Make The Church Gospel-Oriented Again

           I want to explain here a little on why I post so much on President Trump. If he were in the middle of a second term or if he was not running for reelection I would not post nearly as much on him....but an additional four years of his antics where he stirs and jabs incessantly....making a bad situation much worse....and as the actual administering of the his duties is done in such a chaotic....impulsive....and constantly bellicose and threatening way....(which is not something we should want if we were thinking clearly)....make it that we should demand a legitimate primary debate on who Donald Trump really is....before this nomination is a done deal....and not just relying as we are on what was once our only legitimate source of news....talk radio.....which has turned into a Praetorian Guard.....defending the President from the truth....and attacking any and all critics....all the time.....with no real conversation anymore. Talk radio....with no legitimate conversation....now there is an oxymoronic concept.
           There is another reason though that I post so much.....evangelicalism has bought into something that effectively neuters the message that it should be giving. I read today in The Hill where enormous sums of money and considerable valuable time will be spent by Christian organizations to disseminate political literature in the churches across the land in the lead-up to the 2020 election. This does not help the church....it hurts the church....and hinders the emphasis on the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we so sorely need to recover. FOUR YEARS ONLY......Make The Church Gospel-Oriented Again.
            One last thing.....yes the Democrats have turned into a horror show....but that does not mean that we ignore another problem of a different kind in Donald Trump. We battled the Democrats and the Rinos for decades right up until the 2015 campaign season.....then when Donald Trump showed himself as something altogether different from what he campaigned on.....and when the 'Trump First' element of our movement took over....we gave up....and took the easy path.....attacking one problem by aligning ourselves to another problem!

TRAVELING MEDICINE SHOW

           A friend and I.....(yes I still have a few friends)....were out to breakfast today and in the course of the conversation on light matters he brought up some work he had done around the house about thirty years ago. He proceeded to tell the story where he hired a certain contractor who he said was known to be the very best in the area. My friend continued and got to the meat of the story where a major problem developed with the work.
         So a few hours later.....today.....I had the opportunity to listen to about fifteen minutes of Rush Limbaugh.....and of course he was praising President Trump. Now I have to say this for it reminded me of the story that my friend had told me this morning. Rush is so talented in what he does that even when he goes astray....which he has done with Donald Trump....he shows artistic expertise that is really something to witness.....in 'making a silk purse out of a sow's ear.'
         His voice is amiable....his logic sound as usual....while he extraordinarily motivates and impassions. The problem is that he has turned this gift into almost a weapon against wisdom and common sense. The logic is there but there are only half the facts to use in that logic. The common sense also has only half the story to operate within.
         Why this has happened with Rush I do not know. He has invested everything into Donald Trump. If President Trump turns out to be to everyone who those of us who have read literally dozens of books on Donald Trump now know him to be....(all of this reading within the past two years since a major problem first appeared in this man we had chosen)....almost witless on some things of great importance....narcissistic to a dangerous degree....and with a habit of lying so pervasive in his very being that many of his supporters who cannot but know this have simply chalked it up as an insignificant negative....even useful....character trait.
         But to listen to Rush....Oh....this is an artist at work.....painting the most beautiful oil on canvas....with bright colors and bold strokes....of a traveling medicine show....where elixirs and miracle cures that are guaranteed to do most anything you want them to do are sold from a wagon painted with healthy muscled robust specimens and happy faces....unfortunately it is mostly snake oil....good advice often on how to exercise or what not to eat.....certainly beneficial if it did what it purports to do....but ah the only real value is in the profits to the man with the great and enthusiastic crowd before him....a man who....if God wills us more time even as we seek our cures apart from Him.....will go on to the next town some day....leaving others kicking themselves for investing.

DISPATCHES

When we look at the Democrat presidential candidates....we see do we not....total and absolute blindness as to the Roman Empire style barbarian takeover of America? There apparently is not a one of them who is not willing to just give the nation away.....and do it with a smile. So....let's go back to the 2016 election. We had to get rid of Jezebel.....at least Christians had to get rid of Jezebel.....Trump won and we all celebrated.....but as God would have it.....the defeat of Hillary and Pelosi literally turned the Democrat Party over to the children of the 'village of the damned'.....and to make matters worse we got the real Jezebel in Ivanka! All of this is not to say that Hilary should have won.....nope.....she's as corrupt as she ever was.....it's a message to us....at least to Christians.....Donald Trump is a judgment....and just the latest. Christ is our only hope. It's the pulpit not the podium....but our pulpits have also consistently let us down.

It's not an anti-Trump book....and to some it will be considered a pro-Trump book. The authors....Allen Salkin and Aaron Short interviewed over 100 people...."close to the president".....and built their "objective nonpartisan oral history" around these taped conversations. The purpose of the authors is to show that Donald Trump did not stumble into the White House but brilliantly planned it all out for many years. The book begins in the 1990s during the Ross Perot challenge.....and takes the reader through the almost-campaigns for president....through the Reform Party episode....and through the years of The Apprentice.....and the almost-campaign for governor of New York....right up to....(and ends with)....the walk down the escalator at Trump Tower at 11:00 a.m. on June 16, 2015....it ends there! The book is valuable.....connects a lot of dots.....and slightly changed my view in a few ways. The Method To The Madness....Donald Trump's Ascent as Told by Those Who Were Hired, Fired, Inspired-and Inaugurated was released this past Tuesday. The book is constructed solely around the words of those interviewed....with short chapter descriptions by the authors.

"Alarm: if you at all can find a way to listen to Rush Limbaugh's show today on tape beginning about 12:45.....please try to do so.....and see what we have become....or at least wait a few hours and read the transcripts at rushlimbaugh.com."

Update: I posted the above the moment that a conversation that Rush had with a caller ended. The transcript under the heading...."Callers react to the behavior of U. S. soccer team"....was available through yesterday for those not subscribers to Rush 24/7. Now that it's not available....I'll describe what concerned me.....but admittedly would be absolutely nothing to most listeners. The content of the conversation was on the personal appearance of the women's soccer team members. It was odd and cold but Rush seemed to enjoy it. My concern was that the caller threw out the phrase...."for Christ's sake"....six times. I thought after the second time that Rush would politely thank the caller and end the call....but he let it go on for 5 1/2 minutes.....and then what happened stunned me. Rush....playing on the phrase used six times by the caller.....used it himself three times. Non-Christians wouldn't even notice this....and nominal Christians wouldn't think much about it....but others would have been supremely disappointed. This generally is not Rush Limbaugh. I not only understand but have written whole posts on how Progressives have regularly and disgustingly conjured up attacks on conservatives for being racist....but I have heard two legitimate racist callers on conservative talk radio in the past three days where the two different radio hosts not only did not challenge the callers but thanked them for calling in. My point in all this is that this is what Donald Trump does to everyone.....all of us....all of them....he brings us down to his low level....in a murky acid swamp if there ever was one.

I want to reiterate from past posts for it is important in understanding President Trump's poll numbers. The successful demonizing by Radio Free Trump of Robert Mueller among conservatives....and the ascendance of Bolshevik freshman radicals in the United States Congress....and the constant reminder of what Barack Obama did or what Hilary Clinton would have done....and various perversions of the media....only one being the Kavanaugh hearings.....have served to make Donald Trump appear as something that he is not. Reiterating further here.....Barack Obama was judgment from God on the Left in America....and Donald Trump is judgment from God on the Right in America.....just as God used Assyria to judge Israel....and Babylon to judge Judah.

Most of us have at least known the name Donald Trump for going on four decades. He was the typical rich celebrity....maybe even one of the prototypes that came to dominate the modern lives of the rich and the famous. Some Americans fed on that stuff. They would know more of Donald Trump back in 2015 than the rest of us who only knew him as a man who built towers....owned casinos.....and bought golf courses....and wrote books....(although he actually wrote none of them)....and who had three glamorous wives. Truman Capote....Donald Trump....Andy Warhol....we really didn't know much more of these celebrities other than what faced us each week at the grocery store cash register. So I was not a fan of Donald Trump by any means and as my posts show was very concerned about how we conservatives just bought into his promises without setting up any defenses in case he wasn't who he said that he was. Stopping Hilary was the order of the day. So when Trump won....and we wildly celebrated....including myself....the new President-elect almost immediately began to make the dumbest decisions that should have set off alarms all over the control rooms of true conservatism. It was time for me to read about who this Donald Trump was. I'm at forty books now....bios....critiques....praise hymn (him) books....and books specifically about Mar-a-Lago or golf or Russia....and I'm here to tell you unequivocally that this is a man who is vacuous as to anything noble....a deceiver and destroyer from day one....madly in love with himself....and the most successful con artist and charismatic cult leader America has ever known....but we won't entertain any critical examination of our champion will we....for talk radio....who we came to depend too much upon...makes sure we don't venture out to think for ourselves.

Ben Sasse And Others....Get Off Your Posterior

             President Trump showed himself to be clearly and dangerously indecisive while being dependent upon the response of conservative news media. He is unstable and inconsistent. Even his lame explanation of why he changed his mind at the last minute (on Iran) was evidence of a man who has no business being anywhere near the Oval Office let alone the resident chief of state. Only God could cause the blindness where conservatives do not see the danger in an unbalanced man such as Donald Trump. These are bona fide psychological issues going ignored by us who should know better.

             ٭٭٭ The issue is not if the last minute decision (on Iran) was correct or not....or what he might decide to do in the future. He has shown that this mind of his is nothing but a roulette wheel....(where will the ball stop?)....where the only real issue is on how much profit the house takes in and how it effects the self-perceived glow that Donald Trump sees around himself. ٭٭٭

             Hannity flip-flopped overnight. Levin huffed and puffed and then weakly said that the President has a way about him where things eventually go well. Limbaugh is just gone....Baghdad Rush. Tucker Carlson decided that he wants to be on the ad hoc reality show National Security Counsel too. What a mess!
            If an aide told President Trump on the golf course that 150 people died in an airplane crash he would have to wait for a response until the difficult decision of whether to use a 3 wood or a 2 iron was made. This man has no compassion or conscience at all. The 150 lives excuse was nothing but a brain burp.
           You had better believe that Xi Jinping and Kim and Putin and everyone knows now that they are playing chess with a man who cannot think two moves ahead....and barely makes the move at hand. This may be a watershed moment in this Trump phenomenon where a sizable share of his steady supporters got a glimpse of the Wizard of Manhattan behind the curtain. Donald Trump might then tweet....."OK....I'm not who I said that I was.....but here's a victory trophy that you can show everyone.....and a diploma to show how smart you are....and a fake 'this house protected by electronic security' sign." Then again....this circus may only exacerbate the problem.
           Politics is not our answer.....that's been the essence of these posts over the past ten years....but we can neither stick our heads in the sand.....or as in this case turn our minds over to a guru who happened to write....excuse me....to have someone ghost-write....a cheap pulp self-help book on getting rich....dummies guide on how to win fake friends and fool enemies. The next eighteen months would be difficult enough without Donald Trump running for re-coronation. Conservative Republicans so far have proven almost worthless at critiquing President Trump. Lindsey Graham has become our main spokesman! That alone should shake us to the core. To Ben Sasse and others....get off your posterior....your plans on waiting till 2024 are misguided....may be self-serving....and you may very well later regret that you did not speak up sooner. We need you now.....not in 2024!

Note: President Trump forcefully said and tweeted that our military is...."new....and rebuilt....and ready to go" Our military is always ready to go when called upon. Retired four star general Jack Keane....speaking while receiving an award at the Reagan National Defense Forum six months ago.....said that the President has a habit of referring to the military as already being rebuilt because of the huge outlays allotted in the last two military budgets. General Keane said at the time that the military had received nothing new as of yet.....that the money will be there....but that these things take time. It's not only equipment but the size of the various services have to be increased.....and ships and aircraft have to be built....these things take many years. In April the President actually used the word 'rebuilding'....so he knows very well that saying that the military is new and rebuilt is a gross exaggeration.....but it sounds good.....everything is his reelection.....and most everyone probably believed it.....that's all that counts in his world.
       
   

You And I Will Be United....UGH....That Doesn't Sound Too Good To You Right Now Does It?

The message in the following post....slightly abridged....is from a Monday in November of 2017....and I bring it back as a Lord's Day post. It's a hard message....yet we are much....much worse off now than we were then!   

           How was your church service yesterday? Fine you say? Did you find yourself praying for your pastor during the sermon because the burden weighing him down seemed so great? If not then maybe the service was not so fine after all.
           Our pulpits in America have let us down.....they have let Christian believers down......and most important of all they have let their Lord and Savior down! Did they do this out of malice to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? No.....they did it out of ignorance. The worst that can be said about them is that they became lazy....(or else they thought that long ago they learned all that they will ever need in the pulpit)....and that when finally apprised of what is going on they...many of them...still refused to sound a clarion call.
           Now maybe you are angry with me......how dare I-you say! Folks....if the world you perceive it to be at this time was real.....I might agree with you....but in the actual world that we live in.....it's time to throw the 'passions' of football and exercise out the window and get to work and prepare.
           Do you know what globalism is....who these elite globalists are....what their history is and how they view themselves? Of course you don't....they own the media....so we're not told that. Oh you most certainly understand the economic aspect of what globalism is....that can't be covered up. What you don't know is that this is a society that exists above mere mortals like you and me. Its power is enormous and they consider themselves to be of some sort of deity. You are a serf to them and nothing more. There is no moral law to prevent them from destroying anyone and anything that gets in their way. There is no God that they will be judged by. (note: Donald Trump is more wealth oligarch than nationalist....that being someone who employs politics and profiteering to gain more wealth and then protect it)
           Is there any good news? Folks....the good news is so overwhelming that when one understands it one must fall before the majesty and the power and the glory of Jesus Christ. One must then have His hand put on them hearing..."Stand....fear not....for I am with you." He's coming back folks. Every child's tears throughout this world will be dried. Every mother's cries are heard and will end. Every Christian father's prayer for their children will be answered. Every war will end. Every crushing the skull of a beautiful pre-born baby will cease. Every abomination will be seen for what it is. Every slaughter of God's wonderful animal kingdom will stop. There is a cost to discipleship and we....in America....but not everywhere.... are about $20 trillion in arrears. ($22 trillion now)
            John Ankerberg....to give just one example of many.....heads a wonderful Christian ministry that I have been familiar with for decades. He's a good looking guy....trim....silver hair.....looks the same as he did in the early 80s....you'd know him if you saw him. He thinks that the Rapture is next....and then comes the Tribulation. He's wrong....wonderful ministry....more faithful Christian than I will ever be...but he's wrong on this one thing.....and yet even he is warning the church with all that is in him on what is ahead.

            Difficult times are at our doorstep with a foot already in over the threshold. If you don't see this then you are not looking. There are multitudes of pastors out there who would express the same thoughts that I have given in this post. There' a winnowing ahead. Possibly the hardest thing will be multitudes....in the church.....who will dig in until they come up with an excuse....not to defend the gospel of Jesus Christ! The rest of us will be united in the love of Christ. You may not feel so united with me right now but we're coming together.....may God add multitudes to us! Maranatha....come Lord Jesus!

"Mr. President....For The Good Of The Country...."

Donald Trump is a judgment perpetrated upon us through the will of God in response to our refusal to turn to Him in our trouble. We not only did not trust in or even acknowledge God's sovereignty in the rising and the fall of nations....we went the other way.....trusting in promises of glory....and thus falling for the grand delusion of Donald Trump....and then utterly refusing to even remotely examine the evidence before us of a troubled individual.....who glories in one thing only....the exaltation of his name. Evangelicals can be excused only insofar as they are scared to death of the radical miscreants and malcontents ever taking over their government.....but stand in the dock as to their lack of faith in God's hand over us....but rather the perceived power of princes....and in ignoring His command to us lay aside our idols and turn to Him. There are two things that politically should command our attention at this time....that President Trump would see the writing on the wall....which is there but not seen by many at this time....and choose to withdraw from the 2020 election.....for six more years of his influence on us is unthinkable.....and second that we pray that for the next nineteen months God would give wisdom, courage and determination to those around the president to counter his impetuousness....see through his self-serving schemes....and even demand that he get a hold of himself to lead this government in his duties in the executive branch. The following post is a few weeks old:

Note: first time visitors might wonder what planet I come from......for Donald Trump is obviously hugely popular among conservatives.....just look at what's going on in Florida where President Trump will announce tomorrow night. This is what I've found.....the typical Trump supporter starts out saying something to a conservative that rabidly supports the President....fully expecting agreement. The conservative might nod politely....not really wishing to argue. Try this....simply ask a conservative what his or her thoughts are on President Trump. You may be surprised how many do not really like him at all.

"Mr. President.....For The Good Of The Country...."

Donald Trump Jr. posted this in a tweet concerning Roy Moore possibly running again.....against the same opponent......this time for the full six year term...."If you actually care about #MAGA more than your own ego, it's time to ride off into the sunset, Judge." First of all....I doubt if MAGA is Roy Moore's first priority......but secondly....this concept of ego and leaving for the betterment of the country.....would be most applicable to Donald Jr's own father. With Robert Mueller releasing his statement today I thought it a good time to bring back this post from a few weeks ago:   

             "Happy Easter! I have never been happier or more content because your Country is doing so well, with an Economy that is the talk of the World and may be stronger than than it has ever been before. Have a great day!" Christians....can you not see that the man who wrote this is troubled? Would you at least pray about this?

            Is there no one out there connected to the Republican Party or within the White House or part of the conservative movement.....who is respected enough.....who would approach President Trump with a request something like this....."Mr. President....It has only been a little more than two years.....and we as a nation are coming apart at the seams.....most of this hysteria is caused by intellectual nonentities that have positioned themselves high in the media and the Democrat Party.....but much of the hysteria has been generated by your own actions and ways of doing things. The bottom line is that six more years of this would be too much. So.....for the sake of the country....please consider not running for reelection....and instead.....putting all of your remaining two years into the serious international issues that are threatening to blow up all the time. You have helped a great deal....and have been very needed.....but....with all due respect....there would be others who could take over from here. This is not only Marxist progressives and anarchists against you.....it's Marxist progressives and anarchists against America. You did your part....but it's not about you. Retire as the former 45th President of the United States! You are a fighter....yes....and I understand that it would be hard to walk away from this....but this is bigger than you. We need to fight this without the additional problems that you bring.

              I don't agree with all the sentiments that I wrote here.....but I would think it a way to protect President Trump's legacy....and permit us to focus on issues more than personalities....but I admit that I do not for a moment think that he would consider anything like this.....unless the handwriting was clearly on the wall. Many of his supporters want the President to fight on.....as if it was the office of the president that was under attack....but Donald Trump had long ago come down from the high ground of that office. His continuous attacks on investigators....his tightrope walking over the pit of obstruction of justice....where he may have fallen a few times already....his almost daily erratic and hotheaded responses over two years....his constant poking and jabbing just to get back at half the country....and even today his alarming comments on retribution....revenge....and even cryptic remarks on this never happening again to a president....these and much more have made this whole mess more personal....and 'all about Donald Trump'....than historical and constitutional.
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"With America's sons in the fields far away, with America's future under challenge right here at home, with our hopes and the world's hopes for peace in the balance every day, I do not believe that I should devote and hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office-the presidency of this country.....Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president." This was LBJ on March 31, 1968. I was 18 years old and watched this at the counter of a local dairy store which we all hung out..
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In whatever setting....politics....the entertainment field......the gambling industry......real estate development.....anything.....and everything.....he is going to generate revulsion. That's just who he is....mean....nasty....the self-serving narcissist.....and the con man. In each of those fields there will probably be those who think he is great....as maybe they make money on him....or they can play with his toys....but there are no real friends in these relationships.....no real commitments.....no real compassions. 

Is This Necessary.....Who Is It That Actually Laughs At This?

           He doesn't say it like this all the time but often enough that if you listen to Rush Limbaugh regularly then you will recognize what I'm describing here. The phrase is....'talent on loan from God.' We hear that almost every day.....but every once in a while....for whatever reason.....he turns the one syllable 'God' into two syllables....super-emphasizing the d. It comes out......Gaaaaaw...Duh!
            I submit to Christians reading this that this phrase....particularly when comically enunciated....is not innocuous. ...and is near blasphemous. Why in the world does he do this? Who laughs at this? What Christian would ever even smile at this? I need to repeat this from past posts.....I spent a number of years as a new Christian studying what are commonly known as 'Christian cults'......religious sects......some in the millions.....that claim to be Christian but deny the core beliefs of historic orthodox Christianity.....particularly....and in every case....the person and deity of Jesus Christ.  We on the Right commonly describe the extreme man-made global warming scam as a religion. The environmental movement on the whole can at times be religious in nature. I submit this also.....the Trump MAGA movement has at times been very close to a religion more than an ideological or political movement.....with Donald Trump as its charismatic leader......and Rush Limbaugh as his prophet....who to us should be a false prophet.
           Limbaugh's influence......and talent at what he does....is so effective that Donald Trump's presidency not only thrives but may actually be surviving because of him. If it turns out that I am wrong in that Donald Trump is not a blessing on America but rather a judgment....then Rush Limbaugh is to be given credit for President Trump's continued support....for without him conservatives would have long ago demanded an end to the deception and the lying and the extraordinary narcissism.
           I'm long past listening to Rush as I did for so many years.....interested....on his side.....and willing to learn. I now listen objectively.....almost blandly.....analyzing the method more than the distorted and misrepresented argument. It's become pure propaganda in the worst definition of the word. There are no ethics involved as it is totally one-sided....so much so that it's almost censorship as to not letting any other opinion other than....'Donald Trump is great'....to be heard.
           The non-Christian Trump supporter.....as opposed to the Christian Trump supporter...will surely think I'm crazy....but I only ask the latter to think on this.....maybe to even meditate on this.....on the trivial and even comical usage of the word God described above....on the message for the future that you hear from the president and on talk radio....as opposed to the message that you may discern in God's Word....and on the near-adoration of Donald Trump that is evident....and on our dependence....on a man....on ourselves....and no longer on Jesus Christ.....and on our rabid defense of a political leader rather than defense of the gospel of Jesus Christ....or His Word.....and finally to think upon and meditate upon our hope which is clearly now in Donald Trump.....(Ann Coulter was right....."In Trump We Trust")....and no longer on the return of our glorious Lord and our wonderful Savior and our coming King.....not even....sadly to say....on any particular desire for His soon return.
       
           

Discipleship Lessons.....Cheap!

           It's mid-June....you just finished a 12 week Bible study.....one day a week....an hour and half class on that day.....(much of the class seemed to be light banter within the class)....with a chapter a week from some book as homework. Now it's summer and there won't be any more classes on anything until fall because most families are busy with summer stuff. You're a little bit frustrated but don't really know why. Try this.
          Google....Audio Sermons On Romans, MLJ Trust. It will take about 30 seconds to get started. The MLJ Trust is the continuing ministry of the mid-20th century London pastor David Martyn Lloyd-Jones. On this particular web page you'll find fifteen sermons on Romans.
          Here's your course work.....listen to one sermon a day....maybe five days a week....each one will be about fifty minutes.....get a Sony pair of wireless headphones if you like and walk around town or on a treadmill while listening. I'm only suggesting five sermons a week so that you have a couple days off to let your heart stop pounding over the excitement of being taught the Word of God. Do this and you surely won't ever have to come back here.....for you will be researching sermons and teachings from men like R. C. Sproul....and others....and of course more sermons from Martyn Lloyd-Jones.
          So I guess that if you do this then I'm kind of a mentor of sorts to you. Well there's a cost to this.....please try to pray a short prayer for me at least once a day during this time. I really could use it. You don't know me but just pray for Special Dog.

Note to pastors.....this might be a good idea for you too!

Can I Get A Witness

           I like to hear the testimonies of conversions. Personal testimonies were the norm In my early Christian walk as a Pentecostal. Today as a Christian whose theology is what would be described as 'reformed'....testimonies are really not given as formally....but rather in a conversational setting. We tend to avoid anything that might possibly take the emphasis away from Christ and put it onto ourselves....but on occasion I've waxed sentimental in these posts....and today is one such day.
            Both sides of my family were Catholic. My uncle was a priest in Tennessee and would take me to ballgames and other fun things when he was home. I attended Catholic schools through high school....and was married to a Protestant girl but in the Catholic church. Oddly enough my great grandfather was a Presbyterian minister. One of his sons....my grandfather.....was a wild youth who eventually settled down to marry a Catholic girl. He in turn became a devout Catholic....as did his four sons and their families....as I eventually reverted to Presbyterianism.
            My mother had a St. Anthony statue by her bedside right up until the last couple years of her life in a nursing home. She never said a negative word about the Catholic church.....until about a year before she died.....and a year into the papacy of Pope Francis. Out of the blue one evening while the nightly news was on in her room.....she looked at me and said...."Special Dog....we have a bad pope."
           I attended Our Lady Help of Christians grade school in Buffalo, New York up until the seventh grade. We were encouraged to attend Mass before school which I took advantage of because if you went to communion then you could have a delicious glaze donut to dunk in a cup of tea to begin the first class while the others had to sit there and be study something. Somehow....and I don't know how because we did not have much money....I had a daily missal which I treasured. The ultra-thin pages with red and black type....and Latin....mesmerized me....but I did not have a Bible other than the impossible to read pocket New Testament given to me by my uncle at my first communion.
         I occasionally attended Mass while in the army.....and then again while attending Pitt after the army. One evening.....I remember it well.....while waiting on the bus after classes I stopped in the National Record Mart that was a few feet away from the bus stop.....and I bought a Living Bible paraphrase of the New Testament....I still have it today. Although other than being touched by the solemnity of what I was reading.....I remained in darkness as to the Gospel of Jesus Christ....as did my future wife raised in Presbyterianism.
         In 1981.....now married for five years.....My wife for some reason bought me a hardback Bible for Christmas.....I still have that Bible also. We were attending church regularly at the time.....and after Mass I would gather up all the Catholic newspapers in the back of the church and take them home....spread them out on the dining room table....and devour almost every word. Something was happening.
         This was 1982 folks.....wonderful and marvelous things were happening all over America as to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I stumbled across the 700 Club on television.....(becoming a member of the 700 Club and actually vacationing a few times down at their Founders Inn in Virginia Beach). There were also men at work who told me about being 'born again'.....and there were Christian bookstores.....wonderful Christian bookstores.....something we do not even have anymore because of the Internet. One day while my wife was shopping at Penney's.....I strolled the concourse of the shopping center and stopped out of curiosity at one of these Christian Bookstores. I had my rosary in my pocket.....which had broken.....I asked the lady at the counter if they sold rosaries on which she politely said no. I then browsed around and walked out with Josh McDowell's classic Evidence That Demands a Verdict. An explosion of intense curiosity was set off within my mind. I still purchase and give away that book today!
          I wanted something so badly of which I knew not what it was that I planned to attend a Catholic charismatic service on Tuesdays at a local Catholic church. Twice I drove to the church....arriving purposely a little late....and stood outside the doors with my ear to the crack.....listening to the music and the voices but not going in. Out of frustration I called the 700 Club to ask if they knew of a church near me where I could hear this of which I wasn't even sure what it was. They recommended an Assemblies of God about a mile from our home. We were members there for about ten years....and I will always thank God for that church and the wonderful Christians we met there.
           I was inquisitive about the veracity of the Christian faith from day one.....studying particularly apologetics....and researching what are known as Christian cults in order to defend the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. In 1987 on a short term mission down in Paraguay....while walking through  a small town one evening.....I saw a Baptist church offset a few yards off the main sidewalk of the town. It was hot....over 100 degrees....and the door of the church was open....I saw about a dozen worshipers sitting in a circle praying......no music.....no laughter or gaiety.....just a soberness in what they were doing. I knew immediately that I wanted that. When I returned home I looked for a small Baptist church and found one....about twelve members....no piano player....and no kids....(our son was about eight years old)....and the pastor was leaving! Somehow we stayed. A new pastor was called who would become a friend for life. Here was a man who owned a successful sign business in North Carolina.....who being 'born again' in his mid 50s.....decided to go to school to become a Southern Baptist pastor. A few years later I attended a Soli Deo Gloria conference (Reformed literature-Puritans in particular) that I heard of on Christian radio....and met there a man who would become our pastor for about the next twelve years....and also became a friend for life. He spoke with a little bit of a stutter.....and in a monotone....and whose sermons would be considered to be dull today in this church culture that demands practical sermons that are uplifting....but the words coming from his mouth....oh the words....about the glories of Christ....they were words from out of the past in the church. If you are upset at who I have become....blame him.
             Eventually although working full time.....my wife and I opened a Christian bookstore.....and an odd Christian bookstore it was....very odd.....actually one-third of the books were everyday secular books....but carefully chosen....one-third were children's books.....and one-third were Christian books....but all from a 'reformed' or 'Reformation' perspective. We had customers from all around Pittsburgh thanks to radio commercials that we made where I spoke about the bookstore as the sound was heard in the background of a hammer pounding a nail......this referencing Martin Luther hammering his 95 theses on the castle church door at Wittenberg.....but locally we did not do as well.....and although having this store was a great blessing.....we closed after two years.
           So here I am today.....so thankful that God would take the least of the least.....and the most unlovable of all.....and bless him with a salvation almost indescribable in its wonder.....and a son who is raising a wonderful Christian family. I'm still me....same personality....(hey there's still time....Lord willing)....69 years young and looking to that day when either Christ returns with His powerful angels in kingly glory....or when I am resurrected.....probably the last in line of multitudes to enter the Celestial City.....but thankful in that God will take glory in having mercy on someone such as I.
           There you have it. I'll keep this up for a few hours.....a day or so.....and then try to hide it somewhere in past posts.....only keeping it there....as I do with a post titled 'Thankful For Weaknesses'....that I simply have to bring back from time to time to tell someone....anyone....of how Jesus Christ offers them an eternal salvation if they would but take themselves off of that pedestal long enough to read God's Word to see who should be up there.

DISPATCHES

President Trump's remarks about looking at foreign 'dirt' and then thinking about telling the FBI was pure 'Trump'.....inanely stupid....and problematic in a number of ways. His continuous tweets are ripping this divide in America into another grand canyon. He really put a hurt on all the Republicans who choose to continue to unconditionally back him....and he definitely improved the chances of his being impeached. I tuned in to some radio talk and it is sad because no matter what Donald Trump would ever say.....they receive it as if they are employees whose primary job is to alter it and defend it at all costs. I doubt if they even for a moment actually considered that there might be a problem here.

It's another day of absurd tweets from the President of the United States. This for example...."The Trump Economy is setting records and has a long way to go....However, if anyone but me takes over in 2020 (I know the competition very well), there will be a Market  Crash the likes of which has not been seen before!.... Any conservative Republican after Obama would have seen an economy similar to this. This is a man who when early on in his administration his economic advisers showed him a graph on how the national debt will implode just about the time he leaves office in 2024.....he said...."Yeah, but I won't be here." This threat was part psychological electioneering and part CYA in case the market collapses as he is being investigated. (Note: it is going to collapse....we just don't know the initial catalyst....for there are a number of lurking predators vying for that ignominious claim) His 'anyone but me' and "Trump economy" comments are just the latest sign of narcissistic personality disorder. And there was this...." 'President Trump to launch 2020 Campaign in Florida. Tuesday will be a Big Crowd and Big Day."......and rivers of tears will be shed by those who know how far we have fallen.

 If you follow the problem with North Korea as one that may effect not only your own country but your own family then Anna Fifield's newly released The Great Successor...The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Comrade Kim Jong Un needs to be read by you. I won't tell you who Fifield works for because then you would yell....FAKE NEWS...and not read the book.....but I will say that she has extensive experience in covering China, Japan and the Koreas......including a dozen trips to North Korea.We finally get to see Kim Jong Un as he was educated in Europe. The author even talked to fellow students about him. We get a lot of detail on Kim murdering family members when previously we only heard a report of this or that murder. We understand much better now the Kim dynasty and how each father treated his son.....all the sons......and brothers and sisters.....and daughters that we know of....and aunts and uncles. The book follows Kim Jong Un right up until the failed summit with President Trump in Vietnam. So what do we now know. Who is this Kim Jong Un? Is he crazy. Is a war coming? It's not only Kim Jong Un and his fascination with pro basketball....it's other important family members and their equally odd fascination with Eric Clapton and guitars.....or Korean women's rock groups in short skirts. It's Disneyland....Kim style....it's high-end retail clothes in Pyongyang. Is the murderous tyrant going to give all this up......for it surely would all be gone in a war.....the palaces....all of it.....including his paradise getaway on the beach. No more fine dining.....or Hollywood movies.....if he were even to live through a war.....which he probably would not unless he escaped to China or Russia. There are no answers offered in the book....only information....a lot of information.....on what we are dealing with.

On Iran.....there was a bad movie.....heard about it but never saw it.....back in 1970 titled Suppose They Gave A War and Nobody Came. One significant problem today is.....suppose they gave a war and everybody came? Neither preparations for war with or around North Korea or in the Middle East can be done without the possibility of one following on the heels of the other....which if this did happen could very well....at the very least....lead to the need to reinstate the draft.

June 18 update: The New York Times ran an article today on Michael Savage titled....Conservative Radio Host Has Doubts About Trump. His Audience Doesn't Want To Hear It" I immediately went to the article for that's exactly what we need....a major radio host.....a major name anyway.....who actually is honest and critiques the President! Here's a Savage quote from the article...."Too many people (think) he's not a human being, he's a demigod." The jest of the article is that Savage's willingness to even say something negative about President Trump will alienate his audience. Well that may happen but on the other side.....today was the first day in quite a while that I went to Savage's web site.....and I actually listened to his podcast for the first time. And I went to his Twitter site for the first time also. His last tweet as of my writing this right now is...."Why did the New York TImes smear me?" So we'll see what that's all about. The Times quoted Ann Coulter in...."A lot of wingers are desperately hanging on to Trump as flotsam in a tsunami.....so loads of Trumpsters are beside themselves-but almost none of them will say so publicly."

       
       
   
   
         

Handle With Care

It is irony in a way....obscured....meaningless......essentially useless to some....but as clear as the heavens are deep to others......copies of those books that seems to be at one time everywhere when you don't want to be reminded of it.....and yet lost when it sits directly in front of you.....a book....but not one book....one long story....non-fiction....1189 chapters.....more valuable than all the gold in the world whether minted or molded or as yet undiscovered. God directly and perfectly inspired every word and every punctuation.....and then directed its separation into smaller books and chapters and verses. It sits somewhere near you right now.....with more latent power than an exploding star.....able to grab hold of and tear by force a soul out of the clutches of Satan....and yet capable to sit and decompose and bore. You can hate it....and abuse it....burn it.....or change its features and its name.....and then give your own book report that bears absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to what the author wrote....but then it still humbles and saves eternally the soul of the next person that picks it up to read. It can enliven and transform and bring insurmountable joy in the first month of the twelfth year or the twelfth month of the one-hundredth and first year. I wrote the following post almost nine years ago.....and I'm sure I wrote something similar somewhere else nine years before that....and again nine years before that....and yet again almost nine years before that. That's my feeble way of describing something that is as alive in one's youth as in one's sightless or deaf or bed-ridden days of old age.

Handle with care.......October of 2010

         Please consider this, that when you pick up a Bible to read, you hold in your hands words that are inspired by God. They are His words...to you! Without the movement of God's Spirit on us, they will be just words, but under the power of His Spirit their meaning not only begins to become clear but they reverberate every atom of our being and every neuron involved in our thinking.
         Consider these words from Hebrews 4:12 For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. If one wishes to remain in rebellion to God one would do well to not pick up His Word, for should God will it, it will make very clear the folly and repercussions of holding on to our own autonomy.
         On the other hand, if one (in sincerity and humility) desires to see just what is in this perceived time capsule...... it will be an illumination that is easy on the eyes, a taste sweet to the pallet, a feel exhilarating to the touch, a voice soothing to the ears and a pure aroma of cleanliness. It is powerful and will remain powerful even unto old age. It is provision for all that we will need on this journey. It is nourishment. It is radiation to kill cancer cells (of the soul) and minerals to build bones. It is mental exercise, rejoicing, and fulfillment. It is knowledge and understanding, intellect and emotion, humility and edification. It is oxygen itself to the Christian life but it is kryptonite to Nietzsche's uberman. It will not only cause you to love but define love itself. Its unity will bring division. Discerning this division will bring unity to the mind. So, the next time that you pick up a Bible... please know... that if you are not careful... an ax may be laid at the root of your paradigm of life"

To Send Missionaries.....Or Not?

            The scene is a very modest meeting room with a long twelve or maybe fifteen foot wooden table....with simple and plain wooden chairs all around it. There's nothing else in the room....no coffee maker or wall hangings or anything. It was hot and there was no air conditioning in the room. The men sitting straight in those chairs seemed to be choosing their words carefully.....should they send missionaries out to this specific country or not?
             They parsed over the 'pros' and 'cons' of sending missionaries. As for the 'pros'....'they speak the same language......and it's a very big country that surely does need to hear the gospel.' Then as for the 'cons'....'this country has never really had missionaries sent to it.....not for a few hundred years anyway. How would the people react to a missionary coming in and telling them that they wanted to teach them about the gospel of Jesus Christ......and then teaching them how to proclaim this gospel from pulpits'.
            This was to be the last of a number of meetings on this......the final decision had to be made this night. The men took turns praying in the sweltering heat. They determined an odd way to cast their final vote. Flowers were in a basket on one end of the table.....bright yellow flowers.....and rich red flowers.....all with long stems. The basket was passed around the table. If a man's decision was to send missionaries to this country he would take a yellow flower and place it in a wooden jar at the center of the table. If he thought that the Lord was not directing them to do this then would take a red flower and put it in the container.
           The basket was passed around and returned to the man moderating the meeting. Bright white teeth on gleaming smiles shown on all the faces as the wooden vase in the center of the table was now holding a beautiful bouquet of yellow flowers. They would send their missionaries to the United States of America....to evangelize....yes....to preach the gospel but also to teach others by example how to preach the majesty of Jesus Christ....and the cross that paid for our sins....and the empty tomb that secured our mercies....and also by example....how one not only assents to the return of our Lord and Savior.....but desires that over His tarrying further.

I often add an addendum to a post such as this. There are wonderful missionary organizations here in America that do extraordinary work throughout the world....but on the whole we have let our own nation crumble....with our own congregations malnourished....and it is past time to turn some of our attention to our own condition. The above post is not without evidence as I have on a number of occasions over a few decades either talked to or read about missionaries who made similar comments....with one pastor in an African country....after seeing disastrous results from our exporting our faddish theologies over to them....actually expressing the exact thoughts in the above post.

Yet We Will Not Return

The following post is from November of 2017:
     
       The hatred of God is out in the open....unbridled.....and nearly out of control. There are no principles in sight anywhere. Love has grown cold. Conservative talk radio.....the bulwark of the conservative movement....too much of it anyway....has given up the fight for truth and transparency.....for now. For a new entity has arisen......a ram of sorts that charges east and west. What exactly it is no one really knows.
        Conservatives have had their moorings cut. We now tweet our prayers. We wanted something noble....but will settle for something practical. As the months bleed on.....as the earth groans.....as the cosmos becomes a threat......and as man challenges God more and more.....we look to this new entity. He only has to roar and we cheer. He simply struts by and we applaud. We demand no pedigree. We follow him not knowing where he leads us. He doesn't go to church.....we don't care. He surrounds himself with faces unfamiliar to us....he must have a reason. He destroyed the wicked witch.....and therefore he is our champion.
        God watches all of this. His angels.....their countenance firm and confident.....wait for His command.......the mountains for when to quake.....the valleys to become mountains.....the four winds to come forth with fury.....the seas to boil and churn......and the stars to fall.
        We will not entice Him to change His decrees.  He will not meet us halfway as we request. He has found us wanting and been patient as we ignore His warnings. He does not take pleasure in our mantra.... 'God Bless America.' He is not impressed by our plans. He will not share His glory.

        He watches our eyes.....for them to turn.....from politics.....from ourselves.....to Him....but we will not turn to Him.  He knows His children.....he hears their cries....."Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." He will come with His reward.....for He has promised.....and there is nothing as sure.....nothing as trustworthy.....nothing as awe-inspiring.....no hope as great.....no joy as pure.....no love as real.....no discipleship as difficult.....no rewards as great.....and no Helper as strong.