The Greatest Treasure On Earth

          Thirty years ago there were five Christian bookstores within a few mile radius of my house. Today there are none. Whereas once someone with a little time on their hands might very well stop in a Christian bookstore just to look around, as I did in 1982, now he cannot. There are no Billy Graham crusades to stumble across as you work the remote. Genuine news is becoming harder and harder to come by....as even foxnews.com is rapidly turning into a tabloid.  Almost gone is the rigorous and challenging intellectual life on America's college campuses, replaced by safe spaces, censorship and Doublespeak. Conversation is primarily done on Twitter....and when the voice box is actually used the result is dull and boring. Even conservative talk radio no longer stimulates thought. The American mind has officially closed up....put out of business by artificial intelligence.
          Could The Closing Of The American Mind be written today? Could The Scandal Of The Evangelical Mind be written today? Probably not, for they accomplished their purpose, albeit in a losing cause. The battle was won on November 8th but the war was lost. We had an opportunity in the past year to humble ourselves before our Creator but chose another road. We are the high and mighty right now....we conservatives....but we may soon find out that that which we hoped for.....political power.....was not the answer. Where do we then turn.....another political savior?
          I submit to you that we will by then have had our fill of trusting in men and princes and ourselves. When that happens.....should God will it.....we will put a Bible in front of us as if it were the very first time. We'll open it and immediately hope will fill our heart. "What is this....I've seen these words before....why are they now penetrating a part of me I didn't even know existed?" We will devour the words....stare at them....pause and look up to heaven as they sweeten the palate....lift them to our face to take in the beautiful fragrance where there should have been mustiness!
         At  sixty-eight years old and thirty-six years bringing up the rear of God's army marching towards heaven, I now dwell on Bible verses...and even on individual words. Why have I been so fortunate to have been given this treasure? Of course I know the answer....in that God ...".... giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength." So, why are you reading this post when somewhere in your home is the greatest treasure on earth? Please go to it...."Take up and read"!

The Greatest Treasure On Earth.....July of 2014

          America is shipwrecked, taking on water for decades, adrift and sure to sink if the director of the universe and of all that exists does not intervene, but Americans view this unfolding disaster with detachment! I see it every day in people's faces...."This can't possibly be as serious as it appears! Surely the cycle will return to one of prosperity and....normalcy!"
          The further one's mind is from God on a daily basis the less one will feel imminent judgment. The Bible was once an American's most valuable possession. Today it is either an artifact, a talisman for prosperity, simply an aid to innocuous bible studies and Sunday School lessons, or a rather large and bulky ticket one must have in their possession to enter heaven...should heaven really exist.
          In reality it is the Omnipotent God's Word to fallen man, the greatest treasure on earth, which brings the greatest joy, draws forth the most ardent love and applies a devastating guilt followed by a torrent of mercy that elicits praises upon praises for mercies undeserved...all given because of faith, faith in the One who took our sins to a tree on Calvary. If my words seem overly pious or even syrupy, might I suggest that there may be an underlying cause for your hesitance to shout praises yourself; or if the Bible does not literally captivate you as God's Word to you, overwhelm your objections and gratify beyond your wildest expectations then you might never have truly discerned the words therein. 

"No....They Can't Take That Away From Me"

There's an old old George Gershwin song originally sung by Fred Astaire in one of his movies....and later recorded by Frank Sinatra and Pat Boone and others. Some of the lyrics go like this...."The way you wear your hat....the way you sip your tea....the memory of all that....no no....they can't take that away from me."

          Well they can't take away the memory of what happened at Valley Forge....or Gettysburg....or Guadalcanal.....or the I Drang Valley......or Fallujah....or anywhere that our military did what is has always done....that being upholding the honor of the flag they took with them. They try.....oh do they try. They attack our traditions.....our families.....our government....our constitution.....our educational system.....our political system....our courts....our free press....even our faith.....particularly our faith. Who are 'they?' They're communists.....some are just 'fellow travelers' with communists.....many are just dupes of the communists. They might have high cheekbones and bushy eyebrows or rounder faces or a Latin complexion....or they may look like the all American boy. They may be young or old....smart or stupid...male or female.
           They made headway through espionage and playing upon the imperfections of a democratic capitalist society. Today they control the thinking processes of nearly half of America....they want that memory....but they can't have it. Memories are etched into the human mind.....that's why they attacked education so thoroughly....to keep our memories from the younger generations.
           You have to hand it to them...their plans were nearly perfect......they know more about us than we know about ourselves.....but that's where their expertise ends.....they know about gods and religion and the power that it can have....but they know nothing about God.....and the omniscience and omnipotence that is His. They know that man has many weak areas....so they exploit those areas using miscreants and malcontents to do their pernicious bidding. They simply thought that if they take God out our of the mind then the power will be gone.....which is true....but they were and are unaware that man does not seek God.....that God calls man.....and when He calls them particularly.....they come.
           So they have an advantage over us right now.....and they may indeed win the day......but neither they nor us nor anyone nor any entity will determine what happens to us.....either good or bad. No coup of a sitting president or 'make America great again' Madison Avenue campaign can have any effect without God permitting it for His purposes. Polls mean absolutely nothing....impeachments mean nothing.....capitals mean nothing.  Should God let's us continue to dally with our own perceptions of autonomy then they will get that victory they've been working on for a century.....but should God's plan in these the most terrible of times be for us to return to Him.....then there is not a snowballs chance in Hades that all their well laid plans will not totally collapse let alone succeed.
           Written into the Christian faith is a paradox. Yes we have to turn to Him once again....but we could never do that in our own strength. What we can do is humble ourselves before Him. Trust in Him and not ourselves. How do I now this? Memory. I remember what I have read in His Word to us. The many sacrifices made by our brave military...so very often the ultimate sacrifice....could not possibly be forgotten by us who have remained vigilant. They can kneel on the field all they want....bang their drum all they want....and sing The Internationale all they want....we still have a functioning mind....memory....the words written on a page in sixty-six books....and God who is faithful despite our forgetting that from time to time.
           

Special Dog's Commencement Address

OK....that's it....I've had it! Two minutes ago my wife got a text and apparently a friend of hers gave a high school commencement speech yesterday and sent her a video of it! I've waited for an invitation from anywhere for ten years now but I can't even get a grade school commencement to speak at! What's with this? I even have the speech written and can't get an invite! I guess that you have to have some kind of accomplishments in life to be a commencement speaker. (Folks...I've had fun with this commencement speech post every Spring for quite a few years.....but the intent and the message is serious. Consider passing it on to your graduate if the commencement speech that they heard did not even mention the Benefactor of all gifts....including the gift of learning)

Special Dog's Commencement Speech

          Once again another year has passed and I wasn't invited by anyone to be their commencement speaker! So I dreamed a dream and in that dream a very fantastical thing happened. Joe Biden was to be the commencement speaker at the University of Pennsylvania but a couple of his hair plugs fell out at the last minute and he refused to go on stage. The Ivy League school administrators were frantic in trying to find a replacement. When they heard my name....Special Dog....they thought I must be a rap singer and thus eminently qualified to give a commencement speech.......then I woke up. So I sat down and penned the speech that I would have given had I in fact been invited as a commencement speaker...anywhere! Here is that speech:

          It was drizzling and a bit chilly as my wife and son and I walked Cambridge University back in the spring of 2001. I wanted to see where many of the Puritans were educated, and I wanted to see some of the places where scenes from the Academy Award winning Chariots Of Fire were filmed. The building that housed the White Horse Inn on the grounds of Cambridge was long gone but a small blue plaque hung in the nearest spot possible to that location. That inn was a 16th century English pub where students, Dons and travelers discussed the works of Martin Luther, and out of this discussion came a passion for the hearing of the Word of God which resulted in the English Reformation. My advice to you young people...find your own White Horse Inn!

          Let me begin with a little bit of American history....the "last official words" of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. The magazine sized book published in 1964 that most everyone has seen... Four Days, The Historical Record Of The Death of President Kennedy, described it this way, "These were President Kennedy's last official words-the conclusion of the speech he was to have delivered in Dallas." That speech ended with these words, "...the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago: 'Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain'." That Bible excerpt is the last half of the 1st verse of Psalm 127....from the King James Version....which begins with this...."Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it."
          So I pass these words on to you as encouragement in this commencement speech for they are the only truly reliable words that I will utter: Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain!

          At 68 years old....looking back on 1968 as I graduated from High School....I thought that I had it bad. It was a horrible year with assassinations and riots and heinous murders that were the headlines of our newspaper. It would be another two years before my plane would touch down at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in Vietnam. My job dealt with Morse Code intercept of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong communications and then analysis of that intercept. On the first day in that job the man who would be training me showed me files from 1968 after the Tet Offensive. There was basically nothing left of the enemy in South Vietnam except a few people in every unit to keep up the continuity of communications. 
           The communists had been defeated. Their top general contemplated suicide after the failed offensive that risked and then lost everything. There was a high level meeting somewhere in the Can Tho region of South Vietnam where it looked like the decision would be made to sue for peace.....in other words surrender. Someone in this group stood up and said that they should wait.....that the anti-war protests on the college campuses in America was such that suing for peace might be a hasty decision. They decided to wait it out....and you and I know the final result. As for me at the time....back in Pittsburgh....I was totally immersed in the campaign of my hero Robert F. Kennedy. His death rocked me. I wandered aimlessly for over a year before enlisting in the army.
           So you see that through those protests.....the young generation was important.....it was instrumental in the communist takeover of South Vietnam and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese trying to escape the communists. 

          So.... you will be going out trying to find a job...maybe you already have one lined up.....please remember....Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.
          You finally have that degree....it will be worthless in that which is really valuable if you forget.... Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
          Whatever your degree is in.....your future must be built upon this....Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.
          You might already have a position secured at the biggest law firm in New York City.....God's Word reminds you.... Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain!
          You're already an expert at investing and have great plans for your portfolio.....is this the title of that portfolio...Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it?
          'Make America Great Again' has been an often-used phrase over many decades...do not confuse this with....Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
          Lastly....you may be a small cog in a megachurch or a valuable member of a small church...either way keep in mind.....Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.
                  
          Permit me to digress for a moment....surely somewhere in America on that bleak or snowy Saturday in early December 1941 a young man sat looking out of a restaurant window, or maybe a coffee shop, with a young lady at his side who was his new bride. They had the world at their fingertips as he was just awarded that treasured college diploma he worked so long and hard for, and she wore the wedding band she had dreamed about since they first met in grade school. They looked into each other's eyes with hardly a care in the world. Oh, the plans they had so much fun making.....a small cottage with a white picket fence that someday would keep little ones and maybe a puppy dog from straying as they play.
          And then the morning came and as they walked into church the somber faces took their joy away for they had not heard the news from that group of islands where the sun shown year round and warm surf slapped the white beaches. America was in the war against evil....the possibility of which they had only given themselves minutes a day to reflect upon. The young bride knew immediately that their dreams would now be put on hold if they would ever come true. Surely the prayers of all present in that worship service were salted with tears.
          Not every generation has its hopes interrupted as this generation did on December 7th, 1941 but your generation today may indeed be another one. Love is disappearing in the world....no.... worse than that....it has been hijacked by greed....tortured by pride....and what is left is directed to ourselves....and we in America are paying dearly for our dalliances. You should know this....if we have a major war today.....a war with at least two fronts.....which is very possible.....you may very well be getting a letter from the government beginning with...."Greeting..."
         
          It was in the 1960s when Madison Avenue realized that the youth of America were a potentially potent economic force with their newly established buying power. Along with all the attention given to us, for I was a Baby Boomer also, came a microphone. Some used it to shout pro-Ho Chi Minh slogans from atop university statues, some used it to attack Richard Nixon, some used it to announce to the world the true meaning of love, peace and happiness, and a very few used it to ask "Brother, are you saved?"
          Much later when Barack Hussein Obama came along with no employment history to speak of, no legitimate letters of recommendation, no experience outside of community organizing and not even a birth certificate to prove eligibility for the job he was applying for, the youth came out in force America. Barack Obama received 66 percent of the 18-29 vote in 2008.
          America needs a vigorous but positive contribution from its youth at this very moment in our history. It must not be birthed by the spirit of the age but by God's Holy Spirit. Just getting a job cannot be the criteria to determine success. The college student of today is in a more precarious situation than any generation before them. Not the Civil War, nor World War II, nor the Cuban Missile Crisis compares to it. They are losing their republican form of government, the Constitution that kept the rule of law intact, and most importantly the blessings of having God's very hand upon our nation.
          The original discovery that youth were an economic force has evolved into a monster feeding frenzy with the youth feeding on every material and social networking product thrown at them while others feed on the youth themselves, and enemies of America feed on the vacant minds seeking anything to....occupy.
          I realize that you do not want to hear this. Possibly you are not represented by this description. You have made plans, worked hard and now it is your turn to enter the work force and carve out a niche with a prosperous future. Are you going to attempt this without God, or at least expect the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in a nation that overtly rejects God? Realize this.... past generations had the benefit of living within of a God-fearing populace. Even the agnostic could graze in the fields of plenty. This is not the case today! Others have long since sprayed the insecticide of secular humanism over the amber waves of grain, killing the grain it was supposed to protect. You can join this survival of the fittest if you want, where prosperity is soulless and void of true happiness; or you can join those who are seeking mercy from God and a renewed reverence to the one who blessed your grandparents and their parents as far back as to the arrival of the Pilgrims on this continent.
          Do you sometimes feel a void of passion in your life...a meaninglessness that cannot be satisfied by the picture that you paint on your Facebook page? Well, a river of passion flows right by you! Cup your hands and drink from it. Let mercy and peace pass over your palate. A President's election will give but one night of elation but the coronation of the King of Kings will provide every morning and every evening with a ceaseless ardor that will make you forever thankful. If you happen to really see the trouble that we are in here in America....that very vision is from God....and He will also give the balm....supply the strength....and provide the wisdom to see the joy of redemption even in the darkest hours of this world....and to plan ahead with the full trust that whatever is ahead for America....if it be His will then it is for good....and if it not be His will....even if it would make America 'great again'....you would not want it to happen. Here is the only true hope and change...... "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." 2 Corinthians 5:17

          One does not have to be a PHD, or a celebrity, a statesman, general or financial wizard to relay God's wisdom to graduates.....Wisdom herself shouts out to us...."Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

         

Folks...It Can Be Done...If We Set Our Minds To It

Folks....It Can Be Done....If We Set Our Minds To It

           I was so blessed in that our son chose and was accepted into a strong conservative college. To this day, fourteen years later, I thank God for opening up this path for him. Imagine being the father of a graduating senior at the University of Maryland. This is supposed to be a time of celebration and happiness....as all the family gathers for commencement....while a former Vice President gives the commencement address. As it turns out the father is forced to sit and listen to that which would just be gibberish if it weren't that it was diabolically inspired.....but that's not the hardest part....for he is forced to sit and watch his son have to listen to this.....and that's not even the worst part.....for that parent would have to wonder what on earth his son was taught in the past four years.
           In this case All Gore was chosen by a student committee but that only evidences what type of young minds that our universities are sending out into society. The former Vice President said that through the voting booth the Trump "experiment" should be..."terminated early for ethical reasons." The statement is ominous...particularly in using the word 'terminated'....and it is outrageously deceptive in that if there was ever an unethical person in the upper levels of American government it is Al Gore.
           Folks, we conservatives know that our education system in the United States of America is more of a reeducation system today in that everything that America was built upon has been systematically attacked....and increasingly so over the past century....in the name of Progressivism....and at the stealth behest of Communism; but you may be wondering how in one post I can point out the ominous nature of Al Gore calling for the 'termination' of the 'Trump experiment'....and in the next post warn the readers about Donald Trump.
          Well since you brought it up then let me explain. The attempted coup by the globalist Deep State.....and Donald Trump's fake promises and disturbing antics.....are entirely different but real problems! What we have been doing over the past year is aggressively addressing this tyranny in our government....and rightly so....along with feeling sorry for President Trump....but in so doing we are enabling a man who if it wasn't for his bombast.....would have no audience at all.....for it wasn't ideas that put him where he is at....but emotion.....and it will not be emotion that we will need in the days ahead....but wisdom....of which Donald Trump has precious little if any.  The fact that there is a coup against him doesn't make him any less culpable for what he is doing.....but this is the mistake that we are making. Folks....it can be done....you can call out this Deep State coup.....and at the same time hold President Trump accountable....and possibly help him in the process!

Looking Ahead To A Second Term.....Would Be More Than Just A Waste Of Time

           I have rarely if ever over these posts of nine and a half years written about elections that will take place years in advance....and certainly never presumed upon God in that we can continue to ignore His warnings and expect to just carry on....but I'm going to mention a 2020 presidential campaign here to hopefully get our minds off of it....and on to today's grave concerns.
           Donald John Trump would have the fight of his life in getting through a primary season. Some conservative would challenge him....even if we had to draft someone into service....and we do not want anyone who would be timid as to what has transpired.....for whoever it is would have an arsenal available to him (her) in calling out President Trump on not only his failures but the outright deception that he perpetrated upon his conservative base.
           Now the Trump supporter today might brush this off....but that confidence would be shattered. They think that have facts to back up President Trump's claims....but that's only as long as they control the microphone....and we have answers to those 'facts'.....and unlike today where our own conservative media protects their man just as the mainstream media protected their man......those answers would be heard. The pep rallies will be of no help this time around! The tweets will be utterly worthless.....if not evidence for that challenger that President Trump uses his tweets to only keep things stirred up and avoid the realities of what he actually does.
           What would be revealed and proven is that Donald Trump does not believe in the issues that he won on in 2016. He could not care less about Obamacare....or a wall....or illegal immigration in general....or tax reform....or the national debt....or the cleaning swamp....or the Johnson Amendment....or any one of a number of other promises that he buffaloed conservatives with in 2016.
           He could walk around the debate stage all that he wants.....but he would no longer be a brash challenger who could promise the world....but an incumbent with a paper trail. He would be questioned....face to face.....where he can't just point to a different reporter as in the press conference. He wouldn't be able to catch his breath as every nuanced explanation on 'Luther' strange type decisions would be clearly and utterly refuted. Rush Limbaugh won't be able to steer the conversation. Conservative talk radio can take whatever position they choose to. Congressional candidates can run on the robe of his royal coattail. None of this will carry the day for a nomination to a second term!
           This man who thought himself too smart to need daily security briefings.....who golfed to his heart's delight.....who contradicted himself and his advisers and his own campaign promises on almost a daily basis....and who thinks that he just has to twist a few arms to get a deal.....and toss a few table scraps when the dogs bark....will find that the adoring crowd of supporters will come to their senses when that primary challenger calls out loud and clear....."The emperor has no clothes!"
            Donald Trump would lose a primary....and then another....and then a few more. Ivanka and Jared could then pack their very expensive luggage and go back to their jetsetter friends. President Trump will have to deal with grave and ominous issues in the days ahead. The last thing we need would be for him making his typical 'where the ball stops nobody knows' decisions based on how they might effect his poll numbers or a 2020 election.

            It was difficult even typing out these thoughts. If it were just that America were rudderless but it's much worse than that for even Christians have fallen for this fake prophet. We did not heed the warnings against greed....or power. We did not seek God's approbation as we marched to the drum beat of  'Make America Great Again.'
            Every single piling in this once beautiful pier where God's bountiful fertile land surrounded the tranquil bay teeming with food....every piling has rotted away. The trees have withered as the fig tree that Jesus cursed....and dead fish stink up the shore. An enemy armada sails right into the bay.....as the earth shakes and distant volcanoes come alive....but we can see none of this as we party in a thatched conical roofed restaurant at the end of the pier. The winds and surf rise as the pier buckles and collapses. Unaware of this we continue to tap our feet to the playlist of songs from Donald Trump's political rallies.
             I sit here typing and occasionally glancing over to the news on the iPad set up next to me....praying as yet only the latest news bulletin announces more violence in this our land that has become just as in the days of Noah. The 2020 election....or even the elections later this year are the least of our worries. This man....Donald Trump....will likely take us through either the hurricane or tsunami that we have brought upon ourselves....and not prepared for. May God humble this President as He humbled Nebuchadnezzar....and humble us. May He remove veils from Daniel's visions. May we finally pay attention to the warnings given in Scripture of a nation.....once blessed by God....that rejected God.....whom God then took His protective hand off.....for that nation is us!
 
   
          

Dispatches

***DISPATCH***   2300 hrs 5/22/2018.....Drudge has an article up right now from The Daily Caller stating that New York Times columnist Frank Bruni is speculating that the Mueller investigation may actually be helping Donald Trump......the article concludes with...."And he (Trump) knows that if Americans are fixated on collusion, they aren't concentrating on much else." Mr. Bruni's comments are very similar to comments that I have posted, only we differ on the specifics. Had there been no Mueller investigation, Donald Trump's agenda could not have been compromised and receded as much as it has....he would not have been able to say that he has kept so many promises that he most assuredly has not kept.....and the Republican establishment would not so easily have moved back into control. Conservative radio talk show hosts would have taken him to task but as it is they feel that they must defend him at all costs....even if that cost is most of what we had been promised. This is the real reason that Donald Trump tweets incessantly.....and angrily....on anything and everything....he wants us stirred up and thinking about what he wants us to think about*****It was reported two days ago that President Trump is 'considering' lending his support for calls on Speaker Ryan to step down right now. This must be a tough decision to make....like that of the Paris Climate accord.....and I can see why****I in no way believe the emotional sentiments expressed in last night's 'pro-life' speech. It was reported last month that Ivanka met last year with the president of Planned Parenthood. We were informed that what was talked about was continuing government funding if PP quite offering abortion services. The New York Times one year ago reported on just such a meeting....but in that report we read that Ivanka brought up the possibility that...."Planned Parenthood should split in two....with a smaller arm to provide abortion services." This would have been a loophole for PP to keep its government funding and yet still provide abortions. My question is did Donald Trump discuss this with Ivanka beforehand?

The following was posted first in August of 2016 but still applies today:

        The key players are (A) the Communists...they want to rule the world, (B) the radical Islamists, Al-Qaeda...Isis... and the like....they also want to rule the world, (C) the Capitalist West....the just want to keep their cushy jobs and wish that everyone would stop bickering, and (D) the Globalists....they don't care who thinks they rule the world as long as they are in charge of all the money.
         Barack Obama is only part of (A) and (B) but (C) and (D) thinks he is part of them. Hillary Clinton is a globalist but would steal the shirt off the back of (A), (B), (C), or (D). The mainstream news media doesn't think that (A) exists, is afraid of (B), despises (C) and is employed by (D). Higher Education is employed by (A), doesn't think that (B) exists, claims to be a part of (C) and never heard of (D).
         I am a citizen within (C) but my home is what I'll call (E) for Eternal. Our King created the world that everyone wants to either rule, own or fleece. (A) says that it doesn't believe in our King but fears Him more than anything. (B) hates everything so it naturally hates our King also. (C) says that our king is their king too but disobeys every commandment the He gives. (D), as I inferred earlier, thinks that they are the real king of everything.
        (A) thinks that they can defeat (C) in a war and rule everything. (B) wants everybody (A) (B) (C) and (D) involved in a war so that they can pick up the pieces and rule everything. (C) aids and abets (A) and (B) but will blame (E) if a war starts, and (D) is fine with financing any war.
        The Bible tells us what will eventually happen. The citizens of (E) will be hated by (A), (B), (C), and (D), all of whom will all be destroyed at the coming of the King of (E).

Cultic

The following post is about a month old. The Christian today....whether they be Fundamentalist (particularly Fundamentalist)....Evangelical or of Reformation traditions....are familiar with cults that claim to be Christian but have absolutely nothing to do with the Christian Faith. We are familiar with how a person can be so duped by a charismatic individual that all common sense and reason goes out the window....but thirty years ago we were more than just familiar with these cults as many books were written, television and radio ministries regularly apportioned time to warning of cults, and the general topic was at times in our Bible studies and even in our conversations. I myself ran an ad in the local newspaper trying to generate conversation with people being lured by these cults....but topics such as this have faded in favor of politics....and we defend the Constitution far more today than we defend the Bible....and since we have we not stayed vigilant on how easily a person can be taken in by a charismatic individual.....since we have not stayed vigilant on what their methods were....we have ourselves fallen for such a charismatic leader....Donald Trump.

         I've related this before......37 years ago when I came into the Christian faith I found myself smack dab in the middle of the study of apologetics.....with an emphasis on 'Christian cults'....those being religious sects that call themselves Christian but deny essential doctrines of the Christian faith. There is always a charismatic individual at the core of the new religion who simply mesmerizes everyone....and 'scriptures' where the devotee does not read anything but official teachings.....and a strictly enforced disciplinary system to discourage criticism. The guru or the prophet can do no wrong.
         I watched the pep rally in Michigan last night....I think that I've seen all the pep rallies....and cultic behavior is what comes to mind. There is absolutely no need for these rallies (or tweets) other than to keep the people in line and stirred up....constantly feeding them the same information over and over and over again. Stand back and look at this as if it were a rock star and your teen that you were worried about.....you would see the problem and want them to go a little easy in the fan worship but there's no way they will listen to reason. The excitement of it all has a hold on them.
         Or stand back and just observe Donald Trump at the rallies. There are telltale signs all around that there is something not quite right....but you have to distance yourself from the politics of it to see it. Few have the nerve to critique him. He has become a master at stabbing us in the back and then somehow turning that around to make it sound like one more promise kept.
         Think of this logically. President Trump lists the same accomplishments at every pep rally....and this for a year now......that alone should tell you that there is psychological manipulation going on here......and he ignores his abject failures and backslidings as if they never happened. Isn't there anyone in these crowds that can pick up on this?
          The disaster of a communist as our president and the terror that the thoughts of Hillary Clinton succeeding him instilled in us served to give Donald Trump a free pass in anything he would do. The Deep State coup has turned him into a martyr. A stock market that would have climbed (temporarily) under any conservative president has made him a hero.
          Whether North Korea or the Middle East or globalism becomes the catalyst for a conflagration....our president is going to need wisdom....and that wisdom would have to come from God....but what we have seen so far is Nebuchadnezzar...."look what I have built!"

Israel.....Blessing And Cursing

Biblically speaking....acknowledging Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving our embassy there is not blessing Israel....nor is it cursing Israel. The official delineation of a nation's capital is but a relatively recent political convention. Jerusalem is Jerusalem whether it is acknowledged as a capital or not. Evangelicals are thrilled....some even ecstatic over this political move. What moves me is that God will....and maybe soon....open the eyes of many Jews as to who their Savior is.....and to the glory and Majesty of Jesus Christ....as He has opened our eyes to our sin....and our redemption through the blood shed on that hill in the city at the epicenter of world news today! The following post is from May of 2017 and the post following that is from earlier this year:

          On June the 7th 1967, an Israeli paratroop brigade captured the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. There is a documentary/movie just released depicting that battle. I saw that film tonight, appropriately titled The Battle For Jerusalem, in a one night only showing that was in select theaters across America.
          At 6 p.m (EST) on May 14th, 1948 the British mandate over Palestine expired and eleven minutes later President Harry Truman directed, over strong internal opposition, that the United States officially recognize the new state which would be later be called Israel. We are nearing the 70th anniversary of that date. We are also coming up on the 50th anniversary of the day that Israel took control of the old city of Jerusalem, vowing never to give it up again. I was seventeen years old during that which came to be known as the Six Day War.
          It has been nearly 2000 years since the vast majority of Jews rejected the very Messiah that they had been waiting for. God then let them go their own way and their house was left desolate. There will be no lasting peace in Jerusalem until Jesus descends on the Mount of Olives in the same way that He ascended. What we are doing now is merely attempting to hold off wars until they can no longer be held off. Neither nation....America or Israel....has God's protective hand upon it today.... for both nations are in full rebellion to Him. If we miss this....which unfortunately we have....we go forward in merely our own strength.
          The film that I mentioned at the beginning of this post showed God's miraculous dealings with a new nation.....and a people that He has not completely forsaken.....a people whom He will cause to call out to Him in their most difficult hour. God's people today....the redeemed.... are those of any background....both Jew and Gentile.... that have come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
           Moses related these words that God had given to Abraham..."...I will bless those who bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee..." Has this not proven out many times? America had blessed Israel simply in that it treated Israel fairly. Under Barack Obama we in essence cursed Israel. We pretended to be their friend while greatly enabling their enemies.

           The Battle For Jerusalem portrayed very accurately God's faithfulness....not at all in that Israel is the economic and military power that it is today....but in that He gathered again as He said that He would....those who once looked to the coming of their Messiah but rejected Him whom they looked for....and will make known to them this their Messiah upon His return! We cannot know in detail what will happen in the days just ahead.... but we are confident of and rejoice in the end of all things.....and for this....all praise is to be given to this merciful Savior....faithful and blessed Mediator.....and coming King!

Israel....Blessing and Cursing

         The United States with Harry Truman as its president immediately recognized the state of Israel on May 14th, 1948 after the provisional government led by David Ben-Gurion proclaimed Israel to be an independent nation. This was an example of another nation 'blessing' Israel. Failing to do this would have been an example of 'cursing' Israel." As for 1948, God was regathering Israel who is today as rebellious to God as we are. The 70th anniversary of this is only weeks away and although we may interpret this any way as our conscience leads us....to not see the prophetic implication of the new state of Israel.....and the 70 year period....is to miss for whatever personal theological bias....something that should be not only obvious......but a source of rejoicing that our Lord's Return must  be near!

          President Trump announced in December that we would be officially recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital and that moving our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would signify that. This is neither blessing nor cursing Israel....nor does it have anything to do with it being God's special plot of land. What it may do is have significant prophetic significance.

           To my evangelical brethren.....God could care less what city Israel calls its capital.....Jerusalem is Jerusalem to him....capital or not....and He also takes absolutely no pleasure in the Masonic architecturally designed, obelisk and near-temple structured fetid swamp of our capital with its hideously designated Washington National Cathedral as our 'National House of Prayer.' What he has done is that he has placed a hook in the mouths of Israel's enemies. Populist President Donald Trump is but a world leader placed where he is for a particular purpose.....a purpose that the evangelical misconstrues as making America great again."

           America had to one degree or another continued to bless Israel through the Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, H. W., Clinton, and W. administrations. We began to curse Israel under President Barack Obama. Whether President Trump blesses or curses Israel will depend on, one....how truthful and transparent he is right now with Israel's government.....and, two.....if he keeps America's commitment as an ally.

Hired Hands

The commercial of the year back in 1984 may have been Wendy's..."Where's the beef?" Walter Mondale successfully took up on the concept in his campaign against Gary Hart. The Wendy's commercials called a fictional competitor's business..."The Home Of The Big Bun." We are today indeed being served 'big bun hamburgers" and what we have to do with each and every serving is look in the middle to see if there is any beef.

         One major conservative news site titled its headline something similar to this......"Promise Kept! Trump Levels China Trade Imbalance." Another news site....a major business website....questioned what was going on here....as nothing made sense....'Why would Xi Jinping do this? These projections are impossible....What are the details? North Korea has to be involved some way.'
         Our leaders....whether they be Trump's people.....or the Congress.....or the Clinton/Obama people.....treat us with the lowest possible level of respect....keeping us out of the details....embellishing when necessary.....outright lying when necessary....and generally condescending as the chief characteristic of their vocation in government.
         In March of 2017 our Republican leadership came to us with this great bill that would repeal Obamacare. Everyone rejoiced. President Trump worked the phones for a week telling members of Congress how good it was. The only problem was that it wasn't good....it was bad....real bad. The Freedom Caucus looked inside the bun. This upset President Trump. He threatened the best shepherds that we have.
          As I drove home from church today I passed a nice little house where the entire front yard was enclosed by neatly trimmed thick hedges. It had an archway and gate at the front. I had been...for other reasons...studying sheepfolds of late....and that is the image that came to mind with this front yard. Jesus said...."He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep." (John 10 ESV)
          There was a day when it was said that we 'owned' what we said or we 'owned' the decision that we made. We don't 'own' anything anymore. Politicians don't own their promises or even their stated beliefs....and certainly not the oaths that they took....they're all hired hands.... "China is a currency manipulator....no it isn't....yes it is." So America in the upper echelons of it's power structure is like that.....and Donald Trump.....over his lifetime one of the more celebrated perpetrators of America's lack of ethics.....says that he is going to make America great again....he gets some money flowing of which the love of is a source of America's lack of ethics....and then he says.....job done.....America is great again! It all makes sense....but only to those who couldn't find their way out of a Lazy River inner tube at one of the Trump resorts. Kurt Vonnegut couldn't make this kind of stuff up.
           

Is It At Least Possible?

The following post is from March of 2017:

           It may be the single most valuable Christian ministry in America....well that's my opinion anyway....and they have a home conference coming up that they call The Next 500 Years. They are alluding here to its having been almost 500 years since Martin Luther's writings began the 16th century Reformation. So it's natural to take the opportunity to envision what can be done in the next half millennium.
           I understand the message but what went through my mind upon hearing of the conference title was....."next 500 years....how about the next 500 days....or even the next five years? I just don't agree with the emphasis on the next 500 years when....if I might use this expression in a very literal sense.... all hell is breaking out in this world.
           What it boils down to is this.....some Christians see events in one way....and others see them in another way. So I'll be the party of the first part. This is not normal what we are seeing. This is not problems with a Third Reich and an Imperial Japan.  This is not a Cuban Missile Crisis. We're dealing with nuclear weapons in the hands of maniacs...maniacs who actually want nuclear war.
            Nothing is holding together! Do you read the news? I'm not talking about that newspaper delivered to your door every morning....I'm talking about Drudge. He's where he is at because he actually links to real horror...and that's what it is....horror! A kid walks out of his house a couple days ago holding his mother's head in his hands! And this horror happens every single solitary day! And even if we somehow read about it it's a shake of the head and page over to the sports or weather.
            Now the party of the second part here are the men of this conference....wonderful Christians! I'm but a gnat compared to any one of the dozen or so of these speakers. So what have we become....a church where only the well known are to be heard. I hope the peasants....and simple fishermen....can still give an opinion.
            It's not only war....the people with all the money want a one world government....and they want it bad....I refer you to the coup attempt of President Trump. We Christians do know what that means do we not? One half of our nation...one half of America....are blind to just about anything. I listen to them on the news and marvel....marvel....at how little the human mind can at times comprehend.
            The same men at that conference will admit that we are now pagan. We sacrifice children! New technologies are entering into areas that make the Tower of Babel look like child's play. The last one hundred years has been one warning from God after another along these lines.
             I am not alone in this by any means. There are atheists out there...Stephen Hawking for one says that "The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race." Here's a man with no concept of God who sees what most of us don't....that these are not normal times.
             The party of the first part can read Revelation or the Olivet Discourse and see a message that after nearly two thousand years may literally have been written to them. The party of the second part reads the same words and says... "Uh....be careful there....don't want to be a date-setter!" Can anyone read my posts and think for a second that I have given up on proclaiming Christ because I think....and hope....that Christ's return in power and glory is near? The crux of the matter is whether one can see disaster on the horizon....warn about it....and still trust God. I say that they can....in fact that seems to be what Scripture tell us to do. I would question others on if they trust in God so much why don't they trust in His warnings?
         Let me ask this question to the party of the second part....do they even think that it is possible....just within the realm of possibility....that they may have made a mistake....that others not so refined may see what they have not seen? I'm just asking an honest question....I know how accomplished these men are and how much good that they have done...and I praise God for that all the time! I've admitted that they tower above me....but have they even considered that it may be possible that they may have erred on this....that an Arminian....such as Billy Graham....not educated in a Reformed seminary....or maybe another who may wear an ill-fitting suit off the rack at Sears and dangle his misplaced modifiers...,that he may have discerned what God is saying and they may not have?

Tempests And Doldrums

Tempests And Doldrums......December, 2014   

          May God have mercy upon our nation. From small vessels bearing cramped pilgrims we developed into an empire. We surpassed every empire this world has ever seen in not only power and might but in knowledge and scientific skills. More than that even as God used us a conduit for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every corner of the earth. We fought Him all along the way, this is true, but we were a very large piece in His grand design, and he would use His rod and His staff on many occasions to both chastise us and to gently but forcefully bring us back.
          As I sit here in my study and pause, my eyes lift to a photograph on canvas on the wall in front of me. The camera is on the teak deck. The thin rails give the impression of a much older vessel. I stare right into the sea as billowing waves heave the ship at about a 40 degree list. Clouds dominate the sky but the sun found an opening as the shutter was clicked. In the foreground, barley visible, are rolling hills where possibly a safe harbor awaits. I look at this photo often and wonder in awe at the power of God's seas and the safe harbor of His grace.
           We in America are on a ship but it may as well be anchored in Boston Harbor next to the USS Constitution for it no longer guards our freedoms and liberties. I've related this story before. Fifteen years ago, sitting in a classroom of mostly younger fellow members of our cohort working for a degree in Higher Education, we were discussing the issues of the day as they related to colleges and universities. I remember standing up for emphasis and warning that a division was coming within America. Two different peoples were emerging, two different methods for thinking, two opposing opinions on what truth is and what it is not. If anyone agreed they did not speak up but unfortunately I was right. Our American Creed is not even a memory. Our heritage is almost spat upon. Our traditions are deemed useless in a world that mocks God.
       As it often seems to happen as I write, the XM radio plays something that relates to the topic at hand and in this instance it's classical music and Edward Elgar's Coronation March written for the coronation of Great Britain's King George V in 1911. There is no pomp and circumstance in this piece. The music seems to roll along with the hills and the ship in my photograph. 1911! A new century was underway, a century that would hurl England into two World Wars within three decades. Bombed....but never into submission....no, it would lose in other ways, even as we are losing now.
       Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, had warned them but they would not listen. Their pulpits were not vigilant and the gospel was being modernized. Today, over a century later, England is surrendering....surrendering to confusion. Awash in chaos, their heritage trampled underfoot by foreigners who take advantage of a malnourished liberal tradition; they fight back but there is no Churchill to rally them, no Thatcher to prod them and face down the enemy's threats and lies, and although many faithful preachers-no Spurgeon...Ryle...or Martyn Lloyd-Jones to call down fire from on high on their (our) arrogance!
       Some see the world today as simply a new paradigm, that the world will indeed go on. Others actually see it as progress, but all the evidence, if allowed to be submitted, shows a crumbling Western Civilization.... puzzle pieces added almost every day where a frightening picture of our future is beginning to appear. It's one of a dystopian society ruled by Herbert Spencer's 'survival of the fittest' and birthed by Charles Darwin's On The Origin Of Species. In the background, behind the robotic movements and hollow faces of the people, above the gay-colored storefronts that have absolutely nothing to sell that can enliven that people or that can inform, and movie theaters with films that preach the chimera of a nation adapting without God, is an onrushing sandstorm obliterating all vision and discernment....a tsunami that sucks in the surf before it exposing a soft underbelly of a nation that once acknowledged, reverenced and relied upon its benefactor and at least tried to navigate by His written Word.
         Twelve hours from now men and women will fill the pulpits of America. Well-exercised healthy  specimens, pastors of the First Church of the Fit and Buff, tolerant of everything except that written Word; they will smile and preach peace oblivious to two previous millennia of pulpits that extolled the glories of Christ, warned of hellfire and offered salvation bought on a bloody cross.
        Not all pulpits have decayed. Many of God's ministers shed tears throughout the week and reach out as if to grab the hem of the cloak of their Saviour seeking power from on high to awaken those given into their charge. Seeking a revival, even a reformation and seeking mercy, their work is not in vain. Christians in America are as strong and faithful as they ever were but far, far fewer in percentages. Almost isolated, often ridiculed, sometimes persecuted, they sense that the King of Kings is mounted, that His mighty angels are silent, awaiting the voice of thunder that beckons them forward. May God have mercy upon America. May He use us one last time, according to His will, for His purposes....and for His glory alone!

The Cost Of Discipleship

            Dealing on a daily basis with both a collapsing church and a collapsing nation does not bode well for smooth sailing in one's life. It's not good enough to just rant on about how bad Progressivism is for America....or how terrible Liberalism is for the church. That's the easy part of this whole mess.....and that's where most conservatives have settled in. It's when you go beyond those obvious enemies to the deceivers or the lazy or the ignorant in our own camp that the waters get rough and the winds blow fiercely. Whereas in the former....the 'cost of discipleship' can almost make one a hero....in the latter one can become a pariah in one's own family and church and community. The former is more a badge than a cost....whereas in the latter it can be more of a wound.

           One of the failures of today's evangelicalism is that we fail to mention the cost of discipleship when we evangelize and I have been guilty of this as much as anyone. I put a couple thousand miles on our vehicle recently and that usually means listening to a few more sermons from R. C. Sproul than I usually do. I had to go back into his archives a little bit to find one that I had not heard and I'll give you easy directions to listen to it at the end of this post. I need not add that what you will hear will be eons in wisdom and knowledge beyond what I can type out!.
           You have close friends....maybe you have a wife and children....maybe even grown children. If your plans are in just joining into fellowship of a church because it's something that you think that you should probably do...don't worry about the cost of discipleship. You may annoy a person or two, and you may even offend someone, but you probably won't find that there is a quantifiable cost to you involved in your decision to become a Christian. Of course you'll be pretty much useless to the spread of the gospel but hey....you get what you pay for.
           Your parents...whom you deeply love...may show deep disappointment in you. R. C. had this happen to him with his mother, and I experienced the same thing. It's very difficult and in my case it turned out to be decades of praying for wisdom in presenting the gospel to my mother....and asking for forgiveness for the times that I felt that I failed miserably. It would have been so much easier to avoid the topic....but then I'm one of those strange birds who actually believe that one has to be born again....and I loved my mother too much to let a little thing like her disowning me stop me from telling her about Jesus Christ,
           A good friend will stay your friend but you will wind up either....one....letting him alone in his life without Christ....or two....you will try again and again to present the gospel to him and thus you may find that although you are still friends....you really don't have much to talk about anymore. Still, unless your parents disown you and all your friends avoid you like the plague then this also does not appear on the cost ledger.
          Doctrine does come with a cost. The word doctrine is simply a biblical truth that often is not simple....but often essential in becoming a Christian. If you stay with the basics then there will be little to no cost to you. Do you have a serious hobby? Most people do. Is there something you have worked at for years and you excel at? Maybe your a scratch golfer? I was a scratch golfer....I'd hit the ball and have to scratch my head but maybe you actually know how to play the game? If you apply yourself to the Word of God in like manner then it will most likely cost you....because people generally have their own doctrine that is very palatable to their specific tastes. You may have to leave the church that you love. Other Christians may consider you divisive.....but there is One that will not abandon you.
          These are really minor costs compared to what others have paid. Your wife may wind up leaving you. Your kids may hardly ever bring the grand kids over.  I've witnessed these things with friends.  We have all read stories in the news where Christians lost their business or their livelihood because of their Christian faith. Every one of us should never allow much time to pass without thinking about and praying for Christians around this world whose cost to them was their lives or their families.
        These words were brief and not very profound. My intention was not to make a list of things that will cost you but rather to point out that we fail to mention any costs at all as we ....'share the gospel.' This sets the person in question up for some rude awakenings that may result in their abandoning their faith. This failure to mention a cost also winds up adding enormously to an American church filled with people who have never been born anew....born from above.....nor do they even know what that means,
         I really cannot just give directions to R. C. Sproul as a post. I have to at least describe what I'm trying to lead you to. And I've done that....so please consider listening to these two sermons to straighten out what I may have brought confusion to.

Just Google....R. C. Sproul, The Cost Of Discipleship, Part II
I would also like to recommend the great man of God's last sermon.....
for this just Google R. C. Sproul's final sermon

We Are Fewer In Number....But We Are Still Here

****Dispatch.....Thurs 08:06**** It looked like it might be one the best calls in over a year on any of the  conservative radio talk shows......and one of the very few that was critical of President Trump that the call screeners let in....it lasted about one minute and then the caller....someone who worked tirelessly for candidate Trump.... was just about to make his key point .....and then the call went blank....Alex Marlowe said......"Oh did we lose the caller?....That's too bad." I didn't laugh....and I didn't scream.....it was somewhere in between.

             Pennsylvania held its Republican primary yesterday. I showed up because too many had sacrificed to give us this right. Beginning today those now official Republican candidates will sound like real true conservatives. Oh the unction that they will appear to have to restore America to what it once was. They'll sound like they really believe what they are saying.....and the tactics that they use will be to warn us about the Democrats taking power....to embellish President Trump's successes and even invent some.....totally ignore his many egregious backslidings....and to then tell us how President Trump needs their support in Congress! If they do win....if God even permits more time to pretend that we reverence Him.....they will fall in line behind the elites like they always do. The following post is from March of 2014....we're still here....you do not have a clear path.....you cannot just substitute Donald Trump's disjointed, contradictory and downright deceptive MAGA agenda for the efforts of conservative Americans over decades and expect all of us to fall for it. You cannot cover up his vindictiveness....his artlessness.....his manipulations.....or his returning the establishment to power and glory.

           "In the beginning of the English Civil War the Earl of Manchester was Oliver Cromwell's superior. Cromwell considered him slow, indecisive and lacking enthusiasm in opposing the tyranny and incompetence of the king. Manchester, for his part, was more concerned with Oliver Cromwell recruiting men of 'low birth' for his army....uh, that would be men like me. Cromwell's philosophy was different as shown here in a quote from a letter to others in the Parliamentary forces, "I beseech you be careful what Captains of Horse you choose....a few honest men are better than numbers....If you choose godly honest men to be Captains of Horse, honest men will follow them."
          The 1970 film Cromwell starred Richard Harris as Oliver Cromwell. The Earl of Manchester (Republican Party of today) was showing hesitance in opposing the king (Obama of 2014) Incensed, Cromwell promised something like this, "I am going to defeat this king's army, even if I have to go through Manchester first!"

          And we did.....if you don't mind my using the pronoun 'we'....we went through the Republican establishment first before taking on the Obama/Clinton cabal. I bring this post back today....for even though our hope is that the return of Jesus Christ is at the very doorstep as our country and the entire world utterly collapses in chaos....and even though we are fewer in numbers today....that we will not roll over for you. To the Rush Limbaugh element.....if it turns out that our numbers are bigger than what you might expect....and you are concerned.....then stop presenting Donald Trump to us on a throne with a crown on his head.....and treat him like any other politician......which is what he is. We can deal with that.....but we are not entering any earthly throne room.....for there is only one throne room for us.

          "Mr. Boehner...and Mr. McCain...and Mr. Mitchell....and Mr. Graham....and Mr. Rove...and Mr. Bush.....we are not alone. We are Americans who trust in their God and recognize His hand in all of creation, His omniscience and omnipotence in forming this people, His power in sustaining us though we often strayed far away, and also His warnings to us after years and years and years of our increasingly ignoring Him..... the continuance of which you are advocating (and still advocating)..... your third and most egregious mistake. You have become impervious to common sense, to wisdom or to any light in your darkened halls of power.
          America's future does not lie in these elections that the Republican Party (and now conservatives) (are) selling more than its birthright for; and the winners of these elections will have no power that God does not permit and no wisdom that God does not give, for His purposes and to His glory! Our duty is to elect God-fearing leaders (not just 'God bless America' parrots) and pray for God's mercy knowing that His will is perfect, and that it may or may not include the United States of America as a source of stability in the world or even an entity in itself.
          Celebrate your polling figures (President Trump approval ratings) all that you want. We'll celebrate a risen Savior and a returning King. Yes, we'll follow Luther's advice to 'plant a tree,' to continue to work, even if we knew for certain that Jesus was returning the very next day, but you might want to take notice of Oliver Cromwell's words to the 'establishment' of his day in:
          "I had rather a plain, russet-coated Captain, that knows what he fights for, and loves what he knows, than that you call a Gentleman (a Senator) and is nothing else"."

            

Dispatches

Every few weeks I put out a post titled 'Dispatches' which consists of short commentaries on current events in the news:

           Friends, they are using the 'bot blitzkreig' on you.....on all of us....the 'bot blitzkreig' being my name for metadata analysis and then a blitzkrieg upon our senses. They have determined through the information that metadata gives them exactly what stimulates us.....they then bombard us with an unrelenting....unrelenting barrage of words that need not have any truth in them at all. As an example I just listen to Breitbart's Alex Marlowe interview White House Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley whose gave a nonstop litany of accolades of President Trump's 'accomplishments'......given so fast that one cannot in any way actually consider the veracity of any of the accolades.....each one carefully chosen and nuanced just enough to stimulate opinion while bypassing the mind. This wasn't an interview....it was an assault on our senses.

           The timing is terrible for moving the United States embassy from Tev Aviv to Jerusalem. Why didn't President Trump announce this move a year ago. The answer to that is that he made dozens of promises and saves some for when he needs either an uptick in his polls or he needs a Roman Candle to get everyone to look up because he is about to stab conservatives in the back. The administration says that European countries will follow suit in moving their embassies and they probably will as behind the scenes we will apply pressure and give something in return. Of course we won't be told about this.

            President Trump's pending face to face meeting with communist mass murderer Kim Jong-un is unnecessary and unwise.....it's a Billy Jean King/ Bobby Riggs photo op moment.....and as relevant to peace as Tiny Tim's wedding on the Johnny Carson show was to marriage. Showmanship has totally replaced statesmanship. Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have a lifetime of experiences with propaganda and communist tactics. Donald Trump has a lifetime of experiences with getting building permits....dealing with unsavory characters.....and John Bolton as an adviser....that's it.
     
            Lastly, Mitt Romney made news yesterday as he was outraged that author, radio and television minister and Southern Baptist mega-church pastor Robert Jeffress would deliver a blessing at yesterday's embassy move ceremony. Why? Jeffress....according to Mitt Romney....is a bigot because he believes that 'you can't be saved by being a Jew'....or a Muslim....or even a Mormon...."Such a religious bigot should not be giving the prayer that opens the United States Embassy in Jerusalem."  I've written on this topic a few times and hope that you take it seriously for there is a winnowing coming not only in conservatism but more importantly in the church....and this outrage by Mitt Romney is a harbinger of it!!!
           Right now the evangelical is not only welcomed into the MAGA movement but hogtied and branded so as to be returned if we stray from the reeducation camps. We will continue to be accepted and recruited until we do what Mitt Romney was offended at.....that being present the actual Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we believe the Gospel.....and do not water it down enough so as not to offend anyone.....and do not at least attempt to keep it to ourselves or within our own circles.....then we will not only be branded bigots by those outside of the Christian church....like Mitt Romney.....but in due time will be labelled divisive by those who at the present time consider themselves upstanding representatives of Christianity!

          

"Rover.....We Have To Talk"

The following post is one year old:         

          It's funny and it's rather amazing. Two radios are on...from the breakfast room is country music and from the dining room where I'm at comes conservative talk radio....traffic sounds are discernible from both the front and rear of the house......and there are various sounds of papers rustling....glasses jingling.....footsteps.....conversation.....the furnace coming on and off....yet....yet....and I witnessed it again a few moments ago....amidst this cacophony of many and varied decibels.....some pleasant-some not......if one piece of food hard enough to send off the most minute sound waves is dropped into the dog's dish.....his ears pick up.....he's off the chair he shouldn't be on to begin with....and he's making a beeline into the kitchen.
         That may be a clue as to why when I have an intellectual conversation with him...albeit a short one....he doesn't seem to have any more understanding of what I'm saying than many of the readers of these posts understand it when I say that God's judgment upon America is imminent. So when I sit down with him, look him in the eye, and in very clear diction say...."Rover...listen carefully...if you would try your best to perform all bodily functions while in our own yard, then you probably would get a lot more walks" I really don't think that he understands.

          Jesus said that his sheep hear His voice.....they recognize it.....but in that hearing is also comprehension. We know that the One speaking is true and faithful! Yes we may interpret His Word slightly different at times but the gospel which Paul preached to his listeners has remained the same for almost two millennia....and so are the warnings to remain vigilant and look for His appearing.... this to those who hear His voice and follow Him.

Conservative Talk Radio Is Letting Us Down....For Now Anyway

            There was a time when liberals would have done anything to get rid of conservative talk radio....in fact they probably did try just about anything to get rid of that voice that wouldn't let America just shrivel up and die in ignorance. Well times change....and change....times did. First of all the opposition party in America can no longer be referred to as liberals. Liberals were men like Carter and Mondale......take it from Hillary who is proud to call herself a 'progressive'..... and really even the term 'progressive' doesn't do justice to the Obamas and Kerrys and  Clintons of this world. Anyway...I don't think that progressives are in-tuned enough to realize it but conservative talk radio of today....the last year anyway....are helping them. Here's why...
            We elected a president who has been under an ignominious assault ever since he took the oath of office. The main charge was collusion with Russia in the election. A Special Counsel was appointed to get to the bottom of it. What was supposed to be a normal investigation turned out to be.....and still is....an attempt at a coup. This is where conservative radio forgot its mission and actually made things much worse. They could have both defended President Trump and held him accountable at the same time.
            Oh they do a good job with the facts on this coup....I'll certainly give them that....but they panicked. In their panic they completely relinquished their responsibilities to keep their listening audience informed on what Donald Trump himself was doing. No it's worse than that....it started out OK....President Trump would do something either terribly stupid or downright deceitful.....and conservative talk radio hosts would do what they do best.....they called him out on it.....but time passed ever so slowly and the Mueller investigation became more and more absurd....and these radio hosts.....just about all of them.....not only quit calling out the President on his backslidings.....but made excuses for him......blamed the Republicans in Congress....or downright changed their own opinions to match Donald Trump's!
           President Trump has a tendency to bring every one around him down whether it's Flynn or Manafort or Spicer or Hope Hicks or Admiral Jackson......and on and on.  He does this by being outrageously arrogant on that infernal tweet machine of his. He stirs up trouble just about every day. Even the media can't keep up with the nonsensical lambastes every morning. There is confusion in this administration.....which is obvious.....and which is denied by the administration.....those who are still left or in charge of the press releases anyway.
           Had conservative talk radio not jumped on this band wagon to a pep rally then President Trump would have been forced to stay on the track of his campaign promises.....and the progressive agenda would be in bad shape. Instead the conservative base is no longer vibrant and vigilant....there is very little rigorous thinking....only memorizing facts on this FISA warrant or that outrageous early morning raid. The progressive agenda thus only has to deal with a man who abandoned many of the strong issues that won the day in November of 2016....rather than a conservative movement that does more than tweet and promise.
          So where is this going. My opinion of course.....Donald Trump may eventually cross that line that even Rush Limbaugh cannot ignore.....well maybe that will never happen but maybe the President will cross that line that even Hannity cannot ignore. President Trump is already on the same wavelength as the establishment.....what he'll have is a brand new coalition....with many conservatives on the outside.
          Folks I love conservative talk radio......I love talk radio in general and have since the 1960s. Someone my age in Pittsburgh might remember Roy Fox....a man on talk radio well ahead of his time.....but the conservative radio talk show hosts have made a mistake on this one. Their motives are simply to keep America going in the right direction. It's hard to fault them on that.....but as important as they were.....they only informed us. Apparently they don't think that we need informed anymore.....only led....because we can't be trusted by ourselves.
          There are many of us who will not be patronized simply by the host telling us how smart we are and how we are show....when we most emphatically are not the show. Conservative talk radio today is Trump driven.....and establishment backed. We are not just going to sit there and laugh with you at some Democrat who was caught at something. We're not playing these games.....we don't like these games. We are not...nor were we ever....just followers of someone.....other than Jesus Christ.
                   

Ahab....Jezebel....And Jehu

The references in this post to Ahab, Jezebel and Jehu are to Jonathan Cahn's book The Paradigm where the author pointed out remarkable similarities between King Ahab and Bill Clinton....Jezebel and Hillary Clinton....Jehu and Donald Trump....along with a number of others pairings.

           O that this Lord's Day would be the day....that today would be the day that many pastors around the country would sit at their desk looking over the sermon that they had prepared for the morrow....that they would bury their face in their hands in the grave concern that they had somehow missed that calling that had given them so much joy back when their faith was new.
           This would be the work of the Holy Spirit should it happen. These pastors would take up that sermon on 'building bridges' or 'snapping out of the doldrums' or some other milquetoast psychological encouragement....complete with humorous anecdotes....and toss it in the waste basket. "What have I become?" they might ask of no one in particular.
           America is what it is today....because its shepherds have failed the sheep....and we....none moreso than I.... have failed our Good Shepherd. When paradigms change it is like a glacier slowly moving south....crushing everything in its path. The church of a nation is not immune....as education and the law and politics and everything else in that path is not immune.
           Yes we are totally divided in America today but that division is one of degree as both sides have drifted away from the origins of America.....only one side has drifted away faster.....completely forsaking God and any concepts of liberty and freedom that used to be a signature of this nation.....while the rest of us are trying to cling to vague memories of John Wayne's America....unaware that America came about primarily through its pulpits.....not its patriotism.
            We would now use politics to save us from the evil opposition. Yes, that's the ticket, we would anoint us a champion and smash the temples of the Baals.....but of course we would be like Jehu and keep the golden calves in the church and in our own lives. Jehu destroyed everyone associated with Ahab and Jezebel. God....we presume....has today commissioned us to do that in America.....that's all we need to know......we would smash the idols of the bad guys.....not our own.....God had not said anything about that had He?
             So we have our champion....not exactly what we pictured....and his championship season record has asterisks all over the place......but at least we still have our golden calves....and that golden cup awarded for making America great again seems within our reach....but unbeknownst to us the lord whose name is given to that cup is not the name our LORD!
     

Keeping Up Appearances

        Last night's pep rally in Indiana was the first one that I have missed. News reports that I've seen have the President saying that he doesn't think "we've ever done better as a country"...and...."we are rockin." Upon hearing words like these....that are antithetical to the reality of America today....the Christian should immediately sit up and take notice of a problem in the making. We are also slowly giving up our identity as conservatives and falling prey to manipulative techniques we've seen in the past from charismatic leaders and even gurus.

KEEPING UP APPEARANCES.....March, 2017

        We are not as of yet holed up in our homes, although many truly are, but we are holed up in the gated community of our minds. An unwanted visitor wants in with information that would upset us but we refuse to open the gate. An intruder invades our peace and we call for security. A message is not filtered so we block the sender. When we travel by means of special news bulletins, dark stories that cannot be avoided by newspaper editors and even tragedies close to home, we lock the doors of the vehicle and hurry through to our destination, and perish even the thought of our GPS running amok where we might get lost and be forced to confront reality.
         No...we will not tear down the Asherah poles nor burn the bronze idols. That's phase two and phase three! We won't entertain any evidence that God will judge us. We will cover our ears and shout baby syllables should anyone disturb our serenity with biblical warnings. We will cut out of the Bible, not miracles as Thomas Jefferson did, but anything that might convict us as to our having compromised God's commands to us to be set apart.
         God loves us! He knows our heart. We blush at how much God must be pleased with us. We elected Donald Trump! OK maybe he doesn't give a rat's posterior about God but he gave us a good Supreme Court nominee! We shall continue to keep up appearances.

         We will not recant our primary vote for Donald Trump....unless convinced by the plain truth of 'sort of thinking'....for to do so would be to go against Make America Great Again....here we linger....we don't have the slightest idea of what the Old Testament prophets were talking about or the Olivet Discourse....God bless America!    

How The 'West' Was Won

           OK.....Kanye West.....previous to the last few days the only thing that I knew about him was that he was a very rich Rap artist.....that he was married to one of the Kardashions......and that he once stormed the stage of an awards ceremony and grabbed the microphone when he didn't agree with who won some award.
           After perusing Wikipedia......his life and his work....he seems like a very likable guy....and some of the things that he has done are very admirable. In one quoted tweet he said...."I no longer have a manager. I can't be managed." Wow! Who does that remind you of?
           Few political commentators on the national scene have paid for their outspokenness as much as Dinesh D'Souza. I have to wonder if Kanye West saw D'Souza's 2016 documentary Hillary's America, The Secret History of the Democrat Party?  This film was so good that liberal critics on one particular web site gave it a 4% approval rating....which means that it was probably 96% good....and it was the 8th highest grossing political political documentary of all time. If West did see that film then that might explain a lot of his opinions of late.....opinions which would also probably get a 4% approval rating from his peers. The film is powerful and I'm sure that you can pick up the DVD cheap if you have never viewed it.
           Kanye West's support of President Trump is a major development. It's also a natural development as we are seeing that conservative principles make life better for minorities and all Americans. My concern with all the hoopla concerning Kanye West....and it's a big one....is that it may not be conservative common sense that won over Mr. West...but a personality not too dissimilar to his own. Now there is another person on the national stage who I'm not familiar with....Candace Owens...who tweeted...."I truly believe that @Donald Trump isn't just the leader of the free world, but the savior of it as well." Kanye West retweeted her tweet. Folks...Donald Trump is not our Savior....we do realize that do we not? Sometimes I wonder.
           This is the problem. In our defense of President Trump against a deep state coup we ignore what should be a serious concern about Donald Trump's lifelong personality and character...a man who never forgets something done to him.....where truth is a non-entity in the art of the deal....where study is not necessary to a natural genius....and where as I have mentioned before.....Donald Trump is showing signs of the of Nebuchadnezzar mentality of...."Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty." (Daniel 4:30)
            Strong conservative constitutional principles roused the American public in putting an end to Hillary Clinton's ambitions but Donald Trump has taken those principles and transposed them with his own majesty. We are no longer conservatives.....we are Trumpsters.....and unless Donald Trump acquires some semblance of humility as did Nebuchadnezzar after eating grass for seven whatevers....then we will regret what we will have built.

"Chariots Of Fire All Around Us"

The following post is from September of 2017:       

        What should a church do in order to grow? Just what is church growth anyway? Is it limited to numbers or can a church grow in other ways? Should church growth be pursued at all costs? Should it even be our primary focus? Should a big church be considered a success while a small church is to be deemed a failure?
        While on vacation I was given a rather fancy laminated advertisement for a local church. The key word highlighted was 'contemporary.' They wanted to make sure that the recipient of the invitation knew one thing...that their worship services were very....contemporary....nothing dull and boring here. I looked up the church's web site....it was very nice....very professional.....and yep.....it was contemporary all right. I read over the 'what we believe' section three times to see if the gospel of Jesus Christ was there. It wasn't. There was no cross...no sin...no resurrection....but there was a lot of....worship...discipleship....and ministry. I've seen many many church web sites over the years just like this that seek to grow with the gospel of 'come and worship with us.'
        But enough of the user-friendly churches....what of the rest of us?  Well, we do vacation Bible school....that's certainly good. We often go door to door....''A for effort there. We cheerfully welcome visitors....no problem with that. We do a lot of things right.
        Growth of a Christian church through numbers is God's job. Whether there is one new baptized member a year or ten thousand new baptized members...that is not to be our focus. It's to be our hope....but not our focus. Our focus should be in having the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed from the pulpit each and every Lord's Day.....both for the benefit of the saved and the unsaved in the pews....and for both the church member and the visitor who comes through the front door.  If we fail to preach Christ crucified then we move towards the contemporary church. If we preach only how to live then we move closer to the psychologist's couch. If we are ashamed of the cross then we may indeed build something...but it won't be a Christian church.....and if Sunday School lessons come from the pulpit then we will be nothing but a 501 (C)(3) Sunday school.
        The church does not produce revivals or awakenings or reformation! They are produced by God in part for the benefit of the church and the world. Other than prayer we are not involved in God's 'timing' for revival's and awakenings and reformation. When they come we may think that our prayers have brought them when in fact God's Spirit moved both upon the redeemed with a great evangelical fervor and with regeneration upon the unredeemed who then came to faith and redemption.
        There is a difference between motivation and fervor. Motivation breeds numbers only....fervor breeds that which God gave the fervor to breed....revivals....awakenings....and reformation. I do not sense a fervor today....only motivations....but I feel tremors that surely must precede fervors. I see the enemy all around.... but it must be as it was with Elisha in that "...those who are with us are more than those who are with them"....and that "the mountain (is) full of horses and chariots of fire...." It may very well be a good time to prepare for revival....for awakening....and for reformation....not to strategize for it....but to prepare for it.