Preface: Last night....July 3, 2021....I came across a lecture by a Georgia pastor by the name of Ray Rhodes. I was searching for something on Susannah Spurgeon....and Ray Rhodes wrote a book on her life.....titled Susie: The Life And Legacy of Susannah Spurgeon, Wife of Charles H. Spurgeon. I plan on ordering his book....Lord willing. While doing some touch up painting around the house this morning I picked another conference lecture by Ray Rhodes to listen to....this one on the topic of 'Revival.' In that lecture he made some comments on listening to conservative talk radio....comments that were practically identical to the thoughts I've given here in these posts.....so here they are....he began by saying...."If we are going to meditate on the Word of God day and night then some things are going to have to go in our lives"....how true is that! He went on...."There was a time in my life when I loved watching cable news......and the fiercer they started screaming at each other the more I liked it....and I'm as conservative as you can get....but I'm increasingly convinced that if you have a steady diet of CNN or Fox news....just to use the two because they are opponents....your mind will be poisoned...your outlook will be skewed....and your spirituality will greatly diminished.....I know people who wake up in them morning.....conservative as can be....and turn on turn on Fox....and they listen throughout the day....and are constantly taking in that spin....it's poison." If you would like to listen to this lecture....Googling....'Ray Rhodes....Revival'....should get you there. He concluded his thoughts with this...."I'm a conservative....[but}that cannot be our steady diet if we are to walk with Christ...."
Note....July 6....Barnes And Noble did have the Ray Rhodes book Susie.....I'm half-way into it.....and it is wonderful.
"That By Testing You May Discern...."....June 30, 2021
Listening to most of conservative talk radio.....or more accurately formerly conservative talk radio....for it is Trump talk radio today....anyway listening to it on SiriusXm has a distinct advantage to it for you can go forward or back in the broadcast and only listen to the segments that you want to listen to....so with Breitbart morning radio I pass over their regular experts and listen only to the callers.
There was a lady caller this morning that came close to seeing part of the problem that we face today. By the tone of her voice and some of the phrases she used it appeared that she was an evangelical. The opinion that she expressly called in to express....was that the United States recent bombing of some Iranian targets in Syria.....could possibly be only a diversion.....so that our focus was taken off of other issues more important to the Biden administration.
This 'wag the dog' foreign policy to influence political policy is used often enough....so she was not necessarily off target....but she missed the essence of her own profound intuition. Our focus....that of evangelicals and Christians....has been taken off of Jesus Christ....and placed right smack on our own desires and pride. How else could Christians have missed a genuine biblical false prophet in Donald Trump....an antichrist as John labels them in his epistles?
For the umpteenth time in these posts......Donald Trump is a destroyer.....he destroys everything that he touches....everyone knows this....everyone except those whose discernment he has destroyed. It would be a long....long list....the people that he either purposely destroyed.....or who crashed in flames because they decided to follow him.....or even just work for him.
The caller said another thing of interest....she gets up in the morning and boots up her Breitbart app.....to read all the stories of the day that she needs to know. This is a big mistake on her part....for she does not get everything that she needs to know from 'conservative' sources alone....as she get at most half of the news that can inform us....the rest of it being so exaggerated and distorted and censored....that it does much more harm than good. This same problem exists even to a greater extent from those who watch or read CNN type sources alone.
We are not only two distinctly different peoples in America today....with two very differing political opinions....we are two peoples who are in bondage to only one type of news source.....thus effectively negating any wisdom that can be brought to the debate. Add Trump and his fake everything to the equation....and it is only much worse.
So once again I want to warn readers to these posts....flee these Tucker Carlson type of news sources....at least flee them as gurus. If I were only to have read Fox News over the years.....well I would probably be a regular at Trump rallies.....and if I were only to have read CNN....well....I don't even want to think about that.
Vary your news sources....read some of the books that Trump and talk radio tells you are fake news. Give Drudge a once over a couple of times a day....but most importantly....boot up God's Word every morning.....and put everything upon His grid.....and pray about everything....employing self-examination....and value humility over perceived accomplishments....and vigilance over the slothfulness of going to one news source for all your information.
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, and what is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2 ESV
UPDATE....July 2: Former executive vice president Louise Sunshine said this in response to yesterday's indictments...."Donald will always survive....even if everyone else around him drops dead." Another former exec said about Weisselberg...."He stayed too close to the fire and he got burned....and that's true of a lot of people." Sunshine....who like me voted for Trump in 2016 but not in 2020....added this...."He survives everything....He's a super-human....I don't find it impressive....I find it a reality."
