"The Heavens Declare The Glory Of God, And The Sky Above Proclaims His Handiwork."

                It's been described as rare....or very special as one news source called it....the hybrid solar eclipse that will occur....starting tomorrow evening....here in Western Pennsylvania. We won't see anything for the path it is taking will skirt the western end of Australia and then cross over the sea off the northern part of Australia....but you can easily view it with a simple Google search.
                It is rare or special because in being an annular solar eclipse....the moon is too far away to totally cover the sun....so a 'ring of fire' will appear. It is called a hybrid because it will then move into a total eclipse. So it will be both an annular and a total eclipse.

Note: Title verse is Psalm 19:1

Update: I watched a livestream of the eclipse from Exmouth, Western Australia. Hundreds of people were gathered on the beach. The ring of fire kept inching around the silhouette of the moon. The blackout lasted a minute or so before a slice of the sun began to appear again.

"The Rite Of Spring"

Preface: I saw our first butterfly of Spring yesterday. Snowbirds....as we refer to them...will start to return north. Florida is attempting to have its cake and eat it too. That phrase has always pointed to a person who wants to do two things at the same time....something that cannot be done....for if you eat your cake....then you no longer....have....your cake. It wants immigration from everywhere....the northern US....Canada....Europe....from which it can make money....but not from anyone that it might have to put out money. It wants workers....so that the snowbirds will continue to come and have service....and it wants landscapers to beautify the gated communities. It wants to be a paradise for its citizens. So is Florida a paradise....or just an ideal? Does the paganism and idolatry that plagues America stop at the borders with Alabama and Georgia....or is it something that cannot be licensed....but exists in the heart and mind? Solomon shows us wisdom here. He had his paradise....but it turned into a paganism....and he along with it....until he saw that all was indeed vanity. The following preface is a little more recent than the post that follows it.....which was from October 6 of 2019:

"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. (Matthew 24: 9,10) The Apostle recorded these words of Jesus....probably decades before the Apostle John recorded another warning that Jesus gave:

"They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service." (John 16: 2)

          We are not really considering verses like this today....for if we did consider the many warnings of this nature....describing what it will be like as the Lord returns....we would be seriously sobered. Billy Graham would be warning us if he were with us today. Solomon tried to warn us....of the outright paganism that he himself fell into....but we are not really into his failures....in fact we're probably not even aware of them....and we are not really interested in paganism....for that [concept] is for people who take the Bible too literally....as with....the four horses of Revelation six. False prophets are never mentioned....for that would be a church growth killer....(even though we have one in Donald Trump)....as are idols....(how many Christian men showed more passion yesterday....and even attention....Easter....watching the Masters....than any words in the church service they may have been in....commemorating the greatest day in the history of the world....and the reason that they will not spend eternity in....can I say the word...hell?)

"The Rite Of Spring"

           My habit generally is to listen to a certain type of music in light of what I'm doing at the time. So if I don't really want to be involved in the music....but just relax by it....I tune in Sirius/XM's classical music channel. Such was the case this evening....but within a few minutes I noticed how unsettling what I was hearing was.
           Igor Stravinsky's Rite Of Spring is considered one of the most influential compositions of the 20th century as it was extremely innovative in a number of ways. A riot broke out in the audience when it first opened as a ballet in Paris in May of 1913. Some have asserted that it was Nijinsky's famously odd and disjointed dancing that contributed to the chaos....but the ballet revolves around a pagan sacrifice....so that also may have added to the darkened mood.
           The Rite Of Spring later was performed in St. Petersburg on February 18, 1914....Stravinsky's homeland of Russia....as an orchestral movement only. Vladimir Lenin would have been living in exile outside of Russia at the time....waiting to come back to continue to instigate revolution. Four months later World War I would begin. Well....enough of classical music of which I'm just an outside observer. What interests me about this it that there seems to be certain times in history when there seems to be something in the air....(biblically speaking)....and when chaos tends to rule. 1968 was just such a year. It was a terrible year. I was 18 years old at the time.
            We are in just such a time period today as chaos seems to be the rule all over the globe. It's a time that I would expect a Rite Of Spring to be composed....or written....or put on film....or acted out on some public stage.
            It is at times like these that Christians are supposed to be calm....but as I described in a very recent post....there is a difference between being calm because of the assurance that God has everything under control....and being calm because we just have no idea or even concern about what is going on in the world.

            

Thank You Lord For Ears To Hear The Symphony Of Praise

In one way....worship of God is vertical
There is only God and the believer
Nothing the world can do can mar the joy of praising Him
But if there were only one believer
How could we give God the glory that is due Him
For someone has to witness this
The whole essence of giving glory is that another views it
There's more
Man needs someone to tell how glorious God is
It is far too wonderful to keep to ourselves
God surely designed it this way
Why else would He take away our stoney heart
if we could not say to others
you can be given a new heart too 
It is natural to us
We just have to have someone to share with
We need someone to rejoice with
We need to hear our words of praise echo back
We need to be reflectors of the voices of praise 
We need to see others come to Him
To then hear their praises
Oh they would come to Him anyway....without our testimony
But God fit us in
So that we might have joy upon joy upon joy
And the more who rejoice
The more the echoes
The greater the symphony
Thank you Lord for tongues to praise you
Thank you for ears to hear the symphony of praise

Blood....Sweat......And Now Tears

Preface: This morning I came across this older post....October 19, 2018....and after reading it....I thought that we at least need the possibly one last opportunity to see what has happened....and how we let our guard down....and maybe voluntarily fall on our knees in humility....before we are brought to our knees in judgment.               

                 So what do we do now? Our awakening probably began in 1992. The evangelical was riding high at the time....not riding very smartly....but riding high. Tipper Gore's book Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society was very popular in the evangelical community and I knew that it would be problematic when Bill Clinton choose Al Gore for his running mate. It didn't begin in 1992 but the downfall of the United States of America certainly took a giant step with the emergence of the Clintons.
                 We were sure that George W. Bush was a Christian.....not a fake like the Clintons and Al Gore....but how wrong we were....for he represents a nominal Christianity that cannot save. We then....as all Americans....were shaken to the core by 9/11....not only by the attack itself but by the overwhelming evidence over the ensuing seven years that there was something seriously wrong in a large percentage of the American public....and then it was proved out as disaster struck in the sudden emergence and election of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th President of the United States....but we endured and fought back.....that fight coming to a crescendo as it looked as if Hillary Clinton would succeed President Obama.
                We didn't have any heavyweights to really challenge her....good men....and Carly Fiorina....but no real heavyweights....and then out of the crystal blue sky....peeking through above Jared Kushner's The 666 monstrosity and the Trump Tower came Donald John Trump. The Democrats knew more of who he was for he was really one of them. His celebrity was made in their hood. We just knew him as a brash egotistical billionaire....and thought that we could live with that.
                He touched that within us that was patriotic....but he also mined that part of the soul that was blind and deaf to warnings of the quicksand of power and slippery slopes of greed. Half of us knew that there was a big problem here but there were too many of us splitting the primary vote. Still....Hillary loomed on the horizon and once all was said and done with the nomination process we set our attention on the task at hand....and we all celebrated in the wee hours of November 7th, 2016.
                I should be a little bit more specific.....we did have heavyweights but they were in talk radio....and one by one a now President Trump battered them into submission. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity were knocked out in the first round when President Trump bought Ivanka and Jared and others into the Oval Office....and will probably never be the same conservative fighters that they once were. Mark Levin won a couple of rounds while challenging Donald Trump but then suddenly just said....no mas.
                Blood and sweat blurred our vision as to who Donald Trump was turning out to be. The roar of the crowd struck fear into our opponents as the glamorous Ivanka circled the ring holding high the number of the round. The President himself is battered....swinging wildly....confused and delusional at times....but still shouting...."I am the greatest"....as his cornermen leave one by one.
                As for us....the evangelicals.....we're now just like any other fight crowd.....faces contorted as we shout for more blood...."lock her up!"...."lock who up?"...."lock'em all up!" Political bookies have come out of the woodwork with the midterm elections at hand....with each election being billed as the most important ever....demanding that we lay more money down or maybe lose it all. The mob has long since taken over this fight between a God-fearing conservatism and godless communism.

Addendum....Multiple Choice Question

Q: Are you....have you been....born again?

A: I refuse to answer this question on the grounds that it might incriminate me.
B: Of course I am....aren't I?
C: I hope that I am.
D: I have no idea what being born again means.
R: Yes....and I shall praise God every morning and every evening for His wondrous mercies!

NEXT

* It is required that you answer the above question!

There is a John Piper sermon that you can easily listen to....and if you are confused on the above question....it will help to clarify the meaning of....born again. Just Google....'John Piper....The Son of Man must be lifted up...like the serpent.'

      

Much If Not Most Of The Church Has Followed A False Prophet

"We shouldn't really need the realities of Wall Street or the national debt to cause us concern for there are many other areas that can begin to bring down this house of cards....which includes the economy and the social order....but we are all positive thinkers now....even in the church. Trump thinks that there is a power there....as do many in the church....but we are about to find out that all power resides in God....and is distributed only as He purposes....and that all of our usurpations are but vanities." I posted these words on January 17 of 2020....only weeks before a tiny virus humbled the entire world.

                The majority of the church today has been deceived by a false prophet. Evangelicals put Donald Trump in office. He came down that escalator in June of 2015 right in the middle of the sheepfold....and he told us the exact opposite of what God's Word tells us. He concluded every rally with...."And we are one glorious nation under God." We think we are doing God's bidding....we are not. We have lost just about all discernment on what is happening today. The curse of Donald Trump is still active. We are fighting over Covid regulations and now indictments....all of this is evidence that we have been taken in....we fell for the deception....we believed the false prophet....being led by Fox commentators....radio talk show hosts....and podcasters. Thinking ourselves Christian patriots....or patriotic Christians....we are more Israelites who forgot what their God had done for them....and persecuted the prophets such as Jeremiah who warned them that they were trusting in themselves. Right now the wheat stalks are being fiercely beaten....and the grain and chaff falling to the threshing floor. The only thing left is for the wind to blow away the chaff. The following was first posted in January 2022:

Preface: It appears to me that February 4, of 2020 may have been a watershed moment in American history.....certainly in the history of American evangelicalism. Let me set the stage....economic statistics were going through the roof. A second term for Donald Trump seemed to be in the bag. Rush Limbaugh was being honored at the State of the Union Address after announcing his illness. The statistics were good....but we in evangelicalism had moved away from Christ....consumed with issues of power and wealth. I had been disgusted with these State of the Union addresses for many years....a decade or more....and could not bring myself to watch it.....until later when I reluctantly sat through the tape. Trump was Nebuchadnezzar.....who on top of his palace......proudly proclaimed for maybe only he himself to hear.....how great was this Babylon that he had built. God brought Nebuchadnezzar down that very day....and as Trump boasted on this great America that he had built.....it seems that God brought him down on that very day also.....as this coronavirus was about to ravage....and we have had nothing but disaster ever since.  Please at least give a few moments to the underlined words in the post below. Are these words not a genuine prophecy? Are they not given primarily to evangelicals.....and we have not fallen for these false words of prophecy? 

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

              America is engulfed in darkness. The Democrat Party fell first....taking much of America with it....the Republican Party then threw all caution to the wind by nominating a man with severe psychological problems. After four years of evidences that would normally banish anyone else....and a phalanx of defenders....from 'conservative' media to the Party itself....the criminality and malignant narcissism were ignored....as the man even today continues to blind what little discernment we may have had left.We need to be reminded of the evening of February 4, 2020.....the State of the Union Address....and repent of what we either ignored or took part in....where on our side of the aisle we gloated....repeatedly shouting....."four more years"...over economic statistics that would have come with any republican president to have succeeded the policies of Barack Obama. As Trump boasted of his accomplishments....he skillfully covered up the greed and the pride and the selfishness that he alone truly did instill in us.
              The celebration of that night was not unlike that of Belshazzar's Feast....where we brought out references to God....captured from a true Christianity far removed from the church of today....displayed in one instance as...."talent on loan from GAWD"....as Rush Limbaugh was given a medal that night....not for his decades of service to principles....but his four years of service to a man who merely uses those principles to seek glory for himself....and all this as there was handwriting on the wall....ignored as 'fake news'....of a judgment from God about to be revealed to the whole world....in a pandemic....a judgment that we mocked....and continue to mock....just as Pharaoh mocked God in the face of Moses.
               Read the words that night from a genuine biblical false prophet....a false prophet that so much of evangelicalism fell under the influence of...."Tonight I stand before you to share the incredible results....(of the past three years)....Jobs are booming....Incomes are soaring....Poverty is plummeting....Crime is falling....Confidence is surging....and our country is thriving....America's fortunes are on the rise.....America's future is blazing bright....our pride is restored....("Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" Proverbs)....we are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago....and we are never going back....we are advancing with unbridled optimism"....and the address ended with this...."This nation is our canvas, and this country is our masterpiece. We look at tomorrow and see unlimited frontiers just waiting to be explored. Our brightest discoveries are not yet known. Our most thrilling stories are not yet told. Our grandest journeys are not yet made. The American Age, the American epic, The American adventure has only just begun. Our spirit is still young. The sun is still rising, God's grace is still shining, and my fellow Americans, the best is yet to come."
              Our shepherds had utterly failed us....and continue to fail as they fear repercussions from the pews....people taken in by the false prophet. We defend a constitution while ignoring God's Word and the warnings therein....as the words of the prophet Amos to Israel are now directed to us...."Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God..." (Amos 4:12)

         

"Blessed Are All Those Who Put Their Trust In Him"

                 It was January of 2016....just before the Iowa caucuses....and Donald Trump made headlines with this statement...."I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK....It's, like, incredible." This incredible prophesy of his has now proven....credible.

                 I posted very recently that all the controversy over Covid-19 had become our....Reichstag Fire. We would use it to keep all the voters stirred up. There always has to be a Reichstag Fire of some sort. That's how Tucker Carlson stays on the air. If our blood is not at the boiling point....then these folks are not doing their jobs....and thus in danger of losing their jobs.
                Well there is a new and much bigger Reichstag Fire....the indictment of Donald Trump. Yes this is a first....that a former president will actually be arrested and charged with a crime....but that is exactly what we wanted with Bill Clinton.....and it is surely what we will demand with Joe Biden....but with Donald Trump it is outrageous?
                 How is it that we are acting surprised....for he has had a handful of investigations of the same nature for years now. We actually expected some kind of indictment....for some reason....from somewhere....a lot sooner than this. All of the outrage by this new republican establishment is calculated. It is meant to keep republicans angry. Have we already forgotten....'Lock her up!' Evangelicals used that phrase more than they used....'Jesus is Lord!'
                 Donald Trump was trying desperately to hold on until the primary season begins...and his campaign was going the wrong way. This is new life to him. First he will try to find a friendly judge to throw these charges out. If he cannot do that he will do what he always does....delay! How are they going to seat a jury for this? How are they going to get a jury without at least one Trump diehard in it? Trump knows this....but he also knows that in a trial where every single word is reported and eaten up....that this will not be good. 
                  Try this exercise out....just put your biases aside for a moment....and imagine Donald Trump being sworn in....in January of 2025....to a second term. OK....go ahead and rant a little on how this will save America....but then take a deep breath....and actually think about this. Let's up the ante and give him a super majority in both houses of congress. Keep in mind that this is Donald Trump....who if there is anything more dear to him than his own glory....it is revenge. It drives him. It is like being possessed....and it would not only be democrats who he would be after....it would be any republican....and government official....anyone anywhere who did not in effect bow down to him. He has his henchmen right now who are chomping at the bit.
                  What is really odd here is that most of the republicans in congress despise Donald Trump....but they have to defend him or possibly face his wrath if he regains power. If he would actually get the nomination....they would be paralyzed in shock horror.
                  There is a well-known story about Stalin on his deathbed. Beria....Stalin's equally evil police chief....saw him unconscious and dying....this according to Khrushchev's memoirs....which I read fifty years ago....and he mocked Stalin....but then Stalin seemed to revive a little....and Beria then knelt beside the bed and kissed his hand.
                
"Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
 Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
 Serve the LORD with fear,
 And rejoice with trembling.
 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
 And you perish in the way,
 When His wrath is kindled but a little,
 Blessed are all those who put
 Their trust in Him."
 
  Psalm 2: 10-12
                 

Advance Notice......Coming To A City Near You

  "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." Psalm 19:1

"When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers-the moon and the stars you set
  in place..."
  Psalm 8: 3-5

This post is a little advance notice of a rare North American total solar eclipse on April 8....of next year....2024. It's fascinating....a swath about 124 miles wide that will start in Mexico and cut diagonally across the United States. Where I live in Western Pennsylvania....we will be just a few miles out of that swath but still be able to view a partial eclipse. Cleveland is right in the middle of the swath....as is Buffalo where I was born. As for Blood Moons....after a run of them in recent years....particularly the tetrad of 2014/2015....we will not have another until March of next year. The following is a post from July 4, of last year:

Planetary Alignments....And Their Creator

                  First of all there is a little bit of a twinge of guilt. At 72 years old....and 5 1/2 years retired now....and up at 4:30 in the morning to view a rare 5-planetary alignment....while in the darkness others are headed off to work....I felt that twinge of guilt at not working.....not doing my fair share....and not bringing home a paycheck anymore. For almost four decades I was up and either going to work at this time of the morning....or returning from a midnight shift.

                 Even if I was not aware of the rare alignment of planets in the morning sky.....I would have spotted Jupiter right away.....for it was so bright and clear. Mars is always easy to spot because of the reddish hue that it has. Saturn was clearly visible off to the right. To the left of the crescent moon....Venus could be seen. I could not spot Mercury which was just above the horizon....so I got in the truck and drove up to the highest point in our area....and there it was....barely visible to the naked eye.
                 I'm not even an amateur astronomer as I only go out at night to see the blood moons and lunar eclipses that come up every once a while. So I can't comment on how rare this alignment was because even the articles that I read on it were a bit confusing....and apparently there were two more planets which would have been visible with some kind of telescopic device.
                 Anyway....it was interesting....and as I was driving back down to my home....I was trying to come up with a word that would describe someone even less knowledgeable than an....'amateur.' I couldn't come up with that word but this thought did come to mind.....totally unrelated to the nighttime sky....but totally in line with these posts of closing in on 14 years.
                 Man can have many interests in life....man in general here....from simple hobbies to professional abilities....and he/she has to work hard....often over many years....sometimes a lifetime....to really know what they are doing. I love to listen to these folks talk about their expertise. Something like this can be very fulfilling....even often awesome to watch....a virtuoso on a musical instrument for example.....or a scientist....or athlete.....but there are two.....professions or hobbies or whatever.....that one does not have to put in any work at all.....and these people are literally everywhere to be found....experts on politics and God!
                 As for politics....all one has to do to be an expert in politics....is just....sit there and say whatever comes to mind. There is no hard work involved....no books....just a few minutes reading a newspaper every day....or if you really want to be world-class expert.....listen to talk radio or Tucker Carlson for a couple hours a week.
                 As for God.....that's even easier....'now let me see....what do I think that God would be like....if there really is a God....and if he is a fair God?' As for God's Word....it's the same thing. There is nothing that requires intense inquiry. And if there is then Joel Osteen or someone has probably already done it for you.
                Salvation is as easy to figure out as crossing a street.....doctrine as reading directions on cooking spaghetti noodles.....and prophecy as easy as reading one best-selling book a year!
                In reality it is the opposite of these armchair experts. First of all....yes....the new believer in Christ....born again....is already an an expert in one thing.....Jesus Christ is Lord! It is wonderful....this mind of a new believer....a new creation....but that is only the beginning....and God has fashioned it that the blessings and the knowledge of God increase with the years and decades.....and with the all-consuming passionate reading of His Word....and even with the failures and trials that we go through at times.....particularly the trials!
               There is something else that comes along with all of this....the need to continually examine oneself....for in ourselves we are frail....but God knows our weak frame....and always provides a way to navigate the storms....through His Holy Spirit.  

"The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." Psalm 19:1

'Let Trump Be Trump'......Well We Did......And We Are The Lesser For It

                 If the reader were to research back seven years in these posts.....they would find one very long prayer.....for Donald Trump.....(last posted February 27, 2019)....and they would find a short fictitious dialogue within a post where a reformed pastor has President Trump's ear in the Oval Office....and tells it to him like it is....that he like everyone else needs to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.....not just play this....'say a few words and your one of us'....game that all of his so-called 'spiritual advisors play with him. (This was last posted on October 29, 2017 under the title....Praying Hands)

                The reader would many times find me hoping that this man Donald Trump would not seek reelection....because he had screwed up far too many times....and become too divisive....and that I hoped that would leave office....with honor....being satisfied in having become President of the United States! I hoped that he would become an elder statesman. I wished the best for his family.
                I voted for Trump....and celebrated when he won....but it became obvious after only a few months that something was terribly wrong. I started reading about this man that I really did not know much about. I am over ninety books now....with three new ones sitting on the shelf.....books for him and against him and supposedly by him....books on every decade of his life....and on every aspect of his public life.
               Donald Trump is a destroyer. After a half century of one investigation or probe of his activities after another....he is either purposely trying to destroy someone who criticized him....or others who flew too close to his flame are crashing to the ground in flames. He has essentially destroyed the Republican Party....(how else could Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz come to prominence)....and severely compromised the conservative movement. Fox News has long ago forsaken honest news reporting....and evangelicalism took their eyes off of Christ as Trump descended that escalator in June of 2015....and never looked back.
                They all thought that they could handle him.....' let Trump be Trump'....they said....but were themselves manhandled....and bewitched. We are only a shell of we once were....defending a man who uses and abuses us.

God's Hand Has Been Lifted......That Is Why All This Has Been Happening

                 Having worked in a rural and industrial setting for 37 years....I am very familiar with men who love hunting and love their guns. I can appreciate the precision and the beauty in many of these firearms....but the weapons used in the latest mass murders have no more beauty to them than a used toilet brush....and a lot less practical purpose.

                The latest mass murderer liked their video games....and was fascinated by the classic occult horror film....The Shining. I have been for years hoping to see a scholarly research article done on what video games that the many mass murderers spent their time on....with particular care taken in what games employed computerized characters....'blowing away'....whatever enemies the game may have provided....and also what video games were associated in some way with the occult. 
                The following is a summary of an October 9, 2015 post that I titled....Restraining Force. I visualized for the reader a shotgun pattern on a target....the tight pattern of holes at the center....represented most of us....and around this was the fringe.....those who are in danger of becoming a danger to society by...."becoming susceptible to behaving in criminally and sociopathic ways." I compared the shotgun pattern to a scattergun pattern that is anything but tight....with holes all over the target. This is the difference between the America of fifty years ago and the America of today!
                 My focus in that post of seven and a half years ago was on....common grace....which is God's restraining grace on mankind....manifested through our conscience. As I posted back then...."God's hand has been lifted from America and common grace along with it....at least a great portion of it." That post ended with this...."The remedy for our sickness is one that we do not want to hear....and we won't even consider it....Fear God and Keep His commandments."
                 I had posted many more times over the years on Alexander Solzhenitsyn....the Russian dissident and historian/author who summarized the decline of modern culture with this...."Men have forgotten God. That's why all this has happened." Many of these mass murderers wind up killing themselves....or in the most recent case....they knew they were going to die. Most of them think that this will be the end of existence. All of them would have found out at the end of this life that they then stood before the King of Kings and Lord or Lords....many if not most of them would have been shocked....and were told the truth that they were the rebels....and would suffer the same fate as the first rebel....who had dragged them down with him.
                 We may not be able to detail exactly what hell is....but all of us should be able to understand the simple description of...."weeping and gnashing of teeth." So even the most arrogant and determined of these people....and all people actually who choose to ignore God.....who think that they are strong enough to take whatever comes....will find out that....weeping and gnashing teeth....is not what they expected....nor bargained for.
                 If prayer had not been taken out of schools....there would still be....who knows what kind of....progressive teachers....offering who knows what kind of prayer.....to who knows what kind of god? Our pulpits must awaken....and only God can do that....but we can pray. The progressive sneers at prayer....and ridicules it.... but it is  more powerful than anything that man can invent!

Addendum: Here is an exercise for you if you will....just Google....'Spurgeon'....or 'Piper'....(there are many others but you cannot miss with these two)....along with 'prayer' and 'sermon'....and see if God's restraining force does not move upon your conscience.
         
   

 
    

Memories......The Way We Were

                 As I lay in bed last night the thoughts of this post were on my mind.....and as I sit here ready to type....I'm having trouble remembering how I wanted to approach this. You will see the significance of this as you read on.

                "Journal entry....March 29....2021....70th birthday.....thanksgiving and praise to God for His mercy all of these years".....a year passes....
                "Journal entry....March 29....2022.....Started taking brain enhancing memory pills."
                "Journal entry....March 29....2023.....Keep forgetting to take these pills....."
                "Journal entry....March 29....2024.....Can't remember what these pills are for...."

                They say that memory of the past often stays sharp but memory of what happened the day before can be difficult. Oh I remember my past. I don't ever want to forget it....for in remembering it....I am reminded of God's mercy on the least of the least....but I also do not want it to be debilitating. So I praise God for His wonderful design in letting us remember what we were saved from....and thus keeping us overwhelmed by the grace that He bestowed upon us....but not letting us collapse in despair....as if we were not now His children....on this dangerous pilgrimage....but with His Word to be a light to our path and strengthen us along the way!
                The thought of serious memory loss is concerning.....but of more concern is the thought of forgetting just who it was that God lifted up....(me....us)....and gave a new heart....opening our eyes and the ears to His Word and of His glories!
                There is though the other side of the issue....short term memory loss. I would think that every Christian....as they lay down to sleep at night....would think over the events of the day....and the failures to live in obedience in proportion to what they know of the glories and faithfulness of Jesus Christ. I need to expound on that a little bit. It is one thing to realize little of what has been done for us....and then live accordingly....with little fear and reverence and thankfulness to God....but for others....like myself.....to know very well....and increasingly so as the days and years pass.....the mercies and  power and majesty of such a glorious and wonderful God and Savior.....and then not live as if I knew these things
                This is why the word Puritanical....a strong pejorative....has become a byword. They knew who they really were....without the mercies of God upon them....and they knew who God really was....the only possible reaction in such a case is to be serious in their faith....extreme in their devotion....and zealous in their vigilance. The same principle exists with us today. The evangelical does not have Puritan divines to bring down the glory of God.....nor is there any mortification applied that we might see the chasm that exists between fallen man and God. We therefore look around....and think that this is all there is.
                 
                
                 

                

Jesus Revolution

              

               Well there were a lot of flashbacks in seeing the new movie today.....the title of it....is the title of this post....which starred Frazier....Kelsey Grammer. My wife and two friends....fifteen years old at the time....would have gone forward at a Billy Graham crusade in Pittsburgh....in 1965....a few years before the time period in this movie. Rev. Graham had a cameo in the film....from one of his crusades. I was in Vietnam during most of the events in this film.
               There were more flashbacks for me. The one scene in the film was just about exactly what I experienced in 1972 after having just got out of the army. I'll describe my end of this. My friend had invited me over to his hippie pad for the night. There were about....(I'm guessing....it was a long time ago).....ten of his friends living there....male and female....essentially in one room. They all cooked marijuana in a pot as if it was spaghetti....and drank it as if it were herbal tea. As in the film....one of the girls had a drug related medical episode....and the other girls took her to the shower. She survived. It was the middle of the night....dark obviously....and one of the ladies was walking by me sleeping on the couch....possibly on her to the way to the bathroom. My response startled even me....as in an instant I woke....jumped up....and grabbed her arm. Everyone was up at this....and just looked on in astonishment at this guy....me....fresh out of the army...still wearing my field jacket....who woke with a start at soft footsteps. I was out of place and never went back.
              The film revolved around the true story of evangelical pastors....Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel fame....and Greg Laurie of Harvest Crusades fame. The relationship of Greg Laurie and his mother was a bit too close to home concerning my own life. It was sobering.
              It's a wonderful film....and I hope that it gets a broad audience. It seemed accurate to what I have read of that West Coast movement....with thousands of baptisms of young people in the Pacific Ocean....and it was also accurate as to church services....as for about ten years I lived the Pentecostal/Charismatic church life....albeit about ten years after the events in the film.
              As for commentary....I thought of this while in the theater. Those first days....and years....of a new life in Christ.....were wonderful. The film depicted that very well....but the concept of army basic training kept coming to my mind. For in my case....as Greg Laurie was shown in the film....I left our household of my mother and me....having no perceivable maturity whatsoever....(Laurie was more grown up than me)....and was thrown into a life that was totally different. There were no girls in basic...to think about all the time...and I had no hair to comb if there were. I did not live on baloney sandwiches and Twinkies and Pepsi. I ate healthy food....and drank milk....and had authority over me. I remember the final two-mile run....with the Drill Sergeant yelling encouragement in my ear over the last fifty yards. We won the best platoon....and I was one of the top scorers in the overall PT test....and awarded a week-end pass. (I finally stuck to something)
              I would not bring these things up if not for this....basic training can be exhilarating for an immature young man....for many only in retrospect....but for me....also as it was happening....so I look back at this time and thank God....but you cannot live forever in basic training. It has a purpose....but there comes the time in the Christian life....to be a soldier. You cannot just sing Kumbaya forever....as pleasant as that memory may be. There are dangers....and failures....and wounds....and great discouragements at times....and much more learning needed. You may not wind up in the brig....but you may very well indeed spend time in....as John Bunyan described it....Doubting Castle....with Giant Despair beating on you.....but you always have that key called....Promise!
             The film describes the 'good' and the 'bad'....but not really the 'ugly' of the Jesus Movement. It gives you hints....but is more concerned with the simple love to this wonderful Jesus....and I know exactly what that was like....and is like....even greater love the more that it is not just the emptiness or the alcohol or the drugs or the hedonism that we are saved from....but the darkness of our own heart....and also it is more than the mercy of God that we are enthralled with....the kind face of Jesus of Nazareth.....but the awesome presence of holiness....that would keep us lying prostrate as if dead....if we were not given strength to stand....so as to commence to walk....on a lighted path.

"We Are Now Boarding Flight 1127 To Pittsburgh"

Preface...the following post is from last October....and I thought it might fit in well with the post on the film....Jesus Revolution:

They met in the waiting area of United Airlines flight 1127 from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh. I'll call these two men.....Bob and Evan. Sitting two seats apart....Evan....twenty years old or thereabouts....and bored apparently....bored enough to look over and ask Bob....a graybeard....

Evan...."Excuse me....you must be a minister I guess?"
Bob....."No I'm not....I'm just an everyday pilgrim type of Christian who knows that this....(tapping the open
            Bible on his lap).....is really God's words to us."

Evan just smiled.

Bob....."Were you going to ask something if I were a minister?"
Evan..."Well....I was going to ask a question....I came out here to L.A. to visit a friend....and he apparently
             became a born again Christian."

Bob didn't say anything....and after a  pause....

Evan...."I would have never believed this a week ago....but it seems that I became a Christian sometime in 
              the past two or three days."

Bob just smiled and nodded his head....paused again and asked...

Bob...."And what was the question?"

Evan stared straight into Bob's eyes...

Evan...."What do I do now?"

Bob glanced at his watch....and then the departure time on the overhead television....and calculated....

Bob...."First of all....my name is Bob....and yours?"

Evan...."Evan."

Bob....."OK Evan....assuming your friend accurately described the gospel of Jesus Christ to you....that your faith is real....you have to right now begin to do what is right."

Evan...."Which is?"

Bob...."Take seriously what happened when with your friend.....this isn't a game.....and to treat it as some kind of experiment would be worse than if you ignored your friend. So you are taking this seriously....begin to learn....open a Bible....(pointing down to his own)....get a study Bible....I recommend something called the John MacArthur Study Bible."

After pausing....

Bob again....."You might want to write that down."

Evan pulled a pen out of his shirt pocket.....and on the back of some kind of spy novel he was carrying....began to jot down....

Evan....."Study Bible....John Mac....Mac what?"

Bob...."MacArthur."

Evan...."Does it have to be MacArthur?"

Bob...."No....but I don't have time to give you a list....and you can't go wrong with this one."

Bob again...."Study Evan....as much as you can....and until you find a church....that may take quite a while just to figure out if there is a good church in your area....until you find that church....listen to good sermons online....write this down...."

Evan put the pen to the book's paper...

Bob...."desiringgod.org....you got that?"

Evan...."d.e.s.i.r.i.n g...g....two Gs?"

Bob....."Two Gs"

Evan...."d.e.s.i.r.i.n.g.g.o.d...dot....o.r.g."

Bob....."Listen to three or four or five sermons a week.

Evan....."A week?"

Bob...."Evan...you do know that you were lost....and now your are found....right?"

Evan...."Yes....I believe that...."

Bob....."Three or four or five sermons a week....then take some control of the things you normally do in life..
             ....if you waste a lot of time on sports.....cut it back drastically. There is going to be some pain
             .....press on....keep on going....don't quit....it will be more than worth it!

One of the United employees spoke loudly so that everyone could hear...

United Spokesman....."We are now boarding United flight 1127 to Pittsburgh."

Bob stood up....as did Evan....and as they took a position in the line being formed....as Bob continued...

Bob...."Start acting like a man who honors this God he has just come to begin to know.....

Evan was still jotting these things down even though they both were inching towards the check-in stand....

Bob...."You'll need fellowship Evan....other true believers to care for and be cared for by.....find them!

Evan....."That's it....just....find them....how?"

Bob...."Evan....if when you get in your car after we arrive in Pittsburgh....pull out on the highway....and the car stops....the gas tank is empty....you would find a gas station....same thing.....emergency.....find other believers."

The flight attendant took Evan's papers....stamped them and gave them back....and then asked for Bob's paperwork. Another attendant was leading Evan up a ramp....as Bob shouted out....

Bob...."Another thing.....love....it's no longer you Evan....it's everyone else! (raising his voice even a little bit higher)....one last thing....go to 2nd Peter....write this down....(Evan was jotting and being led at the same time).....2nd Peter....chapter one....read the notes in the MacArthur Study Bible which I'm sure you will also find. God bless you brother!"

Evan's seat was in the very back of the plane....Bob's in the front.....they never saw each other again.....but Bob prayed for him every day....right up....till now.

                

We No Longer Gaze Upon His Glory

 The following preface is from last August....the post below that is from last May/

Preface: It had been reported for many years now how Steve McQueen came to faith in Jesus Christ before he died in 1980. Greg Laurie decided to research that a little....and here is a short synopsis....a pastor was involved in evangelizing the actor....who as we all know developed an aggressive cancer. He somehow met with Billy Graham before going to Mexico for surgery....who gave him his personal Bible. Greg Laurie had confirmed this story years ago with Billy Graham. Steve McQueen had the surgery....and was left alone in the waiting room....and died there....holding on to Billy Graham's Bible. This quote is attributed to him after coming to faith in Jesus Christ...."My only regret in life is that I was not able to tell people about what Jesus Christ did for me."

We don't want to be the soul who when standing before the Lord of Glory....and gazing rapturously upon His glory....would think...."If I had known how glorious the Lord Jesus really was....I would have dedicated my life to seeing Him in His Word." 

We No Longer Gaze Upon His Glory

               Richard Sibbes was one of the more famous Puritan preachers....and he was known for exalting the beauties of Christ....so much so that the heart softens....and the hearer cannot but fall in love with the Savior....and so it must be with the Christian or we wind up doing our 'good works' if you will....out of obedience only....and not out of love....therefore not being 'good' works at all.

               When we read God's Word....we are not just reading about Christ.....we are....reading Christ....every passage is as if standing before Him....gazing at His glory....enraptured by the majesty before us. The whole world....and all of its baubles....and all of its demands....and all of its threats and the fears associated with them....melt away in the searing holiness of the One....the One who actually loves us! We can be as Peter....who walked on water....gazing at Jesus before him....but when we take our eyes of of Him....we begin to sink.
               This is the challenge of the day. Our nation is crumbling fast. This is where we live....and raise our families....it should be natural that at times like this we turn toward Christ even more....for this is not a mere muse that we have proclaimed to love....but the creator of all things....who holds the universe together by His will....who alone determines....and for His reasons alone....what will become of us....but we turn....to the loudest noise....and we sink slowly into the muddy battlefield....our love....if indeed there was love....fades....as we turn from beauty to the beast.
               It can be put in mathematical terms....if every minute that we have spent listening to other voices....taking our advice from those who care nothing for the beauty of Christ....but only the glittering parade float with His name on it....if every minute had been spent....seeking His guidance....searching the Scriptures....renewing our minds....the equation would have proven sound....the algebraic proof....evident in our nation. As it is....nothing works....nothing balances the books....nothing cures....nothing even softens the symptoms.
              We fell out of love....we strayed....we no longer cherished His letters to us so as to have to reread them every day....no longer had faith in our beloved....or gazed at His beauty....or walked in discernment....but turn to the parade behind us....no longer brought glory to Him....no longer were nourished by the food of His words....or given light from His countenance....or peace from His presence....yet as He approaches in judgment to take what is His....he tells us to get our houses in order....for His love has remained faithful even if ours has not.

Addicted To Wordle....In A Way....Today's Word....Glory

                I guess....(no pun intended)....that the web game Wordle has been an international success for a few years now. My wife plays it every morning....competing with her brother. She also works a crossword every day...and at times mentions to me that I should get involved....but each time that she brings it up I mention to her that I am already involved in a mental pursuit....trying to figure or who or what....666...is...."This calls for wisdom: Let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666." Revelation 13:18 ESV
             I was in a conversation with a friend a few days ago....and we were talking about the amount of time that a Christian spends....daily....on....things of the Lord....God's Word....the world today as it relates to God's Word....devotions....evangelizing....everything. His take was that over history it appears that God gifts certain men....and women....with the gift of being overwhelmed at all times with the glory of God....and he brought up a few names of  great Christian ministers and missionaries of the past as examples.
             I paused....I like to pause in conversation....and mentioned J. I. Packer....a renown British/Canadian theologian and author....Knowing God....1973....that had a great effect on so many of us. He was also considered an expert on the Puritans. Well....someone once described to him that the Puritans were....'giants'....in the faith....in which Packer responded....(I bet he paused first)....something like this...."It's not so much that the Puritans were....'giants'....but that we are....'Pygmies.'
             A couple of things jump out to me on this whole question of how much devotion we display to God. The first would be....do we really realize that we were on our way to....(lets' see.....we can't say 'hell' today....what would the typical evangelical think the worst possible place would be)....we were on our way to a Democrat-run city....forever....before God pulled us out of the fire? I don't think that we fully comprehend that we were indeed going to eternal damnation. 
            I would also point out that we....overall....in spite of having the word thrown around all the time....we really have no idea of God's 'holiness.' We can see this in all the....'died gone to heaven....talked with Jesus....he sent us back'....stories that come out all the time. If we were really standing before Jesus....we wouldn't be standing....as we would be as dead....for being in the presence of such holiness....and He would have to give us the power to simply stand and worship.
            I can testify to this one....more than most....the more we know how wretched we were....and how wretched we in fact are....the more we stand in awe at the mercies extended to us....and the more we climb a tree to get a glimpse of Him...or the more we reach out just to touch His robe.
            There is an axiom....it goes something like this....'the closer we get to God....the more we see our own sin...and the more we see His holiness.' This is definitely a true saying....and it explains the Puritans....and it explains why the world despised and intentionally misinterpreted them so. Their shepherds brought them closer to God....and they in turn saw His holiness so much more!

            So as far as how much thinking of God dominates our lives....it is directly proportional to how close we get to His refining fire. Someone for example...R. C. Sproul....he enjoyed music....and art....and history....and laughter....but his life was dominated by the holiness of God. This in itself wasn't a special gift given him. He wasn't a 'giant'....and he wasn't a 'Pygmy.' He was the quintessential normal biblical Christian born again believer....overwhelmed by the mercy extended to him....and the holiness of God....a man who rejoiced his whole life of a believer....not perfect by any means....but driven....as all of us should be....to continue on this pilgrimage....shouting out to everyone who can hear...."Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created." Revelation 4:11 ESV 

Things Will Not Go How We Expect Them To Go

 

The following....Things Will Not Go According To Our Plans....was first posted on January 5 of this year....the following in italics from a preface about the same time....On the deception that is surely ahead....it is quite likely that evangelicals will think that God is moving greatly in some way....where it will not be God that is moving! Charismatics are particularly susceptible in falling for false movements of God. 

Things Will Not Go According To Our Plans           

                This we are familiar with....at the Passover supper Jesus told Peter that he....Peter....was in danger of temptation but that He....Jesus....had prayed for him. We know that Peter then said....with supreme confidence...."Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death."  Everyone is familiar with how Jesus responded to Peter that before the rooster would crow in the morning that Peter would deny Him three times....and we know what happened in the morning. Cut and dried right? We know everything here that we need to know.
                Well there is more. All four gospels tell us how on the Mount of Olives that night....as the mob came for Jesus....one of the disciples cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest. John was the only gospel writer to identify Peter as the one with the sword. It seems that Peter's boast of going to prison and even to death with Jesus was pretty sound up to then. So what happened between the time they took Jesus....and before the rooster crowed? 
                This is not insignificant.....nor trivial....I do not believe....for this principle will directly affect many of us....in one way and to one degree or another.....probably in the near future. Something collapsed in Peter as he saw Jesus led away. All the evidence of miracles and power from the previous three years suddenly disappeared. This was not going according to plan. There were surprises. Peter began to unravel and then came completely undone. 
                We today think that we know it all as to what will happen in that which is called....the Tribulation....maybe not all the specifics.....but we know that it will be so bad that our own family members may be against us. We are humble to a certain degree....for we know that we will need the Holy Spirit to stay strong....but here it is folks....just like with Peter there will be surprises.....and things will not go according to our plans! 
                We need to be prepared for whatever it is that comes against us at that time....that it will be worse than we thought....that confusion will reign because of it....and that we...."if possible even the elect"....will be in danger of coming completely undone just as Peter did! It is not enough to boldly proclaim that Jesus will hold on to us.....if we have not shown any concern at all over His coming....nor His warnings. That would be an extreme....and even absurd presumption.
                We have been warned to be vigilant a number of times in God's Word....and we in effect blow the warning off every time.....for we do not think that Jesus is coming back right now. We don't even want to talk about it. For if we did.....if we even leaned that way....we would at least attempt to become a people separated once again....and right now that is too much to ask.
                Peter was taken by surprise....and if we are not sober-minded and vigilant.....then we also will be taken by surprise. We are knowledgeable of Peter's weaknesses during the ministry of Jesus....but we tend to relate those weaknesses a little bit to easily....rather than having the fear of God instilled in us in seeing how frail we can be.