This we know for sure....but I am one that believes that they have already been deceived. There is a false peace coming...."saying peace....peace....when there is no peace"....and...."peace and security".....after which....."destruction will come upon them....(all of us)....suddenly,"
                 The coming election in Israel means as much....or as little....as the coming election in the United States....for just as I posted on November 1 of 2020....days before the general election...."This election....with all the hype....is essentially meaningless. That we on our side use God's name all the time....is but....'clanging cymbals'....in His ears. There will be a winnowing in the church....there must be....for those who are vexed at what has transpired will find unity....and those who fell for the lie that we are....'one glorious nation under God'....will only get worse."

We All Need To See This Film At Least Once

              I chose this shorter montage of the film....A Great Awakening....to put up here....rather than an official trailer. We evangelicals in America need to see something of what makes a George Whitefield....and we need to see that it is the freedom of the gospel of Jesus Christ that man needs....more than any other freedoms. This relationship between Whitefield and Benjamin Franklin is not new to evangelicals who are also history buffs. There is a 2015 book out there....The Printer And The Preacher....by Randy Petersen....and there are numerous biographies and conference talks available on YouTube. You can stream the film or purchase the DVD from Amazon. Youth groups need to see this film. Pastors need to see this film!

What Is The Axis......And Who Are The Allies?

                         How can one man steer an entire nation....away from what they have always known to be right? Putin is responsible for at least two million deaths.....most in this war....but many others through poisonings and throwing opponents out of windows....and various other means....but I'm not talking about Putin....I'm talking about Trump.
                          I know the outward explanations....an election is coming up....and these men and women in the Republican Party....are no longer the types of men and women who sacrifice for the good of the country. They have successfully turned their collective minds over to a charismatic charlatan. If they should say anything even slightly against him....then their own heads are on the chopping block.
                          Trump today....(I would like to go a day without posting on Trump....but hardly a day passes when he does not shock in the things that he says....when he does not show himself to be egomaniacally possessed....and devoid of common decency)....today he and Putin....and the Communist Chinese president....are conspiring against....against an ally? This is history in the making folks. This is the 1930s again.
                           I have always had the highest regard for Benjamin Netanyahu. He has always been....contra mundum....against the world.....in his defense of his beloved homeland. Evangelicals have also....always been on the side of Israel....but there are times....mundum inversus....when the world has been as if....turned upside down. 
                           When the Israeli Prime Minister....smilingly....and even glowingly....on world-wide television....talks on the phone with a man without an ounce of truth or character in him....a man who is tearing apart the greatest ally that Israel has ever had....and calls him...."a warrior"....then the Israeli Prime minister in as much as says....that all evangelicals and Americans....are of no importance to him!
                           Yes....he has had to say a lot of things over the past decade about Trump that he would normally never even think....but there is an Israeli election coming up....and he needs the votes of the Israelis who have been blinded as much as the MAGA Americans....but there has to come a time when a president....or evangelicals or conservatives....or an Israeli Prime Minister....declares their trust in God....alone....and even in the most dire of circumstances....refuse to call to to an evil world to save them.
                           Yes....in a very real way the world has indeed been turned upside down....where there is no right and wrong....where good is called evil....and evil is called good....and we are there right now. May God have mercy upon us....and open our eyes....and prepare us for what is right ahead....and may He....apply a balm along with the discernment....on where we are...and how far we have fallen....for it going to be very painful....to finally see and admit....and repent of....what we have done!

Putting Your Chips On The Table

              OK....what I am going to put in this post is way above my pay grade....which is zero by the way....and if I ever make a penny.....while there still are pennies....I'll stick it on the wall.
              Quantum computing is years away....but if it ever comes about it would revolutionize the business of computers....but there is a company in France....its name is....C12....which I presume is named after the purest isotope of carbon....that has six protons....and six neutrons....and six electrons....666 to make it easier to remember.
               They have developed....and it is already in production....a process where carbon nanotubes....are synchronized with regular silicon chips....and according to the company....it works....with less 'noise' that contributes to errors....and it is faster....and I believe...uses less energy because of the amount of data that can be stored....and the quicker they progress....the more revolutionary will be the result. I hope I described that somewhat accurately. Please do your own research if you are interested.
               China is doing its own research....in a different direction....and I believe that it also may be in production....that also would be revolutionary....in the attempt to find alternatives to silicon....which has been used exclusively now for 70 years. South Korea....I believe....is also involved in research along these lines.....and the United States is heavily involved in research on the carbon nanotube replacing the need for silicon chips.
               I look into these things because I am convinced that the computer....the Internet....and everything or anything associated with computing....particularly AI....is not only biblical prophecy being fulfilled....but biblical prophecy concerning and related to....in some way....the Antichrist....and the False Prophet.

Lord's Day Post

                                                                                   

             John Piper has this offering today on his ministry website....desiringgod.org. As you may pick up God's Word this evening....or certainly tomorrow....this message on William Tyndale may cause you to read with  more of an intensity....and thanksgiving!

God Prepared A Great Fish....And If God Prepared it....It Would Serve God's Purpose!!!

                What's not to like about an hour and fifty minute movie where half of it is about a young man trapped inside a whale? My wife really didn't' like it. She wanted to leave half-way through the film....but I had warned her beforehand that half the movie would be with a guy's head stuck between a whale's spleen....and the giant arm of an octopus.. 
                The film was the newly released.....Whalefall....with Josh Brolin. I wanted to see it for two reasons....as I knew that it was about a father/son relationship....and secondly....I seem to remember another story somewhere about a man swallowed by a whale....or a great fish....which was probably a whale.
                Now....can a man survive inside of a whale? The consensus seems to be no....but there is a story from the 1800s I believe....where a man did just that. So....I don't know if a man can survive being swallowed....even for a short time.....but I know this as truly as I know my own name....Special Dog....that God....prepared a great fish....and if God prepared the fish....then the whole White House National Security Council could survive inside....and be spit out safely!
                Actually....I liked the film. Not only wasn't it a Christian film....but the philosophies were more pagan....but the father/son relationship....and Jonah....as that big elephant in the room....were worth the price of the seats we were sitting in....that shook every time the whale passed by.
                I posted these words a month ago....when I heard that this film was coming out...."Now I would expect that neither the movie....or any of the reviews forthcoming....would give any (reference) to Jonah....but I don't care....for the concept alone of a man swallowed by a great fish....at this biblical time in history....put before the American public....is encouraging. May God if it be in His perfect will....make us think through this film....no matter what it might try to say!"
                I haven't heard Jonah mentioned anywhere in the reviews....yet....but I'll tell you....at some point the people seeing this film.....will think about Jonah....and when they do....may God if it be His will....bring back to them the whole story of Jonah.
               We are Nineveh folks....not in that when God instructed the prophet to go to Nineveh and warn them....that he was also thinking about a future United States of America....but that the story warns every single nation....or even every person....that there will be a judgment....and it is coming soon! I posted the following in October of....2011....
               "There indeed was a great fish that swallowed Jonah only to vomit him alive on a shore....and that man went on to give a warning to Nineveh....the America of it's day. That nation heeded the warning but years later another man was sent to Nineveh....(Nahum)....and this time not with a warning but a proclamation of impending judgment. Our prayer today, in America, should be 'God let us hear from Jonah and not Nahum but if it be Nahum, give us strength to go on'."
                Those sailors that threw Jonah overboard....had heard the whole story. With no cargo anymore....they probably returned to Joppa....that would be Jaffa today....Tel Aviv. That story would surely have spread like wild fire....especially the part where the sea calmed down as soon as they threw Jonah into the water....and it would have reached Nineveh. The young man in the film today looked pretty bad...(spoiler here....but not really)....as he finally got out of the belly of the whale. As I wrote above....the theater seats vibrated....but there was no way for the audience to smell the stench of a man who just came out of the belly of a fish  The people of Nineveh would have figured it out by looking at him.
                We here in America have had plenty of Jonahs....at least forty years of them....Billy Graham and John MacArthur and David Wilkerson and many others.....but we did not listen....and God took these men home....and is now sending others....Nahums....no longer telling us of this great window of opportunity....but rather telling us to prepare....prepare!
                It is 8 PM as I type this....about twelve hours before men start entering their pulpits. My God....if it be His will....cause them this night to toss and turn....and fill their beds with sweat....as they would rather take a slow boat to China then go into their pulpits and give the message that God wants them to give....may they then fall out of bed....as Jonah was thrown out of the boat....and resign themselves to tell their congregation what He wants them to hear!

                   

We Are All Familiar Today With NEOs....Near-Earth Objects

               In February of 2013....in Chelyabinsk, Russia.... a meteor....15 to 18 meters in length....appeared unannounced....a surprise....and caused an explosion....the reports of which went all around the world. There is a good bit of video available on this if you are interested. It was the largest meteor strike since the famous 1908....Tunguska Event....also in Russia. Only the day before....NBC Nightly News reported on an asteroid that passed by the earth.....this asteroid was expected and announced beforehand.
              In the  book of Revelation....evangelicals have always talked about what are known as the....Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse....from chapter six....and the first four....seals....but the seventh seal....beginning in chapter eight....introduces the....seven trumpets. In the first three trumpets we see....hail and fire....hurled to earth....and then a great mountain....burning with fire....hurled into the sea....and then a great star....burning like a torch.
               Over the past five or so decades....as  biblical prophecy began to be studied in earnest....when evangelicals would come to the trumpets of Revelation....there wasn't much they....(we)....could do except to speculate with a fair amount of confidence that these things hurled on the earth were meteors and asteroids of some sort. It was obvious to us....and in retrospect....it appears that we were correct.
               Today.....NEOs.....Near-Earth Objects....are in the news fairly often. In September of 2022....NASA completed an experiment where they sent a spacecraft to slam into an asteroid....close enough to earth to do this....but not near enough to be a concern of a direct hit. To be more specific....this asteroid was given a name....Didymos....and it was a binary asteroid....in that it had a smaller moon with it. The NASA spacecraft hit the asteroid's moon as planned....and the effects were recorded as best as could be done. There is another spacecraft....this time from Europe....that is scheduled to meet the binary asteroid sometime in November....just to see exactly how much damage or change was done to the asteroid from the first collision. All this of course is part of the efforts to determine if an asteroid on the course of a direct hit....can be be deflected.
                We have a sixth armed forces group today that is called.....Space Force....and part of their responsibility will be to follow-up and implement these experiments....in possibly protecting the earth from asteroid and comet and meteor hits.
                This whole issue gets complicated a little more in that in 2004 a huge asteroid....(450 meters by 170 meters)....was discovered.....that will fly very close to earth on April 13 of 2029. The asteroid was eventually given the name of Apophis....the Greek god....the "uncreator....an evil serpent that dwelled in the eternal darkness."
                One particular scientist....(his theory has not been accepted)....made a lot of news by saying that the accepted calculations of....Pi....are slightly incorrect....and that with the real calculations applied to Apophis....there might very well be a direct hit on the earth in 2029.
                 Either way....whether Apophis is a threat to earth or not....we know that asteroids can appear out of nowhere....giving little warning if they would be headed to earth. Chelyabinsk was an example of that....and an asteroid like Apophis....as you can see from the above....is much bigger....and would cause much more damage....particularly depending on where it would hit on the earth.
                 So....what can learn from all of this? If I might segue a little here....sixty years ago evangelicals repeated and memorized Scripture about an end-times....mark on the hand....where you could not buy or sell without it....a chip if you will....and they were laughed at....but today that chip is more than a theory.....but a fact....being developed as you read this!
                 It's the same with asteroids. Sixty years ago we just theorized that Revelation was pointing to asteroids of some sort....but today....with all the research being done on NEOs....we all should be able to understand that a literal interpretation of Revelation chapter eight is entirely possible!
                 
           
                
                

Something Did Happen On The Tetrad Of Blood Moons......And The World Has Been Changed!

                A lunar tetrad is when there are four total lunar eclipses....called blood moons even by NASA....roughly in six-month intervals....over a period of about a year and a half. They are not rare....as we will have....should the Lord tarry....about eight in the 21st century....although the cycle is such that 300 years may go by without one. What is extremely....even extraordinarily rare....is when those four blood moons all fall on Jewish feasts or fast days. What makes it more interesting is that major events seem to happen on those extremely rare occasions....for example....the Six Day War of 1967....and the establishment of Israel as a nation in 1948 before that....and 1492-1494 when all of the Jews were kicked out of Spain....before that!
                So....there was another rare tetrad on Jewish feasts
in 2014-2015....and there were books written beforehand about it. That tetrad came and went....and nothing major seemed to happen....and it seems as if everyone forgot about that theory....but something did happen....something that changed the entire world....for during that tetrad....on June 16 of 2015....Donald Trump came down that golden escalator! This is a different world today because of him.
                 I would ask the evangelical....think about what it was like before 2015? We had Hillary to worry about. Had she won it would have been a rough four years....but it was not an existential situation. It would have been another Clinton administration...with Bill as an advisor....and plenty of the same people that advised him. The same pandemic would have come....and Hillary would have been gone....and we would have had a republican president in 2020.
                 Conservatism and evangelicalism were ripe for what at the time was just the bluster of a Donald Trump. It was a scam no different then getting a phone call from a con artist....and losing most of your life savings. Any Republican president at the time....after the Obama years....would have had a booming economy. The first impeachment was the result of an amateur in the White House who had no idea of things that he could not do. We were no longer just ripe for the picking....for we by then we had become full-blown followers in a cult of personality. Rush and Sean and Mark Levin were sucked in. Fox was no longer Fox. Evangelicalism was no longer....evangelical. 
                 I tuned in that morning of January 6, 2021....just to see what this rally was like. I did what I had done in the past....and that is....type as I watched....with the intent of going back later for a possible post....but what I saw at on that ellipse was.....to use the word I used at the time...."unsettling." This president....and others at the microphone....were stirring that crowd in a very dangerous way....so much so that I had to turn the television off!
                 It was pure horror....what happened at our Capital. Something happened that day with Trump....and maybe it began a few weeks earlier. Life in America....from that time forward....would no longer be the same. Joe Biden was terrible....and bad as he was....Kamala Harris would have been worse....both were judgments upon the Democrat Party and America....but Trump is a curse....an existential judgment....and a judgment upon the church....upon you and me!
                 He changed the world. As dangerous as it it was....it is now far worse. In America....the two sides literally hate each other. Friends can no longer even talk about the issues of the day. Families are torn apart. Pastors have been neutered of their calling. Strong alliances against the evils of Putin and communism and radical Islam have been torn apart. We no longer have a legitimate press....let alone a free press. We in conservatism have followed to a tee the tactics that gave the National Socialists power in Germany. AI has won the day. Racism is back....even in evangelicalism....and antisemitism is now a worldwide threat to Israel and to Jews. (for more on this topic National Socialism see my posts on February 2...and July 18)
                  It is a new world....heading to a new world order....and it all began on June 14 of 2015....on that golden escalator....during that tetrad of blood moons. Trump himself was born on a blood moon. The Great American Eclipse of April 8....2024....extraordinary in its path....was a harbinger or an omen. As I wrote back then in a similar post...."John MacArthur once said that in May of 1948....'God put the world on notice.' This is not date setting! This is....mind setting....'Set your minds on things that are above, not the things of earth.'." (Colossians 3:2 ESV)
                  In evangelicalism....we have....as Jude....inspired by the Holy Spirit....in the book placed just before Revelation....tells all who it pertains to....that they have...."gone the way of Cain....and for pay they have given themselves up to the error of Balaam." Jude 13....NASB

Then You Must Drop Everything And Find Out!

                He had vomited on the bowling alley restaurant counter....and I had to clean it up. It was probably between ten and eleven in the evening. I'm guessing....for it was almost sixty years ago. We returned to the car...a red VW.....Bug....and he drove the four or five miles towards home....because I did not yet have my license. We had both consumed too much alcohol. I was resting in the passenger seat....on the highway....my eyes closed....when I heard the VW's horn. My friend's head was buried in the center of the steering wheel....where the VW Bug horn was located. I grabbed the steering wheel....and somehow steered off into a parking lot....while waking him up enough to tell him to step on the brake....and then I carried him up a steep hill...to his parent's house....and dumped him off....and then walked home.
                That could be story number one.....many more would follow. God has surely had mercy upon the lowest of the low.  I came across some old letters that I had sent my mother while in the army....this back in 1970. At the top left hand corner of every letter.....written diagonally across the tip of the corner....was the word.....or the name....Jude....and it was underlined. I wore an attractive St. Jude medal around my neck....gold....with blue on it....this from about nineteen....to somewhere in my early twenties....until I lost it....probably while in a scuffle of some sort....while inebriated. St Jude was....and probably still is....the patron saint for....hopeless cases.....and that would be me....and that is why I wore it....for I knew no other way.
                When exactly was I born again? I don't know. It was sometime between.....1982....and oh....1995 maybe? I was an evangelizing professing Christian over those years....but I'm not sure if I had been born again. Maybe....maybe it was early....maybe not. John Wesley and George Whitefield both would admit that they were well into their ministries....before they were actually born again. With many Christians.....there comes a time....when they see something in the gospel....something about themselves....and it may not be that they realize that were not at that time born again....but more that they saw the ugliness and the horror of their own sin....and the glory of the cross of Calvary....all this for the very first time....at least to this degree....and in the unspeakable joy of the moment....they know the ecstasy of knowing that all of their sins....past and present and future....were paid for.....in blood.
               It was in the late 1980s....say 1986 to 1990.....and I was a very talkative professing Christian....and at work....through that constant....witnessing....I led seven men into saying a sinner's prayer. They would say the prayer....and I would call other Christians around....and we would welcome them as brothers in Christ....and that was that. Who's next? I had no idea what I was doing....as I did not have a full understanding about salvation. I only hope that I did not harm these men. There was another man....a black man....about six foot three....and somewhat intimidating....who I only knew by name. He came to me one day....he came to me because I was this big mouth born again Christian. He put it right out there on the line....he was going to drug rehab for the second time. He had a wife and two children....and was in jeopardy of losing his job. He needed to know Jesus. I prayed with him....and he went to rehab....and eventually became a deacon in his church....and today he writes on the Internet of the glory of Christ....just like I try to do.
                Whether you have been a Christian for only six months....or have been a Christian for sixty years....there must have been a time when your heart was regenerated....when the dead heart began to beat....and when you then could see the gospel....and your need for the gospel...and you believed unto salvation! If you are not 100% sure that you have been....born again....born anew....born a second time....from above....then drop everything and find out! Googling....'John MacArthur....born again'....or....'R. C. Sproul....born again'....or....John Piper....born again'....would be a good place to start.
                

How Did We....Almost Overnight....Go From....'Shock And Awe'....To...."Let's make A Deal'

                When John McCain was running for president....with Sarah Palin....back in 2008.....he had this little ditty as you will remember....inspired by the Beach Boys song...."Bomb bomb bomb....bomb bomb Iran." As I have mentioned many times in these posts....my father died on November 4, 1979....the day that Iranian students took hostages in Tehran. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery....and when I visit his grave....I usually stop by the grave site of Robert Dean Stethem....which is nearby....who was murdered during the hijacking of TWA Flight 847....by Hezbollah terrorists....this in June of 1985....such is the impact this young man had on me at the time.
                When Trump....and Israel....began bombing Iran on February 28 of this year....it was total....'shock and awe.' As I mentioned before in these posts....it was as if the Iranian leadership must have been crawling around in the rubble looking for air pockets to breath. Surely....everyone thought....at the very least....all of these nuclear negotiations with Iran were finally over.
                On or about Easter weekend....which coincidentally overlapped with Passover week this year....a very strange series of events began. Easter morning was the day that Trump....ranted on social media with profanities against Iran....that they will be...."living in hell'....all of which strangely concluded with this...."Praise be to Allah." A week later....on April 7....a temporary cease fire deal with Iran was announced....and Israel wasn't even included in that negotiation? 
                Early on....in January...as Iranian protesters were filling the streets....Trump told them...."We have your back"....and..."Help is on the way." A week or so ago....Trump in one of his rallies....said that 75,000 Iranian protesters have been killed so far! 
                The focus of this post is not on the war in Iran itself....rather it is on a nagging question that I have had for almost a half a year now....'What happened on that Easter/Passover weekend?' Something must have happened to go from 'shock and awe'....to the almost daily..."We are close to a deal?" 
                A deal? How did these terrorist leaders dig themselves out of the ruble....and get themselves back to where they were before this war began? I have to ask myself....what am I missing?
                Right now....the Saudis are under occasional attacks....and tankers still getting hit in the strait....and the midterms....which are not looking good for this president....are only three weeks away....and Israel's election will take place before that!
                What usually happens when one administration leaves....replaced by a new one....is that the books come out....and if we follow that same pattern....oh will the books come out....for all of these cabinet secretaries and advisors and admirals and generals are free to describe what happened behind closed doors....and we may find out why the strategy suddenly changed....and we went from....'Jeopardy'....to....."Let's make A Deal."

Note: I want to point out that the only total lunar eclipse blood moon of 2026 occurred on March 3.

A Rare....Newly Recovered....Martyn Lloyd-Jones Sermon For You

 

I have in these posts....added the very last sermon by R. C. Sproul....I believe that it is posted about a week ago....and I've posted the last sermon of John MacArthur....and Charles Spurgeon. There is something about....last sermons....for all of the wisdom of so many years of ministry is behind them. The sermon YouTube above....is not Martyn Lloyd-Jones' last sermon....but it is one of the last....given as he returned in 1977 to his first pastorate....to commemorate 50 years of Ministry. The sermon that he gives in this YouTube is on the same verse....2 Corinthians 2:2....that he gave in that first sermon at Sandfields. 

DISPATCHES

Trump has chosen Russian diesel oil over Canadian. He chose Russia over the Ukraine....and he chose Russia over European allies? From day one....no....from well before day one....the concern in American intelligence agencies was that Trump had been prime Russian kompromat material for....first the Soviet Union...and later Putin. These intelligence professionals....many of them....lost their careers....and were threatened with jail....because they took that concern of Trump to an extreme. We can clearly see today....that those concerns were justified!

It is 6:50 PM Saturday and just about every news outlet....with the probable exception of Breibart....has reported for twenty-four hours now how Trump waved much of Lindsey Graham's Russia sanctions. Fox has it....here is how to get there and read it....go to Fox news.com...then at the top of the page go to your right until you get to the three little dots....hit on that....and then choose Business....go there....and page down a little bit....and there it is! Fox was once the best...actually....fair and balanced....but oh how far they have fallen!

If a person represents himself in a trial....is he then a lawyer? Well I guess the answer is....no....but he (she) would sure look like one.....calling witnesses and asking them questions....not to mention objecting and all the other things that he or she might due in the course of the trial. Flash Of Genius was a 2008 movie starring Greg Kinnear....who played the man who had invented the automobile's....intermittent wiper. Ford Motor Corporation took the credit....and the film is about the long ensuing legal battle....where Kinnear's character eventually winds up representing himself. I loved the film. So....is Katie Zacharia a lawyer? Once again....I guess not....from what I read about it. In my opinion....this young lady is very fortunate....to have been relieved of what would have been a soulless job. I watched the White House press conference....finally....just now....Friday evening....and for a first time....with everything just thrown at her....I thought she did OK....nervous yes....but she would probably be a lot better on the second day....and again on the third. I had put it this way in these posts for ten years now....Trump is a destroyer....either purposely destroying people....or people are destroyed simply by flying too close to his flame.

Roy Cohn was Trump's hero personal lawyer for a long time. There wouldn't be a President Trump today without Roy Cohn. Trump famously said....in his first term....in frustration...."Where's my Roy Cohn?" Cohn was disbarred shortly before his death in....I believe....1986. Was he a lawyer in the last few weeks of his life. Technically no.

I would guess....(I'm doing a lot of guessing in this post)....I would guess that some of the very best law school professors in the country....may have their J.D. degree....but are not even lawyers.

Conservatives and evangelicals have been rewired to think of the name of Bill Gates and begin to attack....and yes....his philosophy and ideology....if he has one....are often antithetical to ours....but he is also one of the many AI people who are very concerned about AI. He made a comment in an interview over the weekend that we....whoever 'we' entails....have to decide what jobs to reserve for humans. That is a fact folks....AI is taking and will continue to accelerate taking jobs! Everyone who right now thinks that AI is really a neat thing....are going to change that opinion. This is why the elites of this world often talk about a four day work week....and worse yet....a situation where most of the people do have employment or professions....but they just stay home and the government issues them a monthly check. On AI....Gates said that the existential dangers of AI may be a few years off....but right now the problem is that 'bad people'....will hijack....(I forgot what word he used)....will hijack AI and use it for their own dangerous purposes.

Donald Trump has been in Putin's pocket since June 15, 2015 when he came down that golden escalator....and everyone knows it....everyone that is except those who refuse to accept what is right in front of them. Trump was a concern to all of our intelligence agencies from the very beginning of his involvement with Russia back in the mid-80s. The hideous German Fuhrer wrote that if telling a big lie was...."colossal enough'....people would begin to believe it....and that big colossal lie....of the past ten years has been....'Russia hoax'.'

Bitcoin people were excited when Trump came out big for crypto....and the CEOs here are still happy....but Trump came out with his own coin....and hyped it big time....making 3/4 of a billion on it.....but he himself had nothing invested in it. The coin sold to....from what  I read....almost 800,00 meme coin accounts....and then the value dropped 97%....to almost nothing....and now all these people are pretty mad. Meanwhile Trump made his money on it....and that is all that is important to him.

We visited Regent University today....formerly CBN University....the 700 Club. It bought back wonderful memories of forty years ago when we vacationed there a couple of times....with a 700 Club pin on my ball cap....at the Founders Inn. God used Pat Robertson in a extraordinary way. None of these men were perfect folks....not MacArthur....Not Sproul....not Billy Graham....not even Spurgeon or Martyn Lloyd-Jones. Another thing they have in common is that they are all gone....gone to be with their Lord and Savior. Right now God has essentially left us shepherdless....temporarily blinded.....because for a long time now we wanted to do it our way....which led to not only Christian nationalism....but Christian nationalism with a genuine biblical false prophet as its head!

Paul Washer spoke 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! I'll add it here for you...

                                                                    

 

        

 

Where There Is Little Water To Drink......Go To Where The Water Is.....(Lord's Day Post)

Preface: Tomorrow is the Lord's Day. Typically....we will enter church and laugh and share stories as we meet friends....even as we are in the pews....until the pastor calls the service to order. There will be four or five hymns or praises choruses....defending on what church we are in....and prayer....some take notes on the sermon....which will end....and there will be more laughter and sharing as we all exit the church....with many of us hurrying home to catch the beginning of whatever the big game is in our area. This is modern American evangelicalism. The glory is long gone from our pulpits....but we do not know it. Preaching is to cut to the heart. This is where we get discernment on what we are doing wrong....and what we are missing....because we can fool ourselves if we are not directly challenged! The only way for you to find out if this last sentence is true....is to read or listen to what it was like in the past.

Where There Is Little Water To Drink...Go To Where The Water Is        

             I'm sure that most parents would rather have their adult children live close by....but if they do not....then those times of the year when they are together can be special times....as opposed to seeing your son or daughter every day....and just saying...."Hey....what's up?" Our son knows that when we do get together for a day or more....that in that time....I will at some point strongly give the same advice. I say it to our son so often that it is down to three words...."Remember son....incorporate!"....and he will know exactly what I mean.
             As a matter of fact....I do not personally know a single brother or sister in the Lord that I would not give this advice to. Let me explain that advice....just about all of us that I know have wonderful pastors.....good men who sincerely desire to serve the Lord in the best ways that they know how to. The problem is in what they do not know.....because of the church day and age that we live in.
             As spiritual children of God....we need spiritual food....nourishment. I imagine that a man can live for months without food before he would die.....but spiritually we can live most of our lives without this spiritual food....and maybe not die....we might physically even be a perfectly healthy person....but we would be susceptible to all of the wiles of the enemy....and have little to no discernment....and be easy prey for wolves in sheep's clothing!
             Bible reading is spiritual food....certainly....sufficient for all of our needs....but God designed it that there is one primary and indispensable food....and that is the preached Word! They call it a means of grace....but we tend to accept that and pass over it without really knowing what it means....or the importance of it! There is a needed power in hearing God's Word preached that is greater even than reading the Bible. If this were not so then we would not even need preachers....for we could just stay home and read God's Word for ourselves.
             That being said....it is not a contradiction that we go to God's Word to verify what the preacher is telling us....but this man...this shepherd (hopefully) is given a gift....in preaching with power! To a certain extent we all are in our own way to seek this gift...."Pursue love....and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts....especially that you may prophesy...." (1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV) When I am doing what I do....and when you are doing with others what you do....hopefully we are partaking in the commands of that Bible verse from Corinthians!
              This post is getting a little bit too long....so to summarize....when there is little or no water to drink....go to where there is water! Incorporate into your weekly and even if possible your daily routine....preaching from....(a phrase that I have used so often over so many years)....preaching from preachers of the past....or those preachers today who preach like preachers of the past. Spurgeon sermons on YouTube and other venues....and sermons from Martyn Lloyd-Jones....and John MacArthur....and John Piper....and Michael Horton....and Sinclair Ferguson....and Derek Thomas....and Paul Washer....there are so many....are easy to find and listen to....and if you do the work....and search for them....you will find them. INCORPORATE their sermons into you spiritual life! 

Addendum: It is 11:53 AM as I type this. I had to do an emergency errand this morning....and was able to listen to almost two John MacArthur sermons in the truck. I had my breakfast earlier....so I physically received nourishment to go on in the day....but I also had spiritual nourishment....that I will surely need!

The Social Reckoning

 The reviews are so-so....but it's a very good movie.....The Social Reckoning....the follow-up....sort of....to the 2010 movie....The Social Network. My opinion on why the mediocre reviews is that revelations about Facebook.....and the 2021....hearings in Congress on Facebook....are old news. We've moved on.....and today it is Zuckerberg and Trump....and their weird reciprocal relationship that commands our attention. We don't want to go back to those dull and insignificant days of accusing Facebook and all of the socials of in effect....'algorithmizing'....the minds of our children.
              Back around that time of the first film....2010....three of my five weekly posts might be on warnings about Facebook....and even on the terrible potential of the Facebook News Feed. I warned churches not to be a part of this mess....as if God needed Facebook....(look at the results....we lost all discernment and put a megalomaniacal false prophet in command of our nation)....and I warned families who thought it so wonderful to share family photos on Facebook....not to be taken in.
              Well that may be water under the bridge....but this movie is valuable in showing us how Facebook....(and others)....villainously lead people through algorithms....even to radicalizing websites....in order to keep the company....(now Meta)....growing. No...the new film does not have the glory of the Harvard campus....and a young Jesse Eisenberg as Zuckerberg....and the Winklevoss twins....and Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker....but it does have an...."All The President's Men"....type of mystery about a whistleblower....and a Wall Street Journal investigative reporter....that is just as compelling....if you keep your mind trained on the importance of the investigation.

Note: This thought came to mind as the above post is about how Facebook's use of algorithms served to radicalize many viewers. Indeed the film....The Social Reckoning....begins with this concept....as a young woman....in a racist rage....is arrested. Another young woman....a data scientist who works at Facebook....saw the video of the arrest....and recognized the young woman as a friend from years past.....a friend who at the time was kind and compassionate? What had happened to her? What caused this change? Thus the film develops. Anyway....I have a good friend....a strong Christian of many years....a friend who we at one time could both commiserate on what is going on in our country. Well....one day.....about a year or so ago....she....out of the blue....said that she began watching Fox Cable....and we have not been able to have a political conversation since....for everything today to her is illegal immigration....and stopping other countries from taking advantage of us. I do not think that it is a coincidence that I have quite a few other friends....who admit that Trump is vile....but explain it away simply by saying that God sometimes uses people like this....and all of them get their news from Fox. My point is that 'we' have our own ways an radicalizing people. 
    

"You Cannot Take A Pause From Your Hobbies....And Give A Glance At God's Word....And Expect Him To Reveal Anything To You!

                  It happens every time....a hurricane is on the way in....and the news media shows the empty shelves at super markets. People on the gulf are now nailing up the plywood and filling the sand bags....and even evacuating. Modern meteorology can give us almost exactly where the hurricane will land....and what the wind speeds will be....and how high the storm surge will be. What did we do without these warnings?
                  Jesus told the Pharisees that they could discern the signs of a storm....but they could not discern the signs of the times. That comment was meant for us also. The only way that I know that Jesus is coming back right now....is because to begin with He had mercy on the least of the least and the worst of the worst. He then....as He often does....chose the weakest and most unlikely vessel for some impossible task....and that task is to tell you....and the few others than I can reach....and to take it to heart myself....that He is coming back in all of His power and glory....and for us the games are over....and warnings are about over....and the warning to the United States of America....and to Israel again....and to the world is....Amos 4:12...."Prepare to meet your God!"
                  God's Word tells us of a 'falling away' of the church before Jesus returns! Jesus Himself said....of Himself...."when the Son of Man comes....will he find faith on earth?" We are a remnant folks! It is a narrow gate and a straight way....and few find it! Here is a piece of good news if you will accept it....if all it took for a person to be a Christian was to be a nice person....and say yeah I believe....then the God they would go to would just be a nice God! It makes no sense folks....that Calvary would happen....so that all we had to do was to be nice.....and as if to....vote for Jesus! The good news is that God is holy....so holy that no one could ever even stand before His glory!  His sacrifice for us was beyond anything in its love that we could ever even imagine! His power is an almighty power....and His wrath is final and devastating! 
                       No....this is no silly salvation of a silly God to silly people! Read in His Word of what the angels do in His presence! There is not one of us that would not collapse in fear in His presence! So the warnings are in His Word....evidenced all around us....and explained just enough that we need to know right now!  Warnings like this were given numerous times to the people of Israel and Judah....but God's Word says that.....they would not obey....and they would not listen!
                     So for us today to say ridiculous things like....'We won't know when Jesus will return"....is pretty much the same thing that condemned Israel and Judah. The evidence is there....but you know what....I know a lot of Christians who can give a memorized rebuttal to all of this....and I also know this....they really have no interest....and hardly put any work....any study into God's Word on any of this....as they spend their free time on sports or any one of a number of modern day pastimes or hobbies or personal goals. The evidence is there....they really do not want to know....and therefore they won't....until it can no longer be ignored. You cannot take a pause from your hobbies....and give a glance or two God's Word....and expect Him to reveal anything to you! You have to put the effort in. You have to show a desire to learn what God is telling us!

                   

He Can Do No Wrong

                It was one of the more difficult books.....of the now 117 books on or about or by Trump....that I've read. I was in Barnes & Noble two days ago....on my normal Tuesday....(new books release)....my normal Tuesday run through....not expecting to see anything....but I saw this book....and just shook my head....for I have to read it which means that I have to buy it...$27.99....and I know that it going to be nonsense.
                 Roughly my first ten years in the Christian faith were spent with a high priority on Christian apologetics. Why? I'm not sure....maybe it was because the first book that I read that led to my conversion was Josh McDowell's classic apologetic....Evidence That Demand A Verdict. Before this period was over I had been putting ads in our local newspaper....trying to contact people who were in or just beginning to study with the Jehovah Witnesses.
                 There was one day that I remember....when two typical JWs came to our door.....and at the end of our talk I held out a copy of a book that was written by a former member of their own Governing Body of Jehovah Witnesses....a man who had come to see the error....and was excommunicated....leading to the book. The man's hand went straight up in the air. There was no way that he would ever read that book. That is part and parcel of what life is like in the cults....and unfortunately that is what so many of us are like today....for we dutifully read or view Fox along with our other sources....and then....(hands up in the air!)...(fake news!)....refuse to read anything else.
                 So back to this book that I had bought this past Tuesday....the MAGA movement is a cult....a personality cult....there is no doubt about that....but it is different in that most of these people are not....Christ-denying people such as in the JWs or the Mormon church....people who have never understood the gospel of Jesus Christ....and thus just followed a false gospel....but rather people who had heard and embraced the gospel....and then....not being sound enough in their faith....or rather....never having been ground solid enough in the faith....they went astray and followed a false prophet....and came to believe the false gospel and false prophecies of a charismatic cult leader.
                This book was particularly bad. It actually put forth Donald Trump as....that which will restrain the Antichrist! (2 Thessalonians 2) I literally had to pause and catch my breath after that. The message in the book is that God gave us Trump....to buy us time for revival....by delaying the coming of the Beast! People like this are just totally blinded of discernment. Trump is described as another Moses....or David....or Gideon. It is hard to read this stuff.
                 There are too many absurd quotes that I could give.....for the book is full of them. The authors quote Nostradamus....and Jesuit scholars....and they have visions. It is typical charismatic nonsense....but I do want to bring one particular issue up. The authors know that Artificial Intelligence is associated somehow with....the image of the Beast....and they know that Trump has....as they put it....put AI on steroids....so how do they handle this.....their hero is the one helping to bring about the image of the Beast? Well....they sweep it all away with this...."He's doing what he believes is best for the future of America in the global race for AI dominance....we believe Trump is primarily concerned about the role of AI...and the race for AI supremacy." That is how cult members typically defend the egregious actions of their leaders!
                 

"Are Few Saved?"

                Consider these contrasts....the follower of Jesus in Rome....late first century....and the follower of Jesus in Asia Minor....Turkey today....the cities of the seven letters to the seven churches of Revelation. In the former....persecution and martyrdom was state sponsored and rampant. In the latter....the followers had various persecutions in different cities but their dangers were different....more of a danger to the soul. Now look to us in America in 2026....with multitudes claiming to be Christian....where our peoples are secure in our walled cities....safe in our towers....protected by our great armies....and counting our profits. ...drunk with our entertainments. We are utterly unable to even imagine what it was like....and what it could be like for us....to live as pariahs....hated by all....even within our own families...with only a few....with only a 'few' regenerated unto salvation....among the great multitudes whose hope is in a false peace....and a false salvation. We can read words in God's Word....and even repeat them....or place a check in a multiple choice exam on what life in the end times will be like. They can even be preached from the pulpit....but they cannot be felt.
                   All of the above might help us to understand why....when faced on paper with the prospect of horror....it does not affect us as horror should! It should give some explanation on why when God's Word screams to us....'stay awake....stay alert....be vigilant'.....that we as if just say....'yeah....yeah....I'm awake....I'm alert.....I'm vigilant'.....when we are nothing of the sort!
                   I have attempted a few times to sit down face-to face with a brother....and try to get through to them on how bad things are going to be at the time of the end....but my warnings as if go in one ear and out the other....as they say.....'Special Dog....we just have to trust God"....and the conversation.....and my attempt to awaken them....ends....as I have failed again to make someone understand that the time will come when hearts will fail because of what is happening all around us....and much of the church at that time will cry out to God....'Oh God....why have you left us?" 
                     We are not separate....we are not warned from our pulpits....in fact we as a church.....evangelicalism....have entered that prophesied...."falling away." Oh yes we say that we must trust God....but we utterly refuse to even consider....let alone trust....His many warnings to us in His Word....and related to us over the past half century....by men who had remained faithful to their calling as shepherds.

Addendum: If I remember correctly....at the beginning of Billy Graham's crusades....he believed that as far as his ministry could tell from follow-up....about 12% of the people who had gone forward...had actually been saved on those evenings. Later on in his ministry....once again if I remember correctly....he narrowed that down to possibly only 3% of those who went forward....continued on in the Christian faith. And folks....this is an estimation of people who took the time to go and listen to a Billy Graham crusade! I think its fair to say that as we look as all of the 'college revivals' that we read about in the news today....that the same low percentages would apply. The following is an odd video presentation....only a little over 13 minutes long....of R. C. Sproul teaching on....'few being saved'....and to complicate it a little bit more....you will have to twice hit on the....'Skip This Ad"....link that will appear.

                                                                        

                

                  We have....in the church....lost the grace of meekness. We chose instead the brute force of Jehu....vicariously of course....for we ourselves do not pound on the door of the immigrant.....and haul him away in front of his family....nor do we call in the civil servant....fire them....and order security to escort them to the door....nor do go to the black person....and point off in the distance....and give directions to where they can find their low-income housing. We are not present when an elderly person puts the roast beef back in the grocery store freezer....and instead picks up a pound of bologna....or when the doctor tells the patient that their medicine is no longer covered by Medicare. We don't even think about these things when we walk as a tourist around our nation's capital....admiring the improvements in the parks....or the new ballroom being built....or triumphal tower.
                  The honored Puritan pastor Thomas Watson wrote that...."meekness is opposed to malice"....and that...."malice is the devil's picture"....that it is...."mental murder"....and...."unfits for duty"...."how can such a man pray?"....and that meekness is also...."opposed to revenge"....that malice is...."vermin that lives on blood." 
                   We no longer know how to forgive....or even to forget. We have....as in the letter in Revelation to the church in Ephesus....'left our first love'.....and in Jude....."...run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit"....and we have done all of this....in the name of God....offering praises that He has no use for....and sacrifices that are a stench in His nostrils.

Rev. 2:4
Jude 1:11                   

Alan King......And The Kings Of Kings

                 God gave us humor in this life....and we have abused it as we do all of the good things that He gave us. There are smiles and laughter even in the bleakest times that we may go through....to help us. I'll keep this post up for a short time and then transfer it over to my humor posts.

                There was a popular comedian on television all the time when I was in my early teens. His name was Alan King....a Jewish man. He had two brothers who were very respected doctors. Their elderly father had developed a significant limp...and the three brothers were very concerned. The two doctors examined him....and came up with some theories on what might be the problem....and recommended some treatments. Alan....the comedian...was putting his father to bed that night....and found a sock crumpled up in the toe of the shoe of the foot that was limping! So the lounge lizard comedian came into the room and told the two brilliant doctors that he had diagnosed the limp....and cured the problem.
                 This past weekend our son and his family came in to celebrate my wife and my 50th anniversary. I cannot continue this without giving praise to God for keeping a wretch like me married for so long! So....we walked to this very nice restaurant....and I was limping much more than from my usual aches in the knees....and I was very concerned....that my son and his family might be overly concerned. Well you may have guessed it...the next day I found that the cushion in my shoe had bound up somewhat in the front of the shoe....causing me to limp so badly.
                  There have been many times in my long Christian walk where I would be as if limping through life....slowed down significantly....but determined to keep on going.....and invariably in those times I later find out that there is some sin....some inflamed weakness in my character....that was causing me to struggle. God uses both the shepherd's staff....and the shepherd's rod....one to gently pull us in....and the other two smart us and get our attention....to safely take us through this life. Oh how wonderful and perfect is His design....and His mercies....and His strength and power and holy majestic righteousness! 

"And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying...'Amen...blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might belong to our God forever and ever. Amen'." Rev.7:11

"He who testifies to these things says....(this is the end of the book of Revelation)....'Yes...I am coming quickly.' Amen...Come Lord Jesus." Rev. 22: 20,21

Jonathan Cahn......And Charles Spurgeon

         Jonathan Cahn starts off this video from his ministry....asking for those in the audience who may have heard of Charles Spurgeon....to raise their hands. Spurgeon was quite possibly the greatest preacher since the Apostle Paul....but Jonathan Cahn....this would be my guess....may have never considered Spurgeon before....until this Spurgeon sermon on the Jews and Israel was brought to his attention.
          There are represented here two very different...brands....of evangelicalism. In the charismatic movement....(it's really not technically a movement anymore....but rather a more of a sect)....experience is the key....attributed to the Holy Spirit....where beliefs are influenced if not determined by experiences. In Spurgeon's world....it's the word....and the Holy Spirit within the believer....that determines....even that we know that Jesus is Lord...and that we are indeed saved....and that the Bible is God's very word to us!
          David Wilkerson....(raise your hands if you ever heard of....The Cross and the Switchblade man?) David Wilkerson was Pentecostal....not Charismatic....in fact he was often critical of what the Charismatic Movement was doing. He was something else that he probably didn't even realize. He was a Puritan. Those men from the past that influenced him....are the same men from the past who influenced me. He preached like a Puritan. One of the books that helped change my theological life was a three volume paperback set by William Gurnall....titled....The Christian in Complete Armour. I was just browsing in a Christian bookstore....way back when....when a bright orange neon color of a paperback caught my eye.....volume one of that set. 'What is this'.....I thought....so I looked on the back to see if there were any blurbs on it....one blurb was by a man named.....Charles Spurgeon....'never heard of him' I thought.....(folks this was probably about 1984....and I was very new to the faith)....there was another name....David Wilkerson! Well I knew of Him! That was all I needed.....so I bought the book.....but think about this....a Puritan book....with two blurbs....one Charles Spurgeon....and the other David Wilkerson!
             In 2011 Jonathan Cahn wrote a mega-bestseller....The Harbinger. He did something that I do all the time....as he looked back at the reasons that God judged Israel and Judah....and likened them to the very same things that we do today....and all of this evidenced by 9/11! So far...so good...but he continued to write bestsellers....and each one was progressively more speculative than the one before it....even becoming grossly speculative. He is the one who labeled Trump the new Jehu....sent by God to save America....but in reality Trump was the man who gutted and neutered evangelicalism itself! I have all Cahn's books....for research....and I don't recommend them....but I am putting this video from Jonathan Cahn in this post....not primarily because it does show that Spurgeon had a God-given discernment that translated into his sermons....and that he clearly saw from God's Word....almost a century before it happened....that the state of Israel would come into being....but I put the video here rather to let you hear....that it might introduce Charles Haddon Spurgeon to you....that you might listen often to his sermons from Google.
              Also included here is another video from Jonathan Cahn's ministry....that is titled...."Is Trump the trumpet of God for America's recovery?' This was the greatest mistake that Jonathan Cahn has made....that transformed him from an author on biblical prophecy....with some benefit to the people....to a false prophet....sending multitudes astray.

                                                                                    

                                                                              

                                                                             

   

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

Preface: Trump is often calling political opponents....traitors. Sigmund Freud called this....psychological projection....in an attempt to assuage their own guilt. Dictators often use the tactic to confuse the situation. We need to keep theses concepts in our mind....for future reference....because Trump does things and says things....and it is getting much worse....that make it seem like he is intentionally aiding....the other side? The following was first posted this past July:                 

                  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 eliminate any real concern for human life or for doing what is right.

God Help Us........Woe Are Us!

                The issue as it is debated....and it is really more ignored than debated....is how much should we know about the timing of the appearing of Jesus Christ in righteous judgment? For the purpose of this post....if I were to attempt to completely ignore the Second Coming.....and all of the warnings that God has given....increasingly over the past sixty years or so....if I were to just ignore all of that....and look only at the societal and economic and governmental issues of the United States of America....including terrorism and pandemics and artificial intelligence....then I would be just as concerned....and warning just as much....as I do today. I would ask of you to do the same thing....which in reality you should have been doing all along anyway!
                 Forty years ago....we in America had two functioning political parties. Yes we had greed all through them....with many members of our congress primarily concerned about continuing their tenure....but we also had leaders and many members of those congresses who debated issues....and when their party lost....they would accept the situation and continue their work until the next election cycle. It worked. We did not hate each other. That part of America is gone!
                 Whose fault would that be? Well....the Democrat Party fell first.....beginning with the Clintons....and then moving on to Obama....who promised to "fundamentally transform the United States of America"....which never happened....because saner heads prevailed. Where would we go next? There were seventeen candidates on that Republican debate stage at the beginning. We in the Republican Party at that time still held tightly onto the high ground of ethics and truth. Even if Hillary would have won....the pandemic would have done her in....and Republicans would have put a competent and honest man or woman into the White House. We have since lost all of the high ground of ethics and integrity!
                 A vile man rose up....buoyed by evangelicals....I voted for him.....but within months I started to read about who this man who we put in power really was. It is 116 books later....all on Trump.....on every part of his life....and what I found out was that this man is never to be trusted....as he has a life history of taking advantage of people.
                 There was no choice in 2020.....with Biden and Trump....there was no lesser of two evils. Both men were judgments upon America and upon the Church. Biden gave everything away to radical progressivism....thinking it would buy him another term....but his own age did him in....and he was succeeded by a man who was now a criminal....totally responsible for the horrors of January 6....who now in his second term seemed to be an entirely different entity....as if he has been possessed by evil. His political resurrection and gaining power is so very similar to another man who thought that he could rule the world....this back in 1933.
                 We had alliances that we not perfect....but they were sound and strong....and Putin hated them. Trump has destroyed or seriously injured most of them. Israel is the most precarious situation they have ever been in....by far. They thought that Trump was their hero....but are finding out that he is in this for himself. Taiwan....in a news report just today....is learning that they may have to defend themselves on their own. Canada....who I always looked at almost as brothers....are now....because of Trump....almost enemies!
                  We did not learn from the pandemic.....in fact we as much as denied that there was a pandemic....and we might now be seriously hindered in dealing with any future outbreaks?  In a starting turn of events....artificial intelligence....which we were all quickly finding out that it has existential dangers within it....is being defended by Trump officials....at his direction....and upon his orders no doubt! 
                  God help us! Woe are Us! Money and greed has become everything to us. This once....land of the free....hardly even has a free press left! These next four weeks are of particular concern....for Trump knows that if the Democrats take the House....then he is done....as all of his money-making schemes will be investigated. And if the Republicans somehow retain the House....and the 'speakership'....the gavel....what would Trump be capable of as a lame duck? God help us! Woe Are us! We went the way of Balaam...."who loved gain from wrongdoing." We evangelicals said that we were fighting for our heritage....but in fact we were running from our heritage in faith and dependence upon Jesus Christ!
                  So....even if you do not believe that God's Word tells us that Jesus is about to return....even looking around at the pure evil in this collapsing world....this evil generation....(unless  you believe the lies about a Golden Age that supposedly is already upon us)....you should be able to put aside all of the baubles that ruined our discernment to begin with....and look up and say....in reverence and godly fear....Maranatha....Lord Jesus....come!"
       

"Let My People Go!"

              Moses had been a shepherd in the desert of Midian....for forty years....when God appeared to him....and told him to go to Pharaoh....and tell him....that God said...."Let my people go!" We all know what transpired after that.
               We in American evangelicalism right now....have no voice that can speak as to the nation....or the 'Pharaoh.' This can change in a day....but as for right now....since Billy Graham and John MacArthur and R. C. Sproul and Voddie Baucham and Tim Keller....and maybe a very few others are gone....there is no one of that stature. You might come up with a few names of your own....and they may have great followings.....Jonathan Cahn would be one....and they may even be able to start a movement....but not have enough wisdom to....stop a movement.
               Donald Trump has taken captive....and this increasingly so for the past eleven years....much if not most of American evangelicalism. He has a hold over them. Paul asked the Galatians...."Who Has bewitched you?" Well...Trump has bewitched some members of just about every congregation in America....enough to effectively have it said....that he holds evangelicalism captive....the Trumpian Captivity of the Church!
               Oh that we had today a shepherd....with enough gravitas in American public life....to come out publicly and tell Trump.....that God says to him....."Let my people go!" Let them go...."that they may serve Me." (Exodus 9:1) Run again for president....make yourself king....hold sway over the multitudes that want to continue to blindly serve you....but let those who have groaned under the weight of greed and pride and revenge....and have forsaken dependence on God...."Not by might nor by power"....in favor of dependence on that might and power....and this for a decade now....let them go....that they may worship the only true God! 

Lord's Day Post

Preface: The post below is from May of 2022  At the bottom is an old teaching from R. C. Sproul....and below that is the very last sermon that Sproul preached....only weeks before he went to be with his Lord....this in December of 2017. You can easily tell the difference in the voice....once young and spry....and then raspy and even at times hesitating. John MacArthur's voice change is even more pronounced....as he once spoke rapid-fire....and at the end he was very slow of voice....which I actually liked better....for it gave me more time to think!

                It was certainly one of the biggest earthquakes in history....8.2 is the most often used numeration. There is archaeological evidence galore that it indeed happened....and that it covered a large area....and probably centered in what is today....Lebanon.
               The prophet Amos....a simple herdsman....began his prophecy by writing...."two years before the earthquake".....and Zechariah....maybe 250 years later still referred to that earthquake....as being during the time of King Uzziah.
                So Amos prophesied destruction upon Damascus and Gaza (the Philistines) and Tyre and Edom and Ammon and Moab and Edom and Israel and Judah....and he detailed what they had done to get God's anger to such a degree. Amos saw the destruction in multiple visions....and wrote about this later pointing out that he had these visions....two years before the earthquake. There was no need for him to try to describe a particular earthquake....for this was truly the....mother of all earthquakes.
               Chapter six should get our attention in America....for we have been for a long time...."at ease in Zion"....proud of our power...."I abhor the pride of Jacob, and hate his palaces; Therefore I will deliver up the city and all that is in it." (6:8) Here Amos is prophesying a future judgment....and also....unbeknownst to him....another future judgment after that....which would be us today....for we also sleep on our beds of ivory....so to speak....stretch out on our couches....eat and drink and be merry....all the while having no compassion on our brothers who are not safe under the great and powerful king....commissioned by God Himself to make us great again....or so we believe.
                So is there another earthquake coming in the same area? Yes....and even greater than the one during the life of Amos....as even the Mount of Olives will split in two....and we likewise are given warnings before the earthquake....and ignoring those warnings....just as did Judah and Israel.
                 There is much more than an earthquake coming....and the judgments have already begun. As you read through Amos....if you should choose to do so....you will find some interesting verses to meditate upon. You will read in 3:7...."Surely the LORD God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to his servants the prophets"....and God has indeed though men like Billy Graham warned us for a half a century. 
                  You will read where God told the Israelites to go ahead and offer their sacrifices and pray and give offerings....in Bethel....where they set up pagan idols to worship....kind of like us with Old Glory hanging just feet away from the pulpit. (4:4, 5:5)
                  God told them that He already sent many judgments upon them....one being plagues....or in our case a pandemic....yet we still did not turn from our idols. God told them that he despises their feast days and does not savor their sacred assemblies. (5:21)
                   The people told Amos....this mere herdsman....with no credentials....to get lost....to go back to his own land....that they had their king!
                    The Lord's hand of mercy is also extended to the people....but not before Amos prophesied of a day...."Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God....'that I will send a famine on the land....not a famine of bread....nor a thirst for water....but a hearing the words of the LORD'." (8:11)
                    The above famine of the Word of God is today folks. How was your sermon two days ago? Were you humbled under the holiness and judgments of God? Were you warned of the evil days that we live in? Were you told to look to that day when Jesus returns in great power and glory.....revealed to the whole world as One whom they rejected? Did your knees shake at times under the message....were there any tears either in the pulpit or in your own eyes? Probably not....but there was most likely an abundance of laughter and gaiety.....signifying....evidence of....brothers and sisters....that....famine of the Word of God.

R. C. Sproul has a wonderful YouTube video available on Amos and Hosea....Dust To Glory....Amos and Hosea.