Reflections On A Vacation

                 Let me start off with this. A video appeared on the Internet of the cabin of a passenger jet in flight. A man was standing in the aisle.....strumming a guitar.....a Christian worship song.....and quite a few other passengers were raising their hands or singing along.....but the couple closest looked like they did not want to be there. Specifics on this flight are not known.....but we do know that Ilhan Omar publicly pondered what would happen if Muslims started singing songs on a flight? This is evangelicalism today....no discernment or wisdom.....and also little knowledge of their own Christian faith. The world is literally coming apart....pastors should be weeping in their pulpits at what is going on….at least serious as a dead rat….but the answer in this situation....was smiles and charismatic worship songs...."let's go Branden!"
                I won't mention the beach city....but we are there about once every four years.....staying at the same place. It had always been my favorite....a long great room overlooking the ocean....with plenty of tables to set up my computer or to read....and get this....there was a church service on the one end of that great room every Lord's Day....where guests could attend if they wished....and everyone else was oblivious to it. This was our first visit in four years....and for the first time.....there was no Christian Lord's Day service for vacationers. Maybe it was Covid. The owner of the establishment was Christian and had his testimony in a plaque by the check-in. That owner is gone....I was told they are not even allowed to say prayers.....and they are putting a bar at one end of the great room.
                Here is my point in this post. There are multiple televisions in the great room.....and they have always been tuned into Fox....and still are.....but it is not the same. As I have stated many times in these posts....we do not have cable news in our home. The only way I would get to watch Hannity would be on vacation. Fox cable and formerly conservative talk radio have changed for the worse. I sat there for a while watching Fox & Friends....and felt very bad for conservatives and evangelicals who....like sheep.....they might as well be bleating.....get all their news from these now nothing but propaganda sites.
               I spent eight years in these posts being extremely critical of the Obama administration. It was bad news for us....and Joe Biden is even worse. Any and all of us know what is happening on the border and in the classroom and in the economy....and CNN and NBC and the rest are....and have been for decades....even worse propaganda sites....but that does not give 'our' media the right to brainwash us....giving us only what they want us to hear....keeping everything critical concerning us away from us.....in order to keep us easy to lead sheep....that do not challenge anything we give them....the absolute worst of which is the horror of the man Donald Trump.....who we should have given the heave-ho many years ago.
              Redeemed Christians are a tiny minority in America. Evangelicals who either are not sure that there is a hell....or think that MAGA is heaven....dominate the supposed conservative majority. Half of America....or very near to it....wants nothing to do with religion. We can stop a lot of the insanity through the legislative process....but turning God's Word into a campaign prop....will increase....not decrease....Gods's judgment upon our nation. We are right now like Hophni and Phinehas....against the Philistines....but corrupt enough in our greed and pride to need to repent....losing....and then dragging the Ark of the Covenant to the battle to insure the victory....only to see God's glory depart....Ichabod!

              

He Got It Right....But The Statement Was Grossly Incomplete

                It's an interview on Fox and I did not listen to it....for the title caption said it all....."We Tried To Build Back Better At Home And Nobody Wanted It...." I'm familiar with Victor Davis Hanson.....most  conservatives are for he is often on 'formerly' conservative talk radio. I read his 2019 book....The Case For Trump.....along with over ninety other books on every part and aspect of Donald Trump's life.
                My response to the claim that 'we' tried to build back better at home.....is that that is true. We....'conservatives'....have been trying to do that for decades....and we were about at our peak as it pertains to determination in and around 2015.....and then along came the destroyer......Donald Trump.....who is at all times either trying to destroy anyone and everyone who does not let him do what he wants....or so many who were either sycophants or just tried to work in his administration were destroyed simply by flying too close to his flame.
                John MacArthur was the foremost representative of biblical Christianity in America. If he was to be challenged by anyone on that it would be Franklin Graham. Billy Graham left that title open upon his death in February of 2018. MacArthur has always been a no-nonsense bible teacher. I go way back with his books and teachings.....and still have dozens of his cassette tapes somewhere. I had the opportunity to meet him once at a conference.....and had him autograph his latest book. I still recommend his ministry.....Grace To You....gty.org.
               It was during the 2020 campaign. From what I understand MacArthur got a phone call from Trump. Maybe it took him by surprise....maybe not. Then apparently without thinking....this the greatest defender of the gospel against false gospels in America.....made a still to this day unbelievable statement.....this as he described it...."So I said, (to the President) any real, true believer is going to be on your side in this election...." There were probably millions of...."real, true believer[s]".....who could not possibly cast a vote for the man who they saw in action for four years....and appeared to be....'an'....'antichrist'....as John described those in the world who subvert the gospel. The man whose ministry is defined on what salvation is....in effect said that you have to be a Trump supporter to be a Christian! Pastor MacArthur made another statement that was beyond comprehension when he looked over his congregation and said...."There is no pandemic." May no person ever read another word that an insignificant blogger like me puts out....before John MacArthur's ministry would decline....but he made some big mistakes here.....and they were related to the destroyer....Donald Trump. If you are interested....John MacArthur's Grace To You program broadcast a teaching forty days before Trump came down that escalator in 2015....and you can easily Google it.....John MacArthur....Beware Of False Prophets.....for MacArthur was warning about someone just like Trump!
               Franklin Graham is a much more obvious case on what Donald Trump can do to Christian ministers. First of all.....most Christians are aware that Billy Graham regretted getting too involved with politics earlier on in his ministry. If anyone in the whole world should know this it would be Billy Graham's son Franklin....but Franklin has consistently made the same mistakes.....only much much worse.....in spite of the warnings of his own father....and probably people in his own ministry. I wrote in 2017.....it was at a Trump rally in Phoenix....and the crowd was rockin' on to the Village People and others.....and Franklin came out to give a prayer. The crowd.....probably mostly evangelicals.....went quiet. The prayer was wonderful.....asking God's forgiveness for what we as a people have become. He said 'amen' and walked off the stage to quiet. Mike Pence followed him and almost immediately the crowd was shouting "USA USA USA" again. It was so obvious.....in that we would give lip service in a prayer.....but what we really really wanted was to exalt ourselves and our way of life. Donald Trump is the bible's poster boy on what type of people that we should have nothing to do with at all....and yet Franklin Graham was one of his biggest supporters. Franklin is in the news again today....in the Ukraine....in a ministry that does wonderful things....and he is saying that we need to turn back to God....that in Him is our only hope.....those type of true statements....but he has made these kind of statements for five years of Trump now.....with a total lack of discernment on the biggest impediment that we Christians have in trusting only in Christ!
                So back to Victor Davis Hanson....yes we tried....and he tried more than most of us....but far too many Christians did not recognize the false prophet.....the wolf in sheep's clothing.....and the roaring lion.....that came in....devouring and to devour.

A Hypothetical Question

                This is just a hypothetical question....a 'what if' question. Admittedly you would have to accept a premise that is probably very foreign to you in order to attempt an answer. Here goes....
                What if through some unforeseen developments....all perfectly acceptable from a biblical standpoint....even to the most careful of defenders of biblical hermeneutics....what if it became more than apparent....even probable....that the world had already entered the seven year tribulation period? I don't think that anyone can give a quick answer to this. I wouldn't even expect definite answers from anyone....but if such was indeed the case....surely it would have to in some way alter how we live our daily lives!
                 I put out a post a little while back that I titled....Is The Pandemic The White Horse Of Revelation Six? I am seventy two years old....and this pandemic is the single most disastrous event in my lifetime.....not only because of the millions of deaths.....but the horrendous ripping apart of nations over the response.....and also because if we would not come together on a pandemic....will we not come together even if America needs us? Is our division that great? But that is not why I'm putting forth this 'what if' question.
                 I have in these posts....at least a dozen times over the years....given an anecdote from Martin Luther's life. He was once asked this question...."Father Martin. If you knew for sure that Jesus was returning tomorrow. What would you do?" Luther responded...."I would plant a tree."  We planted a dogwood in our front yard about five years ago....and it has never done well. I baby it every year....and it's starting to look like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree. Coincidentally....I walked up to that tree today.....wondering if the few branches that sprout leaves.....will sprout the same amount this year....or continue to become more sparse? Without thinking of the topic of this post or Martin Luther or anything of that order....I determined that if it continues to wither.....that I'll cut it down....and plant another one. This even though I hold to the belief that surely Jesus must be already mounted with His holy angels.
                 Taking this a step further....if we should head into a world war....and a new world order would arise....with a man in charge who fits every biblical description of the Antichrist.....I don't think I'd plant that tree.....and I'm not sure that even Luther would. This part of the question is easy for me....if I thought that we might already be in the tribulation....I would do what I'm doing right now....but what is problematic is if I thought Jesus could not return for at least twenty or thirty years.....which  I hear often from others....I would not have this unction that I have today.
                 Here is the kicker in all this....given the choice of the two....hoping and believing that Jesus is near....as opposed to either not having an opinion on it either way....or not envisioning the return of Jesus for a few decades.....I would and do desperately desire the former....for the latter is void of real hope....because it is not terribly in need of hope...is not conducive to any real kind of unction to 'redeem the time....it is substantially short on joy....and it inhibits self-examination....because maybe the time is not short. 
                 I have lived both sides of the Arminian/Calvinist debate....and the latter is far greater in that a truly sovereign God comes to light. I have also lived both sides of this debate....and there is no comparison....for to not at least hope for the return of Jesus in power and glory....is to miss something of great importance....because the need to know....in this case that of the compromise the modern church has made with the world....and warnings to even examine our own salvation....is not there.
                 As it stands now....I would plant that tree....for the tree itself is not the real issue....the glory of Christ is the issue....for Christ is everything....and all of us who would attempt to answer the question I posed in this post....would also believe and attest to that. Such being the case....how therefore....could not the imminent appearing of such a Lord of Glory....not be worthy of at least seriously examination....and not be our daily hope....in this....City of Destruction....that we live in?
               

               

                 
                

Man For The Hour?

                I was stirring scrambled eggs on the stove....with a day full of errands and chores ahead....but listening to John Piper's sermon of the day....and I....it wasn't really a laugh....well maybe it was....but it was so short. This has happened so often with this preacher....that he hits it right on the head what we need as a people....that I just shake my head....and utter...."thank you Lord....for Thy provision!" I'm sure it never will....but I also hope it never will be that John Piper reads this following comment....or any like it. Billy Graham was the nation's pastor for many decades. (Spurgeon was England's pastor for four decades....Martyn-Lloyd-Jones at a later time) He....Graham....was not a theologian by any means. He himself would tell you that....and yes he was an evangelist.....but he was most of all a pastor....in that his constant presence kept us in line....as far as a rebellious people could be kept in line anyway. Graham is gone. No one has taken his place as of yet....and probably no one ever will....but then we are a remnant today....so that pastor would not have to be as well-known as Billy Graham. John Piper comes the closest. His ministry apparently has been so difficult....that the last thing he would need....would be some blogger saying that he was the nation's pastor. God obviously blesses different men at different times. Whitefield was the man for the hour. My hope and prayer is that John Piper is the man for this hour. Listen to today's sermon of the day....(this one was a conference lecture actually)....and ask God if it might be that you should pray fervently for this man's ministry to a fallen nation and weakened church. Just Google...."John Piper....Glory, Majesty, Dominion, and Authority"....and it will take you to the YouTube....or you can go to desiringgod.org....and navigate the site to find the sermon of the day.

Lured Off The High Ground

                 Keep in mind that our nominee for president in the last election would promise people at every rally....probably more than half of who were evangelicals....that he would keep ‘low-income’ people from moving into their suburbs....and the people cheered....USA USA USA....as our pulpits said nothing.
                 Robert Kennedy was the most compassionate politician I have ever encountered in my almost sixty years of following politics. We on the....'right'....sneer at his memory. 
                 How did it come to be that a man who had dedicated his entire life trying to fight deadly viruses….might as well be the devil to us…but we defended until no longer possible....a man who spent his life doing the work of the KGB?           
                  We conservatives held the high ground on ethics for decades….no one occupies it today….for we were lured off of it in the past five years. It does not appear to be purposeful or designed....but white strongholds are being formed....that should be incompatible with spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. It might be in a violent sport that fits our aggression. It might be through popular shock-podcasters. It might be in seaside retirement communities....patriots....where the uniform is Bermuda shorts and an American flag t-shirt. Go to Fox or Breitbart....pick a story that relates to the troubles in America....and read the comments. You won't like it....but this is what we are becoming.
                  John Piper is a pastor that does not follow the crowd. He consistently challenges the church to examine itself in it’s awareness of the glory and majesty of Jesus Christ. His sermon today is on racial diversity in the church….and is something like you may have never heard before. You can easily Google if you wish….’John Piper God’s Pursuit Of Racial Diversity At Infinite Cost’

               

Are We Making The Best Use Of Our Time?

               This morning....Monday March 14....'Pi Day'....3.14....as I am told....I was doing chores around the house....and as usual listening to a sermon by either a man from the past....or a man who preaches like men of the past...."redeeming the time, because the days are evil"....(Eph 5:16 KJV)....or...."making the best use of the time, because the days are evil"....as the ESV puts it. It was John Piper in this instance whose sermon I was listening to....titled....Why God Inspired Hard Texts....on Romans 3:1-8....and Piper gave an anecdote that I would like to share with you....because you have heard something very similar from me.....often.....in fact right here in this post!

               I went back later on to the recording and this is pretty much verbatim what Piper said...."I've been listening to a tape....two tapes....this week....two sermons....by Martyn Lloyd-Jones....who preached on this text....and I was listening to his sermons....two of them....forty years ago in London....it's a great thing to be able to listen to preaching that was preached forty years ago in London...." Charles Spurgeon read Pilgrim's Progress....by his own admission....100 times during his life! Gee...he never stopped seeking to learn....I wonder if that's part of the reason he was rightly known as....The Prince Of Preachers?
               I have tried on a number of occasions to encourage pastors to do just this....listen to how great preachers of the past preached....to possibly learn something from them....glean something that might stick to their souls....so that they might then be gifted by God as He gifted these men....but even more so....listen to them to be preached to by them.
               I've never even had a favorable comment on this....at most something like...."Oh yes....I've read some of Spurgeon's sermons....he was very good!" So I bring that effort here....to you....redeem the time....for the days truly are evil. How often would a painter in oils on canvas go back to the masters....just to see their color scheme....or brush stroke? How often would a musician or composer just listen to classical music....to take in once again the beauty of it? How many times would even a golfer watch an instruction video....determined to better his game....no matter how much effort it took....all of this yet we seem to take little interest interest if any in listening to sermons by men whose names had become household names....and with good reason....that being that God had blessed so many....through the ages....through their faithfulness.

Addendum: Three Lord's Days after posting the above.....we were travailing....and the pastor that we heard gave a wonderful sermon.....and in that sermon he related how after he preaches on at certain scriptural verse....he then listens to a recording of Sinclair Ferguson preaching on the same verse. That is how he personally incorporates sermons from.....men of the past....or men from today who preach like men from the past....Sinclair Ferguson being a man who preaches and teaches and writes like men from the past. I'm telling you my heart leapt when I heard him say that. 

For That Is What We Do

   

The following is from September 6th of 2020:

             A little over a week ago I had a tire blowout on my pickup truck while traveling I-95 during rush hour. I safely pulled over to the berm and changed the tire with tractor-trailers flying by at who knows what speed. After the tire was changed I called my wife over and said a prayer of thanksgiving to God for keeping us safe in the blowout and during the tire change....but I am here to tell you....that I know....that there were prayers being said for me as I changed that tire....even some drivers of those tractor-trailers....and here is how I know that.....

            I am in the habit....and many Christians all over this world are in the habit....of praying for anyone that seems to be in need....a blowout like mine on the side of a busy interstate.....or the sound of a town's fire siren.....or an ambulance passing by with its lights and siren on.....or a medevac helicopter swiftly moving overhead....or a solitary person walking along the side of a busy road....or even two people arguing with each other in a parking lot or grocery store...and often after reading a sad or troubling story in the news....for that is what we do.....we pray for each other....and we pray for others. So therefore as probably hundreds of cars passed by.....with only enough time to get a glimpse of an older man....(70 in my case)....struggling with a tire change in 90+ degree heat....I know that more than a few offered up quick prayers to our heavenly Father.....for that is what we do.

            Segueing here....I write these posts that although some Christians....and pastors....know exactly what I'm saying....and agree....more do not understand....as of yet anyway....or just do not agree....but I know once again....and thank God....that many of those are praying for me....many of whom may have real grievances with me....for that is exactly what I do for brothers and sisters in Christ who I think have made the error on these topics addressed in these posts....for that is what we do....because we love one another....and although we may not always outwardly see this bond that we have in Christ....it is there....and even the most obstinate of us....know very well....and celebrate the fact....that when our Lord returns....which we hope is soon....that any and all differences in which we might have....will be dissolved in the light of His holiness and goodness and mercy and peace....and praise be to God that He has fashioned it this way....that in spite of frailties we might have....it is He that holds our salvation in His hand....safely under the shadow of His wings....until that day when we will see even more clearly how truly faithful and lonsuffering with us He has been!

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." 1 John 4:10.11

Do You Have ROKU?

Preface: Do you receive ROKU on your television? Supposedly 60 million people do. If so....one of the new films offered this month is Risen....from 2016.....starring Joseph Fiennes. The following is my post on it from the first day of its release:

         The following is my impression of Risen, the Sony film (Columbia Pictures actually) released just today. I feel that the word 'impression' is more apt in this instance than 'review.' The film is unlike other Christian or Bible themed movies that I have seen over the past fifty-five or so years in that it doesn't seem to be directed at anyone in particular and yet it seems to be directed at everyone in some way. It's not an evangelistic film where it attempts to convert the unbeliever... and yet that unbeliever will go away with a very uneasy feeling. It's also not meant to strengthen the belief of the Christian a la the Charleston Heston films of old... and yet it cannot do anything but.
         If you haven't read previews of the Risen yet, it's the story of a Roman Tribune present at the Crucifixion and then charged by Pontius Pilate with the task of finding the missing body of the Nazarene Yeshua before Pilate is forced to deal with a major uprising amongst the Jews. That Tribune, played by Joseph Fiennes, is Everyman.... unbeliever and Christian alike, with thoughts deep within himself....moiling as he tries to present himself outwardly as focused and determined yet agitated by the unknown which he is unwilling to admit to.
       Does the film follow Scripture.....mostly. Does it depart from Scripture.....no....no more than the thoughts of all of us at one time or another. Did you ever just think and imagine in between the verses of the Bible...where.no one else was privy to those thoughts? That's what this film does, for it's a very personal movie. It's calming, as the script slowly meanders through a time that must have been utter chaos. I could have uttered as I sat there...."I've a feeling we're not in a movie theater anymore Toto.... for we are as if lying in the verdure of Galilee imagining what the disciples were like before endued with the power of the Holy Spirit.'
      Will Risen be acclaimed in any way by the film industry? I doubt it. Will it be nominated for any Academy Awards? Yeah...possibly Costume Design. So was it worth the effort of going to see it?  The word.....risen....strikes fear into many, for they know full well what it implies, but it comforts the Christian amidst the tumult all around us. Yes it was worth it.
       Go see it friends! Look through the eyes of that Tribune so that you might pray more rightly for your friends and family... knowing how they think. Weep along with the sobs of the Leper and recount your own cleansing. Rejoice in a risen Savior.....and then set out to walk the Judean foothills of this life, not knowing what may be ahead but trusting fully in the command to go.

Addendum: Chariots Of Fire is offered this month also....along with an obscure Christian film....Jeremiah....that I thought was very good.....and probably watched it three or four times so far. I've watched Risen three or four times also....and Chariots Of Fire....about twenty times. (It is my number one favorite film of all time....and had an effect on my life when it came out in 1981) I even have a log in my 1981 Jim Fixx Runner's Calendar....as an unbeliever at the time....March 7, 1981....."Saw Chariots Of Fire tonight." Also....I mentioned only a few posts ago....a wonderful docudrama on the life of Charles Spurgeon....the film titled....C. H. Spurgeon: The People's Preacher. It's offered on Roku also!

Nebulous To Some......Perspicuous to Others

Preface: I was in a conversation with our grandson who had turned five a few months ago....and I wanted to point out to him how his dad was so detailed in his penmanship....but what word to use to a five year old....I couldn't even think of a word. He must have noticed my perplexity and said...."You mean....precise?" I said.... "Yeah....yeah that's the word....thanks."

The following was first posted in December of 2015:

                Astronomers once called everything outside of our own galaxy...nebula... or nebulae in the plural tense. Today the word is properly confined only to interstellar dust and gas clouds. If a concept is cloudy and hard to decipher we might describe it as nebulous.  When Jesus Christ returns to earth with His mighty angels, I presume that the very first sightings of His army will be classified as some sort of nebulae. As He comes closer and a form of sorts begins to take shape, the classification may change to UFO. At the point when men finally recognize that it is the God King of the Christians and the Messiah of the Jews, this from what the world's greatest selling book has always proclaimed, and as every conceivable means of what would then be clearly seen as punishment wreaks havoc upon the earth, men will call on the rocks to fall on them and end their misery.
                Today it is the concept God Himself that is nebulous, even to most of Christendom, and unfortunately to much of Christianity. Although this is certainly true of God in His infinities, it is much the opposite as it relates to God's very existence and also to what should be our self-awareness as His creation, but only the Christian can see this. God created the physics that we try to disprove Him with and the logarithms that we try to replace Him with. He created the measure that we use in an attempt to prove our own autonomy. He created the mind that we refuse to think with, the sight that we refuse to see with and the hearing that we refuse to hear with.
                God is not nebulous in His holiness or His power or His glory or His majesty. His warnings, His righteous judgments, His love and His mercies are not concealed. We are groping around only because we have run from the light.

                  

Wow!

                Wow! It's kind of a plebeian exclamation....but Wow! I don't know what else to say. This past weekend I was in a long conversation with other Christians....pouring my heart out on how hard it was to see loved ones....as decades roll on....continue to ignore the warnings and wonderful answers of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The conversation depleted me. It was emotional....and today....this morning....I boot up John Piper's sermon of the day....and lo and behold....praise God in his wonderful and mysterious ways....the topic of the sermon is directed to the very pleadings that have been vexing me. I laughed a few times in joy...and almost cried. Would you like to hear that sermon? Is God moving in your heart in this same way....in severe concern for the eternal souls of your loved ones? The easiest way to hear this sermon is simply to Google....John Piper....The Son Of Man Must Be Lifted Up....Like The Serpent....or you can go directly to John Piper's ministry....desiringgod.org.....click on the menu on the upper right.....click on podcasts....click on sermon of the day....click on subscribe....(you are not subscribing to anything)....click on Apple podcasts.....and then click on Latest Episode.

Addendum: John Piper ended the wonderful sermon mentioned above by reading Charles Spurgeon's conversion testimony from his own autobiography. It was Easter Sunday 2001....and my wife and son and I attended a worship service at Spurgeon's Metropolitan Tabernacle in London on the south side of the Thames. A film was made in 2010....a docudrama I guess it would be called.....C. H. Spurgeon: The People's Preacher.  I watched it again tonight. The passage that John Piper relates in the sermon is dramatized in the film. It's a wonderful way to spend an evening....learning of the life of this.....The Prince of Preachers. Just Google it and watch. It's an 1:09 minutes.

Joppa To Tarshish........Weather Permitting

The following was first posted on November 25, 2020. Have you ever been on a cruise where certain ports were scheduled but weather concerns changed the itinerary? That happened to us once.     

       When is the last time that you read the book of Jonah? This small book can be read in a half hour....and that's with meditating on and praying about what you are reading. Well we all know the story.....so why read it again? That attitude on reading God's Word is kind of like saying.....why drink water.....I've had it before......I know what it tastes like.
        So the Bible opened to Jonah tonight.....and that's what I read.....and meditated upon again. The last thing that Jonah wants to do is go to Nineveh and tell them to repent. He thinks that sailing all the way to the other end of the Mediterranean should be far enough from God and Nineveh. I could not count on my fingers and toes the number of times that I wanted to quit. Don't we all feel like that at times....that we don't think we are doing any good anyway? 
         I guess that the Mediterranean can at times get a storm equivalent to Cat 1 hurricane. That's probably what Jonah and Paul both experienced. These men on his boat certainly weren't like the Ninevites.....as even when they found out that Jonah was responsible for the storm.....they didn't want to go so far as to throw him overboard....but after they did....and the sea calmed....and they no longer had any goods to deliver anywhere....they may have just pulled into a harbor.....possibly back at Joppa....and told their story.....and that story may have made its way quickly up to Nineveh.....maybe giving those people a few laughs.....until Jonah showed up....bleached out from the fish's belly....and smelling like Pungent....Eau De Toilette Water....real toilet water.
          There would have been no laughing this time. Maybe we'll stop laughing in America some day. God relented in his destroying Nineveh. At times I think about America during of our Civil War as Nineveh in Jonah's day. Great revivals of religion had broken out in those days.....and just previous to those days.....did you know that? Anyway in a way God relented in destroying America back then. Nineveh went another hundred and fifty years or so before Nahum showed up.....and there was no offer this time....only a warning to get ready. Well.....we kind of went about a hundred and fifty years after the Civil War.....and we had plenty of warnings....pausing a time or two but generally ignoring them. Our Jonah is gone....Billy Graham.....(there were many others)....and Nahum is speaking to us today. 
          Here are a couple of verses from that short book.....(there are 47 verses in Nahum....and 48 in Jonah)....."And I will cast abominable filth upon thee"....."Thou hast multiplied thy merchants above the stars of heaven".....and "Thy shepherds slumber".....but there is also....."The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him." (3;6, 3:16, 3:18....and 1:7)

The Case For Heaven

                It was not disappointing....but let me qualify that statement....I wasn't expecting much....and considering that the near death experiences are the focal point....the supposed evidence that the film is supposed to give....is so sparse and speculative....that I wasn't really worried about the 90 people who watched the film in the auditorium along with me....for the film did not do any more damage than all the books and news stories have already done.
                Is this really Christianity today? This film....in fact this whole....'I went to heaven and returned' nonsense....can only exist in that part of a Christianity that has no sound foundation....little understanding of redemption....no mortification....and no real dependence upon God's written word for their information. 
               I typed a few more paragraphs here.....looked it over.....and just erased it. The specifics of the film are not really necessary. If someone wants to believe this stuff.....they are going to believe it. There were probably eight teens in my theater row....and I cannot imagine how this film can affect any of them unto a real repentance and redemption.

             

Lord's Day Post

                 Lord if it by Thy will may this be the day that Thy Holy Spirit awakens our pulpits. May this day before see Thy servants....our shepherds.....toss and turn this night....trying to deal with what Thy Spirit is calling them to do. Lord take thy church back to the old paths from which Thy servant Jeremiah instructed us to go. We are besot upon Lord from every direction. We are drowning Lord in a sea of unbelief. We are confused Lord.....in chaos even....so much so that a false prophet has bewitched us....and we followed him.....and he changed us......and took our eyes off of Thee. Thy glory has departed Lord. We meet and offer praises but our attention span is determined by the plans that we had already made for the day....acceptable and honorable plans in themselves Lord....but not acceptable on the day that Thou has given us to renew our strength. Thus Lord Thy glory and thy power has departed from us. Restore us Lord. Thou has set boundaries on the sea....where it may go no further.....set boundaries Lord on the deceptions of this world....that they no longer overwhelm us. Do this Lord for thy name sake.....for Thy glory alone. Bring a new day upon us Lord.....where we are once again a peculiar people....where we once again look with great hope and expectation for Thy return. Do all this Lord to Thy glory....may every breath we take be to Thy glory....every plan we make....every thought....every act of repentance....every offering of praise! Bring others into Thy kingdom Lord....use us Lord....fill the banquet hall! May we never lose astonishment Lord on how Thou has had mercy upon us....never forget our past state....our deadness to Thy Word....our hopelessness....and thus always be in remembrance of Thy grace and mercy....and may we therefore never stop praising Thee. Even when our minds are enmeshed in difficult and complicated tasks of the day....may Thy voice be as clear as in total silence....and Thy presence as overpowering as when we first believed!

Update....Monday....April 4: How was your church service yesterday? I was traveling...and in the church service....the pastor mentioned that after he preaches on a certain scripture....he then listens to a sermon from a well-known pastor....(a man who....preaches like men from the past)....preached from the same scripture. I often in these posts have encouraged pastors to do just that....listen....regularly.....to sermons from....men of the past....or men today who preach like men of the past. The sermon yesterday was uncompromising. It was powerful....there was no doubt in the words preached that Christ was the center of everything! It was a sermon very similar to how John Piper preaches....where God's glory is everything! This is two weeks in a row where I noticed a peculiar unction....that everything is about God's glory. Everything is about Christ's glory...that we can do absolutely nothing without the Holy Spirit....and that He enables us to see that it is time that we are to see to Whom the glory belongs....and to whom it does not belong!

What's The Big Deal About This Salvation......When It's Not Even A Big Deal In Our Lives

Preface: I take the time to do the surveys fairly often....maybe you do not....but if the salesperson on the phone was helpful and asks me if I would stay on the line for a short survey.....I'll do it. You know what these surveys are like...."on a scale of one to ten....?" Well I'm going to make that scale a little bit  bigger....in fact a lot bigger. On a scale of one to one-trillion....how would you rate the greatness of your salvation? Now one-trillion in numerals is....1,000,000,000,000. So....on that scale....how would you rate your salvation? How would you rate the majesty of God? Now there's a little problem with surveys like this as I am usually pretty generous with my answers to phone surveys. Someone has to mess up pretty big before I don't give their effort a ten. So it would be a little too easy for someone to say.....'Oh yeah....I rate my salvation at one trillion!' Only you know the real answer. So....take some time to think it over....and answer that question to yourself. Here's a tougher question....'on a scale of one to one-trillion....how excited are you about your salvation?" Hmm....that's a real tough one to fudge....because to say....one-trillion....and then to go back to our life where it's obvious that we are not really that excited at all about our salvation....and about a hundred times more excited about our favorite team. Oh well....this might be a valuable little exercise. 

               It was about forty years ago....maybe a year or two less than that....after a worship service one Lord's Day in an Assemblies of God Church.....with the pastor's permission....I handed out one-hundred copies of Charles Finney's.....classic....unfortunately classic....How To Experience Revival. I obviously did not realize at the time that Finney's methods were not biblical....and much of the doctrine that he taught was outright heretical.
              About a decade later I ordered and then over the period of a couple years passed out....at shopping centers and laundromats....anywhere I could find people with some time on their hands....one-thousand copies of Charles Spurgeon's wonderful paperback classic....All Of Grace. At another time I handed out one-hundred paperback copies of the American Standard Version of God's Word.
              If you consider Pilgrim's Progress and Josh McDowell's Evidence That Demands A Verdict and study bibles and Christian books that I had read and wanted share....usually writing inside the cover....please just pass this around when you are finished....there has probably been nearing two-thousand books that I placed in the hands of another person. I guess you could add nearly one-thousand pens that I ordered over the years....(I have a new shipment of 135 coming in soon)....with the imprint of this website....that I leave with the tip at restaurants....and really anywhere that I can put a pen into someone's hand.
             Thirty years ago I tried writing a monthly newsletter....and make about 125 copies....and sent them out to people that I know. On occasion....in order to teach our son that we should care for the eternal salvation of others....we would craft a letter and send it along with a book to a celebrity. Mario Lemieux received a study bible....and Michael Landon in his last days a very good book....of which we received a nice reply from his office. I've posted this anecdote before. It was on a vacation on Hilton Head Island...I was going down to the pool and had a plan.....I would just lay out a book next to me to see if someone saw it and might give a comment....starting a conversation. I do this often. Well....a man did stop and comment....a pastor of a very large church....and he asked if he could borrow the book for his wife who was looking for a good book for her women's bible study. The book was a women's bible study....one in a series by Christian author Susan Hunt....and I was particularly impressed with it....had already read it....and brought it along for a purpose....not knowing what that purpose would be until I had the idea to take it along to the pool. The pastor later returned the book saying that his wife was going to use the series.
              Why do these things? This is just me. You do what you do....and I do what I do....but still....why? Well I'll tell you why....I had come to fully understand where I was at one time heading....at full speed....before Christ had mercy upon me. There was no way that I was going to go anywhere but into perdition. I certainly did not deserve any mercy....so why me? Why was I one of those given the most valuable gift in all of creation? Why did the King of all Kings....the Lord of all glory....the incarnate Son of God....pay such a price....for one so miserable?
             Having come to terms with this fact....then it became apparent to me that if I was indeed given this gift of grace....and understood what had happened....where I was deservedly going....and where I was now given mercy and grace....that something would be terribly wrong if I just sat there....so to speak....happy for me....and not particularly caring that anyone else be pulled from the fire....the same fire that I should have already gone on to. How could I be so saved....and not then overwhelmingly thankful? It went against common sense....for either I only tasted of that grace....never being adopted into God's family....never born again.....and not really a Christian....(that would at least make sense....'saved'...but not particularly thrilled)....or if I was indeed a Christian....and that salvation was not amazing literally every day of my new life....then using just common sense once again....what would be so wonderful about this God....or this salvation....as anyone could just go to church and get it....and not miss a beat in life?
             To the Christian reader out there....one hour a week for God....and ten hours to sports....and twenty just goofing around? What kind of God would this even be if he were to be pleased with this? What would be so special about this salvation? To the unconverted out there who has one of my pens.....and thus visited this post....you are on the right track....I don't blame you....you turn on Christian TV.....or hear some bling celebrity....or see some hundred million dollar sports idol pointing to heaven after scoring some kind of point....or watch some two-faced politician bloviate about God to get some evangelical votes....something is not making sense here. That doesn't excuse you for your unbelief....but it may give you a clearer mind if you should ever come across the genuine Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'll give you a hint of some places to explore....ligonier.org....or....whitehorseinn.org....or....desiringgod.org.

           

Two Brothers

                 I'll give the two men in this story names....Mitch and Dan....as I picked up the newspaper next to me and chose the first two names that I read. Mitch and Dan are brothers....a year apart in age. They shared a bedroom in their family home for about eighteen years....then lived in the family home through college and a few years after that. Both eventually married....and lived a few houses away from each other. Years pass....a few decades....with hundreds of family get-togethers. There are deaths and weddings and births.....job changes....and even career changes. 

                Somewhere along the line Mitch became a Christian. Dan....well Dan was Dan. The family just rolls their eyes....there's no way he is ever going to change....so they decided to just....let Dan be Dan. He was never likable....never ethical....never honest....even with the family....always trying to take advantage of someone for a buck....and he had had an imposing personality where he would always try to be the center of attention. More than a few times he was in legal trouble over dishonest business deals.....but always got out of that trouble.
                Mitch had become well-established in his megachurch....a sincere Christian....just trying to help people. Dan had accumulated some wealth over the years....and had a reputation of dishonest dealings with other people....but he decided that he wanted to enter politics anyway....so that he might influence some of the legislation that would benefit his investments. In order to pick up some of the evangelical vote....he started attending Mitch's church....claiming to have always believed....using that gift of manipulation that was his.
                Mitch was very uncomfortable with all of this. He read over ninety books on Dan's life....his early life....his mid life....books on all his business dealings....books on his life of unethical conduct.....wait a second....that's me reading on Donald Trump.....scratch that....let's start over....Mitch knew who Dan really was.....and knew Dan never had a compassionate thought in his life....and certainly no religious belief. He knew that Dan was scamming the people and the elders of his church.
                 Mitch tried his best to warn them....but he became somewhat of a pariah....bringing an unloving spirit into the church....for all Dan was trying to do....or so they thought....was be of help to the community. A few years passed....and Dan had essentially destroyed the church. The love was gone....the gospel was gone....replaced by politics. Many had become just like Dan....but others came to know who Dan really was....and their was a major church split....Dan became a congressman.....and never showed up at church again....until it was time for his reelection. 

DISPATCHES

This needs to be brought back for Christians to hear.....flee....run from talk radio and people like Tucker Carlson. They are taking you away from Christ. I just listened to Ainsley Earhardt....praise.....Joel Osteen, Return to the Word of God. I saw something on Carlson only an hour ago. He is going to have....Kid Rock....as an hour long interview. I would normally have penned this....Who is Kid Rock....having heard the name often but no idea who he was.....but I Googled him just now. What are we doing. Who are we listening to as respected counselors. Who is this Joe Rogan? I want to cry out that we could use Billy Graham now.....but God's will is perfect!

For a few months now these folks been very openly pushing Tulsi Gabbard on us. Have you noticed? Of course you have. Whatever their plan is on this....this much about that plan is known....these people pepper you with flattery as the most intelligent of audiences....but they do not respect your mind at all. They know that you must be led....and flattery is very effective....but also they must control all the information that you receive....for they are fearful.....and rightfully so....that if you....(we)....begin to think for yourselves....(ourselves)....that they will no longer have control over us....and perish the thought that evangelicals once again hear the trumpet call of Calvary over their bugle's cavalry charge. 

I want to recommend two good books where....'dispatches'....play a very big part. Helen Rappaport has written a series of books on the Bolshevik....all of them excellent.  A couple of them on the Romanovs....and the latest on the experience of the Russian aristocracy as many of them fled to Paris after the Bolsheviks took over. I'm half way through that book right now....but the title I want to recommend is....Caught In The Revolution. The second book I want to recommend was authored by Peter Fritzsche....Hitler's First Hundred Days. Both books utilize correspondence in the form of dispatches and letters to build their case....both books relate to today....and both should have a sobering effect upon the reader.

A couple of years ago....2019 I believe....I turned on the Sirius/XM classical music station just to relax....and it was playing Igor Stravinsky's....The Rite Of Spring....which had the opposite effect....as I found it...."unsettling"....as I posted at the time. I began to research that famous musical composition that....it is said....revolutionized classical music. You can Google this and get a lot of information but Helen Rappaport goes into detail on it in her latest book....mentioned above....After The Romanovs. I will add this. The first presentation of the Stravinsky ballet....with Nijinsky as the star dancer and choreographer....whose movements were at times disjointed....described as 'exotic'....this on May 29, 1913....in Paris.....a prelude in a way to two world wars.... and a century of death and terror.....caused a riot.....in the audience. That the themes of the ballet are....'worship of the earth'....and 'human sacrifice'....tell part of the story on why half the audience was upset. Walt Disney picked up on The Rite Of Spring.....as it influenced his equally experimental 1940 film.....Fantasia....which in itself gives a glimpse of where America has gone in relation to its children.

Prophesy teachers are all over Christian television and the Internet. So one might think that I am one with these teachers....but there is a big difference....and all you have to do is watch them to see it. They are thrilled....in the wrong way. Oh they do know the Bible's description of what will happen in the Tribulation....only they think that they will be long gone. There is no mortification. There is no catacomb experience coming up. These people also tend to be Trump advocates....which is so odd....as they giggle with excitement at the coming of the Lord....and yet giggle with excitement at the possible second coming of Donald Trump. I should add that there are exceptions among these 'prophesy teachers'....and from these you can see the seriousness in their eyes.

I admit to being genuinely surprised by this. First let me describe what happened. The Russian Foreign Minister says that Russia is at war with the West. The Russian president let us know that he might very well decide to nuke us. The Ukrainian president says that World War III has already started....and amidst all this a former president of the United States....sent a very clear message that the Russian president.....should release information that he should be privy to concerning President Biden....that would hurt and possibly disable the American president. Whether one can classify this yet as a war between Russia and the United States.....we are certainly enemies right now....and our former president sent a message....to our enemy....in order to weaken our own president. I described it twice now. Does anyone else see this? I have read plenty in the last few days on when this former president wanted Russia to release dirt on Hillary Clinton....and I read about the "perfect call" between the former president while still in office and the president of the Ukraine. The White House itself did today actually address the issue in terms of an American "entering into a scheme" with Putin at this time of hostilities. I would have thought....in fact I did think....that there would be outrage....even by conservatives. What would Trump's take be....if Putin decided to release the notes from his two hour meeting with Trump in at the 2018 Helsinki summit....where Trump's aides were not even allowed in?  

A Winnowing Of The Leaves......before The Glory Appears

 Preface: The following was posted on November 2 of last year....and I will leave it here for just a little while:              

                  It would be an understatement to say that every year I watch the leaves on the trees change color....for particularly in our own yard I note the times they change color and any other changes to the norm that might occur. The biggest maple in our yard at one time used to be glorious in its golden brightness. In fact there were two trees that grew so close to each other that it appeared as one huge tree....and people would walk by in the fall and just gaze at the color.....but one tree since had to be cut down.
                  Anyway....this year.....and last year also......that tree has been losing its luster.....and many of the leaves would just die and fall on their own before the rest of the leaves even changed color. The yard this year has had a continuous covering of brownish dead leaves. Yesterday morning I was woken around six AM by rain hitting the window at almost a ninety degree angle. Two tornadoes had touched down in our county. After the storm I knew that all of the dead leaves would have been blown off the tree....so in the afternoon I mowed the lawn picking up all of those dead leaves.....and here this afternoon.....the Lord's Day....there is still not one leaf on the lawn....and the tree itself is totally still green.
                  So what is there to think about on an occasion like this other than the glories of Christ? A few times in the last day I would stand on our patio and look at the tree and the yard....all the dead leaves removed....few to fall until the tree changes color....and think about a winnowing that is surely just ahead for the church....where all those who are not secure in Christ will drop off on their own or be blown away by the great difficulties that are ahead....whatever God has determined that turmoil to be?
                  We in the church are as Christian and Faithful walking through Vanity Fair in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress....being enticed by even those in the church to join in the festivities. One could not even pick us out in the football games being played today.....the Lord's Day....as our football passions are as strong....or even stronger in the Bible Belt....as anyone's.
                  The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been so compromised that preaching cannot stray beyond that which the people will permit. It is no longer a 'wicket gate' that one must pass through....for one can simply come down the escalator into the sheepfold. There is a cross....but no blood....warnings....but only to America and not the church....literal truths....where nothing is to be added....and nothing detracted....but only in the Constitution....not the Bible.
                   The latest storm has come and gone....the trees are green....but about to turn a glorious golden yellow....the extent of which we shall see...but beautiful even in these years of floods and droughts that have taken their toll on the pigmentation processes. These tornadoes were a surprise....with no warnings other than a cell phone alert to go to the basement....but God has given us ample warning....over decades.....and increasing in their intensity....that as we continue to...."sow the wind".....we will indeed...."reap the whirlwind."

Hosea 8:7

Storytime

                 It's a parable of sorts....a very short story that takes about twenty-six minutes to tell....and John Piper.....(desiringgod.org)....used it as today's sermon of the day. You can easily Google it at.....The Gallows And The Gift Of Life. It's one of those special broadcasts where you can ask a family member....a son or daughter.....or elderly parent.....to listen to with you.....for it is not very threatening....as opposed to asking them to listen to sermon. I can tell you that it is moving....if you have ever been in the prison that the storyteller relates. It is also sobering....if you take the message serious....and abundantly joyful....if you are no longer in that prison.

Addendum: In the past I have had the opportunity to just read for friends who were dying....and unable to converse. In the case of a former pastor....a most wonderful preacher of Jesus Christ....he only wanted the Psalms to be read. I bring this up as an idea. This 'story' mentioned above.....The Gallows And The Gift Of Life....might serve a wonderful purpose....to someone who needs to hear of salvation in Jesus Christ. Please listen to the broadcast....and pray about it....if you might have that opportunity!

A Night To Remember....To Think Upon....And To Repent Of

The following was first posted on January 3 of this year.   

Preface:  if you are a pastor....and Satan's minions are not after you....then he really has no complaint against you.....for you are not causing him any trouble. You can grow your church into the thousands and he will be right there celebrating with you. All of the men who God has used mightily over the centuries were constantly under assault....in one way or another....often fighting off depression. None of these men took the easy way. None thought of themselves as worthy. None of them would sit back in a situation as we have today....and let false prophets and false teachers lead the sheep away from Christ....which is what this political movement is doing.

Consider this if you would....the first fifteen verses of the prophet Joel....a plague had absolutely ruined the land....a plague of locusts. Is not our land at this time just as ruined....as one type of 'locust' after another has eaten away at the fabric of our society? If you would even partially agree with this....then consider what God said to do in verses 13 &14...."Gird yourselves and lament, you priests;  Wail, you who minister before the altar; Come, lie all night in sackcloth,You who minister to my God....Consecrate a fast....Call a sacred assemble....Gather the elders....And cry out to the Lord."

A Night To Remember....To Think Upon....And To Repent Of

                We need to be reminded of the evening of February 4, 2020.....the State of the Union Address....and repent of what we either ignored or took part in....where on our side of the aisle we gloated....repeatedly shouting....."four more years"...over economic statistics that would have come with any republican president to have succeeded the policies of Barack Obama. As Trump boasted of his accomplishments....he skillfully covered up the greed and the pride and the selfishness that he alone truly did instill in us.
                The celebration of that night was not unlike that of Belshazzar's Feast....where we brought out references to God....captured from a true Christianity far removed from the church of today....displayed in one instance as...."talent on loan from GAWD"....as Rush Limbaugh was given a medal that night....not for his decades of service to principles....but his four years of service to a man who merely uses those principles to seek glory for himself....and all this as there was handwriting on the wall....ignored as 'fake news'....of a judgment from God about to be revealed to the whole world....in a pandemic....a judgment that we mocked....and continue to mock....just as Pharaoh mocked God in the face of Moses.
                Read the words that night from a genuine biblical false prophet....a false prophet that so much of evangelicalism fell under the influence of...."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."
                 Our shepherds had utterly failed us....and continue to fail as they fear repercussions from the pews....people taken in by the false prophet. We defend a constitution while ignoring God's Word and the warnings therein....as the words of the prophet Amos to Israel are now directed to us...."Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God..." (Amos 4:12)

"Please forgive my rambling like this, for I look lovingly at these men but fully realize that it is Christ who redeemed me, it is the Father who chose the weakest, unsightliest jar of clay and it is the Holy Spirit who dragged me to belief, opened my eyes and gave me faith. And it is Christ again who keeps me, who keeps all of us, though we let Him down time after time. The modern church bears scant witness to the glories that underlie the gospel. Its doctrines permit man to credit His own choosing of Christ as evidence of his salvation. Christ is less than sufficient, the Bible is less than adequate and the Holy Spirit hastens to our beckon call. Large churches legitimize us, oblivious of the warnings to the Laodiceans. Reformed churches sit on the laurels of sound doctrine forgetting the command to the Ephesian church to return to their first love. Evangelicals pass out 'four spiritual laws' booklets with a place for a signature for salvation as if they were handling out coupons for a free Big Mac. Pray for a Reformation, that we return to the cross of Christ, that pastors would preach His glories, that fathers would teach His truths and that we would be salt and light to a destitute nation."

                 
          

What Happens In The New Birth

The following....preface included....was first posted as a Lord's Day post in November of last year. 

Preface: I have to address the problem where it is at. The following words may seem stilted or pompous but it is because of the brevity that I have to employ here. Multitudes believe that they are Christians....but they are not. I am talking evangelicals here....not just liberals. They attend church....and give all the correct answers on their professed faith....but react in defiance if that faith is questioned as a biblical saving faith. They are supremely confident of their claim to being Christian....and utterly refuse to examine the possibility that they have been misled by a modern and user-friendly evangelicalism. If they would but be honest with themselves they would see that it may be their pride speaking....and that no one is going to tell them that after decades of thinking themselves born again....whatever that term may me be….as they view it...that they may not be a child of God. The true Christian may totally disagree with efforts like mine in this post. They know the seriousness of the situation.....but prefer to be patient....and pray for God's tender and loving call to the heart. I have had too many friends die without Christ. Time is short....and I know that the heart gets harder as time passes. There is a place for both the patient and the one who...."attempts to [snatch] them out of he fire." Speaking directly to the reader....only you can know if on the scales....pride....or love of Christ....has the more weight? The following post is a few weeks old. 

What Happens In The New Birth

                Many if not most evangelicals really aren't that interested in listening to a sermon if it's not on a Sunday....but those who are searching may be a little less self-confident. I heard this sermon today....and wanted to give a recommendation for it in its own post. Just Google up....What Happens In The New Birth...Part 1, John Piper....and it will come right up. (and I added this sermon a few days later….for it is powerful….and with a message that few pastors are bold enough to address. Just Google….The Final Divide, John Piper.)

               

Counting The Cost

Preface: The last paragraph in the following five-year old post sums it up. Forty years on this Christian walk....stumbling a few times....but always....thanks be to God....attempting to continue to put one foot in front of the other....in other words.....pressing on....forty years have taught me that there are two kinds of 'flak' that a believer might encounter....(flak basically being anti-aircraft fire)....the first being as a result of our being so inexperienced and mistake prone....maybe even worse.....arrogant....that the flak is the enemy laughing at us....but the second being when whatever calling we have....whatever gift God may have given....if it is real....then it will damage the enemy's plan.....and you can expect serious flak....so much so that you may experience periods of extreme depression. The enemy is not laughing. In wartime....when a pilot takes off on a bombing mission....he knows that he will experience....and may take a hit from anti-aircraft fire. It is no  self-serving axiom....it is real....if you are not taking some kind of flak....you are not making headway for your king:

"For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:20) "And he answered and said unto them. I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." Luke 19:40) "Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee" (Luke 8:39) "For whoever may be ashamed of me and of my words...." (Luke 9:26a)    

The following post is from the summer of 2017. :     

         One of the failures of today's evangelicalism is that we fail to mention the cost of discipleship when we evangelize, and I have been guilty of this as much as anyone. I put a couple thousand miles on our vehicle recently and that usually means listening to a few more sermons or teachings from R. C. Sproul than I usually do. I had to go back into his archives a little bit to find one that I had not heard....and I'll give you easy directions to listen to it at the end of this post. Need I add that what you will hear will be eons in wisdom and knowledge beyond what I can type out?
         You have close friends....maybe you have a wife and children....maybe even grown children. If your plans are no more than just joining into fellowship of a church because it's something that you think that you should probably do....don't worry about the cost of discipleship....for there will be very little. There won't be any quantifiable cost to you involved in just joining a church or a Bible study....unless that church actually preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ or that Bible study moves quickly beyond the milk of the Word.
          Your parents...whom you deeply love...may show deep disappointment if you become a Christian. That's a true cost. R. C. Sproul had this happen to him with his mother, and I experienced the same thing with mine. It's very difficult and in my case it turned out to be over three decades of praying for wisdom in presenting the gospel to her....and asking for forgiveness of God for the many times that I felt that I failed miserably. Your family may reject you. Now there's a real cost, but if your not able to pay it then just sit back and let others do the work.
          A good friend will stay your friend but you will either wind up letting him alone in his life without Christ or you will try again and again to present the gospel to him and find that although you still may be friends you really don't have much to talk about anymore.
          Doctrines come with a cost. If you don't want to pay it then stay away from doctrine. Doctrine is simply a biblical truth.....that often is not simple! If you stay with the basic Bible studies forever then there will be little to no cost to you. Do you have a serious hobby? Most people do. Is there something you have worked at for years and you excel at? Maybe you're a scratch golfer? I was a scratch golfer....I'd hit the ball and have to scratch my head but maybe you actually know how to play the game? If you apply yourself to the Word of God with the same dedication then it will most likely cost you. You may have to leave the church that you love. Other Christians may consider you divisive. Stick with the golf if you don't want to pay the cost.
         These are really minor costs compared to what others have paid. Your wife may wind up leaving you. Your kids may hardly ever bring the grandkids over.  I've witnessed these things with friends.  We have all read stories in the news where Christians lost their business or their livelihood because of their Christian faith. Every one of us should never allow much time to pass at all without thinking about and praying for Christians around this world who suffer severe persecution and may even lose their lives because of their faith in Jesus Christ!
         These words were brief and not very profound. Here are some more not-very-profound words...that the great philosopher Stephen K. Bannon used to say on his radio program...."If you're taking flak....then you must be over the target." Are you taking flak? If not...you may want to ask yourself why. My primary intention in this post was not to make a list of things that will cost you but rather to point out that we in America all too often fail to mention any costs at all as we ....'share the gospel.' Ironically there is a cost here but it is to America itself as the resulting church turns out to be week...society crumbles....and we find ourselves exactly where we are today.
    
R.C. has a couple of teachings titled...'The Cost Of Discipleship'....and I'm not sure which one I referenced in this post from 2017....so I plan on listening to both today....Lord willing....and may give some additional details later in the day. So for now just Google....'R. C. Sproul....The Cost Of Discipleship'

      

Ichabod

Preface: Who or what changed us? The first evidence of our change....on compassion anyway....came as we dealt with illegal immigration. We had the law on our side....there is no doubt about that....and our motives were initially compassionate towards all parties involved....but then we changed....and these were no longer people involved.....but statistics.....worse then that actually.....enemies. Then our nominee for president came to us with promises like this....that he would keep low-income housing away from the suburbs where we live....and we rallied in our golf cart and boat parades. Once again these were not people....but demographics. Then came the virus....and the deaths mounted up....and we had to find an excuse for not caring. We found it with the word....premorbid....'they were going to die anyway'....and....'they died with Covid-19....not from Covid-19. And now we can see the change on the issue of Putin and the Ukraine. Once again these aren't real people involved.....but just a corrupt 'client-state' population. So who changed us? How did we come to the point where we are morally outraged over a Canadian truck driver who is forced to get a communicable disease vaccination....but have stone-cold hearts as human beings die in war?

              Personal freedoms and liberty have become our god. The reason for this is that we lost the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our churches and evangelicalism on the whole. With that great hope no longer within us....at least no longer in the forefront of our minds.....our discernment atrophied to almost non-existence....our pulpits having buckled to the rantings of a false prophet....and chaos ruling everywhere in America.....we tried to assuage our guilt at no longer glorying in Christ by grabbing on to something to make us appear relevant. Thus we think that we are great patriots....defending religious liberty....keeping churches open at all costs....in spite of the fact that they are mostly social gatherings….(the cross being replaced with the flag pin)....and now still fighting against a simple vaccine....but we are as Hophni and Phinehas....who after a defeat to the Philistines....ran to get the Ark of the Covenant.....for surely God would give victory with that on the front line....but we were unaware that God had already departed from us.....Ichabod.....as the child was named. 

Here's but one thing that changed us....I'll put no names to this....just about all of them are cookie cutouts anyway....talk radio hosts.....formerly conservative talk radio hosts but now Trump talk radio hosts.....who I've pleaded with Christians for years to flee from these people.....flee from these people....they are taking you away from Christ! They mention God all the time....they will even use scripture....but they haven't a clue! One of them has been smirking for a few weeks on how a Russian invasion of the Ukraine was a hoax....a familiar and much used word to them. Folks....I've been a talk radio person since my teens....but this man takes the cake for venom spewed....as he is the only host who you can actually hear him taking a deep breath....as he reluctantly tries to keep more anger from coming out. They give you half the information....at best....and that is it. And then there is Tucker Carlson. I'm not exaggerating here....I watched a clip of him yesterday.....and had to turn it off after about ten seconds. He apparently has no compass at all. His method of speech and the facial expressions and outward appearance are very effective with conservatives today who no longer want to rely on the intellect....but only want to be told what great patriots that they are.

Thursday.....2/24/22....7:00 PM.....or 1900 hours military time: As of today there has been no public mention of reinstating the draft.....but expect talk of it before too long.....for they have no choice....as a two-front global war is definitely a possibility. The next draft will have no college deferments.....other than finishing out the semester that a draftee would be in. I doubt that the readers here would like hearing of this.....but we have had two decades and more to see where this world was heading....and what God's Word said about it....and to turn our attention back to where it should have been....on the God that planted this nation.....and sustained it for almost 250 years.....for His purposes.....not ours. We might want to keep this Bible verse in mind from 1 Thessalonians 5:3...."While people are saying,'There is peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape." I bring this verse up because we are in the habit of at least thinking about God when wars look to possibly be on the horizon....but just as quickly forget God and go back to our entertainments when war tremors subside....and our pulpits go back to telling us how much God loves us just the way we are....as if the pastors never imagined that we might in fact be like rebellious Israel or Judah.....oblivious apparently to Jeremiah's warning in 7:4...."Do not trust in these deceptive words: 'This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD'.".....thinking God would never bring judgment upon His people.

The Rider On The White Horse

                 Any contemplation of who the rider on the white horse in Revelation chapter six could be....is good and even necessary....for if nothing else it focuses our attention on the return of Jesus Christ in power and glory. The general interpretation over the many centuries has been that this is Christ Himself. So in essence....the Tribulation begins....or the severe judgments of the Tribulation begin....Jesus rides forth in power and judgment....and along with Him He brings war and famine and death....this through the various colored horses that follow.

                Along the way another interpretation arose for the rider on the white horse.....that being that this rider was the Antichrist.....coming in a faux peace....to conquer. This is highly speculative....too speculative to build a foundation upon....but that foundation was indeed built in much of the church as it exists today.
                So what else is there? Is there any other interpretation? In both of the above interpretations there is a conquerer....either Christ or the Antichrist....and then three judgments. 
                Oddly....of all places....this is how Wikipedia puts it...."In John's Revelation, the first horseman rides a white horse, carries a bow, and is given a crown-he rides forward as a figure of Conquest, perhaps invoking pestilence, Christ, or the Antichrist." Why pestilence?
                The description in God's Word of the fourth rider is that he rides on a pale horse...."And I looked, and behold a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth."
                In this instance the sword....war....was already mentioned in the red horse.....and famine....was already mentioned in the black horse....but why pestilence....unless that was the already mentioned in the white horse?
                I thought it was too coincidental to write about it other than just something to think about....to keep in the back of our minds....so I fashioned the post in this manner....(you can read it not that far below this....in a post titled...."Is The White Horse....Of Revelation Six....The Pandemic?") The reason behind the post....or the coincidence if you will....is that the word bow....in Greek....is toxon....from which we get toxic....this along with the Covid-19....a coronavirus....a corona being essentially a crown....pestilence and a crown....not enough to stand firmly upon....but a little too much to ignore.
               So....veils on prophesy are being lifted regularly....this over the past one-hundred years. As I wrote in the first sentence of this post....we are to study John's Revelation....so this is good that we do so. It may be that the more historical interpretation of the rider on the white horse being our coming king....may turn out to be correct....and all praise to God if that be so....but it also may be that white horse was a judgment on the world....and that judgment was a pandemic that has killed at least six million....(a significant figure in itself)....to be followed by war. If this turns out to be the case....then the importance of our not immediately recognizing it....or even considering it....would be that a key evidence of the imminence of the return of our Lord....which would have helped us prepare....would have been missed....and in that even the possibility that the white horse may already be upon us....and the war that is if nothing else....threatened....you would think that would be enough to awaken a sleeping church as to the judgments that we know are coming.
               One last thing to store in the back of the mind....that people will say...."peace and safety"....just before sudden destruction comes. That could be when President Trump in essence....more than in essence as he was very clear in that peace and safety and prosperity was here....this in his 2020 State Of The Union address....as the pandemic was just beginning. Or there may be a peace of some sort proclaimed...a great relief...in this current war....or it may be something entirely different.

Addendum: For those new readers who are not familiar with the February 4, 2020 State of the Union address....here are some of the words from the President...."America's fortunes are on the rise.....America's future is blazing bright....our pride is restored....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....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." News reports that same day announced the first coronavirus death outside of China....in the Philippines.

                

Ruminations

Preface: At times I have what I would describe....'venting posts'.....and at other times....'rumination posts'....both the result of just sitting down and watching all that goes on around us....and typing as I think about it. I usually keep these 'venting' and 'rumination' posts up for only a little while....but always move them somewhere back in the pack:             

               One personal item stands out in my mind from my pre-teen years....circa 1959....an entirely different world than it is today. It was a transistor radio. I can picture it but cannot recall the make. I would carry it with me and listen to Bobby Darin and Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydel and Tommy Roe and Connie Francis and Chubby Checker....and of course....Elvis. The Hula Hoop was also a prized possession....and balls of every shape...the most prized being my bowling ball....which I would lug along the highway a mile every Saturday morning. Christmas 1963 brought my 110 pound weight set....of which I still have....and believe it or not....spent about twenty minutes with it this very morning....almost sixty years later!
               My point in all of this is that back then a young person could occupy himself/herself....on very simple things. I don't bring this up as any kind of cultural commentary....but biblical commentary. You can only put so much liquid in any glass. You can pack only so much clothes in a standard suitcase. If you absolutely need more clothes....you either get a bigger suitcase or use two suitcases. There are only twenty-hours in a dayn....and only so much attention that we can give to any subject.
               I have numerous letters from the past packed away in the basement. I came across a box of them the other day....sent to my mother while in the army. In a way....the Bible is a letter sent from....what words can I use....if I say....the creator of the universe....you will probably just pass over that as something so unimaginable that it cannot seriously be meditated upon. Maybe if I word it as....the One who can keep you out of the torment of an everlasting hell....maybe that might give the letter a little bit of urgency.
               Something has transformed the average mind that once was semi-organized at least....with plenty of  storage to spend considerable time accumulating and weighing evidence....working through problems....and more than willing to put a ball aside for a few hours to contemplate the weightier matters of life. Even only a few years out of my teens....drinking draft beer having become my favorite pastime....even here I could and did sit for hours over a pitcher of that draft beer....and contemplate the meaning of life. It was all wrong....filled with the faddish ideas of the time....but at least the mind was being exercised.
               Our lives today are filled with the extravagance of entertainments. I have a friend who is today....right now....probably just getting off the golf course in South Carolina....thirty of them down there for ten days....playing all day every day....just average guys....with average jobs. I have another friend....many actually....spending their last few weeks down in Florida.....snow birds over the winters....escaping the ice and bitter cold. I was not raised in a middle-class home....but I was raised in a middle-class neighborhood....and none of this would even be day-dreamed back then. I didn't even see the ocean until while in basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey....at almost twenty years of age....but my wife and I took our son....at fourteen years old....to Europe.
               God's Word....that letter sent directly to us....speaks of the horrors of the judgments at the end of times. Visions of those judgments sickened the prophet Daniel....they sickened that great prophet in that which we don't even have the time or inclination to consider....and Paul mentioned something he described as a...."falling away"....or "apostasy"....or "rebellion" that will come first. That comment is the reason for this post. Is this that we live in today....the inability to think through problems....our minds being filled up to the brim with everything from entertainments to money....with no room to add any meditation....the result being that the riches of that letter to us from God....cannot be understood....the commands only summarized.....lacking definition....of little help....and the mind that should be constantly renewed with power....atrophying into a religion of lowest common denominators?
              I look around at the church and cannot but compare it to the church of forty years ago. Our conversations are different. The salvation of souls seems to have slipped off into the distance. Our eyes were wide open to warnings back then....but we cannot keep our eyelids open today. We seem to have lost the ability to debate....as we only memorize facts provided us....that is our preparation....as the two sides face each other....'talk over' each other to make up for the lack of any real argument....raise our voice to hide our ignorance of the issues....and then the facts all used up.....we change the subject....the other side more than willing to also....and walk away....both claiming obvious victory in debate....a debate that never even took place.
              You may be able to see this transformation most.....by visiting the very professional websites of probably any mega-church near you. You will find many ministries.....plenty of coming events....photos of the worship music galore.....but more space given to directions to the church....than what the church believes. The family has become more important....than the cross of Calvary. The only cults we are concerned with today....are in the Democrat caucus. The only hell....is life under Joe Biden.
            

Numb

                 Most readers I believe would be familiar with what I'm about to describe. I recently had a minor outpatient surgical procedure....where the doctor first numbed the area that he was going to cut into....and I felt the scalpel move across my skin as if it were nothing but a lead pencil....and as the doctor was later sewing the area up....I could feel him yanking and pulling....but no pain whatsoever. We talked the whole time....high school and children....and when it was all over I said....in my strange humor.....(have you ever visited my humor page)....."That was pleasant....we'll have to do this again sometime."

                We in the church today are numb to the warnings of God....and how they are being played out in the everyday news headlines. We see the violence that we were told would be everywhere....but our eyes probably barely register a reaction. We are numb to millions of virus deaths....and even in the war being fought right now....as our outrage lasts only as long as it takes to turn the newspaper page....or for the news anchor to say...."in other news" Love has grown as cold....once again we were warned it would....but we are cold to that fact. Truth means nothing anymore....this one should really scare us....but doesn't....as on our side....the supposed good guys in all of this....who did once value and live in honor and integrity....we jettison all truth that does not further our political goals. We have become no better that the other side whom we once pitied in their deceiving and obfuscating ways....all this as lawlessness abounds everywhere.
                We have the very real potential of not only World War III but nuclear war....with a description right out of God's prophetic word for the last days....but it's only....pretend real....as it will never happen to us....because these things only happened in the past....or may happen in the far distant future....or in remote and uncivilized countries of the world....not here....the home of the United States Constitution....with 100 million evangelicals whom God loves so much. We are numb....as the fabric of society is yanked left and right....torn....and we feel the ripping....but not the pain....expecting at most only a scar.
               The earth has been shaking....and we learn more all the time on how an asteroid or a supervolcano can change life in a hour....but this is tabloid stuff....'tabloids...the Bible'....'same same'....to use an Asian expression that I encountered long ago. We were warned of great delusion and false prophets....and fell for delusion and false prophets....and still haven't put two and two together on that one. We are numb to what is going on....'blind' would be how God's Word describes it.
                               

"Yet I Will Exalt In The LORD"

Preface: The latter decades of Billy Graham's ministry tended to be more serious in his warnings to America. He acknowledged that he wished that he was more serious early on in his ministry.....and he regretted some of his involvement in politics....but when this change did come upon him.....there was an urgency to warn that Jesus Christ was coming back soon in judgment. The following post is from September of 2018. The last paragraph begins with these words....Christians should know by now that judgment is coming to the nations of the West that once acknowledged and even reverenced God....but now violently oppose His mere presence. This was well before even the pandemic. Paul's words to the Galatians were harsh....at one point...."Who has bewitched you?" Well who or what has bewitched us today....whereas we once....not that many decades go....could discern the nearness of the return of Jesus Christ....but today....with our descent into darkness so much more intense....we have become ambivalent....attesting to the Lord's return....but not really interested in it? 

"Yet I Will Exalt In The LORD"

           The prophet Habakkuk speaks to us today....but will we listen? Hidden away in a slew of other prophets that we ignore....books labelled 'minor prophets' because of the short length....it gives us a glimpse of Habakkuk's extreme frustration as his beloved Judah was destructive and violent....full of strife and contention....where law is ignored and justice is never upheld. Does that description sound familiar?
           The prophet begins by venting to God his frustrations. Why isn't God doing something about this? Why has the LORD not intervened? The answer that God gave Habakkuk was not the answer that he wanted to hear. God was going to bring judgment upon Judah.....and he was raising up the Chaldeans to do that!
           Habakkuk was a contemporary of Jeremiah. Nineveh was about to fall....and Babylon about to rise. Nahum had just prophesied impending doom to Nineveh. Habakkuk was now....after God's answer to his question....even more frustrated in that God would use a more violent nation....Babylon.....to punish Judah. It's as if he then stood there and defiantly said.....'explain that God'.....and then waited to hear God's rebuke....but God didn't rebuke him....he calmly told Habakkuk to record the vision that he was about to see.
           Martin Luther would be transformed by part of what God told Habakkuk...."Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith." God was showing Habakkuk what would happen in the future...."at the appointed time." He was pointing to the Messiah. Yes Babylon would bring judgment upon Judah....but God then quickly taunted Babylon.....five times! Their turn for God's wrath would be next.
          So what would Habakkuk do now....offer a third challenge to God? No...even though his "inward parts trembled" and his lips "quivered" in acknowledgment of what was about to happen to Judah....God gave him a quiet and a calm....and a prayer that Judah would utter and sing even as Babylon approached.
          Habakkuk....like Jeremiah and Daniel......had to give their messages....but none of them would see the final fulfillment of their prophesies while in their mortal bodies. Habakkuk's inner parts did tremble and his lips did quiver after realizing what was going to happen to Judah....but his final words were....and they should be our words....as we have witnessed our nation rebel in ways eerily similar to Judah's...."Yet I will exalt in the LORD. I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds feet, and makes me walk on my high places."
          Christians should know by now that judgment is coming to the nations of the West that once acknowledged and even reverenced God....but now violently oppose His mere presence even in tradition. In many of us....our inward parts tremble....and our lips quiver....but as Habakkuk's final prayer proclaimed the power and "everlasting ways" of Almighty God.....we for our part know very well....and should proclaim....the glorious return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ....in the midst of judgment not totally unlike in its terror what Judah experienced with Babylon.