This Man Did Not Do...."A Lot Of Good Things"

Preface to a July 7 post: To sit on the perimeter....as I am....and have watched the rise of Donald Trump....is to witness first hand an historic event right up there with every other demagogue that has...'risen'....to incredible heights of power....only to destroy the nation that fell under his (her) powers. If one is not at least on the perimeter....but inside the maelstrom....one cannot see the power that one has come under. We were ripe for such a tyrant in 2016. Hillary was about to replace Barack Obama....but little did we know that God's judgments were just beginning....and a different judgment would follow Obama! We wanted the roar of a lion....and Ted Cruz and the others did not roar....as they kind of purred. We didn't like this vile man Trump one bit....this man who did roar....and continues to roar as he devours....but we really knew nothing about him.....so after the Republican Convention was over....the task at hand was to defeat Hillary Clinton. We all celebrated....I celebrated...and we began to party....taking off our armor....and putting on princely garments as we headed off to the feast. It is probably because of my background in researching cults that claimed to be Christian that I saw very early on that something was terribly wrong. I turned my attention on finding out who this Donald Trump really was.....researching every single aspect of his life.....every decades of his life....and walking the cemeteries with tombstones of those who perished in his wake. A false prophet had come into and been accepted by the church! We have seen the rise of Donald Trump....but the fall of Donald Trump has not occurred as of yet...and that is what concerns me.....because of the potential horror that this man can produce....for he is not a thinking despot who might retreat when the heat is on....but a vacant mind....with no beliefs.....ready to be filled....but by what? He has "his people"....as he likes to refer to them....surely it must be a dwindling number....but he threatens every republican in congress and every republican that wants to go to congress with the votes of...."his people.". Incredibly his blood lust revenge was evident in Georgia a few days ago....and when an Ohio congressman who had voted...rightly so....for impeachment....announced that he would not seek reelection.....Trump's response was...."One down....nine to go." Trump's plan is to use Joe Biden....and to claim responsibility for a successful 2022 mid-term elections....and then immediately start purging again....and probably limiting primaries again....to regain his lost power and glory....as so many tyrants of the past have done. So the following is but one of dozens of previous posts warning of Trump that I hope to bring back. May the Lord open our eyes to this man.....and have mercy upon us for following the shimmering wings of the lure that hooked us....and being paralyzed in our thinking by the tremendous roar of this lion....and may our pulpits warn us this time of this man....this false prophet.

This Man Did Not Do....."A Lot Of Good Things"

                Trump's bedside Hitler speeches are in the news again. It was Ivana....(not Ivanka)....who let it slip that Donald kept the book....which was a gift....by his bed. Trump said that if he ever owned such a book that he wouldn't have read it. Only Donald Trump could give an answer like that. (the actual quote is...."If, I had these speeches (which he later admitted that he had), and I'm not saying that I do, I would never read them.") This is back in the news because a new book reports that General John Kelly said that Trump once said that Hitler...."....did a lot of good things".

                Here's the problem....The evil German Chancellor had a very well-defined agenda....and that was to get on the good side of the German people in order to get total power over them. In such a scenario.....one where prosperity is used as leverage to promote a deeper and darker agenda....then ultimately that prosperity is not....'good'.....not without extreme qualification anyway....because in this case it was also a means for horror to rise up.
                With Donald Trump....the economy picked up....(as it would have with any of the candidates on that debate stage)....and that economic success was enough to secure a second nomination. Trump gave us a 'win' in 2016....(the others may not have)....and that was the only thing he did for us....and in hindsight with the absolute devastation of evangelicalism....and conservatism.....and the Republican Party....that's not necessarily a good thing....for we don't know if Hillary would not have been in office for four years....and we might have had a total Republican government today?
               This much is certain....the judgments on America and the world are still coming.....and intensifying. There is little wisdom left....if any....no hedges of protection....apparently no cooler heads....not in positions of power anyway...no great minds....and not enough faithful pulpits left to tell us of how we brought this all upon ourselves....and warn us of what we are still inviting in....and to turn all of our dependence upon whom it should have been all along....our coming King....the Lord Jesus Christ.

Love Has Grown Cold....Stone Cold

                 John MacArthur released a long and detailed statement on the pandemic. Once again as I sit here typing....my eyes can rise from the computer and I often see something pertaining to what I'm typing about. This time it is a book on a shelf across the room....John MacArthur's 1993....Ashamed Of The Gospel....When The Church Becomes Like The World. This book meant enough to me back then that I have the title in the 'My Favorite Books" section of my profile....and it is in this room with only about thirty other books. I've posted here a few years ago a strong recommendation on one of his more recent books....Christ's Call To Reform The Church....Timeless Demands From The Lord To His People. I have probably 100 or so cassette tapes in the basement by John MacArthur....two of his references bibles....and assorted other books of his.....including a signed copy from when he was here at a church conference in Pittsburgh....but ‘at times’ it seems today I hardly recognize this man's ministry.
               This long statement on the pandemic is right out of the archives of talk radio....with some legitimate facts....and a lot of distorted facts.....and a very specialized argument meant to weave a narrative that supports Pastor MacArthur's famous statement back when....which I saw with my own eyes.....and apparently it is no longer on his website.....where he glibly says....."There is no pandemic." John MacArthur had one of two choices.....either humbly admit that he was wrong once.....or twist it so that it appears that he wasn't really wrong. He chose the second.
              Three things stick out to me personally on MacArthur's writings and teachings....he has always been very precise on what salvation is and what it is not.....and he has no use for false prophets....and he has little use for the modern churches of today.....yet....he has here in the last few years....not only missed a false prophet in Donald Trump.....even recommending him....but he defined part of what a Christian is....this just prior to the 2020 election....as one who would support Donald Trump in the election. Quite frankly I didn't think all that much of this error of his at the time because the President of the United States had just called him up on the phone.....probably surprising him....and MacArthur just blew it....as we all do at times.
               As to the long and detailed statement on the pandemic.....just go to Pastor MacArthur's church website....Grace Community Church....and it is right there. I recommend you read it. It will reinforce the mistaken narrative in the vast majority of readers....(there's nothing short of God's intervention going to change these folk's minds anyway).....but to the few who see through the statement....it will strengthen their resolve in being vigilant today on what can happen to even the best of God's shepherds. In fact...if there are those readers out there who may be evangelicals but not born again....but who are honestly mistaken....and they go to gty.org....hoping only to buttress their arguments that Covid is no big deal....they may indeed do this....but they may also not get out without also experiencing mortification and salvation!

The church's statement begins with a short history and facts on Covid. I experienced the exact same news cycle that John MacArthur had.....yet we do not see these things the same way. Not only that but at the time I had watched people form the opinions that he has.....and could see why and how they made their mistakes....and most of it was politics.....politics and pride.

The statement then moves on with proclamations such as.....The church must stand firm on truth....but where was John MacArthur and his pastoral staff when Donald Trump for four straight year purposely obliterated the very definition of....truth?

Another subtitle was....Joy, not fear, should dominate the fellowship of believers. Fear of the pandemic is not the issue. They put words into our mouths....it is more fear of falling for delusion...."For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect"....which is exactly what happened in the past four years.

Another subtitle was on preserving the "unity of the Spirit." John MacArthur.....more than anyone out there.....and for sound biblical reasons.....and this for multiple decades....had been the most divisive author out there....because....he  simply would not compromise truths of the Bible.....but here....it is not truth over unity....but unity over truth....the very concept that he for decades fought against.

Lastly.....A company of believers is not a "church" if they do not gather. John MacArthur has also been very clear over the many years on this....it's not the building.....it is who is present in the building....but today it is not necessarily what is preached in the building....but how many people are there....and if they are there.

I have friends and acquaintances sick with Covid all around me....and many have died. There are more than ten times the deaths than in Vietnam....and now more than in 1918.....and we still cannot even show any compassion....for love has indeed gone cold....stone cold!

Judge for yourself whether this was....coincidence....or if God was warning us of something. In May of 2015....forty days before Donald Trump came down the escalator right smack dab into the middle of evangelicalism....instead of through the gate of the sheepfold....John MacArthur's radio ministry Grace To You....broadcast a message titled....Beware Of False Prophets. You can easily listen to this by Googling it.....along with YouTube....and see if you do not see Donald Trump in this message.

John MacArthur's ministry is at gty.org....and it is as wonderful as always.....most of the time....until he feels it necessary to go back to politics....and I hope for the day when he returns full time to the defense of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

"Keep On Coming!"

The following was first posted in January of 2019:            

             I'll volunteer the question.....maybe you wondered the same thing. Why do I write very aggressive political posts.....followed by pious Christian posts? A better question might be how I do this? Does it seem odd.....even hypocritical to you? Here's my answer:
             I would never have worked on these posts....almost every day for the past ten years....(thirteen years now).....if they were just politics.....not even if they were all on liberty and freedom and our Constitution. Let others do that. Yet if I wrote only on Christian topics....there would be far fewer visitors....and they would mostly be Christians. I don't know if you have noticed but I try to alternate political posts with Christian posts?
             We have today confused meekness with piety in the church....not a biblical individual piety but a Pietism that has wreaked havoc in Europe....and in America. For one thing it produces a liberal church. It takes our focus off of what Christ accomplished....and places it on how pious we appear. Luther's personality was rough. Calvin's was more tempered. The Puritans could produce a Luther personality and a Calvin personality. Folks, that's what is great about this. It's diversity in God's creation. This personality variety I suspect could even be seen within the Apostles....or between Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield.....or maybe even even R.C. Sproul and Billy Graham....and certainly between a seminary trained Reformed Theology pastor and a Bible-extending Fundamentalist pastor who as in the case of D. L. Moody after guest preaching in the Metropolitan Tabernacle....Charles Spurgeon lovingly commented that...."He was able pronounce Mesopotamia in two syllables."
             We're in this together. I'm on the edge while you may be sitting back observing. You're going to make mistakes and so am I. What we do not want to do is eliminate half of our resources because they either are on the one side too opinionated or on the other side too easy-going....too rough or too smooth.....too educated or too redneck....and yet we cannot compromise the gospel for the sake of tolerance....and we cannot fear being perceived as failures....for folks....a winnowing is coming up if the Lord's return is imminent....and we're all going to be in not only a small minority....but a despised minority. We cannot fear appearing to be on the losing side in the eyes of the world or of family or of friends or of anyone!
              Appearances today are everything. We don't want to emphasize the nearness of Christ's return too much because someone might snicker....or eventually call us out on it. We can also see this fear of losing face as it relates to Donald Trump....we evangelicals put him over the top in the primaries. We threw everything we had in that 2016 election....and won....and now we're supposed to admit that we made a mistake in those primaries?
              What we should have done upon realizing in early 2017 that Donald Trump was not who he said that he was....was pick up that sledge again....and continue to pound rail spikes like we did for the eight years of Barack Obama. We thought that the track was long enough in November 2016.....but it wasn't. We miscalculated. Pick up the sledge again friends! This track we were working on for so long may not lead to "peace and security" but in the last election it at least took us out of Petrograd 1917....and in the next....should the Lord tarry....might help us pass right by Mar-a-Lago and a Roaring Twenties repeat.
              Do my words seem too syrupy at times? Sorry...can't help that. About twenty-five years ago I showed up at a real Presbyterian church session meeting with some questions and concerns about Reformed Theology. The teaching elder listened politely....I remember him smiling. He looked at me as our time ended....and beckoned me with...."Keep on coming!" Well I did....And I see the sovereignty of God so much more in election than in free will....yet try as I always do....I still cannot adequately describe the majesty and the power and the glory of Jesus Christ. If you yourself are a little drawn by this....if the syrupy words stir something within you.....then 'Keep on coming!"

          

God Gave Pharaoh Ten Plagues....We're Probably At Number Five Or Six

                One cannot just start something up....take an interest in it....and right away become an expert. One might be able to pick up a ball or a musical instrument and in a very short time become very good at it.....but that's not what I'm talking about....for even if you sat down at a piano for the first time and very quickly began to play beautiful music....you still would know nothing about music itself. There have been a number of celebrities who tried acting for the first time....and won awards.....even Oscars....but that Oscar came also because of a terrific Oscar-worthy script and a great director....and who knows how many other influences. One just does not become a Christian and all of a sudden know everything....or even become a teacher. Charles Finney tried that....they begged him to get his Christian education before he would begin to teach....he refused....and disaster resulted....that continues to plague the church today. Even Charles Spurgeon who had no formal seminary training but quickly after conversion became a magnificent preacher of the gospel....so much so that others were amazed....even he had....unconverted at the time....sat throughout his young life at the feet of Christians and pastors in his family who did attempt to teach him....and he read the Puritans as a youngster....incessantly....out of interest....because of his own admission.....he wasn't any good with any type of ball that would otherwise occupy his time
               So all that I can do....and I'll bet you also...is read on what a virus is....and read and read some more....and do the best we can to be informed rank amateurs. So it is as that informed rank amateur that I give these thoughts.....and I'm going to put it in very simple terms.....for that is what I here understand best. The virus replicates....and scientists study it and treat it....but the more it has the opportunity to replicate....the more chance there is that that replication might mutate. That is what we have today with the four most dangerous mutations so far. The less opportunities that that virus gets to replicate....the less chances are of it to mutate. If someone would pitch a baseball to me I would surely swing and miss it.....and if they pitched to me ten times....I would miss the ball ten times....but if they pitched the ball to me one hundred times....I'm going to hit the ball at least once.
               So the scientists who are the actual experts....the people who have spent decades studying how a virus mutates....probably doing this research all their life....becoming workaholics in the process because of this passion....and this probably because they also are no good with any type of ball that would take up an exorbitant amount of their time....these scientists tell us that we need as many vaccinations as possible....and any other preventive measures that might lower the number of infections....and thus the chances for mutation....but we choose rather to listen to our podcast and radio and cable TV stars....for in believing them we get to watch and play with these many and various shaped balls....which brings out in us emotions and praises that church worship services only wish they had.
               So this problem is present also in the church....for men....and women....(hundreds...thousands actually)....without a sound education in the doctrines of the Christian faith....become very influential self-proclaimed experts....false teachers as God's Word calls them....often Gnostics hearing directly from God....and then the doctrinal mutations begin....and the church becomes sick....as it is today....lacking discernment in what has happened in politics....unable to preach....and unwilling to warn.
               God gave ten plagues to Pharaoh before Pharaoh said to the Hebrews...."Go"....and this even was only temporary. We may have more virus mutations....more virulent and dangerous mutations....before this is all over....for they are judgments....but whether they be the plague or something else....these judgments will continue....because we are giving them no attention as judgments from God.

Are We....Many Of Us....As The Church Of Ephesus

                Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus because there were problems there in the church. For one thing the church was much like us today in that God was somehow connected to financial success....(you can read of this in 1 Timothy 6-19.) Only a few decades later the Apostle John's words would include the church in Ephesus in his letters to the seven churches. They had indeed remained doctrinally true....but they had also...."left [their] first love." (Revelation 2: 1-7) That is right about where many of us in the remnant are today....and you can see it particularly in our feeble misguided response to one of God's judgments upon us....the coronavirus pandemic....where no longer grounded in love....we simply could not care less how much suffering there is....and how many people die....for we want economic success....and we want our liberty to further pursue more economic success.
                In that first letter to Timothy he mentioned that there were those who were commanding Christians to abstain from certain foods....(1 Timothy 4: 3)....just as we today are told to abstain from a vaccination.....and Paul also warned in 1 Timothy 1:4....to stay away from...."fables and endless genealogies"....as just for one example of this today we are told by one prophesy superstar that Donald Trump was Jehu....and Hillary was Jezebel. These fables and genealogies have become our daily diet....in evangelicalism and in politics.
                All Paul could do was to warn us....but I bring Paul's letter to the Ephesians up in this post for an altogether different reason....which directly relates to a recent post on how so few evangelicals today are actually born again....for in that short third chapter of Ephesians....Paul wrote about...."the mystery of Christ"....specifically in that gentiles would be "fellow heirs"....in the gospel....with the Jewish believers in Jesus Christ....but in that chapter Paul prays that we would truly know Christ....that we would understand and comprehend the glories of Christ....and folks....the only way to see the true majesty of Jesus Christ....is to have been born again. So....if Jesus Christ is academic to you....all true doctrine maybe but purely academic....with no unspeakable and sustainable joy evident....yes with a church-going profession of faith....and even weekly Bible study....but no actual longing for Christ....no total dependence on the Bible being 'studied' whereas it must be consulted with joy and hope every day of our lives....and therefore in all of this there being no evidence of having been born from above....then Paul is here praying for you.....

               "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height-to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with the fullness of God.....Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ to all generations, forever and ever. Amen" 

               John 3:3 is this...."Jesus answered him (Nicodemus)....'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God'". We've all seen the billboards with this verse on it. May God bless those who have undertaken such a great task. The word here "see" speaks also to having a knowledge of Christ....and an awareness of such a great salvation....and a discernment on issues that those born again must have to retain the truth of the gospel.

Maybe We Will Read This Book....Or Not

                  Fox News is highlighting General Milley's actions after the election as reported in Bob Woodward and Robert Costa's new book coming out a week from today....Peril. Breitbart has also been jumping on the revelations. Woodward's other books received the same free advertising but this is the first one that I remember where Trump news sources joined the chorus line....and this because the advance stories put the hot lamp on someone in government who was critical of Trump.
                  There are over a hundred legitimate books out there describing who Donald Trump really is...and what he really did....but conservatives never read those books....even Woodward's books....because they were obviously fake news....from the deep state....authored by never-Trumpers....or so we had been successfully indoctrinated into believing....but this one may indeed be read....and then maybe even Woodward's previous books in this trilogy.....Fear.....and....Rage.
                  It's easy for us to see the peril....to use that word....in Joe Biden as president. We see clearly his mental state....and we watched the disaster unfold in Afghanistan....but Trump's serious psychological disorders were evident from day one....and metastasized such over the years that people in his own administration were bringing up the 25th Amendment....and we somehow missed it....but one cannot just miss it....so we must have intentionally blocked it out of our minds....or....something else.
                  Lindsey Graham said that Trump had a magic about him. Magic might not be a bad description here....for he amassed a huge cult following as others could only watch and wonder...but Graham then said that Trump also has a dark side....an idiom used today to refer to evil within.....so 'demonic' would be a more accurate description than 'magic'....a demonic delusion being what we witnessed over the past six years....as evangelicalism followed a genuine false prophet....(Our best days are yet to come)....who came to us in sheep's clothing.
                  Donald Trump has a paralyzing hold on the Republican Party....and on evangelicalism....and he's not going to give up that hold....but if his.....'base'....as he always refers to it....finally begins to see who he really is....that grip may dissipate into thin broadcast air. Woodward's and Costa's book may serve to let some fresh air in....particularly after Fox and Breitbart's tacit imprimatur of the book....resuscitating to some degree from the anesthesia induced stupor effecting all those gathered around the Oracle....or not....for God has already determined our judgments....and mercies if they be in our future.

Electing Good Leaders Would Follow....Not Precede....National Repentance

I posted these two paragraphs below on April 2, 2015....about a week after Ted Cruz announced his candidacy for the Republican Party's nomination for president. There were some good people in that large group of candidates....but a month after Cruz announced.....Trump came down the escalator. We were not going to pick a humble man (woman) for president....who would look to the Lord Jesus Christ for strength.....because we ourselves were not humbled....and we had no intention of putting our trust in God at that time....for we had Supreme Court Justices to pick first....and taxes to lower....and a wall to build. The gospel of Jesus Christ is as a Covid test....in that if God has regenerated a soul....that soul will show positive....and savingly believe in Jesus Christ. If the nation has shown repentance....it will then choose wise leaders.....and if the church has shown repentance....it also will choose pastors who truly shepherd the sheep. God is the one who makes alive. We do not procure our salvation by believing....without God having regenerated us first....nor do we orchestrate revivals of any kind....without God having first made these dead bones live. So what do we do? We say with passion....'test me God! Test me now....that it may prove that you have had mercy upon me!'....and the nation says....'we can do nothing without you'....and the church says...."Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you. Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation." (Psalm 85:7)

            "The real import in Ted Cruz's announcement today is not in what he could do if elected as our president. The real significance in his election as president would be that a change would have had to occur in the American people....for if America were to elect someone with such an overtly Christian message as Ted Cruz gave today....(in his announcement)....it would signal that we were breaking the bondage of special interests groups....and that greed no longer dictated our vote. To elect Ted Cruz would mean that maybe we were beginning to humble ourselves before our Creator.
             Almost from day one in these posts I've given my opinion that neither politics....nor governments....nor armies can stop or even postpone God's judgement upon our nation....unless we first do exactly what Israel had done from time to time.....that being repenting and returning to Him. Ted Cruz....Jim DeMint....no one....not even our best....can rule or legislate away God's judgement. The electing of a strong and wise president would not come first....but rather first would come the repentance which would pave the way for choosing good leaders."      

We Wanted....The Liberty.....To Appear Religious

Preface: Donald Trump was raised in the church of Norman Vincent Peale.....The Power Of Positive Thinking.....and Peale once said that he considered Trump his best disciple. President Trump said these words in his 2020 State Of The Union address...."Tonight I stand before you to share the incredible results....(of the past three years)....Jobs are booming....Incomes are soaring....Poverty is plummeting....Crime is falling....Confidence is surging....and our country is thriving....America's fortunes are on the rise.....America's future is blazing bright....our pride is restored....("Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" Proverbs)....we are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago....and we are never going back....we are advancing with unbridled optimism"....and the address ended with this...."This nation is our canvas, and this country is our masterpiece. We look at tomorrow and see unlimited frontiers just waiting to be explored. Our brightest discoveries are not yet known. Our most thrilling stories are not yet told. Our grandest journeys are not yet made. The American Age, the American epic, The American adventure has only just begun. Our spirit is still young. The sun is still rising, God's grace is still shining, and my fellow Americans, the best is yet to come." These were false prophetic words of peace and security and prosperity....said primarily to his evangelical base at every rally....full of evangelicals....(even though twice at those rallies Trump used the G-D expletive)....and accepted and celebrated in churches all across this nation. Franklin Graham posted this hours after the speech...."After watching the State of the Union address tonight, my reaction is-Thank you Mr. President for reminding Americans why they voted for you in the last election." Donald Trump entered the sheepfold....not through the gate but down the escalator....and led evangelicalism astray. Is this not what a false prophet does?

              The judgments from God began in earnest with 9/11. We are only days away from the 20th anniversary....and we have long since forgotten the horror.....of skyscrapers falling....and people jumping from the flames....and planes loaded with passengers being commandeered and crashing....but the aftermath was the real judgment. The attacks should have been viewed in the same way as Pearl Harbor....and it was....for a few months....but the tide quickly turned against the American president who went to Iraq and Afghanistan to root out and destroy these enemies....for it is the common belief today that George Bush got us into endless wars....the irony being that they would not have been endless if we were still the people that we once were. This shameless debacle in Afghanistan of course is not the first time that America chose an ally....gave them promises....and eventually abandoned them. Vietnam was the same thing....and literally hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese perished as boat people just trying to get away from the persecution of that communist system....of which today our presidents visit....and smile next to their leaders. No....the beginnings of our being a divided house began long ago.
              They are still writing all the time of the causes and aftermath of the financial meltdown of 2008/2009. Speaking in terms of percentages.....our debt increased the fastest during World War II....but the numbers were low....and the coming prosperity could rectify it....but the next percentage skyrocketing came with the meltdown.....and these were now high numbers that turned into unbelievably high debt....where economists were warning with all they had to do something about it....and then came the monetary decisions during the virus....and today.....all is lost....but there was another effect of the meltdown that also was a judgment.....as John McCain could not overcome the financial crisis or the now discredited President George W. Bush....and we then had President Barack Obama.
              The next judgment in line came....emanating from our own ranks.....and this on June 15, 2015.....as Donald Trump contrived his famous ride down the escalator. Forty days earlier John MacArthur's broadcast on his Grace To You....gty.org....warned of false prophets....(you can easily Google.....MacArthur, Beware False Prophets....and listen to this broadcast)....but a little over five years later....greed and personal politics and a disintegrating discernment ravaging us....Pastor MacArthur took a phone call from President Trump....after a Lord's Day service....while keeping his church doors open....and denying that there was a pandemic....and actually told Donald Trump....false prophet...."any real....true believer....is going to be on your side in this election." In this statement John MacArthur tied the doctrine of salvation to a political election. Biblical doctrine had always been MacArthur's enduring strength.....but he was deceived into going against his own warnings.
              The coronavirus....Covid-19....arrived in another election year....where unlike John McCain....Trump was the heavy favorite....seemingly unbeatable....and republicans were as giddy as can be....but his actions.....and the bad advice from medical expert talk radio hosts et al....greatly hampered the efforts of doctors and health scientists.....who under normal circumstances we had always prayed for wisdom for them....this time.....in Trump's world....we demonized their efforts....and are paying the price for it right up to today....as we think that a mask is persecution....and a vaccine is somehow tied into the mark of the beast.....and that temporarily closing church doors.....(while streaming was readily available)....was an assault on freedom of religion....when it wasn't religious freedom to preach Christ that we wanted....but the liberty to appear religious. 

"Look Carefully Then How You Walk, Not As Unwise But As Wise, Making The Best Use Of The Time, Because The Days Are Evil."...(Eph. 5:16....ESV)

                Some men golf....some men fish.....some just have to be doing something with their hands.....most all of us have something that we do more for mental satisfaction than physical. Mine is that I need a set of weights around.....or a pulley machine of some kind....anything to stand over or in front of....and rhythmically set my breathing to whatever repetitions and however much weight I am using. That's just me....and has been since I got my Roberts 110 lb. set of weights for Christmas in 1963....of which I still have in my basement....and use them!
                We were gone for a week....a combination of vacation and a few other things....and I didn't get to pick up a dumbbell or pull on a pulley....and upon returning home I felt like my body had atrophied. It hadn't....it only felt that way....but this is only half the story....for I have not exercised in any way....whether it be here at home or at the fitness center.....in a few years now....without wireless headphones on....listening to some sermon by some great preacher of the past....or someone today who preaches like some great preacher of the past.
               On this particular trip I did not have the opportunity to listen to a single sermon....(other than streaming our church's Lord's Day sermon).....and I usually listen to at least a half dozen sermons a week....and when I returned home....I 'felt' spiritually depleted. I made a resolution on January 1 of 2020....to read God's Word every day of my life as long as I was conscious....and I have. Even after walking for nineteen miles in two days in our nation's capitol....I collapsed on the hotel bed and read God's Word.....highlighters in hand....but as the days wore on.....I missed the encouragement of Spurgeon's...and J. C. Ryle's sermons.
               Now here is why I bring this up in this post. While on this trip I did get to turn on Laura Ingraham for a few minutes......a couple of days.....and those three people on Fox in the morning....long enough to just shake my head and turn the television off....for these folks are lost today.....after giving up honest critical analysis and news over the four years of Trump....and abandoning fair and honest journalism for a politically motivated defense of this very troubled and dishonest man.
               As a typical conservative for forty years now.....and talk radio show addict for a long time....knowing how much time we evangelicals listen to or watch these shows....and how these broadcasts may have at one time been beneficial and informative to us.....they are today worse than nothing at all....a destructive force in that they occupy the same amount of our time.....but only bring out the worst in us....keeping us on edge.....fired up and ready to fight.....with anyone or anything......(masks will do)....knowing this....I pondered this morning....what the church might be like....(and therefore to a real extent the country)....if we listened to a Spurgeon as much as a Hannity....or a J. C. Ryle....even half as much....even a quarter as much....as a Tucker Carlson? 

Note: You might want to listen to this conference lecture by Steve Lawson.....particularly if you are in college....just Google....'Steve Lawson, Jonathan Edwards, The Best Use Of Your Time.