Last Train To Smyrna

     I am inclined to believe that should God will it to have mercy upon America that it will begin on a Sunday....on The Lord's Day, and it will begin in his pulpits through his shepherds. My hope is that a pall enters the sanctuaries, a soberness at what our nation has become, at who we have become as a people, at who our leaders are; but we have become acclimated, capable only of voicing displeasure, feigning outrage, unsure of what to do. Our discernment skills are are at low ebb and only God's Word, either read or primarily preached, can awaken us. So once again I'll listen intently in the coming week for comments from brothers and sisters in Christ that something strange happened in their worship services.... not a frivolous invented miracle that only titillates but a power that causes us to cry out as Peter did in "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.". I'll look in the mirror more intently to see if I have changed. And my prayer, as always, will be Lord give us one more move of your Spirit, one more generation where the Gospel dispels the zeitgeist that bewitches us and scatters your enemies. Give us leaders Lord who know that only you can protect us and that only you can fulfill us. We have let down our guard Lord, our children's futures have been mortgaged, our wisdom has dried up but you are able to restore us and to use us.....do this O Lord, if it be thy will and only if it be to thy glory! 

February 12, 2013

     The third verse in the Book of Revelation reads "Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of this prophesy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near." (ESV) A fair amount of my reading in the Bible is in this book along with the Old Testament prophets. These books have been for every believer in every age since they were written but one would be especially unwise to ignore them today. The second and third chapters of Revelation are seven letters written to seven churches. They were real churches that existed. Some Christians believe that these churches describe seven church ages. I have never been convinced of that theory. Other Christians believe that those seven churches exist today according to the descriptions given. I do ascribe to this theory. There is an Ephesus church today, and a Smyrna church, and a Pergamum church, and a Thyatira church, and a Sardis church, and a Philadelphia church and a Laodicea church. I'm not talking about denominations or even continents where these churches might be located, rather a mindset for each church that could be located anywhere. I really don't go any further with this other than to say that it would behoove all Christians to meditate on the warnings given to see where our churches and we as individuals might fit in. It seems to me that this is the purpose of this part of Scripture. I can see myself described in all of these churches excluding only Smyrna and Philadelphia and stand in dire need to hear these warnings. Yesterday I just happened across a church website of a fairly large church in a very large denomination. There must have been thirty or forty pages listing every ministry imaginable and their calender was filled with activities that involved the community. Although I didn't listen to any of the sermons, the topics were generic and non-offensive. Most troubling of all was the mission statement and beliefs links which were far less words in total than I have written so far in this particular blog entry. This type of church is in every city of America, maybe in every community of America and we are what we are today in no small part because of it. No...Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of this prophesy..!. The warnings given in these words of Revelation are never far from my mind and from my own self-examination. Although all seven of these churches are probably within America somewhere, we seem to be mostly Laodicean. This last statement would probably upset many pew sitters, ministry leaders and pastors but such is to be expected. I, for one, take these warnings very seriously and encourage any readers to this blog to do the same thing....for the time is near!

It Doesn't Look Like America Anymore

     I'm in a rather melancholic mood tonight. This once proud and industrious nation is staggering and punch-drunk. It has rejected its Benefactor having defiantly proclaimed the words of the Victorian poem Invictus "I am the master of my fate: the captain of my soul" and forgotten Benjamin Franklin's words to the Constitutional Convention "I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth-that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?"
     I compare my own childhood to those texting their way through their formative years and wasting their young adult lives on Facebook, oblivious to their heritage. I was so fortunate. No, we didn't have much money, and there were temptations, but it was not a tsunami whose power tossed us as toothpicks. We had plenty of time to meditate. A few years ago I returned to the neighborhood that I grew up in in Buffalo and last September I wrote down some thoughts on that visit.


     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. 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 and 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 an eight 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.

The New York School Prayer

It was a little over fifty years ago that Regents of the educational system of New York put in place this short prayer to be read in classrooms: Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our teachers and our country. Some objected to this and the ensuing case went to the Supreme Court in Engel vs. Vitale where a six to one decision was rendered in favor of the plaintiff. Potter Stewart was the only Justice in dissent. This was a landmark decision that led to other court decisions that evicted Almighty God from the classroom. We have utterly collapsed as a nation since then as we have had assassinations, a war that was lost from within as was a war on drugs, a recently politicized, politically correct national defense, economic suicide through the bailout and stimulus, rampant narcissism culminating in the monstrosity of a Facebook culture, tens of millions of legal abortions and whole professions that have utterly failed their callings; plus we have a Manchurian President put in office by others who hate America, its traditions, its belief in God and its individualism and finally marriage between a man and a woman may be co-opted by those raised in an educational system that has officially ignored if not ridiculed... God. Would it be a good idea for Christians to resurrect that prayer, to start our day with it, to close our eyes at night with it on our lips, to recite it as we read of the latest horror story in the news and to meditate upon it each and every time that we see our flag flying in front of those schools, those court houses and post offices. I think that it would, only I would add we beg thy forgiveness and mercy to blessings.

Currency Trading And The Bible

The following blog was written on November 28th of last year. Angus T. Jones of the television show Two And A Half Men was in the news. He had become "religious" and regretted his role on the bawdy sitcom.  I remember when that show first came on the air. It struck me that a ten year old was part of the cast. It seemed clear, to me anyway, that leading a child into rebellion against God or using a child to profit is such a way was about as serious as it gets in offending God. It did not surprise me therefore when Charlie Sheen self-destructed. I met and had a conversation today with a gentleman who is a currency trader and I was fascinated in learning how risky a profession it is and how quickly the values of the currencies can change. That conversation came to mind as I was reading over this blog that I'm am about to republish. God's Word, the Bible, is the most valuable resource on earth and can never lose its value. If you are a new Christian reading this blog or an inquirer, you will need help, just as I would in the world of currency trading. Please consider the three ministries that I had mentioned at the end of the following blog.

November 28, 2012

     It was four years ago yesterday that I started this blog...or journal....or whatever it is. If this were only about politics it would be a grand waste of time. The politics and the humor are only here in the hope that the reader stays around long enough to read on the Gospel or on Christianity. It has been my hope that someone, somewhere, has picked up a Bible because of this blog for there is no object on this earth as valuable, no jewel as beautiful, no gold as pure, no metal as strong and no wisdom as sure. There's a lottery being held tonight with a jackpot of over 500 million dollars but something infinitely more precious is within the reach of most everyone reading this. This is how God speaks to us, through the Written Word along with the Preached Word. He has chosen this way and it is good. Men have dedicated their lives in trying to destroy the Bible and nations have existed solely to burn it but in this country it is everywhere. One cannot hardly travel without having it a few feet away in a desk drawer and nearly every bookstore sells it. Men have tried to belittle it and when that didn't work they tried to change it and now they simply try to apply it to a postmodern grid in an attempt to nullify its power. All these efforts have failed and will continue to fail. It is utterly and absolutely impossible to get enough of the Word of God. One could be one hundred years old and read it as freshly as the first time it was picked up. It has more power than the greatest solar flare and more drawing power than the darkest black hole and, once again, there is probably one within twenty feet of every reader to this blog. Its contents do have to be mined but not with pick and shovel. Veils simply have to be taken off of the eyes and this begins when a soul is regenerated... ripped out of the hands of death....born again....born anew....born from above. Without the veils removed it it simply a literary masterpiece. One can understand many many things in it without the help of a teacher but without being taught one remains an infant, therefore teachers have to be sought out. Young Angus T. Jones of the television show Two And A Half Men found teachers but they were not sound. My hope, and prayer, is that he hasn't burned any bridges for he was on the right railroad he just took the wrong track. Kirk Cameron is an example of a celebrity who found a better teacher and stayed on track. I have mentioned only three ministries in this blog but have full confidence in each one of them. If you go to their websites and never return here I would be very happy! They are www.ligonier.org www.gty.org and www.whitehorseinn.org. Finding a sound church is difficult. Once again...be patient and don't burn bridges. And thank-you for reading this blog!

Pretext

     There were instances in the writings of the Old Testament prophets where God pronounced judgment on the people and the reason was because they had become, among other things, a violent people....yet there were no guns at the time. The precursor to the violence was the denying of the God who had rescued them from Egypt and then guided them and delivered to them a land of milk an honey. The people had tired of God and therefore He had left them to themselves, and they became a violent people. So what is the analogy to today.....just about everything except the guns. We too are a violent culture that has rejected the God who had rescued us from tyranny and delivered to us a land of  milk and honey and liberty and freedom. If a pre-born baby is fortunate enough to escape abortion, and fortunate enough to be born into a loving Christian family with both mother and father, they will still have to navigate a culture that evicted its creator, its protector and sustainer. We are a violent culture because we have no place for God. Many citizens turn to guns to protect themselves  in this violent culture and are now faced with the possibility of being denied guns by those whose rejection of God invited the violence to begin with. We had a nation of laws that kept order but those same people who want no part of God, want no part of the constitutional republic that gave them their liberties and freedoms. So we don't want God or the order and precision that He enabled us to write into our Constitution. These people just want to be able to do their thing....free of God and His Word...and if they run out of money they will want your money, and they want your guns so that you don't get any ideas of protecting your money or your liberties. And they use the violence that has overtaken our nation as a pretext to limit our guns and our liberties. They claim to be doing this for the children but had sat back and said nothing as the children were offered up on the altars of feminism, greed, narcissism and self-autonomy. There is little wisdom anywhere in America and little discernment. Evil is called good and good is called evil. We are indeed defenseless but there is One who is able to thwart the rebel and open the eyes of the prodigal. Should God will it we as a people will turn to Him. Should He not will to do so we will simply become one more nation on the ash heap of history.

Tolle Lege...Then Plant a Tree

 

The following blog entry was written over two years ago. We in America were warned to be vigilant but not enough of us responded. We were told to prepare but instead we began to disarm, and now when we need the Bible more than we ever have we have chosen to resurrect the pejorative Bible Thumper. We might want to ponder anew the words of Jesus in the 24th chapter of Matthew concerning his Second Coming....."For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark."

 

Egypt, February 13, 2011  

 

MSNBC, newspapers and other news sources are headlining the Egyptian shouts of We are free! We know that the crowds in the square believe this, but how does the rest of the population feel? Many are more worried today than they have been in decades. Just how free are the people? At one moment they were fairly free from outside influences, sources that would turn them into an Islamic state and then turn their aim towards Israel. That freedom is considerably lessened. There was some freedom for other faiths to worship but that may erode quickly. They were free to struggle along with the rest of the world during this economic upheaval but they may eventually wish they could turn back the hands of the clock and their young men may wind up dying on battlefields. Freedom comes at a price and the crowds demanded freedom right then without even looking at the price tag. As for our involvement, we abandoned yet another ally and endangered a second and what did we get for it... favorable headlines, the holy grail of the political animal. The Muslim Brotherhood will play Egypt like they played our White House and are now in a better position to win, for they are patient and brutal. The Russian Revolution of February, 1917 had similarities to today's Egypt. Wages were down and food prices were rising. Mass demonstrations erupted. The Tsar, Nicholas II, abdicated in March. The provisional government was moderate in many ways but Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia in April and the minority Bolsheviks rallied. The Bolshevik Revolution would follow. The headlines of the New York Times on November 9, 1917 were Revolutionists seize Petrograd; Kerensky flees. A pledge was given by the Bolsheviks to seek an immediate democratic peace with Germany in the then current world war. The Bolsheviks were unpopular and as the New York Times reported from those fleeing Russia, they were "not 1%, of the total population in Moscow, and all Russia outside of Petrograd, would stand together (against the Bolsheviks.)" Another quote from the same paper described the fleeing provisional leader this way "the excellence of Kerensky's motives and ideals is recognized, but he is too gentle a man...it has been shown that the policy of mildness with the Bolsheviks does not pay." In my blog of March 3, 2009 I related how I happened to be in Paraguay one week after a revolution occurred there and that the following year (1989) was one of one revolution and reform movement after another, some for good and some not. I wrote that "people's emotions spread like the wave at a sports stadium." The blog was a critique of the Obama's administration and its refusal to consider consequences or look beyond political implications. There is euphoria in our media today... and Lady Gaga showed up at the Grammy's in an egg, presumably to hatch before the show.....life is good. Biblical end-times prophesy took off like a rocket in the early 70s with Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth and continued into this century with Tim LaHaye's Left Behind series. Events in Israel were so astounding, particularly the capture of Jerusalem in 1967, that this was bound to happen, and the church became inundated with date-setters and detailed military logistics of what was just ahead. Much of the church reacted to this by treating biblical prophesy as leprous but I suspect that today, many see what is happening around the world, in the push for a one-world government needing only a crisis for fulfillment, the proliferation of nuclear weapons to volatile states run by madmen, in the new paradigm of truths being relative and in ominous power of the Internet on the passions of man, not to mention what science reveals to us about our changing earth and of cosmic influences, and find themselves meditating deeply, more and more, upon biblical prophesy and at least wonder ...what if. Maybe this is the way that it should be. That Jesus would be at the very doorstep of His return, and believers would be oblivious to what was ahead is untenable from what the Bible says. That we would have an advance itinerary and a time frame is also untenable. An extreme soberness is what is called for today, in fact at all times, for we know not what a day will bring. Martin Luther said that he would plant a tree if he knew for certain that Jesus was returning the next day. My tree is a hope that God would commission His Holy Spirit to move across the American landscape one more time, for no ideology, no scientific evidence to refute His existence, no madman or postmodern paradigm of intellectual chaos can, should God will to constrain it, deny a people returning to Him. Last days prophesy is not leprous, in fact it is a blessing as Revelation 1:3 states "Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophesy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near." but it is toxic if abused. If not abused it is a shining ray of glory into God's majesty, a source of strength, and it overflows with hope, for God truly is in control! There is not a day that passes where newspapers do not relate the pain and suffering undergone by people all over this world, and these stories pain those readers who also know that all suffering will end only after Christ returns in judgement to a violent world. His Second Coming should be our hope along with confidence that it will be, sooner or later, in His perfect timing. True freedom comes when one has been ripped, not out of the clutches of a dictator, but of Satan's, and but for the embattled Christian in Egypt who may be looking for Christ's coming more than we do, there may be more freedom as the world sees it, but far less security.