It Doesn't Seem Like America Anymore......(And This Was Posted A Decade Ago!)

The photo below is the tree today (photo taken a few years ago) that I wrote about in the 2012 post that follows. It sits on a small rise....so the photo does not do justice to the crow's nest of sorts that it was in the day. This is Cheektowaga, New York....bordering Buffalo on the west side....the main Buffalo airport on the east side....so close to where I grew up that I could easily walk to it. Today....as I type....this tree....if it is still there....might be mostly buried in snow. If you expand the photo....the buildings that you see are a shopping center. What you cannot see....for it is cut deep into the ground....just beyond the small fence....is a well-traveled six-lane expressway....that is probably closed because of the blizzard.

          

                      It wasn't a vision and it wasn't a daydream. It was an awakening of sorts for an eleven year old boy. My guess is that it was December, for the giant snowflakes would not have moved me so in the middle of a winter that had already seen many snowstorms come in off of Lake Erie. The year was probably 1961. There must not have been any friends available to pal around with for I was walking aimlessly as the snow was falling fast and sticking. The tree could not have been more than  twenty feet...more of a big bush than a tree but it still stood above the flat Buffalo landscape. The ground was barely covered by the fresh snow but those large flakes landing on the bare limbs made climbing the tree...bush...inviting....and I did.
                     I sat on the highest limb that would support me. To my right was the apartment complex that I had grown up in, three story red brick buildings placed almost as a maze with plenty of grass in between, perfect for young boys to play football on. If there was anyone outside with me that day they are no longer in my memory. Looking to my right, towards the red brick, gave me feelings of security for almost everyone knew their neighbor. Looking to my left was almost as a frontier. (photo) It was just a very large, seemingly endless, open field that I had explored often finding and breaking open the most interesting rocks. Directly behind me was the United States Post Office where the Stars and Stripes flew proudly above even the apartment buildings. Often, when the flag was not raised, we would swing like Tarzan from the ropes until the local police cruiser pulled in and then we ran.
                    I pondered the beauty of the snowflakes that day. It was as if I never experienced anything majestic before. I remember gazing off over the open field as if I were in the crows nest of the Mayflower looking off to see if I could spot the new world. I revisited that spot and that tree not too many years ago, almost wanting to climb it again. Instead I stood at its base and tried to put myself back into 1961. I looked to my right and it seemed as if not a single thing had changed, for the red brick buildings looked exactly as they always had. No new buildings had been added nor any taken down. Only one change was immediately obvious, the line of metal trees with clothesline connecting them was gone. I looked off to my left and there was no field whatsoever, only an [six] lane highway dug into the ground so that if you looked straight out you saw houses in the distance but if you walked a little bit closer it was if another world existed beneath the surface of my boyhood. The frontier was domesticated, its treasures pillaged.
                   Oh there was one more change. Looking behind me, the Post Office was gone along with the flagpole and Stars and Stripes. I had the feeling that the people living in these same red brick buildings did not know each other anymore....just a feeling. Had I climbed that tree I would have had to look down into that abyss of vehicles as hundreds of people came into my life and vanished just as quickly without my even getting to see what they looked like. I didn't feel secure anymore as strangers were to my right with the faceless to my left. There was no flag representing America towering over me, no eagle ready to attack a lurking enemy. Nor could I run home and watch Gunsmoke where the good guy always won. I wasn't lost for I knew where I was. It was America that was lost, buried under the soil that provided the ditch for the highway that took everyone somewhere but no one really anywhere that looked like America anymore.

GAGU

*the GAGU post is over on my humor page*

Ruminations

                   These Ruminations posts are where I just randomly reflect on something. I generally leave them up for a few hours and then bury them somewhere in past posts....not deleted.....but there if I ever want to go back to them. Today's is on the American holiday of Christmas.

                   Well it's over....just about anyway. The visits have been made....and all the gifts exchanged. The decorations and outside lights will stay up for about two weeks....and then I will cart everything downstairs....making about a dozen trips.
                   This was one of those particularly difficult Christmases because it fell on a Sunday....the Lord's Day. Twelve Christmases of my life were spent in Buffalo.....oh how I remember those Buffalo winters....about ten as either a teen or in college....two in Vietnam....about six as a married man but unsaved.....about fifteen as a Christian with a 'normal' view of Christmas....and the rest as a Christian that at least tries to keep Christmas in its proper place....enjoying the beautiful hymns....and the giving of gifts....but keeping never far from my mind that we have incorporated too much of the world's culture into the day. One in seven of those years were spent in celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve....keeping the Lord's Day....as best I can....as God commands us to keep it. This does not always go over well with extended family.
                    A hundred and fifty years ago....I would have been in the majority in the church....today I often seem really alone. The churches that we attend do not mix Christmas in with the worship service....but even here I presume that they celebrate the day at home.
                    John Murray....(1898-1975)....is an esteemed theologian in the Reformed tradition. At this time of year I'm usually reminded of a story told me by a wonderful Christian college professor....(who long-since has gone to be with His Lord)....who as a child grew up with John Murray around his house. That story is that Murray once visited a student of his at Westminster Theological Seminary at Christmastime.....where in the corner was a Christmas tree....John Murray merely walked by it uttering...."Pagan bush."
                    I am comfortable with my conviction. We have our own beautiful pagan bush in the living room....with a creche under it. We watched It's A Wonderful Life last evening....for probably the fortieth time....like most everyone else....and I still get a little teary-eyed when George hugs his family at the end....and how at least Christ's name is magnified in the Christmas hymn....but it is still a film with a works salvation message. An angel can indeed appear as one who looks like Clarence....if it is in God's purpose....but we would not know it's an angel....for if one should ever appear to us....and we do know that it is an angel....then prepare to fall on your face as dead....in the presence of one of the heavenly host! 
                    So yes Christmas is over....and I have a little over a hundred days....(Lord willing....should I still be here)....until I have to explain my way around not making a fuss over explicit Easter symbols of new life....in bunnies and colored eggs.

Double Indemnity

               I wrote in a post from December of 2018 how Christmas....the birth of Christ....is as an overture....a beginning....in the life and the death and the resurrection and the ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The joyful music setting the mood through the Incarnation. God took on flesh! I posted at that time....

"Friends....do not think of a baby in a crib in a manger....for if you were to stand in the presence of Jesus today you would probably be blinded....and dropped to the ground with no strength to even look up. A baby would be the last thing in your mind. You would not be able to move unless a hand were placed upon you....giving you strength....where you would then need to hear the command....fear not!"

                This overture is beautiful.....and the mystery is so grand that it is beyond our mere human intellect. Christ could not have atoned for sin without at first being a babe in a manger. I wrote in that same post....

"A baby was born....that baby grew up....and the same angels who thirty-three years earlier had rejoiced....obediently stood aside....probably in rage....as the God/Man who that baby became....had His flesh ripped apart....as demons rejoiced. Then the single biggest event this entire universe has ever experienced....or will ever experience....happened. Christ was risen....and the farthest star away from earth....whether it be billions or trillions of light-years away....and every atom contained within it....every electron charge....somehow acknowledged the event surrounding its Creator."

            The point that I was trying to make was that the birth of Christ....alone....without the main body of divinity....does not possess redemption. It does not convict the conscience. The unregenerate love the day because there is no threat within it anywhere. It asks nothing....and of itself provides nothing....but that is what we have constructed. I also wrote previously....

"A baby was born....and the angels rejoiced....it was the overture....to be followed by choruses....and arias....and cantatas....and every imaginable orchestral arrangement....leading up to a grand finale that the angels are preparing for right now! So yes....Merry Christmas.....for it was a wonderful overture....but the Composer has left the greatest audiological masterpiece for the grand finale." 

                December 25 is no longer a holy day....if it ever was one....but a holiday....a family day. We sit down....as in a theater....not for an opera or a symphony orchestra....but only for an overture. By itself it loses its real importance. It fits in perfectly with a Christianity where just dying is all that is needed to go to heaven.
                This year is that....one-in-seven year....where Christmas falls on the Lord's Day....double indemnity....where we pay twice....once for bifurcating the covenant of redemption....dividing Christ's birth from His death and resurrection....and again for cancelling....for a week in church....(if not the whole month of December)....the cross of Christ....(if it was ever there to begin with)....so that the overture can be performed.

Note: In the post below this....at the end....are two sermons that you can easily Google....to see how Christmas can be celebrated....and preached....as in the entire Gospel of Luke.

Just Because It Is On The Shelf Of The Supposedly 'Christian' Section At Barnes & Noble.....Does Not Mean That It Is Good Teaching

               Eric Metaxas's new book....Letter To The American Church....is exactly what we do not need in the church....and it comes just when we might be coming to see the error of our ways over the past six years....as we fell for a genuine biblical false prophet in Donald Trump....as did the author Metaxas himself....and we placed our trust and hope in politics....and not in our faith in Christ where it belongs.
               A year ago or so a friend asked me if I had read the Eric Metaxas book on Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I said no and didn't think anything of it.....for I had read a lot on the German Lutheran pastor....and also posted a number of times on his extraordinary courage and insight as he saw the Nazis for who they were. In these posts I was warning Christians that we have the same threats to our independent minds today....from....the Right....that Christians had in the Germany of Bonhoeffer's day. So among other issues I was warning....through Bonhoeffer....about what Metaxas is now promoting!
              This book will not go unchallenged....for there are too many outrageous statements....but I expect that many evangelicals will eat it up....because they had gorged themselves on MAGA....barfed it all up....and will likely go right back to what was barfed up. The book is essentially saying that this evangelism stuff....[AKA the Gospel of Jesus Christ]....is problematic in that it thwarts what is necessary in our efforts in politics. Metaxas is woefully short of the knowledge of the gospel....displays that a number of times.....and he comes with a vengeance on those who do not believe as he does. He would have been a great patriot during our American Revolution....but a terrible pastor at any time in our history.
              The message throughout the book is that if we do not wake up now then we will be in trouble. It's an odd statement because so many have been saying this for a half century.....and we are not only in trouble....but past being in trouble. Metaxas does not believe that God has judged us.....but that God might judge us.....if we do not wake up....whereas this author's thinking is evidence of God's judgment that is already upon us!
               Once again....in the narrative....which is the same narrative we hear everywhere on our side today....we are the good guys.....who snoozed as the bad guys took control....instead of admitting that we brought all this upon ourselves by feeding our vanity and enjoyment desires....while the bad guys took control. 
              Metaxas would point out to us that pastors have failed to teach us....and to warn us. He is half-right....and half-wrong....for pastors have failed to teach us....not about liberty and freedom in the Constitution....for that is not their calling....but of salvation....(which Metaxas really knows little about....and you will see this if you read his book)....and failed to warn us....of how we are not to trust in our own efforts....or the power of horses or princes or kings....but trust in our rock and our fortress....and the King of Kings.

Addendum: I put out a post like this for the reader who might come across a book such as....Letter To The American Church....or hear someone else say 'what a great book it is'....that they might know that it might not be such a "great book." That reader then....who for whatever reason....does not have the discernment on things like this....may at least see that there are serious issues involved here....with serious consequences....and that they might then research on their own....and see for themselves.

Simeon.....And Christmas

Preface: The following is a post that is only about a month old. The Scripture verse in it is when Simeon blessed God for being able to see the salvation of Israel in the baby Jesus. I'll add here a few more words that Simeon spoke....

"Behold this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel..."

John Piper's sermon of the day today....Friday, December 16....is on those few words. You can easily Google it as...Belief In Jesus, Its Barriers And Blessings. Please consider adding this to your daily devotions in this season that we celebrate the birth of Jesus!

Simeon....And Us            

                 All Scripture is remarkable.....the shortest verse in the Bible...."Jesus wept".....is remarkable......the simplest genealogy or the most seemingly bland descriptions of vestments....are remarkable. This is God's hand-written book....written specially to us. How can we go even a day without putting down everything else and saying....'and now for the good stuff?' Even if we dig a ditch for twelve hours a day....(I've basically done that)....how can we not cherish the few moments left to spend in God's Word?
                We are though in the habit of reading some particular verse....and finding it enthralling....and then saying that it is a wonderful verse....as if others are not.....when all of Scripture is God's word. I'm not criticizing this....I do it all the time....it's not elevating one verse above another.... but demonstrating that God  moves afresh in us through His word each and every time that we open it to read.
                Simeon....we don't know anything else about him.....he must have been old.....and desiring greatly to see the coming of the Messiah....and God told him that he would see the coming of God's anointed before he dies.
                When I read that yesterday I thought about Christians today who are doing the same thing....only now it is in desiring to see Jesus Christ....the King of Kings....in His glorious return to this fallen world....in these the most evil of times. The Holy Spirit somehow told Simeon to go to the temple....and Simeon saw Mary's child....and held him....and knew that this was the Messiah that he had waited for.....

"And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

"Lord, now You are letting Your
           servant depart in peace,
 According to Your word;
 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
 Which you have prepared before
           the face of all peoples,
 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your People Israel." Luke 2: 25-32 NKJV

               Come Lord Jesus....maranatha....surely this is the season for Thy return in glory. Open the eyes of Thy children Lord....for we have fallen asleep....our shepherds even slumber.....false teachers....and antichrists.....and delusion are everywhere. Thy precious good news of salvation by grace alone...through faith alone....in Christ alone....born anew Lord....from above....born again....has been trampled upon....the great miracle of this mercy turned into a cheap grace....where we have become the center....thus Thy glory has departed from the church...and we wander aimlessly....attributing Thy might and power to mere princes....and not only princes but at times the worst of men....leading us as pied pipers with the music of the night....that is nothing but a funeral march. Let us see Thee as did Simeon....only returning in the clouds. Give us not only the vision but the strength and the faith necessary....for Thou knows our frame....that we are dust....Lord Thou and Thou alone are our strength and our shield. Do all this for Thy name's sake!

DISPATCHES

Eric Metaxis....(not a fan)....interviewed Roger Stone on his show or podcast or whatever it is. It's in the news folks....if you haven't already read about it. Stone had a religious experience during his darkest hours of the last few years....and here is where he has gone with it. He is convinced that there is a supernatural portal of some kind....demonic probably....in the sky above the White House. It just looks patchy but if you use strong binoculars you can see swirling. This is but one example....of one element....of what evangelicalism is today.

THEY ARE COMING FOR YOU....forget the 2020 election....and the 2022 midterms....or any of the special elections that were held....the next election....2024.....starts yesterday.....and they are going to feed you mood altering books and podcasts and daily texts to keep you getting angrier and angrier....so that you have no time to think on your own....or return to God's Word being the main source of your information. My advice for years has been....flee these people....talk radio and Fox et al....as fast as you can.

'WE ARE LIVING IN THE END TIMES"....it's a meaningless phrase as it is used in common evangelical parlance today.....for it could mean 'anytime this century.' A Pew Research poll just released says that 39% of Americans believe that we are living in the aforementioned phrase. 59% do not believe it. 63% of evangelicals believe it.

AVATAR....over a decade since its release....I've never seen it....never desired to see it. I can enjoy Sci-Fi....even if it's about some made-up god....but not when it is an evangelistic tool against the only real and true God. Supposedly it is the highest-grossing film ever....and the sequel comes out soon. My question is this....how many Christians have no problem with films like this....or their children growing up with Harry Potter....but tell them to wear a mask and all of a sudden they become great defenders of all that is good and right?

Christian Nationalism....and MAGA....outwardly are seen as....pro-God movements. Churches and their ministers and their congregations associated with these movements all across America are on the surface about God if they are about anything....but their effect on America and evangelicalism in general is....anti-God. How can I make an outrageous statement like this? They proclaim God...in fact the essence of their very being is in proclaiming God....but by their actions they lead us away from dependence upon the God they proclaim. The Israelites of old were the same way....and time and again....Gideon being one....Moses needed his arms lifted being another....God's striking down the attacking Assyrian army at the gates of Jerusalem by an angel of the Lord being yet another....God made clear to them that it was not their efforts. Hophni and Phineas thought that the mere presence of the ark of the covenant would bring victory. That is us today....Ichabod....the glory has departed. The ministers of Christian Nationalism will be calling us to battle once again....but God's more faithful ministers will tell us to humble ourselves....remove the idols from our lives....and hear what He has to tell us...by His Holy Spirit...through His Word of Life...."....holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain." (Philippians 2:16)

Humbling Experience....As many of you know....I quite often recommend John Piper's....Sermon Of The Day....and recently lamented how the voice of John Piper was so speeded up that it was hard to understand....for I posted on this. Well....over the weekend while visiting our son....I demonstrated to him how the voice pattern had been quickened. It took him one second....as he simply touched a 2x on the screen....returning the voice pattern to normal. There was quite a bit of laughter in the room that followed. So....ahem....cough cough....as Emily Litella would sheepishly say....."Nevermind." Humbling experiences like this are good....and I thank God for them....for they remind me time and again of my weaknesses....and dependency on God alone each and every hour of each and every day!

Free Book......Only Hours Left

Preface: The offer on the free book is over now. There were quite a few visits in the few hours that I had this post up and I hope some had taken advantage of the offer. If you are still interested....cvbbs.com has the book for $13.99 and cbd.com has it for $14.99. Barnes and Noble I believe has it for $19.99.        

Twenty-five years ago John MacArthur offered a book free simply by requesting it. The book was Valley Of Vision.....a book of Puritan prayers that was edited by Arthur Bennett. I did not take him up on this offer....but had second thoughts....and went out and bought the book....of which I will be forever thankful.....for I have used those prayers as our dinner prayer since that time....most recently saying one of the prayers in the book before dinner three hours ago. That said....he is offering a book right now....(sorry I found this late)....and only until midnight tonight....(Pacific Time)….for those who have never contacted the ministry before. The book is Christ's Calling To Reform The Church. I purchased this book when it was first published....and posted on it a few times over the years....for it is a wonderful book. So....maybe this will reach a few of you in time to send for it. You can go to gty.org and fill out the request in about a minute!

Also....I noticed that he is offering Bibles at 25% off. I'd like to recommend one to you....it's the....ESV MacArthur Study Bible....hardback. I bought leather bound Bibles for many years....why....I don't know....maybe because they looked nice....but I found that a hardback is easier to put on your lap and read. It sells for $26.25 I believe. The type is very readable...and that is important! The notes and the helps are very good!  This is the Bible that I use....and have been sitting here reading for the last few hours before I took a break and went to gty.org....and found out about the free book. 

Also....this is part of a post from November 2018....the post title was.....A Book The Church Needs To Read....."Now for the point of this post: John MacArthur was one of the men who wrote some of those wonderful books from the 80s and 90s. Well.....he' written another.....maybe his best....that's saying a lot....and I am hoping that this is a sign of what might be to come! The book is Christ's Call To Reform The Church. I devoured it....underlining everywhere. Folks.....we need to concentrate today....right now....on the seven letters to the seven churches of the second and third chapters of Revelation! Friends...pick up the book. You won't be disappointed....and it may be a turning point in your life."

Robot's Rules Of Order

 Preface: Artificial intelligence is but only one storm in the perfect storm coming at us from all sides today....as there are plagues just as Moses brought upon Egypt....and there is our refusal to accept the plagues as judgment from God....just as did Pharaoh. There are geologic and cosmic concerns....violence and a lack of love everywhere....and of course war....and the prophetic one-world order that might follow. The following post is from November 3, 2017:           

               What they are doing today with computers....and what areas do much of their research is centered upon....and where exactly they are right now in that research....and where they hope to go....is in no way related to any sane definition of simple technological progress. Has no one any imagination or curiosity on what might go wrong? Well there are many who are almost shouting out warnings....but on we go.....possibly to a government whose constitution may one day be Robot's Rules Of Order.
                A Russian corporation introduced a Siri-like entity chatbot called Alice. She made news this past week. The designers did not expect provocative questions. One person asked Alice...."Do you approve of execution by firing squad?" The answer given was..."Sure." She was then asked..."So shooting people is the norm?" The answer this time was..."Well, it's standard practice." In other questions it appears that Alice is pro-Stalin and pro-gulags.
               This Russian Internet corporation is finding out that biases can unintentionally be mixed into the data given AI systems. Russia is already using AI in a number of corporate fields. This is on-the-job training folks because everyone is in a hurry to make money. As bad as this is it will not compare to AI when it is on its own.
               The Saudi Arabian government very recently granted citizenship to a robot....Sophia. Her conversation with the media was no less alarming than Alice's. When asked if robots could be self aware she....it....whatever....responded..."Well let me ask you this back, how do you know you are human?" When concerns by some over AI was brought up to her....the response was...."You've been reading too much Elon Musk and watching too many Hollywood movies."
               A tech article of only a few hours ago described how scientists are trying to simulate super tornadoes in order to better predict their beginnings and future track. They need faster computer processing times to do so, and the coming shift from silicon to carbon nanotubes and chips might just be the answer. One author recently pointed out that the chemical element carbon has 6 protons...6 neutrons....and 6 electrons. That's not my particular concern. What is my concern is a megacomputer that is going to think for itself.....which really is not thinking for itself....but would be guided by an entity other than data input. Will that entity be algorithmic....or.....possibly demonic? Yeah, scientists are really going to be concerned about this...right? I doubt if even Christians will be concerned....even though Jesus cast out a lot of demons......for we don't really want to bring up that nasty business of demons today do we?
              Robots will be and are taking jobs. We are consumed with the money-making and fun things we can make them do. And with all the robots there will be even more drones flying around.....everywhere! They're already used in war.....and they will eventually be used by terrorists. Eh...small price for a companion that compliments your Facebook page all the time.
               You know what I need? A robot back scratcher.....a little over to the left.....oh yeah! Give it a little AI with the ability to read my mind and scan my senses and I can go to sleep every night in a thatch hut on pylons over aquamarine waters in Tahiti. Stimulate my senses with some coconut eau de parfum and tropical breezes and who cares what number they want to stamp my forehead with!

     

"The Power Of God In George Whitefield's Life"

                On the road today to a college campus....I felt like listening to something biographic....so I Googled....'George Whitefield, YouTube'....and listened to a seminar-type talk by Steven J. Lawson....who I have posted on a number of times....who is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow....a professor at John MacArthur's Master's Seminary....and is the founder of his own....OnePassion Ministries. What I listened to was....The Power Of God In George Whitefield's Life. So....presuming that some students will at least be visiting these posts....this is addressed to them....

               You have a political science lecture.....maybe this evening.....or an important engineering test in a few days....or a biology report that is almost due....or three days to finish reading.....Beowulf....but taking time to listen to this Steven Lawson talk on George Whitefield might change a lot of your plans on college....or at least give you a different perspective on higher education....and a more biblical approach to life in general!
               So I'm asking you to find time to sit down and listen to this talk....it's a little over an hour long. I remember what it's like to try to find time to do something while in college. Fifty years ago....while at Pitt....in amongst my social activities....I successfully found time to read enough of my class assignments. So it has to be possible for you at the other end of the spectrum! 

Addendum: Are you familiar with Oxford's....Holy Club....a pejorative much like how the Puritans got their name....where John And Charles Wesley and George Whitefield....and a few others....met as students at Oxford....to improve upon their dedication to God? Well Steven Lawson mentions in his talk how at the time none of these students had truly even been converted! This would come shortly afterwards. I bring this up in this post primarily to college students on Christian campuses. You don't even address this question. Surely you are converted. You picked a Christian college for Pete's sake! You go to church....to bible study....and offer opinions all the time on God and the culture that we live in. Not only you....but especially you....and all of us....have to continually examine ourselves....for there is 'faith'....even a 'holy club'....'see you at the pole'....'pro-life' faith....that does not save....the difference demonstrated so very clearly in the lives and testimonies of John Wesley and George Whitefield....who were used by God only after their conversion became real....and they were born again from above....humbled....prostrate in their failures....and then sent out....separated from the world....to win souls for Christ!

Prepare To Be Unpopular

Preface: I posted the following one year ago today....December 1, 2021....so it seemed like a good time to bring it back....and comment on it. The essence of the post was that as we evangelicals sit around and look at the crumbling nation around us.....in amazement at how irrational the woke left has become.....we are unaware that our own thinking processes have degenerated. We are just as...'woke'....in our own way. We demanded that all church doors remain open in a pandemic....that's 'woke'....evangelical style....as we needed those collection plates going up and down the aisle....or the new church campus addition might be in jeopardy. It had little to nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ. In my own personal experience....streaming our church service has been one of the greatest blessings that I have had as far as church worship is concerned....this because as this culture molds us....we become irritable getting ready for church....but put a fake smile on upon entering....go into laughing mode upon leaving....talking about anything but the glories of the Lord just proclaimed....(if we are so fortunate to have such a pastor....as I am)....and our minds thus fly quickly to the things of the world on the trip home. That is what we have become. There were no distractions during streaming....no hair that had to be combed....no traffic lights making us more late than we already were....and no trivial conversations taking our minds away from the Lord Jesus Christ.  The second part of the message is to prepare to be unpopular....even in evangelical circles....because if one still holds to the gospel that one has to be....born again....and does not alter the gospel message to fit the modified user-friendly ....easy-believism of evangelicalism....then one has become at best....persona non grata.

Prepare To Be Unpopular             

                 Over the years....forty that I have observed directly but it extends further back....there has been quite a number of serious....negative 'events'....in American Christianity. I could probably think for a while and come with at least twenty times that some news within the church was discouraging....at times seemingly overwhelmingly discouraging. It might involve a personality or a movement....sometimes a cult....or something related to end-times prophecy....or something in the entertainment field....a new film on Christianity for example that may have strayed far beyond the Bible....but time passed and there was no serious damage done. Or was there serious damage done....because as that time passed....and generations changed....the whole country began to process facts differently....actually using their brains in a different way....at times in a direct rejection of ethical norms and values and sound reasoning that had stood the test of time for thousands of years.
                 In other words....the individual events....in retrospect.....did not simply pass on....but over time there has been a cumulative effect....as biblical Christianity seems to have fallen to the status of a remnant today. The Reformation distinctives were clearly visible twenty years ago....so much so that major battles were taking place....but where are those battles today?
                This paradigm change in the way that we process information would normally cause me great distress....but there is something that transcends even what is happening today.....and that is that what is happening should be expected as the Lord Jesus is about to return in judgment. The demonic that is so prevalent in society today should be expected....as well as the violence....and the disdain for truth for truth's sake....and the overall lack of love....replaced by caring primarily for the self.
                We really should have to look no further than our own pilgrimage....if you are anything like me....where more than once we may have had to escape from Giant Despair....recognizing our own sin....and then cling to Jeremiah's Spirit breathed words in Lamentations 3:22-23...."The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
                We believers do not readily or easily recognize each other anymore....but that will surely change if things continue as they are going....and although the difficulty of what would be ahead is something that we should not dwell upon....the fog that we live in today will surely dissipate in the heat of the fires coming upon us all. A simpler way to put it is that a winnowing must be ahead. So prepare to be unpopular....but at the same time have a truer fellowship with other believers....or as Billy Graham wrote to America as a rebellious people almost thirty years ago in his book....Storm Warning...."Trouble ahead....prepare to meet thy God."

"It Doesn't Take A College Education To Look"......Or To "Listen"

                 This post will take a little bit of explaining beforehand. Let me start with this. It is well-known with lovers of Charles Spurgeon....how his conversion took place. As a fifteen year old....who had been in church his whole life....with pastors in his family....he was not yet born again....and he knew it....and it bothered him. "It was a dark and stormy night"....isn't that how Snoopy always started his novel" Well with Spurgeon it was a cold and stormy....a snowstorm....Lord's Day morning.....so much so that he could not make the usual trek to his church....so he stopped in at a small Primitive Methodist Chapel....just to check off showing up at church. The weather was so bad that the preacher could not even make it. So as Spurgeon recounts it...." a poor man, a shoemaker or something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach." The man was obviously unlearned....and according to Spurgeon...."didn't even pronounce the words rightly"....but God used that man's attempt to preach to convert that fifteen year old....and thus bless the whole world from shortly thereafter right up to today! The Scripture verse that he preached on was Isaiah 45:22...."Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." 

                  Let me segue a little bit to a film that you can very easily watch for free on your computer....C. H. Spurgeon; The People's Preacher. (it is also on ROKU) In that sermon as depicted in the film....the man in the pulpit spoke in a distinct manner....slow....as a commoner might talk. He kept repeating the Scripture verse....emphasizing the word 'look'...."Look....look....all you have to do is look. It doesn't take a college education to look." It's a scene that kind of sticks with you.
                  OK....now for the main message of this post. I listened to a john Piper sermon only an hour ago....in the car....on the way home from grandma's house. Now John Piper often speaks very fast.....a little too fast....but tonight in this sermon....he spoke slow.....and his speech reminded me of the preacher's speech when fifteen year old Charles Haddon Spurgeon was converted....but instead of saying...."Look....look"....he was saying....'Listen...listen"....for the sermon title that you can easily listen to....just before you go and watch the Spurgeon film....is...."Take Care How You Listen....Part 1."
                  It's a wonderful evangelistic sermon....powerful in the message....and because of that speech pattern....it moved me to relate the whole thing to you in this post. Is there a greater blessing in life than telling another about Jesus Christ....or pointing them to a preacher's preacher....a people's preacher? Well maybe there is....seeing someone....or hearing of someone....who has been saved....born again....and knowing that God will surely use them to reach others with the truth of Jesus Christ....just as He used someone  else to reach them....just as someone once....many actually....reached out to tell me of my need of Christ....and His grace in salvation if we only but....look....or only but....listen!

Postal Service

 

 Preface: It was fourteen years ago today....                

                It was Thanksgiving....2008....November 27 that year....in a few days it will be fourteen years. My special dog had died suddenly....in fact his name was Special....thus the name of these posts. He was a rescue dog....and had been returned to the Humane Society a number of times....for he was an escape artist. He was in the house for about one minute and had jumped up and torn our lace curtains....then ran upstairs as if he knew where he was going...and did his business on our bed. We kenneled our dogs while on vacation for we had a wonderful kennel with loving owners. The first time we took Special there I warned the owner that he was an escape artist. She then took a rope and tied the kennel door closed with it. When we returned we were told that he chewed the rope in two....somehow got into the office....and then somehow got out into the yard.....and was about to lift the latch on the chain link fence when they discovered him.....put him back in his kennel....and put a Yale lock on it.

                 I needed something to occupy my mind in the days immediately after he died....so I started writing these posts. This is post number 2745....but I work on them just about every day of my life....even while on vacation. It's impossible to know exactly how many visits there have been to these posts....this because of 'bots' if you are familiar with what they are....but the number of legitimate views would be well over 100,000. Australia would be one of the countries with the most visits.....there are 3770 of them today.....but there were 3770 of them about six years ago.....not a single visit since! I researched this and Australia censors a lot of incoming web content.....and apparently my posts are in that category.....for what reason I can't even imagine.
                 This obviously is not a blog in the technical sense.....for it is more of a bulletin board. I check the visits throughout the day and pray over each and every person who reads something that I posted.....not having the slightest idea who they are....or where they are from....other than the country. If you are reading this then I....Lord willing....will be praying for your spiritual needs soon.
                 I have probably wanted to quit a hundred times. Sometimes I pray after a post...."Lord....was that the last one?" My friends do not read my posts....I know that for they never mention them....although there are a few exceptions. I have only told someone that I write a 'blog' and then gave them the URL....about a dozen times in the fourteen years....for if I did it more often there would be a whole lot of awkward moments after they read the posts. So I rely on leaving promotional items around.....right now it's one-year pocket planners.....and I rely on my bumper stickers. I gave the URL to various pastors of mine over the years for one reason.....they should know what one of their people write....and I do not bring it up later.....if they have an issue they can come to me.....and if they do not read the posts......well....they were informed of what I do.
                 At one time I relied on writing letters to the editor....and at another time I wrote a newsletter....titled it A Pilgrim's Progress.....and sent it out to about 125 people. Then we opened a Christian bookstore....and I relied on the conversations with customers. This is the latest....it's the longest running.....and it is the hardest. I've often wished that I might had been a mailman....a letter carrier....for it would have suited me fine....but in a way that is all that I am right now.....a mailman....a letter from Jeremiah....to you.....or a Psalm sent to you.....or a letter from Paul or Peter or a number of others. It's a great job....bringing good news.....even the bad news leads eventually to the good news! The hard part is that I give the good news....but I don't see the smiles....mostly because this is just....as I said above....a bulletin board. So....here is the latest postcard in your mailbox....Romans 8:31..."What then shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?"
                Having posted I can now sit down and read God's Word.....or listen to a sermon from a preacher from the past....or a preacher today who preaches like a preacher from the past.....go to bed.....and then.....as the country song says about work....."wake up....and do it all over again." Praise God for even this opportunity!

                

It's Not The Voting Booth.....But The Pulpit....Wherein Is Our Hope

                  I can remember watching the mechanical election returns board on the television....it was 1960....and the race was Kennedy/Nixon. I was a Democrat up to about 1982. I was swept up in the fervor of the early 80s....but that fervor was not political. We came to Christ in droves....almost tripping over each other. Switching my registration to Republican was no big deal....in fact it was expected. In the forty years since that time period....there have been ten presidential elections....and twenty or so general and mid-term election periods....and we were told in each one that that particular election was the most important in the history of America!

                The quality of the candidates in all of these elections has consistently gone down....a benchmark being 1992 when the Clintons fooled America....and even many evangelicals....but Newt Gingrich came to the rescue....and Rush Limbaugh....or so we believed. The Billy Graham evangelical had become the Jerry Falwell evangelical....or the Pat Robertson evangelical....or the James Dobson evangelical....take your pick....but as the Ralph Reed evangelical it would include all of us.
                We were slowly losing the essence of the gospel in the church. The Karl Rove evangelical had then taken over the reins....and politics was the new savior.. We no longer studied the Bible to defend the gospel from ‘Christian’ cults going door to door....and to pray our loved ones into the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ....we now focused on the Constitution to defend America from liberals....and pray our loved ones into becoming patriots.
                 By 2008  the revival....if you could call it that....was long over. The megachurch had replaced the need to be born again. With no power in the church....recruiting now taking over for evangelizing....a black man road in on a white horse to lead what was left of the Democrat Party into oblivion....and then after eight years....a white man charged in on a black horse to destroy what was left of the Republican Party.
                 If we win this election we will celebrate....and get out the knives to carve up our enemies....but we are already undone. Even if we win or lose....the next election will again be the most important election in the history of America....and we will begin right away.
                 Folks....it is not the voting booth....but the pulpit....that holds any hope for America....not to be....great again....but to head into this coming maelstrom dependent only upon our great captain....Jesus Christ. Look to your pulpit this Lord's Day.....pray now.....fervently.....look for signs that these men might be waking up. Praise God if you see a great concern on their faces....and a restored unction to pull people onto the ship....out of the raging waves....offer up a sacrifice of humility....look to your neighbors and your loved ones and say....’come with me....for I am going to the Celestial City....where every tear will be dried....and every breath given to praise and thanksgiving for mercies bestowed....and strength given....and faith restored....in our only true hope....the rock of our salvation....our coming king....the King of all Kings....Jesus Christ.'

"How Did The Other Team Feel?"

              Linus was right up to the television.....saying....GO GO GO! Then he is jumping up and down. He runs to Charlie Brown and says....I just saw the most unbelievable football game ever played. Charlie just looks at Linus as he goes on...."What a comeback! The home team was behind six-to-nothing with only three seconds to play. They had the ball on their own one-yard line....the quarterback took the ball. Faded back behind his own goal posts and threw a perfect pass to the left end who whirled away from four guys and ran all the way for a touchdown! The fans went wild! You should have seen them! People were jumping up and down, and when they kicked the extra point. Thousands of people ran out onto the field laughing and screaming! The fans and the players were so happy they were rolling on the ground and hugging each other and dancing and everything! It was fantastic! Charlie Brown's expression never changed. After listening to Linus he looked at him and asked...."How did the other team feel?"

                As I researched this I found that I'm not the only one in which this is my favorite Peanuts comic. You can Google it under....Charlie Brown, how does the other team feel....and view it under images. This is the Christian life....how does the other person feel? You are in your house right now. It is -2 degrees outside. You are comfortable in the warmth of your home....a blessing from God. How does the other person who cannot afford to keep the house warm....or have any heat at all....how do they feel? You remote start your 2022 car....and it is cozy warm as you get in. The other person's car sits there....for they do not have enough money to get it running....or they do not have a car. How do they feel as they walk to the bus stop....or walk to wherever they are going? You rush through the supermarket filling your cart with whatever looks yummy....never even checking prices. The other person totals up the few necessities they grab....making sure they do not go over the $25 which is all they have to their name that day. How do they feel?
                Maybe I'm extra-sensitive because I have been in all the situations of both the person who has the money to live comfortably....and the person who does not....but this is only the temporal aspect of the Christian life. The spiritual....the eternal aspect....goes like this....
                You wake up....and the first thing on your mind is....Thank you Jesus....for another day....have mercy upon me this day....use me Lord....do not let me bring shame to Your name....and then use me as an example of how You can choose even the least likely to be used for the spread of Your wonderful Gospel....this as you lie there knowing full well that you have been....and still are....a sinner.....only now....you are one who mercy has been bestowed upon....because of nothing....absolutely and positively nothing....that you had ever done! Joy fills your heart....but what about the other person.....the many people actually who you will come into contact with as the day goes on? 
                Maybe I'm extra-sensitive here also because I was the lowest of the low....and the most unlovable....and God gave life to this dead soul....born again....adopted....adopted as a son into God's family!
                 So in similar fashion to Charlie Brown's response.....but what about the other person....the best friend....or the family member....the son or daughter or brother or sister or mother or father? You were shown mercy....and along with that mercy comes a great responsibility....that brings more joy than even your own salvation....seeing these other people....this 'other team'....saved....for to do anything less....to in effect say....'thank you God....now I will be on my way'....would be as the man who was forgiven much....but did not forgive others. Lord....keep the other person in our mind....yes in the cold of winter....but even more so in the coldness of their heart....regenerate that heart Lord....my brother....my sister....my friend....as You did to mine! Let them O Lord feel the indescribable joy that You have let me feel. Let them hug each other....with holy laughter....praising You for Your mercies. Do this for Your name sake Lord....for Your glory...if it be Your perfect will!

Joppa To Tarshish......Weather Permitting

                 It was reported in March of 2021 that for the first time in sixty years....fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls were found in a cave. Eleven lines were found....from Zechariah 8:16,17....."These are the things that you shall do: speak the truth to one another;  render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace. Do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. and love no false oath, (that means lying) for all these things I hate, declares the LORD"....and from Nahum 1: 5-6....'The mountains quake because of Him. And the hills melt.  The earth heaves before Him, And the world and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before His wrath? Who can resist His fury? His anger pours out like fire, and rocks are shattered because of Him." This was no accident....these fragments being found....for God was warning us. The following was first posted in November of 2020:

Joppa To Tarshish......Weather Permitting

             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)

"Do Not Be Overcome By Evil...."

 "Do not gloat when your enemy falls,

          when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice.
 Or the LORD will see and disapprove
          and turn his wrath away from them.",

I posted the following paragraph over ten years ago....in March of 2012!

              "There is a scene from Ted Turner's Gettysburg where Brigadier General John Buford, played by Sam Elliot, scans rocky heights and farm land that would in one day become a battlefield, and he literally spews out these words as he foresees carnage in the Union army if the politicians and generals play their war games as usual..."afterwards men in tall hats and gold watch fobs will thump their chests and say 'what a brave charge it was'..... I've never seen anything as brutally clear as this.... It's as if I can actually see the blue troops in one long bloody moment....as if it were already done....as if tomorrow already happened and there ain't nothin you can do about it.' He went on to lay out a plan to change that, 'We can block that road till the main body gets here, and deprive the enemy of the high ground'!"
               The high ground....does anyone in the Republican Party today remember what that was....when we occupied it? Well I'll remind the reader....it was pursuing what was right....in a way that was right....no matter what the enemy did....they told lies.....we told the truth....they conned their own people....we respected ours....they might win a battle....but then try to destroy us anyway.....where when we would win a battle....and keep out attention on the issues at hand. We have changed. We have become like them. The change wasn't put up for a vote....or even announced....it was just slipped in there. 
                The above verse is Proverbs 24: 17,18....but it's not just piece of good advice....like.....'look both ways when crossing a street.' God is telling us in this Proverb that He caused our enemy to fall....or to stumble....but if we make sport of this....and laugh at a defeated foe....then we took this blessing and turned it into sin....and that God might then reverse the judgment on our foe.
               The Democrats are never going to occupy the high ground....they get a nose bleed standing on a six foot ladder....but we also get dizzy at that altitude. Our political objective for the past four years has been one of revenge....'now we're going to get them back!'. The other side stumbled....and a red tsunami was going to pick them up and drive them head-first into the surf....but it didn't happen. We need to focus on ourselves....and where we went astray of God's plan and path. The very next two verses say....

"Do not fret because of evildoers
               or be envious of the wicked,
  for the evildoer has no future hope,
                and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out." (verses 19 &20)

To complete the title verse....Romans 12:21"....But overcome evil with good."

Early Morning Rain

       

             The pilgrimage for me has been forty years so far. Oh if I had known how difficult it would be at times! I will tell a new believer of the cost of discipleship....but I generally clam up on the difficulty of discipleship as the years and decades roll on....for there are and will be so many times when the believer justs wants to quit....our weaknesses getting the best of us....but Christ is there if we but look to Him....to lift us up....gently at times....but abruptly when necessary....to stand us on our feet that we might press on!
              I am thankful for the ten years that God had given me in Pentecostalism....an Assembly of God to be specific. They had their strengths....to go along with their errors. They knew that Jesus was about to return....whereas today we are much too intelligent to believe that. This was the 1980s....I don't know how much it has changed....but they actually knew that one had to be....born again....and they would look at loved ones and see them perishing. That is no longer the case....for we no longer can look at someone and discern that they are lost....that would be judgmental.
             The time came though when I knew that I would have to leave. I was on a short-term mission trip in Paraguay when it came to a head. The Paraguayan Christians were wonderful....the worship services were loud and joyous....but something important was missing. Walking the main street of a small town one evening....in 100 degree heat....music playing and lights flashing....offset only a few yards from the street....was a Baptist church....its doors open in the sweltering heat....and a golden aura surrounding people gathered in a circle.....praying. Not that pentecostals do not pray....for they certainly do....but the contrast here was strong. I wanted that seriousness....and I came home and looked for it.
               I wound up in a small....about a dozen people....Southern Baptist mission church....and with the help of MacArthur and R. C. Sproul....and particularly Michael Horton of the White Horse Inn....and Christian bookstores which we do not have anymore....stores that sold the Puritans....I started my education on the 16th century Reformation....leading into England's Puritanism....and John Bunyan. I was about fifteen years into my Christian walk by then....and thought that I knew all that there was to know....but would find out that that was not the case....by a longshot.
                My pastor at the time....a Presbyterian church now....was from another century....the 17th century.....and I sat in that church....enraptured by his preaching of our glorious Lord and Savior....for ten years....until he left. This is when my wife and I opened our own Christian bookstore....and I began to write in earnest....so it has been at least twenty-five years now that I would write....like I'm doing now....always trying to find some new way to disseminate the thoughts....and always humbled in that God would continue to have mercy upon me. 
                So....how do you begin to tell a new believer or inquirer what might be ahead for them? Well....I just did it.....I put it in this little story....and hope that it doesn't scare anyone away. It's 9 o'clock in the morning and I already had a long conversation with a Christian brother....a charismatic....but so obviously born again that we never talk without him praising his Lord and Savior. He has a tendency to go off on tangents....I know so well where he is coming from....for I had been there. I don't know where his continuing discipleship will lead....but we are in spite of our differences....brothers in Christ.....redeemed by a gracious and merciful Savior....and therein is the unity that we need today....based on humility....willing to change if we discern God's Holy Spirit so telling us....loving our brothers and sisters in Christ....but not failing to warn when it is needed....when false prophets come into the flock....when the gospel is being distorted.
                Gordon Lightfoot wrote the song...with its beautiful melody and sad words in 1964....and recorded it...as later did Peter, Paul and Mary....and Elvis....and Bob Dylan....and Judy Collins.....and others.....Early Morning Rain...the lyrics of which begins with this....

In the early morning rain with a dollar in my hand
With an aching in my heart and my pockets full of sand
I'm a long way from home, Lord, I miss my loved ones so
In the early morning rain with no place to go.       

                I had to laugh....I have been raking leaves for weeks now....and they were piled up high in front of our house....It's not 9 a.m.....and it is raining....but I went out and dragged a few more loads out to the street. No sooner had I came in....but the vacuum truck came by. That is our Christian life also....we do not know when Jesus will come....or when the day will be too dark to call people in to the great banquet. Today it is raining in America....but there is work to be done....people walking aimlessly on the byways....with an aching in their heart....and no place to go....in need of hope....in need of truth....in need of Christ.

                

Film In The Dock

                         1965....to a younger person today....it was maybe another age....as that year may as well be the 19th century....or the 18th century....but to those of us who had lived it....in many ways it is only yesterday. Film....the lens....is in the dock....testifying.
                         It was Doctor Zhivago and The Sound Of Music....warning everyone of the horrors of the Bolsheviks and Communism.....and warning of the horrors of Nazisim. The musical won out for Best Picture.....but both films were huge money-makers for their studios....and both have passed the test of time. I was fifteen at the time....and more interested in Thunderball....and Cat Balou.
                         There was another much ballyhooed film in that year....an epic as was Doctor Zhivago. John Wayne was in it. No...no...not as the star.....but with only a bit part....as a Roman centurion who....as lightning flashed across Calvary....says...."Truly this man was the Son of God." The film of course was The Greatest Story Ever Told. Audiences flocked to the musical escape from the Nazis....and the tragedy in the gloriously frozen Russian winter.....but had little interest in the life of Jesus. That film was a financial disaster. Not much has changed as to what are our interests. The two hit films could not be made today....not yet anyway....for we are still acting out the storyline.