How Do You Pray For Baba Looey?

             I hesitate to admit this....but for over thirty years I have played a kind of license plate game while on long drives. I kid you not. It's an addiction. I can be in conversation....or listening to a sermon....but when a car passes....(they all pass me)....I glance down at the license plate. I can recognize most states from thirty or forty yards....even in the rear-view mirror! My goal is thirty states from Pittsburgh to the beach. Trucks don't count....nor business vehicles of any kind....and no counting parked cars in the service area....that's cheating!
              Well....a thought came to me tonight as I headed out on a short thirty minute drive. I think that it may have potential. I noticed a street sign off to my left....Karcher Avenue. It brought to mind a good friend that I had by that name decades ago. So I prayed for him....wherever he might be....God knows. Then came....Bedford Street. Thirty-five years ago I was on a short term mission trip to Paraguay....and the Assembly of God pastor and a couple other young people were from Bedford, Pa.....just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike. So I thought of them....all good memories....and prayed as best as I could for someone I had not seen in over three decades.
             Now I am driving....and I can't see every single street sign....but down the road a little was Williams Avenue. I have had many friends with that last name....but the thought of one particular man makes me smile. I had watched him become born again. We worked together but lived in different states. I advised him on trying to find a church....which he did. This man was well-liked....and always spoke his mind. He knew that I would be interested....so he told me that when he was introduced to the pastor....he came right out and asked...."Are you born again?" My friend died a few years after that....but he has a son out there somewhere....the age of our son....so I prayed for that young man....hoping that I might get to meet him someday. I would have a few things to tell him of his father's faith.
            There were a lot of streets with first names....and it was easy to find a prayer for....Helen Street....and Laura Drive....and there were a couple a bit difficult if not impossible....Baba Looey Lane for one!
            Anyway....my first impression of this idea has been good! I liked the memories part....and I loved the praying part. You might want to try this yourself....just look at various street signs and see if someone or something comes to mind that you offer up a prayer for!

Dystopia 101

                I had been wracking my brain for a few weeks trying to come up with an analogy for the message that I wanted to convey in this post. I was scouring through historical figures....and governments....and even celebrities....but nothing was coming to mind....and then something did come to mind.
                I had actually known a couple of men who this happened to. So....I won't give this fictitious person a name. He's a student at a very reputable college....freshman....first semester. He is on a full academic scholarship....which without some kind of scholarship he would not be here....for his parents were not able to pay for his college.
                Obviously he did very well in high school. His studies just seemed to come easy to him....and that's an understatement....so he was wasn't expecting any difficulty in his first year.
                There were unforeseen changes though. It was the first time out of the house for him....and the sudden freedom to do what he wanted proved too much to control. Plus he started drinking for the first time in his life. Plus....he had his first girlfriend. Plus he entered Greek life....a fraternity....Gamma Omicron Pi....GOP. (right wing politics....there is no such fraternity) He wasn't only experiencing a different level of schooling....he was experiencing a different world....and different gods.
                 He was taking five classes....all 101s....how difficult could it be? His problems began when he just didn't plan ahead at all. It wasn't like high school. The first half of the semester....in all the classes....required little more than reading the required chapters....and taking the quizzes. The second half of the semester doubled the load. So when he found that he was barely passing in three classes....and not doing too much better in the other two....he began to get concerned. The fact that he had to maintain a solid B in all the classes to keep his scholarship didn't even register with him yet. But on the bright side....he was having a great time at the Wooden Keg.....the most popular college bar....and even met a girl!
                So the midterms....(that word sure fits well)....were over and he was called in to his academic advisor....I will give him a name....Dr. Billy Graham....who frowned the entire thirty minute meeting. He was told that he absolutely needed to pull a couple of 'B's out of this mess....and then get the 'A's in the second semester....to keep his scholarship.
                So he fretted for a few days....and crammed...but there were some problems with his girlfriend....his world was coming to an end....or so he thought....or so they all think. He wound up with three 'D's and two 'C's. Things were looking bad....and he was adequately warned.....but then....things were getting better with his girlfriend....much better.....if you know what I mean....and of course that's the most important thing in becoming a man.
                He needed five 'A's in the second semester....and even here he would have to apply for a special dispensation....seeing that he would have proved that he overcame the problems that students often have in the beginning of their matriculation.....but when he finally put his pants back on....he found that he would be lucky to pull all 'C's.
                Yeah....I knew two guys like this....one real smart....and the other a great athlete. Neither ever graduated. So what's my point in all this?
                This fictitious student....is you and I. The liberal and the conservative....the Rhodes Scholar and the All-America....the atheist and the evangelical....It doesn't matter....we all screwed up! 
                We've got one more test coming up....the final....and we are praying to God that we might ace it....and God may indeed give us some final strength as He did for Samson....but the scholarship is already gone....the country is gone. All that this student could hope for was that he passed the classes to at least get some college credits for the courses....and all that we can hope for right now is that God will be with us as we go through what is surely tribulation ahead that we brought upon ourselves.
                Commenting on the conservative side of this....the student's high school era was like the 1980s to us....as we were doing well....it came so easy....I can attest to this from personal experience....praising God was fun....Reagan was in charge....the Berlin Wall was coming down....peace was at hand.
                We just let our guard down. I earlier posted these comments that Billy Graham wrote in his book....Storm Warning...."I look back on my many years as an evangelist and wonder, Have I made the Christian faith look too easy......in my eagerness to tell the world about the greatest gift that comes from God....I ask myself if I have comprehended the price He paid for our freedom....Have I adequately explained the price we must pay in humbling ourselves, turning our backs on pride, and sacrificing our earthly desires out of obedience to the Lord?" That book contained this ominous  warning....the last five words of which came from the prophet Amos....to Israel....."[This] storm warning carries a booming jolt of truth--Trouble Ahead; Prepare to Meet Thy God." 
                 We in evangelicalism have been taken in. Instead of humbling ourselves when the walls started to crumble....prostrating ourselves in repentance for dallying with the world....we followed Hophni and Phinehas....and went into battle....dragging along our ark....'God bless America'....fully confident that God would give us the victory.
                We built...."We are one glorious nation under God"....and we bragged...."And the best is yet to come"....but God tore it right down...."Though Edom says, 'We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins', this is what the LORD of armies says: 'They may build, but I will tear down..." (Malachi 1:4)
                 Right now we are in servitude to the politicians and the expert commentators who tell us every two years that this is the most important election ever! Our youth are undergoing hazing by way of conservative youth organizations. We in evangelicalism have been hardened....living only on the red meat that they throw to us....but God makes the plans....we don't! May He if it be in His will....demonstrate once again His mercies upon a wayward people....and humble our hearts....that we might trust only in Him....forsaking these weapons of war that we have been using....hate and anger and lying and threats and deceptions....all in the name of God of course....and put on that which was designed for us to "stand firm against the schemes of the devil"....the armor of God.
                
                

Personal Trainer......Session Four

Towards the end of last year I sat down and wrote four posts on the Lord's Day....under the heading....Do You Want Practical. They...along with the following....including a preface.....are still back there if you are interested....but this....Part Four....as I labelled it seems to summarize them well enough....so I'll use it here as....Personal Trainer....Session Four....because we in the church at least need to confront this issue where whichever side might be correct on the Fourth Commandment....how we view and live Sundays today is fundamentally absurd....where to use an unbiblical phrase....but a phrase that conveys the thought....would even have John Calvin rolling over in his grave.

Preface: I did not plan on four consecutive posts on the topic of the Lord's Day. I just kept adding my thoughts for four straight days. The bottom line is that we were worried that we would abuse the Fourth Commandment....so we thought that we would keep the commandment in the Ten Commandments....on paper....but really gut it of its importance. It required a little bit of fancy theological wordplay...and really never did make much sense. So it was the last thing we would want to talk about....because we knew that we didn't have a good argument. It worked for a while....but the culture kept adding sports and entertainments to the day....and the time for God kept getting smaller and smaller. It had been among other things a hedge of protection....where we could clear our minds of the world....and thus God would give us much needed discernment....but we cut that hedge down.....and lost the protection.....and America is today....well....you know what it is today. So in effect....it's not just the bad liberals that ruined our country....which we like to claim....but we contributed to it also. We now piously say all the time....'God bless America'.....but there is no way we are giving up our day of family fun and entertainments. There's got to be a Plan B!

             You will either agree that what I am about to describe is pretty accurate....or you won't. It's a little bit of a hassle....what with three young kids....but you make it into church on time. You smile and share stories with four or five friends as you settle into the pew. The sanctuary is full of laughter. The pastor makes his way to the pulpit which is a signal to begin to quiet down. He smiles broadly....the congregation sings a few hymns....maybe droning worship songs.....and the pastor then gives a sermon that could easily have been written down in a small pamphlet and distributed. There is no power in the worship service....nothing said where you could not read the passage of scripture and determine the meaning for yourself. You won't even remember the sermon topic after a few hours. The laughter is even louder on the way out....and you look at your watch as you head for the car....for there is a big family day ahead.....a blessing from God you tell yourself....even though the world crumbles....and violence continues to rattle the American psyche.
             The family gathering is at your house this week. You change into your picnic clothes in record time....turn on all the pertinent stoves and grills.....put all the drinks in the ice cooler....and get everything done just as your brother or your sister and their families show up....and now it is pure pandemonium for the rest of the day....as the bean bags are thrown....and if you are really affluent....the pool is where the kids splash around all day....as the mothers work on their tan.
             The fathers at one time or another....and depending on the month of the year....gather around the television for the U. S. Open or baseball or the ten hours straight of NFL football. Everything under the sun is discussed....except Jesus Christ. This is what is now our Lord's Day. There has been at least fifty years of God's continuous warnings to us that judgment is at hand....but one by one those faithful preachers such as Billy Graham have died and gone to be with their Lord....replaced by young energetic pastors....and youth pastors.... and directors of this and that....so many ministries that on the church website you would have to wade through a dozen pages of events to even find something vaguely resembling the gospel of Jesus Christ.
              One thing that probably has been discussed or commented on during the day is the political situation. One person makes a comment on how crazy this or that policy is....then a second takes their turn....and a third and so on. The conclusion of it all is that the next election must be won. No one present at the church or in the family gatherings afterwards seems to have any clue as our own culpability in what has happened to America. Hey....the other people are the bad guys. God has blessed us with this lifestyle....and it is in danger because the other side doesn't see God's blessing in church and family and American hegemony.
              Is this summary a bit too rough? Yes....and it ignores all the faithful congregations meekly gathering around a faithful pastor....but I believe that it is needed because the church is so....in the world.....so unseparated....that we are a big part of the problem. The glory has departed from the church.....Ichabod! It would be good to see even one tear come from the pulpits....one bowed head that doesn't plop right back up with a smile....one evidence of humility that maybe we realize that we ourselves were deceived. 
               We need to wake up in the morning on what we now call Sunday....and purpose to give this day to He who holds our temporal and eternal destiny in His hands. That our efforts would be imperfect is certain....but that there has to be some sort of repentance and humility is also certain. This would bring a winnowing....but a much needed winnowing....a more sure identification of the remnant....true fellowship over 'hellos' and 'goodbyes' and 'same time...same place....next week.' We might not see the change in the church....God's will shall determine this....but we will see the change in our own vision of a glorious and merciful God....but a God whose judgments are righteous. Do not despise the day of small beginnings!

A Very Strange Request....I've Made It Before....But I feel That It Has To Be Done On Occasion

               

             

I've done this before....I am going to ask the regular readers of these posts....to kindly leave. I do not have that much to offer....other than mostly being a messenger....with messages like....you have to be...Born Again....(if you do not know what that is....you must find out!)....flee the City of Destruction....flee the megachurch if it is no more than a bible social event....flee the sham of the political Christian patriot that replaces trust in and dependence upon Christ....or....go to these ministries that we do need....listen to these men from the past and these men today who preach like those men from the past.
               I am forty years into observing the Christian community....and I do not want to be a part of one of its most serious illnesses....that of essentially doing nothing but passing time....showing a peripheral interest in the mysteries of God and His Word....but not enough to lead us away from the world....or wake us up from a deep sleep. It is a great danger....to get a taste of the gospel....and then devour it only as a dessert....after the main meal of earthly entertainments.
               If these messages hit home with you....then you may already be changed....on a new path....and aware of the dangers all around....and you surely do not need me anymore! If they haven't changed you....then I do not want to perpetuate the wasting of time any longer....for one can stay in this perpetual state of....interest but no determination....forever. I'll still hope for new visitors....Lord willing....around long enough only to hear the warnings....and then running to the only safe harbor in this coming storm....Jesus Christ....and His preached word!
              God has blessed us with great ministries out there....Piper's would be one....MacArthur's another....but even here they have to be very careful....and often they are not. God does not need them....not in the slightest! Some of these men have been teaching for a half century....the same teachings! So using common sense and logic....they are either teaching the same people....the same doctrines....over and over again....only with different words....or there is a constant turnover in their listening audience? I hope and believe that it is primarily the latter! We need teaching....and we can praise our God for providing these ministries....Lord knows I recommend them all the time....but we need more the preached Word. What happens all too often....is that we become professional students....glorying and satisfied in our learning. Unless these men are seminary professors without a pulpit....they need to be preaching....it needs to be the primary focus of their ministry....not twenty-three minute programs....with cookie-cutter stock radio show audio intros....and announcers with voices as if from heaven itself! 
              How many times can I either come right out and say it....or strongly infer it....time is short! We all will stand before Jesus Christ....before long....and have to answer for what our interests are right now....and what the main object of our love is! We won't be able to claim ignorance. We all seem to think that in God's timing....we will all at once somehow know that Jesus is right here at the doorstep....and then we can all of a sudden become serious. Well...it doesn't work that way....and if we were thinking with any kind of discernment....we wouldn't even want it to be that way....because it would make no sense....and would not give glory to God....for that would be a god who doesn't fill His children will wonder and awe....but merely gathers the technically saved.
              So if I have helped in any way....then I thank God for using the least of the least. I will continue to pray for you....may God lead you to Christians of like mind....and empower the preaching of the shepherd that you find....and provide for you a lighted path....lined with souls for the plucking for Jesus....and please pray for me. Maranatha....Lord Jesus come!

An example....John Piper has a new book out right now....Come, Lord Jesus....Meditations on the Second Coming of Christ. It is an awesome book....very profound....but you cannot read it as you would a Jonathan Cahn book....oohing and awing at all the mysterious 'facts.' You would have to...meditate...on this book...as the title suggests. It may sell well...and pastors may read it and be affected....but even these 'meditations'....need preached! We need these thoughts in sermons....for therein is the....means of grace...and therein is our God extolled to the uttermost....and thereby would we be given the grace of an unction for continuously praising our God....and a great desire for the return in power and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Addendum: I have in our basement over twenty-five years of R. C. Sproul's Tabletalk magazine. I have a hundred sermons on cassette by David Wilkerson from my first years as a believer. I think that my wife and son and I listened to every White Horse Inn radio program...(that's Michael Horton)....over a ten year period. I could go on about other ministries....and am so very thankful for these blessings....but the time is coming when we most likely will not have MacArthur or any of the others to guide us....so we had better prepare now for relying on where our sure strength is....and that is the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. We may not be able to search to see what John MacArthur is saying about this event....or what Michael Horton....or John Piper or Ligonier is saying about that event. We have today the resources for a Charles Spurgeon or a John Piper sermon or an R. C. Sproul teaching video on holiness or a John MacArthur series on God's will....but we may not always have those resources. 

Note: I added the above video simply because I love the music of the Imperials! Their music takes me back to the early and mid 80s....when there was still something called being born again....and Christians actually....witnessed about their Lord and Savior....and Christian bookstores were everywhere....where unsuspecting window-shoppers might stop in....and walk out with a book that would change their lives....just as what happened to me....and Christians might stumble across the many sound and challenging Christian books published at the time...instead of just having their church bookstore carry what the pastor likes....and evangelical pastors by and large warned about God's judgment on America....where today we are a hundred times worse in our rebellion to God....but pastors don't warn at all....unless they are warning about losing an election!

Update: The following is from the transcript of a Charles Spurgeon sermon that I listened to just this morning....Wednesday. It relates to the topic of the above post. It was preached on March 8, 1891...the last year of Spurgeon's pulpit ministry....and the title of the sermon was....Three Decisive Steps. "Some teachers attract attention to themselves, and are like the moon, ; when it shines everybody says, 'What a beautiful moon!'....The true prophet of God shines like the sun, and people do not say, 'What a beautiful sun!' but 'How lovely is the landscape!' Let it be your ambition so to declare the Word of God, that people will not say, 'What a splendid preacher!' but 'How glorious is his Christ!'. No man must come between the seeker and God, for the best of men are men at their best." The word 'prophet' here points to the preacher....the man speaking for God. You can easily listen to this sermon in its entirety by Googling it.
               

"To Everything There Is A Season, A Time For Every Purpose Under Heaven...."

Preface: Within the past couple days....two women were murdered only a few miles from where I type....a man was shot and killed while riding his bike in Pittsburgh....two more were shot in one section of Pittsburgh...and two more in another section of Pittsburgh. When I was young....my mother's family....when bored....would talk about the big murder in Turtle Creek....back in the 1930s. It was as if John Dillinger was part of it....one murder! God's Word is very clear about the violence everywhere....as in the days of Noah...at the time of the end. This isn't as hard as a Rubic's Cube folks....but we have been cooked as the proverbial frog in the kettle....as the violence got hotter and hotter....until it is boiling as it is now...,but we never noticed the temperature change!

The following are verses from 1st and 2nd Peter. Have you ever heard a word....seemingly for the first time in your life....and then lo and behold....you hear it again shortly after that? I know you experienced this for we all have. This time that word had been given a place in your mind....and therefore you easily spotted it after that. After reading these verses I would ask you to read God's Word this way as it pertains to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. As you read through Peter's letters you can see the emphasis that he had in preparing and reminding his readers of something very important! As you read through the New Testament...let those verses now jump out at you! You will find that they are all over the place...when beforehand you kind of passed over them as if they were just greetings or salutations! These passages of Scripture have not always jumped out at believers because in God's timing they were not the passages for the moment....but they are today! 

 "....has begotten us again to a living hope......kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5)  'revealed in the last time'....that is when Jesus comes back.

"that the genuineness of your faith....though it is tested by fire....may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ."(1 Peter 1:7,8) 'revelation of Jesus Christ"...that is upon His return.

"Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind....be sober....and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:13) 

"Beloved....do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you....as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings....that....when His glory is revealed....you may also be glad with exceeding joy." (1 Peter 4: 12,13)

"For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God....(1 Peter 4: 17)

"I am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ....and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed...." 1 Peter 5:1) 

This is followed by..."Shepherd the flock of God....not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you: but being examples to the flock....when the chief Shepherd appears." (vs 2-4) Pastors should be exhorting and reminding just as Peter did....but by and large today they do not.

"But there were also false prophets among the people....even as there will be false teachers among you.....by covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words/" (2 Peter 2 1, 3)

"Beloved....I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder) that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets....knowing this first; that scoffers will come in the last days....saying.....'Where is the promise of His coming' " 1 (Peter 3: 1,3)

"But the day of the Lord will some as a thief in the night.....Therefore....what manner of persons ought you to be....looking for an hastening the coming of the day of God....(2 Peter 3:10-12)

"Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent...." (vs 14)

Personal Trainer.....Session Three.....Leaving A Church In Order To Find A Church

                You are eventually going to have to find a church....and that is not going to be easy....as first you may have to leave a church! Preaching is at rock bottom today. I browse the church websites....read the sermon titles....if they are there....which usually they are not. It's been forty years folks....talking to Christians all the time....they are not getting fed.....but have no idea that they are not getting fed. 
               When I sat down to write this post....earlier today....I had already formulated in my mind a few things to look for in a church....and a few things to look out for....but since then I heard two stories.....second hand stories....of believers who are having a serious struggle. I know what they need. They need food! Our spiritual caterers....our pulpits....are in essence just bringing pictures of food....and putting them on the plates!
               So I am jettisoning those ideas that I had for finding a church. I wasn't thrilled with them as I was coming up with them anyway. Whatever church you are in....have you burned the bridge out of it? Well if you have....then swim....and when you try out a different church....in search of real food....don't burn that bridge you came in on until you are absolutely sure.
              We need to hear the word of God preached in power in order to combat the vexations and the stresses of life. I have not as of yet today...it's only 8:45....heard my sermon of the day....because I am hurryingly preparing for an event....and if I put it off too long I will feel the effects. I need to hear the glories of my Savior preached! I need to hear a man under the unction of the Holy Spirit exhort me! Is that a weakness? Absolutely....a wonderful and glorious weakness that I brought upon myself by starting to listen to sermons from either....men of the past....Spurgeon, Ryle, Lloyd Jones, Whitefield....and men today who preach like men of the past....Piper, Horton, Sproul, MacArthur, Derek Thomas, Michael Reeves....the list goes on and on if you know where to look.
              This is the primary reason that you need that church. The pastors may never be a Spurgeon or a Piper....but even those men were and are nothing without the Holy Spirit....which God provides for our needs! Spurgeon was converted by a humble and unlearned man who entered the pulpit because the regular pastor could not make it in a snowstorm! 
              As for now....pray for your pastor. In twenty-four hours he will....Lord willing....be entering his pulpit. Plead with God to have mercy upon him....to startle him out of his sleep....to bring the weight of the souls in his congregation down upon him. In the meantime...search out these men of God....ask God that it might be as if you were sitting in front of them when they first preached the message....and do all this to God's glorious honor and precious name....thanking Him in advance for the help that He will send....for He keeps all His promises!

             

Drudge Headline...."Titanic Claims Lives Of Five More"....But Are There Still Converts Coming From That Disaster?

Please keep in mind that the preface below is from October 2019....as the coronavirus was  incubating. The post that follows it from March of 2017. I thought it apropos to bring back with the sad news of the past few days. For the last month I have been purposely listening to sermons that Charles Spurgeon gave in the last four or five years of his life....1887-1891. Few people were getting saved....and the pastors themselves had lost any unction for the gospel that they may have once had. It must have a very difficult time for Spurgeon....and I could detect his frustration in about every other sermon....as he described what was happening. That is easy for me to explain....but this will not be. The church at that time had no idea that it had in effect....been compromised. Spurgeon and Ryle were dealing with a London Christianity that considered itself fine...when it was dying. It is a powerful force to work against....when both the congregations and their pastors have slid into a uselessness for the gospel. How do you explain it to them? They think that they are God's faithful ministers! Even Spurgeon couldn't do it. Well that is where we are at today. On the bright side....there is always the remnant! May God in His mercy....and to His glory....increase this remnant....and winnow His church if it be His will....as this world heads for a....cataclysmic implosion.

Preface: If you were to take away the prospects of world war....and a worldwide global economic collapse.....and any other man-made or natural disaster that may come about in this violent and chaotic age we are living in.....if you ignore all that and just consider the cultural and technological age with artificial intelligence and drones and the total lack of privacy....you...I don't believe....would be able to look forward in any way to the future. Add to this the war that is surely ahead along with the pending New World Order....and you must....if you are a Christian.....no matter how financially secure you are.....plead for the Lord Jesus to return soon.

The Last Convert Of John Harper....March, 2017

          I have a few peripheral fascinations in life and one of them would be the Titanic. I never saw the James Cameron film. Oh I did pay for a ticket and sit in one of the comfortable seats with every intention of watching the movie but I walked out about a half hour into the film as its message started to unfold. I watched the 1958 black and white A Night To Remember when I was a child.....and I watched it again for the umpteenth time last night.
         With a little research I came up with this quote from the main female character in the Cameron film..."....there was a man named Jack Dawson and that he saved me...in every way that a person can be saved." It put in my mind a real life quote from the sinking of the Titanic. I've written about this before. John Harper was a British Baptist pastor and passenger on the Titanic. He was headed to America as a guest preacher with the possibility of accepting a call at a famous American church. He was travelling with his six year old daughter for he was a widower. After he placed his daughter in a lifeboat it is reported that he shouted "women, children, and the unsaved into the lifeboats."
         It is also reported that as he swam up to other people, and as hypothermia was setting is, he challenged them with the gospel of Jesus Christ. There was a meeting of survivors in Ontario, Canada a few years after the disaster. One man stood up and testified how John Harper swam up to him twice as he was holding on to debris and said "believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." John Harper....with no life vest for he had given it to another....sank to his death. The man giving this testimony was rescued by a returning lifeboat. He told the gathering this...."I am the last convert of John Harper." Yes, I walked out of Cameron's film and will never view it.
         I believe that the sinking of the Titanic was a message to Britain and to America. Everyone thought that the great ship was unsinkable. Two world wars followed. The space shuttle Challenger had a multi-cultural crew...male and female...scientist, military and civilian...Caucasian, Asian, African-American...Christian, Jewish and Buddhist. Those iconic pictures of the breakup of the Challenger are still hard to look at.
         We don't seem to learn from disasters of the past but we do sometimes learn when we are in them....and this world certainly has disasters ahead of it. May the church begin to prepare.....and be encouraged with the same words that Paul gave those on his stricken ship.....only to us they point to eternal life...."Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship,"
       

         

Personal Trainer....Session Two....Pray And Read....Read And Pray

                OK.....how were those sermons from Charles Spurgeon and John Piper? I know how they were. Keep this up. May God have mercy on so many of these pastors today who by the time they ascend their pulpits....or saunter behind their lecterns....are not weary from the intense prayers leading up to their taking the pulpit. These are good men....the majority....but they are no different to us in that they are susceptible to wandering into the quicksand of easy-believism...and dying of thirst in the climate change that spawned an oasis of megachurches.
                Today's exercise is in understanding the importance of choosing a bible. You need a study bible. You need the helps that are in them....but you need one of the better study bibles. My top recommendation is the one that I use....the John MacArthur Study Bible. I don't even agree will all of the notes....particularly on his views of a literal coming millennium....but none of us know the answer on that topic with a certainty. As for the gospel itself....MacArthur's notes and the graphic helps will be a great benefit to your studies.
                Another study bible that I like would be the Evidence Bible....edited by Ray Comfort. You may remember him from Christian television....and his association with Kirk Cameron. If you are brand new to the faith then this is the bible that I would recommend first. There are also here some interpretations that I do not agree with....but there is a gift in this publication in reaching the young and the inquisitive. If you are the opposite....and now need refined....and are serious....and have good eyes....R. C. Sproul's....The Reformation Study Bible would be a wonderful blessing!
                 What translation should you choose? MacArthur offers the New American Standard Bible....NASB....and the English Standard Version....ESV....and the New King James Version....NKJV. I would probably choose them in that order but they are all good! The Evidence Bible comes only in the New King James Version. 
                 OK....how much do we spend on the study bible? Through the years I went through a number of leather bound bibles....but over time I found out that....for me....when sitting on a chair and reading my bible....a hardback is better....as the leather bound tends to flop over my leg. Maybe this wouldn't affect you? You would probably pay under $40 for the hardback...and over $70 for the leather. 
                 Whatever bible or study bible that you might buy....it is very important that the type is easy to read! What good is it if you have a bible where your eyes hurt after five minutes of reading. I'll tell you what the result would be....you would read it less! Both MacArthur's and the Evidence Bible have easy to read type!
                 You are going to need a supply of highlighters....and either an ultra fine pen....Pilot G2s are good....or a .5 or smaller mechanical pencil. Staples sells TRU RED chisel tip highlighters that do not bleed through the paper. I have a system you might consider. I color code my highlighting. All verses that have to do with prophecy....I use the orange highlighter....anything stating a specific doctrine I use green....those verses that speak of our sovereign God....and His Son....and the Holy Spirit....I use red....and anything general interest verses I use yellow. The TRU RED pack comes with a blue....that I never use....because the shade is too dark.
                 I went a number of years utilizing either label tabs for each of the sixty-six books....or indented tabs....but I would recommend that you take the time to memorize the order of the Old and New Testament books. I do this though....I still use label tabs for the various study bible helps.
                 There are a number of Internet websites where you can go directly to any bible verse. I started out with biblehub.com....and have been very satisfied with it. I use this all the time on my iPhone. I do not recommend using the computer for your bible reading....nor do I recommend the various....read the bible in a year....programs. Yes....in one year you would have read through every book and every chapter and every verse of God's Word....but I probably read through the book of Daniel a dozen times a year at least....and I am in Revelation almost every week....and the Psalms every single day. Read through the bible in a year programs hinder where the holy Spirit may be leading you.
                 I don't remember the name of the reading program that my eighth grade catholic school used....this back in 1963....A.D....Anno Domini....but it impressed me enough that I still remember how it worked. This was a daily exercise....we were timed. I think that we had three minutes to read the passage that was provided....and then we were tested on how much we remembered. These were aptitude grades and not class grades....so there was no pressure.
               I watched....over the years....our son go through his LSAT testing....and then his bar exam. The LSAT....it is said....tests skills and abilities....while the bar tests knowledge. Essentially....your reading of the bible....God's very Word to you....will be tested....but God doesn't care about your abilities. It is said that William Tyndale once spoke thusly...."If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the scripture than thou (an academic opponent) doest." You will be tested....in life....in how you have....'put on Christ.' 
                Whatever study bible you choose....whatever translation....whatever binding....however easy or hard the type may be to read....your testing will be on your comprehension! So read to understand....and reread to understand....and continue to read over years....if the Lord shall tarry....to understand even better. Pray before you read....pray after you read. Pray for the desire to read....pray for the understanding! Pray and read....read and Pray!
                 

            

Personal Trainer....Call....BR....549

                A family member....female....employs a personal trainer at the gym. I imagine that the expertise involves how to operate gym equipment....what equipment to use....weights and repetitions and sets....things like that....but that is just a guess. I've been retired for going on seven years now....and I'm one of those that would like to be working at least part time. I had this thought in my daydreams from time to time. Someone hires me to be their personal trainer as they navigate the first years of their Christian walk. Well that's not going to happen....but I have a Plan B. No one hires me....I just do it here in my posts. 
                OK....let's get started. You are somewhat like 'Christian' in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress....only you found your way to Calvary....and your burden fell off....and rolled down into the grave. What do you do now?
               Well you have to eventually find a church but that's not going to be easy....not in my plan anyway. There are plenty of churches to go to....where you would basically stay right where you are at today....and this for decades if you wish. Unfortunately there are not many churches with pastors from out of the past. They are there but you have to go through some training in order to be able to identify them.
                So....in the meantime what you will need to do is to find a ministry that you can trust....and then let them guide you. That's where I come in. I'll tell you the ministries that you can trust. Actually if you do that then you won't even need me much longer....but that's OK. I just want to be the guy wearing the neon clothing and waving his flashlight in the direction that you have to go....to avoid the bridge that the storm had taken out.
                What I'm going to do this first day is tell you that you have to hear the gospel preached....absolute bare minimum....once a week....but preferably even more than that....two or three or four times a week. I'm at about ten....and if I can't keep this up....in this collapsing world that we live in....then I get weak real fast.
                What I'm suggesting is very easy to do. All you need is a computer or a smartphone. In the first stages of this first stage....you just need two names.....Charles Spurgeon and John Piper. Just Google their name...along with 'sermon YouTube'....and pick whatever sermon that comes up that you want. There will be lots of them. This will feed you. It's not the only food out there....it's more survival food for times of disaster....which is what we are in.
                That's it folks....your first lesson. If you do this you will come back.

Note: Folks...with a post like this I am pulling out all the stops. The Hee Haw video....the concept itself of a personal trainer....all this to get your attention....to encourage you to make it a regular habit to listen to sermons from....as I always put it....Men from the past.....or men from today who preach like men from the past. You need to hear God's Word preached in the power of the Holy Spirit....and today's pulpits are not....are not....giving that to us.

Also:  If you want....I'll give you two specific sermons to start with...

Charles Spurgeon....An Urgent Quest For An Immediate Answer

John Piper....If My Words Abide In You

'Birds Of A Feather....'

               You are a member of a small church. Your pastor has a heart for the salvation of souls. The prayer meetings are serious affairs. Jesus....and His return in power and glory....are often mentioned in the everyday conversations with other believers in the congregation. There are no building or remodeling projects going on in the church and haven't been....possibly ever. You get no new visitors. If this is you....then stand up out of your seat and shout praises to God for His mercies.....for although the world and evangelicalism might look at your church with pity....you are the one.....and your church is the church that God has protected in this onslaught of new gospels! You may be meek....but the angels protect you as if you were a king's palace....in a way of which you are.
               Charles Spurgeon once remarked in a sermon on how a raven would prefer decaying flesh for food...over eating seeds....but if the raven were changed into a dove....it would devour the seeds....but never decaying flesh. It is 79 degrees with a warm breeze where I am sitting....and as I type I can hear the loud racket of probably crows....through the screen door looking over our yard.
            The point that Spurgeon was making was that living a life glorying in Christ and his precepts is not desirable to the unredeemed man.....for he would rather have his decaying flesh....but if he were changed....in fact only if he were changed....into a child of God....would or could the glory of Christ and the love of His precepts then be his joy!
            The unregenerate man has no eyes to see the glory of Christ in God's Word....or ears to hear the preached Word. I need to keep going on this this because it is absolutely necessary to understand. The natural man can sit in a church his entire life....he can teach bible studies.....he can even be a pastor....all of these things in themselves are just like any other interest or profession in life....but if he is not a new creation in Christ....(2 Corinthian 5:17)....or born again....(John 3:3)....the passion will be nothing more than that of a grand hobby....nor can he even see the kingdom of God.
             It was....1987....and I was on a short term missionary trip to Paraguay....primarily to lay brick for a new school. It was over 100 degrees every day! One evening....after dinner....three of us took a walk through the small local town....the name of which I no longer remember.....somewhere outside of the capital Asuncion. We as a group had already visited at least a half dozen Assemblies of God churches....all with very exuberant worship....lovely people I'm sure. There were colorful displays of light on the street that evening....and music in the air. Something caught my eye....and I held back as the others walked on. Set in about twenty feet or so from the street there was a church....hemmed in on both sides by simple storefronts. The only light from this plot was emanating from the open front door....a golden glow. The silence was deafening. I could see chairs in a circle....and believers bowing their heads in prayer. I stood transfixed. This surely was what I had been looking for...a serious prayerful worship of this God that I was only beginning to come to know. I came home and immediately searched for a small church....without the distractions.
             The Titanic is in the news again....and I have already today searched the headlines at least a dozen times for some hope for those in that small submarine....named....Titan. The 1912 disaster of the Titanic has been an ongoing fascination of mine over many years. I'm convinced that it was a message to us from God....as was the Challenger disaster of 1986....with as I described in a previous post.... "a multi-cultural crew...male and female...scientist, military and civilian...Caucasian, Asian, African-American...Christian, Jewish and Buddhist." God was telling us in both of these disasters that we are too confident....that we have forgotten the maker of the universe that we explore.
              That raven that Spurgeon mentioned....had no desire for anything but decaying flesh. That is unregenerate man. The unregenerate church-goer has no desire for seeds....no feeling of impending judgment....feeling no tremors beneath their feet....with no beating of the breast in repentance....no hunger for God's warnings to us....and no looking up to the sky in anticipation of His return.
              So it is not that churches must desire to remain small....with no visitors....for it is multitudes of mercies of salvation that drives the prayers in these churches. There are literally dozens of birds around our yard right now. I can see them....three and four on the birdfeeder at once....but I could only hear the caws of the omnivorous birds. It is only when they fly away....which by the way they have in the few minutes since beginning this....that I can now hear the delightful chirps of the songbirds.
              That is the small church! The drums are absent. The rafters are not ringing the echoes of a thousand voices at once....but all of the few present have eyes to see....and ears to hear. They flock together as at the feeder....taking turns....throwing some seed to the ground for the pigeons and squirrels. May God have mercy upon us. May we have a new song to sing...

"Oh sing to the LORD a new song!
 Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
 Sing to the LORD, bless His name;
 Proclaim the good news of HIs
 salvation from day to day.
 Declare His glory among the nations,
 His wonders among all the peoples.

 Let the heavens rejoice,
 and let the earth be glad;
 Let the sea roar, and all its fullness:
 Let the field be joyful,
 and all that is in it.
 Then all the trees of the woods will
 rejoice before the LORD.
 For He is coming,
 for He is coming to judge the earth,
 He shall judge the world with righteousness,
 And the peoples with His truth."

 Psalm 96: 1-3, 11-13 NKJV
    

             

We Must Muster Again......

               

               I don't know how you are on this but I don't think about what to say before a mealtime prayer. This last week the first thing out of my mouth has been something like this...."Lord....this world attempts to drag us into its entertainments every day....even every hour of every day. The temptation to be lulled into a sleepiness to Thee and to things eternal is at times overwhelming. Keep us vigilant Lord....increase our faith....give us an understanding of this war for the honor of our King and the souls of men…..give us the strength to fight." What that has to do with the food before me....I don't know....but it's where my mind has been.

"Far, more the treacherous calm I dread
           Than tempests hanging over head"
                      Augustus Toplady

               I'm still in the habit of when I see a man with a Vietnam ball cap on....or some other identification as to being a Vietnam veteran....or any veteran really....for there are a lot of young men with Iraq or Afghanistan caps or t-shirts....I try to thank him for his service....but particularly with the Vietnam veteran....I want to say....although I never do....for I do not even know if they are Christian....that we are still in a war....not a war of flesh and blood….not some conflagration between America and someone else....but the war that a Christian should be in to one degree or another every day of his or her life.
                Please don't just throw these comments off....for I am very serious about this. I know that on the surface it sounds odd....maybe even absurd....but it is scriptural truth. J.C.Ryle was very vehement on this Christian life being a war....and you can access his thoughts....just Google....J. C. Ryle....war....or fight....and I so hope that you do....for his writing is far beyond what I can offer!
                If one is a Christian.....a redeemed....born again....name written in the Lamb's Book of Life Christian....then we are in a war. We are soldiers. We never retire. And there are wounds....there are marches....there is discipline....there is personal armor....there is training that we must have....and there are tears....but there are also shouts of heavenly and holy huzzahs....for the victory was secured long ago! We have a literal King....and a literal Captain....who is one and the same.
               So I want to say to these veterans....although I've never figured out a way....other than the poor attempt in this post....'thank you for your service....but we are still in another war....a greater war!' There have been times in history past...many times probably....when a war ends....and the men go home.....but then another war begins....and the men have to pick up and go once again. That's my message in this post to the Vietnam veteran....or the Iraq or Afghanistan veteran....or even the Korean or World War II veteran....for no one is too old....thank you for your service....but if you are a disciple of Jesus Christ....you have got to put a uniform back on....your service is needed not only for your own benefit....so that you will be found faithful in that day....but to be alongside your brothers and sisters in arms....who are in Christ....and most of all your service is required for the glory and the honor of the Warrior King who called you! 

Here are two examples of relatively minor battles.....one offensive and one defensive. In the former....there is someone that you love....maybe a family member....and they either need Christ in salvation....or they need awakened from a stupor. There is no effective way for you to reach them. They regularly attend church....so you do what in effect would be a flanking maneuver....you go around them and pray without ceasing....as Paul would say....for their pastor! 'Wake him up O Lord....that he may awaken those under his care!' In the second example....the defensive battle....it is a Saturday afternoon on a beautiful summer day. Whatever work or errand or exercise you were involved with in the morning....the Lord's cause was not far from your mind. You took a needed rest after lunch....but it was turning into an entire afternoon of idleness. You tell yourself....'No'....you will not let this happen! You will not let an entire afternoon pass without checking in with the Captain of your salvation to see what He would have you do!

Do you think that what I'm writing in the post is....over the top....sloppy emotionalism....or melodramatic? Well those are reasonable and logical challenges. I'll let you give your own defense in your position. As for my defense....God created this entire universe out of nothing....and put His creation of man on one planet. Man fell. God knew that would happen. The second person of this trinitarian holiness became one of His creation....a second Adam who did not fall away....and then was brutally mauled....voluntarily.....knowing all this beforehand....(do not forget dear friend that this is God Himself)...His flesh torn apart in a crucifixion....why....to pay a debt that the debtor cannot pay! So you tell me....who is the one who is over the top....the one who says....Lord take me through this life....for I cannot do it....help me praise you every day of this life....for who You are...and for the mercy that you have extended to me....or the one who in effect says....hey....thanks for Calvary and all that stuff....gotta go....tee time coming up....TTYL....by the way....vacation this Sunday to Sunday....so I won't see you for a few weeks.

"FIRE!"

Preface: I was going to use the following as a preface to the post below this....Paul Shook The Pillars....And So Must We....but because of the length decided to make this a post in itself and bring that other post back below it.

"FIRE!"

            I had over the years attended a number of Christian conferences....and enjoyed all of them....but over time I wondered if they were putting us to sleep rather than waking us up? I say this because typically we might look forward to a conference that was six months or a year away....then for those few days listen to wonderful messages....and maybe buy a book or two at the book tables....and then go home thinking that we had done something....when really we only satisfied our own needs. I also over time....decades actually....would read the reports of the various yearly synods of the denomination that I was in....as leadership from every congregation would gather to supposedly tackle the great questions of the day....only what I saw was that those great question and difficulties were not being addressed. I would read the report and be frustrated that these men were essentially putting their heads in the sand. This world is literally disintegrating before us....with violence all over the place....the Lord of Glory obviously and hopefully at the very door....and all that the synods were discussing were technical theological details and church polity.       
             There was a joke that many years ago circulated among Presbyterians....a ministerium of pastors from many denominations were gathered together for a meeting....and a fire broke out in the auditorium. A Baptist minister jumped up and yelled...."FIRE!"....and a Methodist minister jumped up and yelled...."WATER!".....and then a Presbyterian minister jumped up and shouted...."ORDER!" Order is fine....but will someone have the courage and discernment to stand up in these synods and shout out what is going on in this world? 
              Yes there would be difficulties....and order might break down for a time....but God might shake these pillars that need shaken. He might startle us out of our doldrums. He might put fire back in our hearts. We are living in fear that if we should even open our mouth on something that was not already on the syllabus....that we might make a mistake. May God restore our trust in Him that we might put our reputations to risk....to defend His glory....that we might step out in faith....all to His glory....and that we might leave our defense up to the One who has promised to keep us throughout the storms that we will have to pass through!  

                

Mental Exercises

                For as many years as I would observe these surveys of who was the greatest scientist of all time....Isaac Newton would always be number one....but that was a while ago....and now with quantum physics challenging Newtonian physics in many ways....someone else has probably taken over the top position.
               Newton's brain was certainly in a league with only a few others.....and during his life he wrote more about religion than any other field of study....not more than all of them combined....but more than any other individual field of study.
               I'm writing this post because I saw an article earlier today on Newton....and his calculated prediction that the year 2060 would be the key end times year. Many of you are probably familiar with this aspect of Isaac Newton's personality and character. Newton essentially took the 1260 days from Daniel 12:7....time, times, and a half a time....and turned them into years....1260 years. He chose the year 800 A. D. to add those 1260 years to....and that is how he came up with 2060. He chose that year....800 A. D....because it was the revival of the Roman Empire and beginning of the term Holy Roman Empire
               OK....that's old news to those who study prophecy.....1260 days as 3 1/2 years. I had in the past exercised my mind slightly differently. Daniel also tells us in Chapter 12 verse 11...."And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1290 days." Why now the 1290 days. We can speculate but we do not know. To complicate things more....Daniel goes on in verse 12...."Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days."  Why the additional 45 days? Once again....we do not know.
               What is that daily sacrifice as it relates to this passage of Daniel? We may be dealing with when Antiochus IV sacrificed a pig in the temple at Jerusalem? It may deal with when the Antichrist takes power during the Tribulation....and it may also include something altogether different? I'm posting this thought just to keep us thinking. Jews....small bands of various Jews....apparently would offer a burnt offering on Mount Moriah for centuries after the temple was destroyed.....but once the Mohammedans built the Dome of the Rock on the former temple mount....which still stands today....there would be no one sneaking up there to offer any sacrifices. The year of completion for the Dome of the Rock varies somewhat....but Wikipedia has it as 691-692. Adding here the 1335 days of Daniel 12:12 would be 2027. Just something to think about....I'll have another cup of coffee please.

"Nothing Is New Under The Sun"

                Demetrius's livelihood was primarily in supplying the people with silver idols with which to worship Diana of the Ephesians. After Paul came to town with his message....stock in that company began to crash. Chaos and a riot resulted....and Paul was ushered out of town. Think for a moment of some of the mega-billionaires today who make their billions in selling us their wares. How do you think they would react if Christianity in America stopped giving them their time and their money?
                Idols....metal or wood....are out of style in modern times....but idolatry in itself has transcended the mere owning of an idol just as the automobile passed the horse and buggy. What I'm going to say here is probably not going to be well received in the Christian community. We've got 'trans' people being celebrated in the White House and drag queens in schools....and I'm going to bring this up! But compared to the idolatry that we ourselves are involved in....drag queens are but a small pimple on a body covered with boils and infections of every possible kind.
                Money is made on this idol that I'm about to mention....but that is not the main problem....although if these idols wind up getting....'thrown in the fire'....then yes there will will be an economic outcry....and persecution....but the main problem is that we are....just about all of us....priests in worship to this idol.
                Paul was vexed as he walked around Athens....with temples everywhere....as the God of the universe was evident even in creation itself....if only they would look! We have our own temples literally everywhere....in one form or another in every town in America. They might have a roof on them and they might not. The altar is always in the middle....with the people seated and facing it from all directions.
                High school temples are the most numerous....followed by college and university temples....and then the big....Temples of Artemis....the professional stadiums and arenas.
               Sport has become our top idol. I hear it all the time while traveling...and heard it last week in South Carolina....someone asked where I was from....I responded with 'Pittsburgh'....and they immediately went into a Steelers chant.
               Sport dominates our lives. Every city in America is involved in one way or another....and every major city has one or more professional teams. Players point to the sky. Golfers give credit to God for taking everyone's attention off of the Lord's Day! Madness....21st century madness.
               This wasn't a Renaissance in the past century....nor was it an Enlightenment of any kind. It was economic growth producing an abundance of potential fans if only given a team of some sort to root for. It started innocently....athletics....running the race....exercise....and it still can be edifying if we use it properly.....but it grew into a monster. Just about all the professional sports today are a disgrace. How does a person get a $100 million contract for doing something with a ball....for half the year? It's insanity. From Friday Night Lights to Monday Night Football to Super Bowl Sunday to March Madness to a 162 game MLB season to two major professional championships decided in the last few days...to eight 'majors' of this or that....folks....we don't give God one-tenth of the time we give to either playing or cheering for sports....maybe not a hundreth of the time....and yet not only do we not recognize this as idolatry....we think it's a blessing from God....in appreciation of who we are!

Note: Folks....I would enjoy being on a golf course on occasion if I could hit that stupid ball straight. I would still be running if my knees were stronger. Our son has season tickets to his favorite college football team...and I love seeing the photos that he sends of him and his son....and I on occasion....when they are in the playoffs....might sit down and watch a Penguin game....if it wasn't on the Lord's Day....and a nephew right now is trying his hand in the beginnings of professional baseball....but we must guard against letting anything take control of us! Everything in moderation....film in moderation....exercise in moderation....even family in moderation....everything in moderation except glorying in the only one of whom there is true glory....Jesus Christ!

Addendum: Did you know that Paul made an error in one of his letters....he got something wrong? I think that he did....maybe even in two letters! I'll ask you to pause to consider that. OK...pause over. I'm not talking about his letters or epistles that are part of God's Word! That is all truth....praise and everlasting thankfulness to God for that! Sola Scripura! Are we to believe that Paul never sent any other correspondence during his life....not even one back to Tarsus asking if he left his keys back there? Paul the man was not perfect.....nor were or are any of the great men and women that God has blessed his church with....so neither was Spurgeon perfect....(although I don't think I've spotted that error yet)....and neither was R. C. Sproul. I'm adding this addendum because we all know that R. C. was a big Steeler fan....and joked about it often enough on his radio programs....the result being that surely many were not only not warned about professional sports on God's day....but were given an excuse. No....this wonderful teacher....this man that God had blessed so greatly in making the precious truths of the Bible easier for us to understand....was not perfect....thank you Lord for your wisdom in not letting us look to any man as perfect! And if these great men were not perfect....how much more should that make us look inwardly?

Who Is The Antichrist

              OK let's get right to the nitty gritty. Explain this verse away if you can....Revelation 13:18...."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." ESV
              We had been told...and then we fell fast asleep....that we are not to concern ourselves with things like...when Jesus will return....or who might the Antichrist be....the result of which has made us highly susceptible to great delusion and deception at the very least.
               This does not mean that we can do our calculations and absolutely come up with the correct answer on who the Antichrist is. That is not what the verse in Revelation is saying. It is saying....'get wisdom'....and....'get understanding.' Does the reader here have a problem with that?
               As I type this....the Antichrist is an adult on the face of the earth. That's not date-setting....it's generation-setting. This is the generation. This has been the generation. If you cannot agree with that....isn't there a Joel Osteen program on television that you could watch instead of reading this blog? Can one honestly look at the twentieth century....and the miracle reestablishment of the state of Israel....and this world of violence and outright rejection of God....all done with pride....smirking in the face of God....and not at least believe that this is in all probability the generation of the Lord's return?
               I know that my words are blunt....but if you haven't put the time into God's Word on prophecy....while you may be absolute armchair experts on sports....and you are consequently simply demanding of everyone else that they remain as ignorant on these things as you are....then bluntness is necessary.
               We are not even close on making a declarative statement on who the Antichrist is. We can speculate....we even should speculate. Pieces will fall into place in God's will....and in His timing....but we should be studying what His Word tells us....and not wait till tribulation stares us in the face....giving us no time for preparation and repentance.
               The Antichrist might be Middle Eastern. That seems to be the current trend of thinking....but he might not. Gorbachev was a legitimate candidate to at least have kept in the back of the mind. Was there ever someone extolled as a man of peace as he was in the 80s? Obama was and is a legitimate candidate....another man thought well of worldwide.
                What clues are we given in God's Word? Most Christians seem to think that he must be a man who everyone thinks of as a man of peace....primarily because the rider on the white horse in Revelation has a crown and an bow....but no arrows. That's a logical thought....but not necessarily true. For instance....The crown might signify the crown in the word 'corona'....as in coronavirus....and the bow might be in the etymology of the word 'bow' which means....poison. So the rider on the white horse may have been the pandemic? And maybe not....but if so....war would definitely be next.
               God's Word tells us that Satan entered into Judas. So Judas we now know....apparently had no real compassion or empathy for anyone. It was all fake. He was in essence an empty vessel....an empty vessel that Satan nicely fit into. The Antichrist might right now be a monster....or he might be an empty vessel waiting to become a monster.
               What about the False Prophet....that makes everyone worship the beast? How might a false prophet....make....everyone worship the beast? It would seem to me that people will have to be in fear of this false prophet. Does it have to be a man? What if AI starts commanding us on what to worship?
                I need to keep this post short. This isn't an attempt at teaching. It's only you and me sitting in front of computer screens. I give an idea...and you can meditate on it or you can just outright reject it. I'll have an idea of what you do by the volume of visits to this website. If the general feeling is that I am clueless....then the numbers will go down fast. If these thoughts generate some interest...the numbers will at least spike. We need to discuss these things. We need to get our heads out of the sand. We need to trust God that He told us to think upon these things....that there is a reason for this....and that He would be with us throughout....and only if we look into these things out of morbid curiosity....or out of pride....will we be alone....and subject to a great fall.

Just A Short Novella....Very Unprofessional I'm Sure....But May God Use The Least Of The Least To Spread His Gospel

                In among the tributes to Pat Robertson was a vignette of an interview that Pat did with Sylvester Stallone. The Rocky star said that he wrote the movie screenplay in three days....and it went on to get the Oscar for Best Picture. He knew that God had to be somehow involved in this. If memory serves...the creators of the board game Trivial Pursuit were just sitting in a restaurant and jotted down on a napkin the design of the game. There were many classic rock songs that are considered among the greatest ever written....that according to the singer or musician were created in a few hours. 
               It was about twenty-five years ago that I sat down at a keyboard and pecked out a chapter of what would become the novella.....Isaac Crockett....the link of which you can see to the left of this page. This went on for a few weeks....as each evening I would just come up with a new idea for where to go with the story.
               First of all....I'm no Sylvester Stallone or any other talented author of books. It never entered my mind to try to publish the novel....(although our son did have one hard cover made as a present)....nor did I ever sit down to do the needed editing of the grammar or even the spelling. All I wanted to do was....evangelize....through a story. So if you come to read Isaac Crockett....please keep that in mind....and the mistakes and typos might not be so frustrating. The story was easy to write because some of it was autobiographical. When I had to choose a name for a  character.....I just picked one out of my past.
              There are three parts in the story. A rock star....Isaac Crockett....a Christian....'Reformed' Christian no less....the 'good boy' of rock....decided to leave his band and all the fame....and return home to Ocean City, New Jersey....for whatever God might have in mind for him to do.
              The second part....and a main theme....is that Isaac meets.....and falls in love with a young Catholic girl....who for different reasons was leaving her music career. So Catholicism is a main topic. This is autobiographical because I was raised Roman Catholic. The Catholic church described...is the church I was raised in....although it was in Buffalo....and the church here in the novel is in Easton, Pennsylvania.
              The second main theme....and the third part of the novel is that Isaac decides that he wants to own and operate a Christian bookstore in his hometown....right there on the boardwalk. Ocean City N. J. is one of our most frequented vacations towns. My wife and I owned and operated a Christian bookstore as I was writing this. I worked full time....and spent my off time at the store. My wife helped out in her free time. It lasted a couple of years....was a great blessing to me....and hopefully to some others.
              So....if you have been reading these posts for a while.....and wondered why I mention Christian bookstores so much....now you know. I know that it sounds boring....a novel about a Christian bookstore....and I'm sure it will be boring....unless God wants to get that message through on the great evangelistic purpose that these bookstores served....and the great loss it has been to America in that we in essence no longer have them.

Note: I had a commercial produced for the bookstore....and it played on our local and very popular Christian radio station....WORD FM. They were very helpful in this....as it began with the sound of a hammer pounding a nail....supposedly Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the church door at the castle Wittenberg. There were customers that came to our town from all over the Pittsburgh area....and I had some wonderful experiences....of which I'll just mention one. A man was passing through the area....visiting family....on his way to seminary in Michigan. We had a nice talk....and I wound up just giving him a book....Valley of Vision....a Banner of Truth book of Puritan prayers edited by Arthur Bennett. A few months later there was a message on the bookstore's answering machine....from that young seminary student. The book had changed his theology....and he wanted me to know how thankful he was.

Lord's Day Post

                It has been a long day of travel from the beach....fifteen hours....with four traffic tie-ups....thankfully no accidents....and about two hours at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte.....our third time there....of which we always enjoy. All I want to do here is recommend a Charles Spurgeon sermon that we listened to in the car....if you are interested on the Lord's Day which began fifteen minutes ago. Spurgeon preached this in April of 1891....less than nine months before he went to be the His Lord who he had faithfully served for a half century. You can Google this at....Spurgeon Sermon YouTube....Is God In The Camp. May God be in many of our churches this morning....or....In The Camp....as Spurgeon described in this sermon....for if we think that simply by having the trappings of worship present....as Hophni and Phinehas similarly thought bringing the Ark to the battle would insure victory....(it did....for the Philistines)....then there will be no power in the sermons....and no one convicted....or overwhelmed by the joy of His presence.

Note: This particular sermon will be interrupted by an ad or two....of which you can just tap the....skip the ads....when they start.

Pat Robertson

The following paragraph was posted this morning at 8:30:

I am on the go and have no time to concentrate my thoughts on Pat Robertson dying….other than to say his 700 Club was a great blessing to me. This man born to a U. S. Senator….along with his wife…..lived on soybean recipes at the beginning of his ministry in Virginia Beach. I hope….Lord willing….to post more on him later. Suffice it to say right now that God has taken home another one who who spent a half century warning America of God’s pending judgments.  

The following 2010 post was a book review on a biography of Pat Robertson: 

              1982 was the year when something wonderful happened to me and I was born again. I don't know the day, nor do I know the month. There was no sinner's prayer that I remember. What there was was weeks, if not months, of inquisitiveness, turned to outright research, turned to amazing joy. Many people are in the equation here, not the least of which is Pat Robertson. I did not tune into the 700 Club and then become inquisitive; rather I tuned in as part of what was happening to me. I then called them....(the 700 Club)....seeking referral to a church where I could hear something that was akin to this glorious news I was hearing.....the Gospel. They recommended a church which my wife and I, and later our son, attended for about eight years. We were members of the 700 Club for years. We visited, and stayed, at the Founders Inn in Virginia Beach twice and more recently visited it while our son was in the midst of a law school search.
          David Edwin Harrell Jr. recently wrote a biography on Pat Robertson called Pat Robertson, A Life And Legacy which I highly recommend if you are interested in this iconic figure. Many people do not know that Pat's father was a United States Senator from Virginia. A young Pat Robertson was going to take the world by storm, and have fun doing it. He was prep school educated before graduating magna cum laude at Washington and Lee University. Next came Yale Law School culminating in a failed bar exam and entry into the business world to get his fortune. This was interrupted by service in the Korean War as a Marine officer.
         Eventually something wonderful happened to him followed by being born again. What follows might be good lyrics for a country song "he buys a radio station, becomes a star, runs for president and gets pretty far.....starts a college, and a law school too, knows the "secrets of the kingdom" and would like to give them to you. "
         As a avid reader of biographies, I found this book very well written. It gave a lot of answers to questions I have had over the years. It is, as someone described, a sympathetic biography, but as someone who knows from the inside what goes through the mind of the latter 20th century evangelical mind, it is also accurate. The reader is taken through the early years when Jim Bakker was on staff, to the headiness of reaching so many people through the flagship program 700 Club, to the apex of financial success, to his campaign for the Presidency, and then in and out of the financial misadventures and turmoil that any major CEO would experience over time.
          As a young man he may have seemed flighty to some, but then so did Ted Turner, His gift was in presenting the love of Jesus Christ to people who would tune in the 700 Club. His ability, something very different, was to raise enormous endowments for his projects which include a university and law school, enormous compassionate enterprises in medicine and disaster relief and broadcasting throughout the world. His genius was as an entrepreneur with a dual major in the political sphere, as his American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) is a strong, maybe the strongest, legal deterrent today to the secular religionists.
         The problem with this incredible life and legacy is not in ethics as some would have it, for this man is no lover of money...it is theological. His strong Charismatic Theology may be partially responsible for his financial misadventures, of which were many, and also his numerous... seemingly never-ending string of oratorical gaffes, all documented in the book. One failure of the book is in not challenging the claims of the millions of salvations throughout the world due to Charismatic ministries, for choreographed healing ministries say little about actual conversions, and signing a card may make one a Republican but not born again.
         More than one person, multitudes maybe, can give a testimony similar to mine where Pat Robertson's face on a television played a part in a metamorphosis; but the validation is of God not the ministry...and of the gospel itself, not necessarily the messenger. He has, all too often, ventured beyond his gift. The unsound and even heretical extremes of the Charismatic Movement come into the equation, as does also the malignancy of ecumenism gone wild. 
         It was one thing to have Roman Catholic scholar and lawyer Keith Fournier head Robertson's ACLJ, a legal mission that gave no pretense to doctrinal adherence; but another thing altogether was in Mitt Romney being given the podium as commencement speaker at Regent University, a Christian university, tolerant of doctrinal diversity, but that diversity should not extend into Mormonism. Oddly, the book only describes reaction to this misadventure as.... ruffled feathers. It is more than ironic that Mr. Fournier left the ACLJ because he refused to be part of an ecumenical communion service. He was true to his beliefs where Pat Robertson's vision sometimes compromised his.
         Pat Robertson should be looked at as an ambitious and greatly talented and dedicated man, devoted to his God, but a man nonetheless. The few times I get to see the 700 Club today, I find myself praying for those watching it; not praying that they are not taken in by words of knowledge or Charismatic theology, but praying that the portrait given of a Savior might bring the same joy and awe that it did for me. That was the purpose in the beginning of the 700 Club and the ministry of Pat Robertson. His work in education, constitutional law and compassion ministries are by-products of this. His political and financial ventures around the world were often gross miscalculations of his original mission. As the author laments, many may define Pat Robertson by his mistakes but those like me will, hopefully, ultimately, define him by the 700 Club, and by his gift of preaching Jesus Christ in front of a camera to lost and hopeless souls.

From The Best Of Times......To The Worst Of Times

           It's 1982....I just picked a year from the mid-70s to the mid-80s. You've got four channels on your television set.....three major networks and a UHF channel. Pentecostalism as a denomination is doing well with Assemblies of God just about everywhere. Billy Graham is pumping out his crusades at a regular rate....and there are Christian bookstores everywhere. I worked in an industrial environment....maybe eight hundred men and a corresponding office building....hardhat and steel toes....and a lot of crosses etched on the hardhats in magic marker. We all....well most of us....used the term....born again....to describe what had happened to us. We 'witnessed' a lot....at times not all that wisely. We would be described as....born again Christians....as if there were some other type of Christian that didn't need to be born again.
            As a member of an Assemblies of God....with a 700 club pin on my hat....if in conversation someone told me that they were Presbyterian....I would try to form a smile.....and then give an innocuous....'Oh'....poor chap doesn't know what he's missing....the problem was that I didn't know what I was missing.
            They were the best of times....and they weren't the whe worst of times....a take on how Dickens would begin his....A Tale of two Cities. It was a Country of Beulah as Bunyan would describe it in Pilgrim's Progress....a period of rest....to praise God....for those who felt so inclined. Vietnam was over....Jimmy Carter was a fresh face...and then Ronald Reagan was a reassuring face. Thatcher was in control in England. We didn't have a lot of money....401s hadn't started to pay off yet. A good vacation was one of the motels at Wildwood or Virginia Beach.

            We were as different as night and day from the fifties....and now we are as different as night and day from 1982. Today it is the worst of times....and never the best of times. Oh how we like to call Jimmy Carter names but we had no idea the horror that would come after Carter and Mondale. The Assembly of God that I spent my first years as a Christian in....changed its name....I only found out a few days ago....and have no idea why. Megachurches have been a disaster. Pastors became more CEOs. The cross was a little too offensive to have hanging around the church. No one knows what being born again is all about....it becoming a kind of perfunctory appellation.
           I looked for Christian bookstores on a recent trip south. They are hard to find. I located one on the Internet....only three miles off the Interstate. We took the detour and it looked like it had been closed down for years. A military phrase here....our supply lines have been cut. We blew off the pandemic....instead of humbling ourselves under God's Judgment....and blamed it all on Fauci. We get no warnings from our pulpits at all. Everyone thinks that their pastor preaches great....because they have nothing to compare it to. We do not want Jesus to return....we want the Republicans to return. This is the quintessential perfect storm that is bearing down upon us. There is only one harbor of safety....but we do not have the common sense to take soundings to avoid running aground.
     
 

The False Prophet Who Came Down The Escalator

                 Folks....I've been around this politics game a long time.....going back to Robert Kennedy in 1968....through the Nixon years and Carter and Reagan....all of it. There was a day when we had a lot of good leaders....in both parties. I could probably give fifty names off the top of my head. Not all of the good ones were gone by 2016....but most of them....with only a few scattered here and there....and then came Donald Trump to pick off one by one anyone and anything of any goodness or ability left....along with any and all stragglers not running from him. 

               Everything is a sordid mess right now....these candidates haven't a clue that this is God's judgment and we are not going to right this ship. They wear God's name around their neck like a talisman. I don't post a lot on Biden and Harris and Schumer and the rest of the democrats. Why? Because who with anything left of their mental capabilities needs information or reminded on who these people are? Talk radio and Fox cable and podcasters hammer these people every hour of the day....not to inform anyone of anything....but simply to keep us pliable...and manageable.....angry....not investigating anything on their own....lest we turn only to Jesus...easy to lead....and easy to incite.
               I voted for Trump in 2016....and celebrated. I didn't like him....but I didn't know how bad he was....how destructive...how hopeless....and how dangerous. I started reading about him in the spring of 2017. Previous to that I knew practically nothing about the man other than that he was rich...had three wives...golfed....had a TV show....and an ego. I am almost at one hundred books right now....books on every decade of his life...and every aspect of his life. The man has no....nor has he ever had....any compassion or empathy for anyone. The man who kept his people in line by shouting the word 'fake' from the rooftops....is the greatest fake of all!
               There are plenty of Christians out there who know that we are to have absolutely nothing at all to do with a man like Trump....but there were and are many more taken in by him. He is a genuine biblical false prophet folks....right out of God's Word....flattering us and tell us how great things were going to be.....which is the exact....the exact opposite of what God's is and has been telling us for well over a half century....since we learned how to read God's Word back in the early 70s.
                Franklin Graham....as wonderful as his personal testimony and his charity work are....and in spite of the warnings that his own father strongly gave on getting too involved in politics....completely blew it on discernment on what the Christian was to put his or her trust in. John MacArthur....the strongest defender against false prophets in the church today....whose ministry....grace to you....gty.org....broadcast....Beware Of False Prophets.....exactly 40 days before Donald Trump came down that escalator in June of 2015...right smack dab into the middle of evangelicalism....he had inexplicably started attacking socialism more than false prophets....and fighting to keep church doors open that previously he warned us against even entering because of the lack of the gospel. Stuff like this could only be judgment from God! 
               MacArthur is back but Franklin is still fighting the culture wars and looking to politics to save us.