Downtown Abbey

Preface: It was Easter Sunday.....April 15, 2001....my wife and son and I were on a portico of some sort overlooking Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square. We had walked all day through Elephant And Castle....on the south side of the River Thames....and London proper....and were on our last leg....having earlier in the day attended a Lord's Day service at Charles Spurgeon's church....The Metropolitan Tabernacle....or what was left of the original church after being bombed in World War II. I had to strain but could hear a gospel hymn.....looked closer and saw some banners at the base of the monument....and a few dozen people evangelizing. There is always a remnant....and it is barely a remnant in England today....but that remnant is always wonderful in glorifying our Savior! A remnant is also in America....but it is confusing because that remnant is within a large political evangelicalism....where one does not have to be born again....indeed we do not know what that is anymore....but one does have to vote Republican. We defend the 2nd Amendment.....but pay little to no attention to the 2nd Commandment.    

               Downton Abbey....I thought it was Downtown Abbey.....for all of the six years it was on television....having never watched the PBS broadcast of the British television series. The new movie based on television....Downton Abbey, A New Era....had only two showings at our local movie theater.....and my wife and I caught the 6 PM.
               There may have been fifteen others in the theater.....and it seemed as if they were already familiar with the same cast that had had their attention on television for six years. I thought about this.....being the only ones in the audience that were not already familiar with the aritstocrat family....and the servants.....and the cast....and I think that my wife and I were in the better position....for it was all new to us....as opposed to the others who were as if watching season number seven....or eight....or whatever it would have been.
                So how was the movie.....as I only have about 65 years of watching the silver screen? First of all....sometimes I think that I'm half British and half American....I love rain....but dry humor....I like dark beer....I love Shepherd's Pie....(ground beef and mashed potatoes and a vegetable and gravy....the real four elements of the universe)....and if you ever visit the Tower Of London you would see my surname plastered on one of the towers.....and if you would read....My Favorite Films....from my profile.....you would see that half of them are British.....including three of my top four. Bunyan is my favorite author....Spurgeon my favorite preacher....Harry my favorite royal.
               It was Ok.....no.....it was good.....real good I guess....(no wonder I never became a film reviewer) There were a lot of little plots....all the acting was terrific....but then Americans think that all British actors are great.....and if anyone has a British accent.....we automatically assume that they are real smart.
               Unfortunately.....and I mean this from the bottom of my heart....it probably was an accurate representation of a large part of British society a hundred years ago. Charles Spurgeon and J. C. Ryle warned their home country right up to their dying days.....the former in 1892 and the latter in 1900. Martyn Lloyd-Jones picked up the fallen banner from these men and proclaimed Christ in London right up to 1980!
               There was no God in this Downton Abbey....film....not even in the drawn-out death of a main character....and even though there were a dozen sub-plots in the film that God is very clear on in His Word....not only is He not even vaguely alluded to....His Word is ridiculed in one of the scenes near the end....it revolving around the Lady of the manor.....and a departing servant.
               How then might a preacher....a redeemed and born again preacher....how would he evangelize if he were somehow one of the characters in the film? Well....I imagine that he would have to do what John Wesley and George Whitefield andd John Bunyan did....and preach out in the open air....and pray that God would bring the called within earshot.
               From what I read about Downton Abbey....the depiction of the sinking of the American owned but British registered Titanic was instrumental at the beginning of the series. I've always felt that the sinking of that "unsinkable" luxury liner was a message from God....to rebellious or unfaithful man....that he may build....but God will tear down. Look at history since the beginning of the twentieth century....the wars....the plagues....the economic collapse....the violence....the sacrificing of our youth....the fast decline of leadership....since Reagan and Thatcher....and the collapse of evangelicalism here in America since it choose a false prophet as a leader. The loss of the Titanic was a distress signal....but just as the wireless operator on the SS Californian was not listening....neither were we.

              

Blood Moon Rising

               As I type this....about 11 at night....a blood moon is starting to form....and should be complete in our area shortly. Did you know that Donald Trump was born on a blood moon on June 14, 1946....and his famous 'down the escalator' announcement of his candidacy was during the 2014/2015 tetrad. I was born in the middle of a tetrad....four consecutive blood moons....or total lunar eclipses.....in my case the tetrad was from April of 1949 to September of 1950. I've always been interested in these type of events in the sky....from eclipses to comets.
              Personally....I believe that God uses these happenings in the sky.....when He chooses to....the star that the wise men followed....whatever that was....is evidence of this. At times it seems as if we are terrified of considering anything not already contained in the Westminster Standards.
              This blood moon tonight may have absolutely no significance at all....or it may. The much ballyhooed and written about tetrad mentioned above of a few years ago.....2014-2015....may have had no significance at all....and then maybe it did. God reveals things to us in His own perfect time.

Update: It was a spectacular total lunar eclipse. Blood Moons as they are called are not rare....but tetrads are. The earth had gone hundreds of years without experiencing one yet five occurred in the 20th century. What made the 2014/2015 tetrad even more interesting was that all four occurred on Jewish feast days.

R. C. Sproul's Last Sermon

Preface: The following was first posted in May of 2019. I bring it back now because it has been the issue that has been dominating my life of late. R. C. Sproul's very last sermon after a ministry of fifty years was titled....A Great Salvation. His voice was raspy....and was full of passion. God had given him this final message to give to all of us....probably because we in evangelicalism have forgotten just how 'great' is this salvation bestowed upon us. Making America....'great'....has diminished the 'greatness' of the gospel in our minds....but the problem goes further back than Obama and Trump and Biden. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of people I know personally who in the past two decades had been gloriously born again....shouting from the rooftops the name of Jesus Christ. I would need some kind of hand tally counter to add up the number who have merely turned to church in this crazy world. One of those people gloriously saved lives near me....as he went from darkness to glorious light.....and you can hear him on Christmas mornings.....singing loudly from his front porch....the glories of the birth of Jesus. His conversation always somehow includes the glories of God. This is being born again folks! This is not to say that those many people who saunter into some church every Lord's Day are not the redeemed of the Lord....but it is to say that they are kept from seeing the greatness of their 'great' salvation....if it is there....and therefore unable to discern the necessity of the new birth for their own loved ones. May God wake our pulpits up....for it is their responsibility....and they are in the midst of a 'great' failure of preaching that 'great' salvation.

Love Comes With A Cost

               It was about five or six years ago....and I was working for an entire week with one man....for the first time....in a quiet spot....so we could talk while we worked. This man was funny....interesting.....(a rugby player)....and very outgoing....so I was free to open up a little also. He talked a lot about his father....and I enjoyed every minute of it.....then somehow.....God became the topic of the conversation.....funny how that happens to me so much. Anyway I had to find a way to say some serious things....by trying to slide them in sideways. I'm usually pretty good at this.....but this guy was smart....he knew what I was doing....even though I wasn't even sure what I was doing.....and he looked at me and said....."So you're saying that my father is in hell?" His father was not even mentioned....hell was not mentioned....everyone knows that you can't talk about hell today. I admit that I did want him to face.....sometime in the future......not exactly right then....that his loving and wonderful father must be born again just like all of us. There was a pause....I didn't try to get out of it....but I don't think that I pursued it any further either....the thought was planted in his head....and that's what I wanted.
                This is a tough issue folks. Thinking about a loving parent who had died....without Christ....that's too much to ask of many of us. We'll change the gospel before we admit to that.
                 I loved my father. He passed away in November of 1979....and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. I was lost in my sins at the time and therefore utterly useless to him in the matters of his eternal soul. I do not know my father's thoughts or the people he may have talked to before he succumbed to the disease that took his life.....but I do know this....Jesus Christ is the way.....and He is the truth.....and He is the life.....and no one comes to the Father except through Him....and one must be born....again....born from above....whether they realize it as such or not.
           Discipleship comes with a cost. The least of this cost is that you may become a persona non grata on occasion....it may even be forever....this because you mention Jesus Christ so often....but letting your loved ones alone....and headed to hell.....without even trying....is an odd love....a love that must be investigated.....to see if it really qualifies as love.
           Consider this....a dream maybe....you are lost and without Christ.....hanging by a rope over 'you know where'.....that rope begins to unravel....a Christian passes by.....you know him.....you always gave him the impression that you were a Christian even though you didn't even have the slightest idea what that really was....so in your need you shout out...."Friend....tell me about the Gospel of Jesus Christ!" He sees you.....waves.....and walks on by. You look up and the rope continues to unravel...."What must I do to be saved" you shout again....but no one responds.... they just smile and wave back....they assume that you are fine....the rope then breaks and you fall......it gets colder and colder.....the evil all around you makes your skin crawl.......you shout......"Nooooo!".....and then you wake up.
            So the next time that you think about loved ones....and know that they are holding on to an unraveling rope also....remember this dream. Love at times comes with a great cost.....are you willing to pay it?
     

That Little Man......On The Spine Of The Books!

                 I vividly remember the Christian bookstore....Grand Bible Bookstore I believe it was called....in New Castle, Pennsylvania. This was around 1990. I would travel the 30 miles often. You see I discovered that they had these books scattered in their collection....that had this figure of a man in a long robe....holding the Bible aloft....on the spine. There was something about these books.....so much so that I would look for that figure of a man. It turned out that this was a publisher called Banner of Truth books. Long story short....they helped lead me into the Reformation.
                  Anyway....Banner publishes a series called....Puritan Paperbacks.....inexpensive little paperbacks.....filled with pure gold. If I have enticed you to try one of these books....consider choosing first....A Sure Guide To Heaven....by Joseph Alleine....an English Nonconformist pastor....who died young....34 years old.....imprisonment and persecution hastening it....this in 1668. His writing was clear....very clear....and O the challenging thoughts he put to paper! One was that there is a difference between conviction....and conversion! Where do you hear that today? We should hear it in our pulpits....and there was a difference between sanctified....and civilized! He wrote...."I should be a false and faithless shepherd if I should not tell you..." These profound thoughts....with great expounding upon them....are everywhere in the book.
                   There was something else....in that he was concerned that one might read books like A Sure Guide To Heaven....and think that the author is describing the conversion of some kind of great Christian. Alleine dispelled this by writing...."The conversion described is not a high attainment of some advanced Christians, but every soul that is saved undergoes this change," J. I. Packer gave a similar thought in that someone once described the Puritans as...'giants'....whereas Packer said that these men were not....giants.....but rather all of us are mere Pygmies in comparison....the reasoning that it should be the norm among believers that their devotions are so heavenly....but today.....sadly....such is not the case. Alleine's book describes conversion....in such a way that you will have to read slow.....so as to take in the thoughts that will challenge you....like you may have never been challenged before.

Do We Even Believe In The Demonic Anymore?

The following post is from December of 2021:              

             Do we even believe in demonic spirits anymore? We are proficient in teaching of all the demons that Jesus cast out....it makes for good Bible study.....but do we think that that has nothing to do with reality.....at least not reality as we purposely desire it to be? So when there is a mass murder....and the person is heavily involved in the occult....or in any of the other atrocities in our daily news that should have evil spirits written all over them....we instead assume there has to be a chemical imbalance somewhere in their brain.....for it could never be demonic.....and even if it was.....we're just not going to talk about it.....because we have enough trouble today with unbelievers thinking that we are weird....without demons and the devil coming into the picture.
              Demonic spirits are mentioned in 19 of the 27 books of the New Testament....if I remember correctly. Was this a common occurrence throughout the Old Testament.....or was the demonic heightened because it was the time of the first advent?   And if that would have been the case....would it not then be plausible that with the return of the Lord Jesus so near....that the demonic might be heightened once again.
              In the same vein.....what happened to all the false prophets? They were everywhere in the Old Testament....and warned of in the New Testament.....but they're about as hard to find today as a Republican Senator who sees something wrong in what happened on January 6 of this year....or is it that we just refuse to address this issue also?

DISPATCHES

 BOTS....The Elon Musk purchase of Twitter is being held up over the issue of 'bots.' Drudge is headlining it right now. Bots are automated 'hits' to websites.....used for various purposes....among them could be giving the appearance of more interest in a website than actually exists.....and it can be used in political elections as it was by Russian operatives in 2016. In my own case....I do not have a 'counter' on this website precisely because bots distort the figure....whereas as of today I have 168,000 supposed hits.....I know that the real number is far less.....but I do not know what the real number is....so I do not display it. I rather look at the number of people who view my profile.....for there are no bots here....and it tells me how many new people visit these posts.

Dr. Fauci was quoted yesterday in the following...."the idea of 1 million  deaths in an outbreak, that is historic in nature. We have had nothing like this is well over 104 years.....It's estimated that, if people had been vaccinated to a much greater extent right now, that vaccines would have avoided at least a quarter of those deaths, namely about 250,000"....but much of evangelicalism bought into the conspiracy theories that Dr. Fauci is evil....and all this was done to control us. Those days of control are indeed here....and will get  much worse.....but this was not one of them....and there are surely those out there who wanted to take advantage of the pandemic....but Dr. Fauci was not one of them. What we have done in much of the evangelical community is attempt to destroy a man's reputation....where the issues are greatly disputed....and politically biased....but we do not care.

I quoted in a post a few below this....John Murray....Scottish-born theologian from the last century...."Would God the Father have sent his only-begotten Son into this world, would he have given him to the agony of Gethsemane and the abandonment of Calvary, if common decency were the passport to glory?" This question is important enough to mention in this DISPATCHES post. It is paramount that we address this issue today....in the church....from the pulpits. John Murray addressed the issue from a common sense perspective....would God have his Son suffer as He did.....so that one today might show no particularly excessive devotion....and be 'saved' just because.....well because he or she is a nice person? That is where we are at. I addressed the issue from the concept of love.....and John Piper's ministry is to a great degree built on this....you say you love your....parent....your child....your spouse....but as for their....eternal destiny....you are unwilling to put in the time to understand what scripture means by....born again....therefore putting the eternal destiny of the person that you....'love'....to chance. What kind of love is this? Might I suggest that the love is indeed there...but to investigate what Jesus meant when He said...."unless one is born again"....means that our own salvation might be examined....and we might find out that the direction of our entire life might have to change?

It has been my advice many times in these posts for the Christian to incorporate the Old Testament prophets into their daily Bible reading. Throw the read the Bible in a year plans away. They were useful in the past.....but not today....when God is slowly but surely removing veils on His prophetic word in scripture. You might try this sometime....choose one color of highlighter....and as you read through the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 and Luke 21....and Paul's epistles....and John's letters....and Jude....and even Hebrews and James....highlight any and all verses that pertain in any way to end-times prophesy and waiting for the Lord's return. It will help to show you just how important it was and is to always be vigilant as to the nearness of the Lord's return. The Old Testament prophets are more challenging....and the reader generally needs help from a good Study Bible....but it is even more difficult with Jeremiah....which I want to emphasize here....for it was not compiled chronologically....so if in the past you have done nothing but read through all 52 chapters from your read the Bible in a year plan....and then said....'gee that was fun....I wasn't able to make any sense of that'....try this....to get a taste of Jeremiah....spend time on chapters 4-9....and concentrate on every verse....and try to discern how the warnings might apply to us today. These are just just some personal suggestions....nothing more. 

Maybe This Lord's Day

 The following was first posted in August of 2018....over three and a half years ago! I've posted the same thought before this particular post....and many times since:

              Folks....I'm convinced that if we....I'm speaking to Christians here....if we can get the hype about all the good economic figures....and the President's promises about this being the greatest time ever to be young and American....if we can get these things out of our mind....we might more clearly see that this America that we love....is not only in the final stages of collapse....but that this collapse is God's righteous judgment upon us.
              Every area of our society is in chaos. The violence is everywhere....you have to read at least Drudge to get the full impact....from fast food restaurants to airplane flights to roadways. So many people have to carry a handgun just in case....and the violence within families is a crushing testament of how far we have collapsed....fathers killing their families.....and students killing other students....killing....killing....killing. Dateline and 20/20 are never is short supply of some murder to highlight.
              Perhaps if our politicians weren't so insulated where all they have to do is drive to the capital and maybe a fancy restaurant in the evening then they might actually feel what America is becoming....perhaps if they didn't have such wonderful pensions then they wouldn't cling more to their position in life than their conscience....and perhaps if they were under some kind of term limits....then they might be able make difficult decisions. Compounding this they are under the thumb of a party leader who in effect determines if they are to stick around the capital after the next election.....and now they are mere lapdogs for a President who will sic his legions upon them if they themselves do not also bow down and worship.
             If we could get this 'make America great again' stuff out of our mind we might be able to see a nation where half of the people want nothing to do with the God of the Bible.....(half of the nation!)....and yet we think that a Republican Congress is going to make America great again? The other half.....us....having placed our hope in a mere man....have no intention of listening to any prophetic warnings. If we were honest we would admit that the most a Republican Congress could ever do without a full scale Christian awakening in America is to build a house that God would in turn....as He has warned....tear right down again!
            We also might see that God has been warning us for well over a half century....increasingly so....by good men such as Billy Graham. We've had more signs given us than that patchwork of neon on Broadway. We might even wonder if God took Reverend Graham home as a sign to us that the warnings are over. We are a sister nation to Israel and Judah when they rebelled....but our pulpits never mention this.
            We fall for everything in America. The stock market goes up and all our cares fly away. Some tyrannical despot throws us a bone and we're ready to award a Nobel Peace Prize. Christians bear as much responsibility for giving Donald Trump the nomination as anyone. They might think this an honor right now but hold that thought....for when his juvenile and malevolent and narcissistic mind runs its course....they may see their folly.
            We are no longer under warnings from God....those days are past....we have actually further distanced ourselves from Him since the great election win of November 2016! We used to be worried but that has been supplanted with the confidence in our new messiah.....Norman Vincent Peales's best student.
            Tomorrow is yet another Lord's Day. If you want to see if God might be beginning a work of mercy....pay attention to the worship service. See if the pastor may not be his ebullient self. Check for signs of a soberness in the sanctuary brought on by the Holy Spirit. See if the message from God's very Word to us proclaims 'the Christ....the Son of the Living God'....and not the 'Jesus who has a wonderful plan for your life.' Open your Bible and see where your own fingers might take you.....it may be the prophets....or Revelation......or Paul's warnings.....or Peter's? You might read the Psalms through tears. You might cling to your Bible tighter than your purse on a crowded city street......and you might say as did John concluding the final book...."Come, Lord Jesus!"

The Elephant In The Auditorium

                  Debates of one sort or another are still everywhere in the church....at conferences....on panel discussions....and yes there are dueling books. They might be on doctrine or the church or any of number of individual topics. They often are helpful....informative....practical.....and wise. What is very encouraging about them is that they retain the civility of times past. That alone is refreshing. I could very easily revert back twenty years or so and base my daily reading and opinions on this very academic and even biblical 'two kingdoms' type of Christian life. In fact I was there throughout the 1990s. It surely is easier on the body and the mind....and really....if done right....doesn't alienate anyone. There's only one problem with this....well two problems....the first is that there is a great big elephant in that room. Consider the setting....a comfortable meeting room or auditorium....the temperature being perfect....the chairs comfortable....confidence in whoever is moderating....and plenty of Gevalia coffee. Everything is perfect.....except for the trunk of the elephant swaying back and forth causing everyone to keep an eye on it and duck when necessary. That elephant is what appears to be a very biblical warning and proclamation coming from the very words of Scripture....Old Testament and New Testament.....that in spite of all our wise defensive mechanisms that we set up....God let us know....increasingly over decades and ever-increasing even recently....that Jesus is already mounted.....so to speak.....with His mighty angels. The second reason that going back in time is not something that I would want....even if the big elephant were not in the room....is that along with removing veils on the nearness of the return of Christ....and very related to it....there has been removal of veils on the overwhelming....and overpowering....glories of God. I've led both lives. The former is good....edifying....and necessary in its time....but the latter is...."for the praise of His glory"...."Blessing and honor and glory and power....Be to him who sits on the throne...And to the lamb....forever and ever!"

DISPATCHES

Comments on last night's televised January hearings: Dinesh D'Souza's professional....Hollywood style documentaries....Hillary's America....Obama's America....had been very effective....setting the stage for the Trump 2016 win....D'Souza continues to produce films like this.....as do other conservative producers.....but in listening to talk radio this morning....an ABC NEWS exec and producer professionalizing the January 6 hearings....is not acceptable.

An irate caller complained that all that happened in the Capitol was that people marched through the halls....shouting. I waited for the host's response. Surely he would not sign on to this nonsense....but he did.....as he said...."That's right."

There were two....'witnesses'....at this first televised hearing.....and the same radio host....attacked their participation. This is what we saw through all the impreachment hearings.....attack the witnesses!
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I have lived both lives.....the one not knowing for sure that Jesus was really returning soon....not even desiring it.....and also not being aware of the....paralyzing with joy....glory of God. The other....today....not only desiring that our Lord return to this violent world....but seeing very clearly in His word that He and His angels are already mounted....and seeing the glories of God more than ever before. My testimony is that there is no comparison....and I pray that I never have to go back!   

 As I type this....about 11 at night....a blood moon is starting to form....and should be complete in our area shortly. Did you know that Donald Trump was born on a blood moon on June 14, 1946....and his famous 'down the escalator' announcement of his candidacy was during the 2014/2015 tetrad. I was born in the middle of a tetrad....four consecutive blood moons....or total lunar eclipses.....in my case the tetrad was from April of 1949 to September of 1950. I've always been interested in these type of events in the sky....from eclipses to comets. Personally....I believe that God uses these happenings in the sky.....when He chooses to....the star that the wise men followed....whatever that was....is evidence of this. At times it seems as if we are terrified of considering anything not already contained in the Westminster Standards. This blood moon tonight may have absolutely no significance at all....or it may. The much ballyhooed and written about tetrad mentioned above of a few years ago.....2014-2015....may have had no significance at all....and then maybe it did. God reveals things to us in His own perfect time.

Update: It was a spectacular total lunar eclipse. Blood Moons as they are called are not rare....but tetrads are. The earth had gone hundreds of years without experiencing one yet five occurred in the 20th century. What made the 2014/2015 tetrad even more interesting was that all four occurred on Jewish feast days.

I have lived seventy-two years. I was able to partake in the America of our heritage.....before that America succumbed to the same temptations that ancient Israel succumbed to before they were judged by God. I remember that heritage....and weep at what we have replaced it with. I have given nothing to stop the downward spiral....in fact I added to it. I am but one person....one of many....who God for some unknown reason had mercy upon. Even my warnings are tinged with pride and arrogance....but I continue to warn....for if Jesus felt it to our benefit to warn us....and if Peter warned us....and Paul warned us....and John warned us....and Christians ministers such as Billy Graham.....just to name one.....of whom I would have had no right to even stand beside....if they felt....and feel it necessary to warn those that God gave them to minister to.....then we all have no choice but to at least warn our neighbors and friends....which in reality is all that these posts are....words to neighbors and hopefully friends....wherever they may live!

Bots are automated 'hits' to websites.....used for various purposes....among them could be giving the appearance of more interest in a website than actually exists.....and it can be used in political elections as it was by Russian operatives in 2016. In my own case....I do not have a 'counter' on this website precisely because bots distort the figure....whereas as of today I have 169,000 supposed hits.....I know that the real number is far less.....but I do not know what the real number is....so I do not display it. I rather look at the number of people who view my profile.....for there are no bots here....and it tells me how many new people visit these posts.

             

With A Symphony Around Me.....I Can At Times Be Deaf To It

                 It unnerves me a little bit....on the mornings that I recognize it. Our lawn and the town we live in....a 'tree city'....is conducive to birds being everywhere. We have a bird feeder and bird bath....and the sound of chirping birds in the early morning hours is striking in it's peaceful harmony. I can be amazed at times just listening to the different sounds....but there are days when I can stand on my patio.....to the same symphony.....and not hear a single chirp. Somehow the cares of the day block it all out.

                In only about an hour after posting this I will be wearing my headphones and listening to a sermon by either some faithful preacher of the past....or a preacher of today who preaches like faithful preachers of the past. This is my norm....wonderful preaching of Christ....once....often two and three times a day....but I struggle with it while on vacation....for there are too many activities where I simply cannot put those headphones on....and just like when on the patio....with the cares of the world in my mind....I do not experience the peace that should be there. 
                In  the evening while on those vacations....usually late in the evening....I will sit in the quiet of the room and open God's Word....extra-fine pen and highliters at hand.....and begin to read....but sixteen hours straight of activity on this 72 year old body.....and I am struggling big time to keep my eyelids open. It's like clockwork...as I can predict the emptiness that will threaten me when embarking on a trip somewhere. The car drive itself is good as I can and do listen and meditate upon God while driving....but as soon as the vehicle is parked in that hotel parking garage....the struggle begins.
                I post this personal experience....to encourage the reader....that care must be taken.....even vigilance....to keep from straying away from the Good Shepherd. If only we would take the time to examine our normal day....and note any and every hour that may be spent on something around the house....or a hobby....and then comparing that total time....to that which we give to the One who is the most glorious and wonderful of kings....not to mention He who gave His life that we might live forever. 
                Ultimately....and philosophers have studied this forever....we do what we desire to do....displaying that which is what is most important to us.....and in this case....it is either us who is the most important.....or it is God. What is remarkable about this....is that if we seek that which we desire....happiness and joy.....we never really get it....but if we seek only that which glorifies God....He gives us that which we desired to begin with....peace and joy....and in great abundance! 
                 So when I go out on that patio....which I did an hour ago....with the cares of the world bearing down upon me....I hear nothing from the beauty of God's creation.....but when I settle down and thank God for mercies upon someone such as I....that sound all of a sudden rings gloriously in my ears!

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!

In Harm's Way

  

Preface: It is my hope in this Lord's Day post to encourage young people first....that the mess of pottage and false promises that this world calls happiness does not have to entangle them as it does others.....and that second....the pablum churches of today that entertain with their gilded pulpits.....lose their luster....and find that which they had lost in their celebrations....the treasure of that pearl of great price....which is able to pay the cost of discipleship....and that the conservative churches who have the doctrine.....might find the freedom to express the joy in Christ....and retain the determination but lose the fear of making even a single mistake….unable to listen to anything not already given a stamp of approval….and duly memorized.

                There is a climatic naval battle scene at the end of the 1965 mega-star film....In Harm's Way. It is not a long scene....and very different from the typical World War II Hollywood offerings. In a way the scene did not seem very real....but in a way it seemed too real. In watching the film recently on this computer....I had to go back and watch the short battle scene three times. Some of the star characters were killed....John Wayne lost his leg....and the battle itself seemed to be lost....because of the carnage....but the war of course was won. This film has been in my mind for a few days now....and what I was thinking about concerning it is the Christian life....and the war that we are in.
                 You will not know the extent of what that war is until all seems to be crashing down around you. The battle scenes vary....the attacks can come from literally anywhere....and multiple attacks at the same time. In one scene from that film John Wayne was lying on the deck of a ship that was on fire....and was going down. The director had the audience wondering for a minute or so if Wayne's character was going to die....for it certainly looked as if he would. My mind flashed to my own father....who in my mind's eye has always had a facial resemblance to John Wayne....who himself once lie on a ship's deck....suffering burns that would plague him the remainder of his life. 
                Pastor/leaders of some of the most God-exalting ministries that we have in America have from time to time....some of them regularly....undergone attacks that even put their ministry in jeopardy. MacArthur is one....Sproul another....Michael Horton....and very specifically John Piper. The more injurious they are to the works of the Devil....the more they are put upon. This is nothing new....in fact this is the normal....and if there are not attacks....then something entirely different may be the problem. Charles Spurgeon....the most influential of all....was ripped and torn in his last days....his wife even saying that it ultimately cost him his life....the same with J. Gresham Machen in the Presbyterian church....and it cost him his life also.
                 We are no different. Stay in the safe spaces and there will be few problems....but also few glorious testimonies to the saving power....and keeping power of God. I write these words in this post for young people primarily. Step number one is acknowledge your inexperience. Do not let it hinder you.....but go forth knowing that times will come when every bone in your body may plead with you to stop....to consider the warnings that all your friends gave you when you first embarked on this perilous voyage.
                 Step number two is to try to find fellowship with like minds. Whitefield did this....and Robert Murray M'Cheyne. Jeremiah needed Baruch. Elijah needed Elisha....but Jonah had no one. If your pastor does not seem to have this unction that you have....that keeps you up at night dwelling on the glories of Jesus Christ....and shedding tears for the salvation of loved ones....then there are always these faithful pastors that God beams to us through the various telecommunications that we have today.
                  

Archaeological Find

                 This was just in the news a few days ago....archaeologists in Turkey announced that they stumbled upon what may be the world's largest underground city.....built 1900 years ago.....that may at one time have had a population of as many as 70,000 people! "Colossal" and "stupendous" were some of the descriptions of the find. The Christian community would have gone underground....literally....for protection from the pagan culture. I can remember studying about the catacombs of Rome....probably in grade school....but can we really even get close to understanding living that kind of life? We are not in such subterranean living conditions today....for we are still above ground....living in what Bunyan would call the....City Of Destruction....and working in or visiting for the entertainment....Vanity Fair. What we have lost is the understanding that we are but pilgrims.....passing through....may our pulpits remind us of this from time to time!