DISPATCHES

"For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 'Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem'." Isaiah 8:11-14

I caught a surreal almost interview on the Fox news website of three Canadian truckers. The host was literally jubilant....smiling ear to ear.....exclaiming of the protests...."I love it!" At the end of the interview he was God Blessing everyone and everything. It seems that this metamorphosis of the gospel seems nearer to completion....where God's grace to us is now all about capitalism and personal liberty. In fact the truckers were God Blessing him right back. I would think that a God-fearing person in Canada might be protesting their religious restrictions in that country before vaccination restrictions.

It's reported that Rand Paul wants trucker protests in America....to clog up the cities....as soon as tomorrow with the Super Bowl....utter insanity.....these people who have been tiptoeing around violence for a while now have just given the OK for any group.....on any issue....to cause any amount of trouble....and just say that it is their constitutional right....for we have now joined them in their tactics....seeing that we could not beat them.

OK....I've been out of the loop on the PGA for quite a while.....probably about 40 years....but came home today somewhere around 4:30....turned on the TV....it was golf.....a guy named Sam Ryder teed up on a par three....and I watched the ball drop in the cup for a hole-in-one....and then....the crowd went wild like in  soccer game....and water bottles littered the green....as I heard shouts of 'Let's go....( I couldn't make out the name)'....and fifteen minutes later....after the green was cleaned up....the next golfer put his shot in the middle of the green....and the crowd boo'd. I did a little research and I guess this 16th green is known for crowd loudness and wildness. They built these stands around that hole....making it look in a way like a baseball park....but in another way it reminded me of the Colosseum in Rome.

Democrats ignore Antifa violence and we hit the roof....demanding justice....but then we do the same thing in ignoring the insurrection violence of January 6, 2021....only worse....we justify it....and then purge the ones who want justice here.

I was very critical of rinos such as Mitch McConnell after the 2008/09 economic meltdown bailouts....but since then the bar has lowered so far that all those rinos would be a welcome sight right now. 

I don't know how the average republican voter....particularly the evangelical republican voter....can just sit back and watch what Trump is doing....and not be outraged enough to at least be vocal about it. Hillary Clinton's treatment of Bernie Sanders was kid's stuff to what is going on. If this man ever takes power again....it would be sheer disaster everywhere. Evangelicals have no idea that Trump could very easily turn on them.....for he has absolutely no sincere beliefs in anything other than his own glory.

Franklin Graham is still distanced from his father's wisdom in being careful of mixing the gospel and politics as he was quoted today in this...."Pray for our neighbors to the north. Freedom is precious. The issue isn't primarily masks or vaccines-the issue is FREEDOM, the freedom to make our own choices. These truckers are a modern-day version of Paul Revere, riding against oppression." I've related this often in these posts....it was August of 2017 at a Trump rally in Phoenix....Franklin came to the mic and gave a wonderful prayer.....calling America.....all of us....to repentance. The mostly evangelical crowd was silent.....Mike Pence followed him and immediately the shouts of USA USA USA filled the auditorium. I wondered if Graham knew what just went on....this public prayer stuff is just a talisman to us today....a dog bone to throw at God....so that we can get to what we are really passionate about.....but God tells us a number of times that He is sick of our obnoxious little God ditties and God bless Americas'.....take them away....”rend your hearts and not your garments.”  Back to Franklin's words today.....freedom is precious? Christ is precious! The freedom to make our own choices? Is this the new gospel....'our body....our choice'....as we are hearing it more and more? Paul Revere....oppression? How about false prophets.....and delusion? I posted this thought ten years ago...."God's hand is being lifted and the exhilaration of choosing our own destiny emboldens us to stare into the eyes of Caesar and say not, "Give me liberty or give me death" but "Give me liberty to choose my own death." That is what we are doing today....all in the name of God.

The one author postulated on the benefits of a global society in his book The World Is Flat.....the other author focused on the dangers of the global society in his book The World Is Curved. If I had a book the title might be The World Is Split.....on just about everything....and that concept has extreme biblical consequences...."If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand" (Mk 3:24)  It has been fairly well established here in America....not only that we have opinions that are polar opposites....but if we don't want to do something required of us....if at all possible....we're not going to do it....or we're going to cause a lot of trouble in the process. We're not going to wear a mask. We're not going to be vaccinated. Tens of thousands bare minimum of additional deaths resulted....and then mandates which need not have happened....that just gave the one half another excuse for not getting vaccinated.  So today....where we just do what we want....why would we show up for a draft? Think about what the consequences would be with a citizenry that says....'we're not doin' it"....when the government tells them that they need an army....and quickly....to defend ourselves.

'I trust the Lord will protect me from Covid...so great is my faith...but not from a vaccine...it's not that great.'

After Trump lost the election I had thought and so very much hoped that I might never have to post on him again....but I had a very bad feeling....so kept on warning about him in these posts. I had a few conversations with friends on this....(I still have three or four friends)....and in one of those conversations....after the horror of January 6....I mentioned that if Trump is resurrected from this that Christians should at least consider....put in the back of our minds anyway....the possibility that Donald Trump might turn out to be the person that becomes the Antichrist. I say this in part because Donald Trump....much more than any person I have even read about in public life....is completely devoid of anything of any substance in himself....in other words a vacuum ready to be filled. In any case he is definitely....an antichrist...."so now many antichrists have come." 1 John 2:18) If for no other reason than this....the Franklin Graham's of the church should apply severe introspection on the implications of the fact that their efforts helped establish this man....(whom they should by now at least recognize as a false prophet.)  That Trump still has control of this party....(Lindsey Graham said over the weekend that if Trump wants the nomination it is his)....is nothing short of a marvel and a wonder....for in fifty years of watching and partaking in politics here in America....(although I have read about such things in history....and I have even researched how major religious cults evolve and take hold....and how political demigods had bewitched a section of the American populace)....I could never even imagine so many people....and so many evangelicals....not only taken captive....but held hostage....and then taking the side of the one who scammed them....and still does abuse them. As for my friend in the above mentioned conversation....he said at the time that if Trump is resurrected from this....he will have to consider my thoughts.

I recently attended a speaking event at a Christian college in an auditorium filled with 700 attendees elbow to elbow. I was the only one in the entire audience with a mask on. I understand the good news on the recent statistics....and I will happily walk the streets and even enter buildings without a mask....but when grocery shopping.....slowly up and down the aisles.....I think that a mask is common sense....but in an auditorium of hundreds....elbow to elbow for hours....I would have expected that there would at least be some....even many....other than myself....who could slip a mask on while there.

While at the above mentioned college I collected all the student newspapers that I could find. I've done this for decades....in fact I was a big reader of the Pitt News while there in the early-to-mid 70s. I like to keep in touch with what is going on on college campuses....particularly their editorials and letters-to-the-editors....to see how their minds are working. So I did that yesterday....and have an example of something encouraging. This college newspaper puts a short interview in each edition with a professor.....asking simple personal questions such as what music they might listen to in the car. Well for this one professor there was this question....What's something you've been pondering lately? Her answer was profound....and I'm sure that she was  trying to get a message across. Here it is..."I'm currently pondering the importance of reading about complex issues from both sides-not just the one we agree with."