It's Supernatural

               It would be a different automobile for everyone....but for me....it would be like sitting in a 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass....starting it up....and driving it out of someone's garage where it had sat 56 years with only occasional tuneups and drives around the block. I know I would sit there and just say....'wow'....and maybe let myself be transported back to 1972 when I was 22 years old. 
                 Folks....I thought that I read a lot about the Kennedy family over the years....and the Civil War....and the war in Vietnam....special interests of mine....but I have read more on Donald Trump in the past 8 1/2 years than all of those topics combined over the past five decades....and what I see is that he is the same today as he was fifty years ago....the same....yesterday....today....and tomorrow! I used those words purposely folks.
                 There is a long-running program on Christian television called....It's Supernatural. Every week the host interviews a different person on 'supernatural' experiences in ministry or elsewhere in their life. This is bad stuff folks....and Christians eat it up. The popularity of topics like near-death experiences....and great mysteries revealed....is indeed supernatural....only it is not coming from God. To the evangelicals reading this....this Trump movement is also....supernatural....as it defies logic.....and it also is not of God.
                 It all started in March or April of 2017. I was a Ted Cruz guy but come August 2016....when the convention was over....and there was no other choice to stop Hillary....I got behind Trump....by October I knew he was going to win....and then I celebrated when he did. Then I sat back and watched how things were transpiring. After only a few months I knew that something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. Who really was this man. I knew so little about him. We all knew so very little about him. I knew the names of his three wives....and that he was a major builder....and that he owned golf courses and an airlines....and that he had a hit television show....a show that I had not watched one single minute of in however many years it had been on!
                 I set out to read about who this man was.....(this reading never inhibited  the volume of Christian books that I had been reading for decades)....and I sat there and looked at the pile of books.....and counted them.....thirty-two....and I've kept track ever since. I am on number 104 right now....and this is after a pause of about six months when I thought....and hoped....and expected....that Donald Trump would go the way of the Hula Hoop.
                 I read books on every decade of his life.....and books only on certain areas of his life....such as golf....or Mar-a-Lago....or his family history. I read books that were 100% pro-Trump....and books that were the opposite....and books that really were neutral. I even read some of his own books. I read the impeachment books....and the Russia books. And I am here to tell you that the Donald Trump today....is the exact same man who he had been his entire life. Nothing changes in a vacuum....and as for ideology or religious belief or compassion....(which there was none)....he is the same as when he might appear back then on the Tonight Show....a vacuum....ready to be filled with something.
                  The liberal/progressive media....and those who live in this world....knew who Donald Trump was because he was in their world. He was one of them. They laughed about him back then....and when he moved over to our world....for one purpose....to promote himself....they took great umbrance.....this after laughing him off at first. They were as culturally corrupt as he was....and they were not going to let him fool the voters like they themselves fool all of their voters....and they would not lay down and let him win the day for their enemies.....the God-fearing conservative element in our society. It was OK when he played his ego and con games when he was one of them....but not OK when was giving conservatives what they wanted....Supreme Court judges! 
                  Things then spiraled out of control. I sat and listened every day to conservative talk radio.....to Rush and Hannity and Levin. They were upset to begin with back in early 2017....and then....just gave up the ghost....once again as if it were a supernatural thing. They were followers now....no longer thinking for themselves. The hated Republican 'establishment'....the RINOs....recognized from the beginning that Trump was seriously psychologically unbalanced. They became the 'never-Trumpers.' This group that I for many years vehemently opposed in these posts.....for their lack of resolve on conservative issues....became the only group of everyone concerned that wasn't taken in! We had fallen so far that the once insipid 'do-nothing'....kick the can down the street element of the Republican Party....was now the only group that knew what was going on.
                   A similar but far more ominous....'delusion'....was taking place....in evangelicalism! We were to be put to the test. Would our Christian faith hold strong? Well there could be no other answer because evangelicalism was no different than the rest of the world in that it was comprised of the genuine and the almost but not genuine....the real and the imposter....the wise and the foolish. As it turns out....the redeemed of the Lord are few in America folks....a small remnant! 
                   Evangelicalism fell the quickest of all the groups....for being doctrinally weak to begin with....we were sitting ducks for every quack to come along. Franklin Graham....good man that he is....and such a blessing in emergencies through his Samaritan's Purse....missed the wolf that has entered the sheepfold dressed in sheep's clothing! We are like Linus from the Peanuts comic....who could recite Scripture beautifully....but at the same time was sure that there was a Great Pumpkin.
                   Believe it or not it takes me about four to six hours on average to write a post like this. So today I took a break and walked out to our porch that overlooks a patio with a glass table....and in the reflection off the glass table was that of an orange fall ornament hanging on a typical wrought-iron hanger.....and in the reflection on the table....the perfectly round ornament was very clear....but it was an oval....and everything else in that reflection off the glass was greatly elongated. I submit to the readers here that the view you have of Donald Trump is not who Trump is. It is greatly distorted.
                   Ominous is the word that comes to mind as I read the news every day.....breathtakingly ominous! Both candidates in this coming election are judgments....upon all of us....from God. How many times had we read in God's Word about what it would be like when Jesus returned? Hundreds of times over the years? But the words were sterile to our minds. That day had to come nearer before we could even get a glimpse of the real dangers....and the delusion....but those days are now here. We need to clear our minds of the flood of distractions that block our discernment....and pray that God would apply a balm along with the vision of where we are....because that vision could be incapacitating without the sure knowledge that God had warned us of what was coming. 

Another Cycle Of Jewish Feasts....And Another Period Of Time Of Heightened Vigilance For Us

Preface: Last evening....Sunday....September 22....I had another visit with a Jewish friend....a lady in her mid-80s....whose husband was a famed electrical engineer....with a bio on Wikipedia for his contributions in computerized technology. I wished her a happy Jewish new year that is coming up.....Rosh Hashanah which begins on October 2....and a solemn high holy days....for Yom Kippur begins ten days later....and she wished me a happy anniversary which coincidentally is on October 2 also.             

                New Year's Eve....now there's a happy time....where everyone wishes each other.....'have a happy New Year!' Well Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year's celebration....with the blowing of a shofar instead of the ball dropping at Times Square. It also begins the High Holy Days....Yom Kippur....the Day of Atonement being ten days later....these being the main holy days but they also include Sukkot.....Tabernacles or Booths being the names with which we are more familiar.
                Now we gentiles start a new day at midnight....or somewhere around sunrise....but the new day to the Jewish person starts at sunset on the evening before. So Rosh Hashanah this year begins at sunset on October. 2...(my wife and I will be celebrating our 48th anniversary on that day....Lord willing)....and ends two days later....October 4th....at sunset.
                Yom Kippur this year begins at sunset....October 11....and ends at sunset or sundown the next day. This is the holiest day of the year for the Jewish person. How many readers here have seen the film....Golda....that premiered last August? Probably none. I saw it the first day of release. It's a great film where Helen Mirren plays the Israeli Premier Golda Meir. The movie is all about the surprise attack on Israel on Yom Kippur of 1973. Israel almost lost that war. I did a review on the movie last August 25 and concluded with this....in bold print as it is here....But the reason that you might want to see this movie is that Israel may be in a similar situation in the very near future."
                Forty-two days after posting  this review....Israel was brutally attacked on the last day of Sukkot....another Jewish holiday....this one seven days in duration....of festivities. This year Sukkot begins at sunset on October 16....and ends at sundown October 23.
                So this is a second Jewish cycle of holy days and festivals....the first being the Spring Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread and First Fruits and Pentecost. There is also what is known as The Three Weeks.....a very solemn time of remembrance that has within those three weeks....the 9th of Av. This is during the summer....and I posted on a forty day period....in fact the post is titled....Forty Days....that included those Three Weeks. I wish you might read for the first time or read again that post....last posted on August 22.

                  I should add this paragraph from a July of 2020 post for it explains why I do these posts on the Jewish feasts....

The dates of the future feasts of Israel are always only a click away for me or anyone who feels that surely major prophetic events will occur on these days. This isn't date setting for we do not know the years....but we do know that God's future plans for the Jewish people will most likely revolve around their feasts. To  prognosticate on this is more than problematic....but to ignore it is being careless to God's warnings to us.
 
                   We should be particularly observant and in prayer from now until these Jewish feasts and our own contentious election are concluded. I use here the word 'observant'....not in the way that some Christians observe Jewish feasts....where they actually take part in the Jewish traditions....even Biblical mandates....but observant meaning more of a vigilance....knowing that our coming King is at the very door....and that God's mercy will extend to the Jews....in the very same way that His mercy was first extended to us....in that they will see their need of a savior....and indeed they will see their Savior....and rejoice....as we first rejoiced!
                   Tomorrow is yet another Lord's Day. We in America live in....as Bunyan called it....Vanity Fair. May our pastors remind us this tomorrow. Of the older and more courageous ones....may they warn their flock....(they are supposed to be shepherds are they not?)....of the absolute absurdity of attending a worship service....and then going home and spending the day in front of the idolatry and trivial nonsense of professional football.

Note: Tomorrow will be ninth straight week that John MacArthur will not be in his pulpit....(it is eleven weeks now!)....this due to a serious heart procedure that was done. Please pray that....if God wills it....he might return to he pulpit....for we need his voice. Please pray also that John Piper....should God desire this also....would return to the pulpit on more of a national stage.....for we need the preaching now in America.....more than we need the books....and we need the exaltation and exhortation.....more than we need the teaching....which we should by now be able to discern for ourselves.

An Addendum: Personally....I will stick with Spurgeon and Lloyd-Jones and Piper and MacArthur on the issue of Israel.....and more importantly on what I see very clearly in the very word of God to us. God has not abandoned Israel. Others think that God has....and of those others....in the past year I have heard practically nothing of prayers for either the danger Israel is in at this time....or even for the concern for world war....such is the determination to avoid Israel like the plague. The apparent lack of love and even compassion...or at least the failure to show it......or even common sense....is so absent....that no matter what the truth on Israel would be....it is utterly astounding....and sends me back to the letter to the Ephesians in Revelation chapter 2....where this church had left its first love. Israel....the nation that exists today....indeed has broken covenant with God and their branch has been broken off....but God will bring them back. They therefore are not....non-entities! They are not neutral in God's eyes! I'm reminded of the man who was forgiven much....(that would be us)....but had no compassion on others who needed forgiveness!

The large single headline on the Drudge Report right now....is an Israeli flag.....in color....and the words....WAR ON FIVE FRONTS

Luke 21:20...."But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by enemies, then know that its desolation is near."                

Holy Spirit......Blow Into These Sails

Preface: The following post is about a week old. I just checked the Sunday bulletin of John MacArthur's church.....and tomorrow will be the twelfth week that he will not be in his pulpit due to health issues. As much as we need him....and others on a national scale....I am almost relieved that he will not be in the pulpit tomorrow....for while checking on this I found out that a friend of his....also a minister on a national scale.....a man I have posted about a number of times....has been relieved of his duties as pastor in Texas....and will most likely never preach again....or speak at conferences....because of an....'inappropriate relationship'....supposedly not physical....with a woman. I would not look forward to hearing John MacArthur's sadness on this. So I want to bring this recent post to the top. To use metaphors here....Satan might use a poison dart.....or a net....or a covered pit....or any one of a number of other weapons. He might very well use depression....or prosperity....or even an honor....or any area of our lives that we might leave unguarded. May this sad news work in our hearts....and sober us....not only to the increasing dangers in the world....but the dangers to our very souls.            

Holy Spirit......Blow Into These Sails

                My cousin texted me earlier in the day about a family tree she is putting together. The last text read...."Our family is impotent! ❤" She caught her own typo later.....I didn't see it. Merriam-Webster's primary definition for the word is...."lacking in power, strength or vigor." Every day in the Christian's life is a fight. That clock alarm might as well be a bell for round one.
                I have proclaimed myself to be a Christian now for roughly fifteen thousand days....(forty years plus)....and I imagine that I have been knocked out or at least TKO'd in ten thousand of those days....and the worst bouts are on the beautiful days....perfect weather....with not a lot on my schedule.
               Take today for instance....mid-70s....gentle breeze....a Lord's Day nonetheless....with five hours from the end of our wonderful worship service to getting in the car to go and be with an elderly relative. I had to fight the temptation to let the world take over my thoughts. Everything within me seemed to be saying....do nothing....just wait until it's time to go. This feeling sneaks up on you if you are not vigilant. I had to go to my corner....so to speak....and plead with my handler....the Holy Spirit....break this bondage....blow this fog away!
                Try this on for size. We head out on vacation....a well-deserved vacation....the first day is all driving. Usually it's a Saturday. We check in late at the hotel....and after lugging all the bags up and unpacking....it is straight to bed. We wake up Sunday morning and the vacation begins. Five days follow of either laying on a beach or shopping or hitting all the local attractions....or gazing at a mountain range....thinking that giving glory to God for it covers our vacation from the Word. The next Saturday comes quickly and it is all the reverse. We arrive home late at night beat....and we are not getting up for Church. God surely understands....if we even think about it. 
                In this scenario we have just traveled eight days in the short pilgrimage of this life....in Vanity Fair no less.....with no spiritual sustenance....our discernment ice-cold....and our spiritual muscles atrophied from lack of use. 
                How many vacations do we get to take in this....'one glorious nation under God'...two or three or four? Add to that the wasted month of December preparing for Christmas....and the family holiday of Thanksgiving....and all the gardening in the Spring....along with about a dozen birthday celebrations or anniversaries or weddings or graduations....and I submit to you that the average person was knocked out or TKO'd in this fight for the better part of the year.
                If you let this go on for a decade or so....then you are no longer a soldier....but a weekend warrior....an average evangelical today in America more concerned about defending the constitution than the Word of God.
                I haven't even touched on the glorious part of being a soldier for Christ....the formations as our King passes by in a sermon....or the proclamations of....Holy Holy Holy....that only comes from those who fought through the lazy...hazy....crazy days of summer....and limited the celebrations and even the family times so as not to lag behind the march.
                Am I being melodramatic? No....and I have the scars to prove it. I have the demerits and a court martial or two. This is legitimate folks. There is no easy way....and it is going to get a lot harder....and a lot more dangerous! David suffered a great wound for his lack of vigilance....as did Solomon....but here is the kicker....our King is so wonderful....so powerful....and so merciful....that His glory burns off the haze! The joy of being in this army is so exhilarating....that when the doldrums do come....we need only to call out....Holy Spirit....blow into these sails....do this for the glory of Christ's name alone.....and He will!

What A Difference A Year Makes

                On September 22 of last year Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke before the General Assembly of The United Nations. I posted on it almost immediately and you can read that post only a few posts below this....as it was titled....A Speech To Remember....And A Night To Repent of. 
               Well the Israeli Prime Minister spoke to that same General Assembly again today....about a 34 minute speech that you can easily Google. A year ago his speech was....as I described it in that post...."wildly optimistic at times." Today's speech was subdued as far as optimism is concerned. He mentioned the same...."Blessing vs Curse"....choice that the United Nations can pursue in relation to Israel. He gave details on the war with Hamas that we need to be aware of.....and he laid it out clear that Israel would now focus in the same determined way with Hezbollah. It was a no-nonsense speech....in spades.
               He didn't mention Biden or Trump....(or Harris)....as he did in the speech last year.....which was wise. He mentioned biblical themes three times. The hall was only sparsely filled with representatives from member countries....but there were two sections in the gallery with vocal supporters of Israel.

Vindicating Dinesh D'Souza?

                Maybe we can start off here in agreement on one thing. Everyone....And I mean everyone.....agrees that Donald Trump is arrogant. No one denies that....and it is actually considered a virtue by many. Being arrogant in this case is acceptable....so might I ask your indulgence here to be a little bit arrogant myself in this post?
                We have all seen this scenario played out....a college professor....maybe history or art or something like that.....plays a movie for his or her class....and stops the film throughout to give his educated comments on the scene just shown. This afternoon I went to see the new Dinesh D'Souza film.....just released today....Vindicating Trump.
                It was well-done as most of D'Souza's documentaries are. The photography on some of the scenes of our capitol was particularly enjoyable. He got his message across....and the Trump loyalist will love the film. It was a small theater....only a dozen people at most....but they all clapped at the end.
                Having said that up front....I consider myself to be educated on who Donald Trump is. I am on book #104 right now on Donald Trump....books for him and against him and by him....(which really were not written by him)....and books on literally every aspect and decade of his life. I have watched dozens of rallies on the computer over the years....and I go to films like this when they come out. So....if I were the professor in a political science class...and showed this film to my students....I would stop it about every ten minutes to inform the students that what just saw and heard....was not in fact true....or was greatly exaggerated....and I would explain in detail why it was not factually true....or was greatly exaggerated.
               That is the life we lead in politics today.....on both sides of the aisle.....nothing has to be true....all it needs is a morsel of truth...and there can be served a feast of misleading information. So to summarize....it was well-done.....it will certainly serve its purpose....but it was also grossly deceptive at times.
                I sat in an end seat away from others....and was able to type notes on my cell phone without anyone noticing it....one word notes so that I could remember later what to point out.....and here is that short commentary....
                Please do not take this first comment further than how I am intending it to be taken. Leni Riefenstahl was....(you probably know this already)....a famous female German film producer. Her most famous work was the now infamous 1935 propaganda film....The Triumph Of The Will. The purpose of the film was to instill in the German people the will and determination to make Germany great again. It was very effective in achieving its goals. As filmmaking goes....it was considered ground-breaking and visually striking. Well....that is what came to my mind with D'Sousa'a film.....not Germany....but the visuals....even though they were misleading!
                 There was some background music throughout the film that every time I heard it it reminded my of the 1973 instrumental....Tubular Bells....the opening theme from the movie....The Exorcist. Does that mean anything?
                 At one point later in the film....in a visual message against what the Democrats were trying to do to Trump....it took Trump's face and slowly transposed Hitler's over it....but earlier in the film....it did the same thing....where Abraham Lincoln's face was slowly transformed into Donald Trump's. There were numerous other references to the comparison between Lincoln and Trump in the film.....including Ford's Theater.
                 God's providential hand was again used to describe what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania....and another time Trump was described as 'turning over tables' just as Jesus had done in the Temple. You know I have never seen the Clint Eastwood film....referenced in the film....Pale Rider....the 1985 Western mega-hit....but I may have to watch it tonight. So I did read about it just now.....a man arrives in a troubled town on a pale horse....(from Revelation)....and he wears a 'collar' and they call him....Preacher.....and he brings death to all the bad guys....and then rides off in the sunset. So that is Trump I guess.
                 Is the D'Souza film racist? You can make up your own minds. The most despicable character in the whole film is a heavy-set female....with short hair....and piercings.
                What I am going to write here....I have said for decades....while Donald Trump was doing his thing elsewhere....and I've commented as such in a 2021 post. The Democrats have always 'found' extra votes in urban areas....when they needed them. This goes back at least to John Kennedy's primaries and general election victories. Thirty years ago we conservatives would tell each other that we needed to win an election by at least five points to make up for the Democrat's....'canvassing'....I'll use that word....urban areas to get someone to sign on the dotted line. In that respect the 2021 election was probably decided by that 5% that Republicans did not get!
                So....Dinesh D'Souza gave ample time near the end of the film to describe how the DNC harvests votes. This segment of the film was good....but the rest....was a tribute in a way to the filmmaking methods of Leni Riefenstahl. 

Just What Does....Our Not Knowing The Day Nor The Hour....Mean?

                So there is yet another hurricane coming into the Big Bend area of Florida....and evacuation orders have been issued....and the Weather Channel is on top of this with predictions of a storm surge possibly as high as twenty feet. The days of the 'hurricane parties' may be over. We do as a people seem to be taking these storms more seriously. Economics is playing a part in our increased attention to the hurricanes as insurance costs are becoming unbearable especially for the growing numbers of retirees who have second homes in Florida.
                Man in general though....as it pertains to God's warnings to us....still does not take those warnings seriously. It was the norm in the Old Testament for the people to ignore....and even kill God's prophets who gave those warnings. Nineveh was an exception but by the time that Jonah made his was up to the city....the story of the mariners throwing him overboard....along with Jonah's narrative of why God brought the storm upon the ship....and the sudden calming of the sea when he was thrown overboard....all of this was fresh in the ears of the Ninevites. So when Jonah walked through those gates....probably bleached out from the fish's belly....telling them that they had but forty days to repent....the king and the people....'evacuated immediately'....so to speak.
                God has always given ample warnings of judgment. Think about it....would we rather it any other way? Jeremiah warned the people of Jerusalem...and the king and the princes....for over forty years....and even when the judgment came....and the temple was gone....and the city and its walls destroyed....they would still not believe Jeremiah's continued directions!
                Even evangelicals who seem so excited about the sensationalized claims from 'prophecy experts' like Jonathan Cahn....don't really seem to grasp the situation. They consider this more of a warning to win back the Congress and the White House....as if that was the heart of our problem....instead of seeing our heart as the problem!
                 Prophecy....end-times prophecy....has an essential part in the Christian's life....but it does not convert the heart....and if used improperly....it dulls the Christian's heart. The preached gospel is God's primary means for converting the lost...and for the sanctification of the believer....but preaching unfortunately is the weakness in the church today!
                 We are to be a set-apart people....not set apart as conservatives....but set apart in that this is not our home. We are traveling through. There is a path....and it is narrow....and it is at times very dangerous. How many times does the New Testament tell us to be vigilant and sober-minded and to stay awake? Jesus would tell his disciples....'see....I have told you in advance'.....or 'I have told you these things so that you do not fall away.'
                 No....it is in our spiritual DNA....the extreme danger is that we will be like Lot's wife. We just cannot tear ourselves away from this world. We do not want to be considered fools....but the real foolish one is he who claims that he believes the Bible to be the Word of God....and knows that God's judgments always come about....and cannot avoid all that is written about the end-times....and what it will be like....and then sees that description all around him....yet still clings to the hope that storm will not come as forecast....or that if he just travel a little ways and stay at a Hampton for a few days....that he can return and things will be as they once were.
                Prophecy to so many of us has become nothing more than an IMAX dystopian movie....great fun....and then its back to the real world. Prophesy becomes real when as with Paul....we can say that we ran the race....past tense....as it should be run....or as with Peter....who knew there was little time left....and was going to use that time reminding the believers to be diligent in making sure that they were in the faith.
                Do you have oil in your lamps! Probably....even the foolish virgins had oil in their lamps....but when the night went on....(the last forty years for us evangelicals for example)....and the cry came at midnight...."Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him"....the wise virgins had extra oil to put in their lamps and go out to meet the bridegroom....while the others used up their oil....and had to sit and figure out what to do....and when they figured it all out they asked to be let into the marriage feast....but were denied entry.
                What more could you want as a warning than this....after Jesus told this parable He said...."Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour." What would we say in response...."Gee....I thought that not knowing the day nor the hour meant something else!"

All I Want To Do Is Play The Hits......Sort Of

              I listen occasionally to 60s pop music. And when I listen to it....I kid you not....I analyse the words. By 'analyze' I mean that I put them up against the word of God. Could a Christian say these words? Do these words sound like they are coming directly from the evil one? You would be surprised how often the writers of these lyrics referenced God....and you might be surprised how many songs seemed to be a serenade right out of you know where. 
             It's been reported often how Paul McCartney once said that the Beach Boys song....God Only Knows....was the best song ever written. Neil Diamond was all the time referencing 'God' or the 'Lord'....and the Byrds big hit Turn Turn Turn is right out of Ecclesiastes. Check this out on your own sometime....listen and look for words referencing God. It was a different world.
             The famous long-time disc jockey....Shotgun Tom Kelly....has a book just off the presses.....All I Want To Do Is Play The Hits. I'm reading it because I told him that I would....this in a standard radio....request line....conversation that I had with him. I requested Oh Happy Day....the 1969 hit by the Edwin Hawkins Singers. 

Oh happy day (Oh happy day)
Oh happy day (Oh happy day)
When Jesus washed (When Jesus washed)
He washed my sins away

              I highly recommend the book if you are interested in what life was like in the 60s. Anyway....all of that....to say this....the title of Shotgun's book was his dream since he was a kid....all he wanted to do was play the hits. And in a way....all I want to do is play the hits.....Spurgeon's sermons....or Martyn Lloyd-Jones or John Pipers sermons....or Pilgrim's Progress programs....or anything that gives glory to our Lord and Savior and Coming King....Jesus Christ!

"So listen up guys and gals....to your Uncle Special Dog....these are two big hits by that Minnesota pied piper....no not Bob Dylan.....John Piper" 

Note: My wife pointed out to me that I used the spelling 'analyse' the first time....and 'analyze' the second time. I told her that I am half English and the British spelling is 'analyse'....while the American spelling is 'analyze.' So it's OK.

Have You Been......Born Again

Preface: The following post is less than a month old....but I still need to bring it back:                  

                There are a number of different types of viewers to these posts....mostly Christians....but also inquisitive viewers who either saw my bumper sticker or picked up one of my bookmarks. So I have to vary the themes. If I'm on a college campus I generally try to reach younger people. Other times I try to address a story in the news....but most of time I'm trying to give my take....a different take....on biblical passages. Also....I have to come back to the same topics because if I do not....a post might within a couple of weeks be buried where no one new will ever read it. So for today....one of the most important....and in everyday language as if we were sitting across a table.

                The term....born again Christian....is redundant. A Christian must have been born again....and if one is born again....they are a Christian....but in evangelicalism....and in just about every church anywhere....there are members or visitors who believe that they are Christian....but that in fact is not the case.
                 Bill Clinton and Al Gore were....and possibly still are....members of the Southern Baptist Convention. If asked they will tell you that they were born again. Hillary is Methodist. Donald Trump just the other day spoke at a Christian summit. He gave that famous closed mouth smile and said.... .."I love you Christians.....I'm a Christian!" It's near-impossible to describe the inflection in his voice other than to say he sounded like he was talking to toddlers. He hasn't a clue and never has.
                 So what exactly is being born again. Fair question....for Jesus said...."You must be born again" (John 3:7) Look around in the room that you are in....provided it's not Grand Central Station or a bowling alley. That room could probably be filled with books on that question....'what is being born again.' I can only address one part of a comprehensive answer that I think you may need to know.
                 The heart is regenerated. In other words it begins to spiritually beat. Before this a person cannot believe the gospel and come to Christ. We have no idea when this happens....but after it happens....we feel things that we never felt before. Notice that I said 'feel' and not 'see'....for we can think that we see ourselves as rebels due a just punishment....even attest to it....but not really feel it.....for there is no real guilt or mortification....and no genuine sorrow. We can tell ourselves that we have turned to belief in Jesus....but if in 'turning to Him' we do not as if collapse under His holiness and our sin....then it was not He to whom we turned.
                 Our name is written in the Lambs Book of Life. We are adopted as children. The angels rejoice. The devil is angry. The Holy Spirit resides in us....and we understand things we had no clue on before! When reading the Bible it is as if we never read it before! We feel a burden fall off of our back. There is now real hope. We know that we have been given a new beginning and we cry out thanksgivings for it! In short....something.....happened! Something real happened! In my case it took over a decade to see how fortunate I was....but I can be a slow learner at times. Hopefully it will take you only ten days....or even ten minutes!
                  I'm sitting in our living room right now....but if I were to go outside and walk into town....and pass someone on the sidewalk....I would somewhere in my mind wonder if they were a fellow follower of Jesus? I can't help it....for I know that salvation is real....and hell is real....and one must be born again! Fifteen minutes ago my wife told me about a sales clerk today who for some reason told her how depressed she had been....hoping she can even get through the day. I already tried to formulate some kind of something....no success yet....to point her to trusting in Christ. Today's offering from John Piper's desiringgod.org was an article titled....Your Pain Has An End Date....this written by a woman. Is there some way I can get that into her hands? I will probably fail....for these situations happen every day....at times many times throughout the day. My point is that if one is born again....they should naturally look at everyone....family or friends or passers-by....and wonder if they still need that great salvation that was given to us?
                  Complicating all of this today is that politics and the culture and the future of America has entered into it. What happens all too often is that people are vexed at what is happening....and angry. The Democrats are the ones turning America into San Francisco....we really had no part in what we have become!  We may not be perfect but we are not like the Democrats! So if we are in a church....which we probably are....we make sure that it is a strong conservative church. The next thing you know....we are Christians....obviously! We attest to everything that has to be attested to. If you ask us we will tell you...we are Christian! What more could anyone want?
                  Well....God's Word describes something totally apart from just being a church-going....faith attesting.....conservative....and that begins with being....born again! So I have taken too much of your time already....and I will now do what I really want to do....what I feel that I am called to do....and that is point you to men who can preach to you what you need to know. If you are interested you will do the work....Google up either John Piper or Charles Spurgeon or Martyn Lloyd-Jones or R. C. Sproul along with the words....what is being born again. 
                  There is a caveat here so that you do not waste your time. You will eventually be called to take up your cross and follow. It is hard....and it is very difficult at times....and it will only get worse....but I promise you this....the joy....oh the joy of knowing that He has saved you from wrath....the joy of hearing His glories preached.....the joy of owning that great gift of His Word to us....that is all ahead! 

Just....Read....For....Yourselves....For There Is Great Perspicuity In God's Word On This!

                This is an important doctrinal issue to the believer in Jesus Christ....just what is the nation state of Israel today as it pertains to God's Word? It does not directly relate to salvation....but can have a major negative effect on the Christian's view of salvation if they do not get it right!
                There are two polar opposite views. The charismatic community....and much of the fundamentalist community....which is the core of evangelicalism....have an allegiance to Israel in a political sense that is so strong that they have in effect forgotten that the Jewish person in Israel is still lost and in an eternal need of salvation. 
                 At the opposite polar end are the reformed. Their defense of doctrine is so dominant in their minds....this indeed is their strength....(I am reformed by the way)....that they live in fear of giving up one inch to their already established view that the Jewish people are a branch that has been cut off....and therefore the nation state of Israel is no different than any other nation state in the world. Both of these are seriously impaired views.
                The evangelical in this instance....already weakened by what we call today Christian Nationalism....consider ourselves the good guys in America....defenders of a God-fearing America....the Democrats are the only bad guys....and we therefore are in no way responsible for what America has become! We look at Israel today as....God's people....just as we conservative republicans are God's people....only in a different way....where in fact Israel's rebellion to God is in essence a carbon copy to our rebellion to God!
                I have written extensively on the horror or the Sukkot attacks....but never mentioned the obvious that it was the Israeli people's secular materialist worldview....and lack of vigilance....or concern for God's warnings....just like us....that let them sing and dance so close to the Gaza border....and in like manner lets us play our frivolous games as Jesus nears in judgment!
                 So....we have that nation state of Israel.....that miraculously....came into existence in May of 1948....and is the focus....like it or not....of the entire world! There are many trouble spots in the world but none hold the key to any kind of stability as much as that small state of Israel! This in itself drives the reformed batty. They try to block it all out of their mind. They don't even want to pray about it for fear that someone....somewhere....might get the idea that Israel is still something special in the eyes of God!
                 Where are you....the reader....on all of this? I would submit to you that wherever you  are....you do not understand the full implications. If the general view of the reformed is wrong....then they may wind up working directly against God's commands to us concerning the Jewish people as Jesus returns....(a topic that we also have a problem with....for we also live in fear that someone might believe that Jesus is actually near!)
                 Let me repeat that....we may wind up being the ones that are the enemies of the people that God has promised that He will not completely abandon! On the other side of the ledger....the evangelicals....in part because they cannot see our culpability....nor Israel's culpability....wound up putting a genuine biblical false prophet in our White House as the leader of the 'free world!' So maybe....if you consider this....you will be able to see how getting this issue of Israel wrong can lead to disaster?
                  We have a world situation right now where....(this is no coincidence)....these past seventy-six years should be evidence enough that God's plan is being played out....and that the nation of Israel is indeed....the nation of Israel! And that Israel....(rebellion and all....a cut off branch and all)....is in an existential fight for their lives. Yes they have incredible military power! But if their allies do not remain true to promises....(that is us folks)....they indeed could be overrun! If that should happen....and it is almost heart-stopping to me that God's Word seems to say that that will eventually be the case....then the reformed will have played a part in it. That is serious stuff my friends. We had better at least plead with God for discernment here.
                   So....what does God's Word say about all of this? That is the only thing that matters right? Here is the rub....the evangelical compartmentalizes all their Bible reading....with little systematic tieing of things together....while the reformed won't depart from their textbook long enough to see what God's Word says on this.
                   What you the reader has to do on this is pour into God's Word on the end-times with the fervor that you pour into other things in life. This is everything folks. May God forgive us....(His church!)....for giving so much time to things like watching grown multi-millionaire idols of men....running around with a ball on the Lords' Day.....to see who can get the most points! 
                    There is great perspicuity in God's Word on Israel today in these days before Jesus returns....which there is also great perspicuity! It is so very clear! Just read for yourself! 

Beware Overconfidence

               It seems that there may be an undefeated season here or there.....but few undefeated careers. I watched about fifteen minutes of a college football game last night....because my son and grandson were somewhere in that vast throng of fans. I know what it is like to follow a college football or basketball team....or an NFL team....or an MLB team.....or an NHL team.
               So many times back in those years....it was as if I were the coach....and my team would win a game easily....but the big game was the next week....and I would say to the team in my dream world....don't get overconfident! There were other times when my team might be undefeated....and a mediocre team was coming into our stadium....and I would worry....don't take this team lightly! And we would then get upset. It was frustrating....and it is part of the reason that I gave all of that stuff up. 
              There was a baseball player way back when....who was very good. He was a great hitter and fielder. He hit 300 seven times in his career! But one single play defined that career...in a World Series game....where a slow ground ball rolled past him as he took his eye off of it. He suffered a lot of ridicule after that....this great ball player....but he handled it graciously....and died relatively young....he was about my age....and went to be with his Lord and Savior and King. I know very little about him so I don't know if he was a Christian before his famous error....or if that error led him to being a Christian.
              So this....famous really.....Christian pastor and author and teacher....that I posted on in the post below this....somewhere took his eye off the ball....and will pay for that.....I'll use the word 'error'....the rest of his life. Had he not been on that grand stage.....had he not been a 'general' so to speak.....had he not first had the courage to attempt to pierce the darkness....as a powerful voice for the gospel....he might not have had a target on him from the evil one?
              I only know that a warrior has fallen severely wounded.....and I will pray for mercy upon him....and that the rest of us will learn from this....that we might be shaken to the very core....realizing the weakness of our mortality....and thus be even more vigilant.....even more sober.....even more the wise traveler....looking to the left and the right for wolves....and checking our perimeter for any unprotected areas.

"Oh....He's Just One Of Those....Born Agains!"

                I don't know if you hear stories like this anymore....I don't....but in the 80s....(I guess that I should write 1980s.....for readers might ask....'80s....what's that mean?' Anyway back then this storyline was the norm in many places....someone would get....'saved'....or....'born again'....and to their friends and family that seemed like all they would talk about. A standard line that one might hear would be...."Oh he's (she's) one of those 'born agains'!" Looking back on those days....what a blessing to have been labelled like that!
                So I had a short drive ahead of me this afternoon....and booted up a Charles Spurgeon sermon to listen to. I didn't have time to search for a new one....so I picked one that I heard many times....The Holy Spirit....The Need Of The Age. Now....please bear with me on this....for it's a little difficult to explain. There are various options....one of which will play the sermon.....(read by someone else obviously)....and every fifteen minutes or so an advertisement will suddenly interrupt the sermon. I'm used to it and it only takes two seconds to reach down and press the skip button.
                 So today....the reader....with a British accent....began with Micah 2:7...."O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the Lord straightened? Are these his doings? Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly?" The flow of the sermon could be described in these words of Spurgeon very early in the sermon...." 'O thou that art called the church of God'...to be named Christians, and not to be Christians, is to be deceivers or deceived." This was an 1887 sermon and Spurgeon was lamenting what the church was becoming.
                 I'm listening as intently as I can....hoping to glean even more than the first few times that I heard the sermon....and all of a sudden came Donald Trump's voice in a political ad....(they don't give you any warning here)....."We will make America powerful again....we will make America wealthy again....we will make America strong again....we will make America proud again.....we will make America safe again....and we will make America.....great again." It was only about twenty seconds of a Trump speech....and then the British accent reading Charles Haddon Spurgeon's sermon continued with this...."I believe, brethren, that whenever the church of God declines, one of the most effectual ways of reviving her is to preach much truth concerning the Holy Spirit. After all, He is the very breath of the church."
                  I have nothing profound to add to this other than to say that when I heard the abrupt change from a British accent of a Spurgeon sermon....to Trump....back to the British accent reading the Spurgeon sermon....I think that I just laughed actually....and looked at it as an opportunity to write a small post with a link to the sermon. And here it is....

"What's The Big Deal? I've Had Thirty Or Forty Years Of Sermons!"

            Well it's only another 24 hours for another glorious Lord's Day! Glorious in that in many churches all around the world....brothers and sisters in Christ....my brothers and sisters and your brothers and sisters....will meet together and hear the glories of our Lord and Savior and Coming King preached! Let us all pray for these humble men to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to carve and to mold....and to apply fire and then a balm to our vexed souls in this evil age!
            My brother-in-law just returned from the Philippines hours ago. His text that I just received described how so very poor they are....the family that he visited.....but so very spiritually blessed! A former pastor just returned....also hours ago....from Africa.....after ministering for years as a missionary in an even poorer South Sudan....and he arrived with a beautiful adopted son! 
            We will....Lord willing....because of obligations to an elderly family member....stream our worship service....and be able hear of our glorious God and His gospel! John MacArthur....(I just looked at the church bulletin on its website).....will not be in the pulpit for the eleventh straight Lord's Day. God interrupted his pulpit ministry as he was preaching through Revelation....this at the eleventh chapter. We need his voice on a national level.....along with John Piper and so many other faithful pastors whose ministries are expanded even throughout the world!
             I realize that many of the readers here cannot really understand some of my comments..."What's the big deal? It's just a sermon. I've had thirty or forty years of them?" Try this....after you return home tomorrow....and you are still wondering what I'm talking about....close the world off and open your computer....and Google up names such as Spurgeon or Martyn Lloyd-Jones or Piper or MacArthur....along with....'sermon YouTube'....and then should God will it....you will understand!
             

Majoring In Minors

Preface: Rain water is so much better for house plants than tap water. Whenever we are to get a heavy rain I collect all the plastic water trays and put them on the patio....then I pour the rain water into the plant watering cans to use later. The Holy Spirit is the rain water to the heart and mind. Books such as I post on below are tap water. Yes God can use them while tilling the soil but it itself can cause nothing to grow.               

                 I've read all of Jonathan Cahn's books....most of them hot off the press....and his latest as of a few days ago was Amazon's number 1 book of all categories! So Christians are obviously eating it up. Every book spirals downward as he is reaching for some kind of significance in these great 'mysteries' that he is revealing....but hey....number one in the world! It must be good right?
                 I've posted on most of the books as they came out and really it is getting old. The essence of the latest....The Dragon's Prophecy....is that Satan....or the dragon....copies everything that God does only in his own image....and the dragon brings back....resurrects so to speak....events from the past....in this latest case....the sea peoples are back....the Philistines are back in the form of the Palestinians.
                 The problems begin in these books in that there is very little gospel....and as I mentioned in a post on the latest book....the concept of the Messiah overshadows who the Messiah is....and what He has done for us on Calvary....and why we were and are in need of a Savior. Oh these things are mentioned here and there but only as a prelude what what is really important....that being these revealed mysteries. I saw the same thing while looking of Jonathan Cahn's ministry website. In effect....it is majoring in the minors.
                  Another problem is that Jonathan Cahn....not only missed the false prophet in Donald Trump....he turned Trump into God's man to bring America back to God. That is a pretty big mistake. He is conflicted in that he warns of God's judgment on America....but in effect denies that judgment if we but turn back a few years....a time period when Billy Graham and many others were warning us of God's judgment! Folks....I can attest first hand to this....you do not need any of these ancient mysteries to know that Jesus is near. The Word of God is more than sufficient in this area and in all areas!
                  So everyone is saying...'Wow....these mysteries are awesome'....instead of saying...."Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory." We are in need of mortification....instead we are getting excitement. We are in need of preaching the holiness of God...that will really make us say....Wow! 
                  Here is the ultimate question....when it becomes undeniable that Jesus....along with His holy angels....are at the very door....when even Reformed theologians and pastors cannot avoid it anymore....and when people like myself who already know that the Day of the LORD is near.....how are we going to react? As for myself....I am all talk right now....will that talk translate into faith? With all these folks so excited about dragons and harbingers and paradigms....will their excitement turn to a solemnity and mortification? Will reformed pastors and theologians....semper reformanda....'always reforming'....as they proclaim so often....will they show the ability to actually reform if necessary?
                  We are all in need....in one way or another....of humility and pleading for God to increase our faith. Many will leave Christ as did the disciples when Jesus was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. Will we leave also as persecution and delusion and false miracles and false wonders abound? Those who are in Christ will not leave. May that be our hope....for it is true....and a promise that cannot be broken! 

Note: The question that I would ask of Christian patriots.....or Christian nationalists as they are referred to so much today is....where is it exactly that you want to go back to? The 1980s and Reagan? Billy Graham wrote his book Storm Warning and Approaching Hoofbeats back then. If that is the case....and that is where you want to go back to....God was warning us at that time that He was going to judge us. Is it 1776 that you want to go back to....or 1789 and the constitution? Even George Washington shortly after that warned that Christian belief was disappearing! R. C. Sproul wrote his The Holiness Of God in the mid-80s....which evolved into a teaching series that you can listen to....I believe simply by Googling....The Holiness Of God....Ligonier ministries YouTube....or going to ligonier.org to order materials like this. Let's go there folks....all of us....either for the first time or as a refresher on just who we are before the God of Glory.

A Speech To Remember......And A Night To Repent Of

Preface: There is a steady flow of visitors to these posts from Israel....and I am so very thankful for that. In fact next to the United States....there are more visits from Israel than any other country. I believe that we need to heed what I am going to remind us of in this post. Let me start with this....on September 22 of last year....almost a year ago to the day....Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke before the General Assembly of the United Nations. You can easily Google the transcript. I have always held Netanyahu in admiration as a person. I enjoy even listening to him speak....because his speech is so eloquent and yet simple and straightforward. I just read again his speech to the U. N....and it amazes me....(but not in a good way)....even more than when I read it the first time a year ago. The following post is from the day after the speech.....September 23....fourteen days before the Sukkot attack at the Israeli music festival!

Benjamin Netanyahu Speech To The United Nations

1 Thessalonians 5:3 "While people are saying, 'There is peace and security,' then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape."

                Jesus knew that within a few hours Peter would deny Him three times. Nothing was going to change this....but He still prayed for Peter....for He told him that Satan wanted to sift him as wheat. (Luke 22:31)
                Benjamin Netanyahu is calling it the potential for an historic peace...."Peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia will truly create a new Middle East." He presented his case to the United Nations for a peace treaty between Israel and Saudi Arabia. He used the words "peace and prosperity." He contrasted the "blessings" of peace with the "curse" of terrorism....war....and Iran. He pointed out that four Arab neighbors had already made peace with Israel....and if Saudi Arabia follows them in making peace with Israel....than the Palestinians should recognize that they would have no choice but to make peace with Israel also.
                The speech was mostly optimism....wildly over-optimistic at times....he wasn't trying to hide that. He has to pursue peace....we all do....but just as it was decreed that Peter would fail....so will fail this latest attempt at building that...."new Middle East."
                Whatever the details are....and we do not know them now....they may on paper be sound....maybe even genius....but they will not succeed. This is like trying to build a house of cards with an oscillating fan that will eventually pass the house of cards and blow them all down.
                 The Israeli Prime Minister's speech was laced with biblical themes. All of Benjamin Netanyahu's speeches are intelligent and clearly understood. It's a great gift of his....and English is his second language....whereas Joe Biden and Donald Trump stumble and bumble all over the place....but a speech is only a speech. Trump's February 4, 2020 State of the Union Speech....written by others....was eloquent and powerful....it could rival JFK's or Reagan's words....but it was also arrogance and deception and false prophecy! It meant nothing as the world was just beginning to experience the ravages of the coronavirus.
                  Netanyahu's speech was starting to resemble Trump's State of the Union in the great changes that were ahead as he said...."Imagine the blessings of finally cracking the genetic code, extending life by decades, and dramatically reducing the ravages of old age...imagine a world with boundless clean energy." John Lennon is not the person that any God-fearing man should be referencing....but that's what he did....by name....and it disturbed me a little in how he felt that he needed to remind people of what he personally had accomplished. He did acknowledge towards the end the dangers in this latest quest for peace in the Middle East but it was almost as an afterthought.
                 I also found it odd how he emphasized....first the great potential of artificial intelligence...."the most consequential development of our time"....and then immediately after....the great dangers of artificial Intelligence. Actually I found it very disturbing that he would make AI which he said is...."progressing at lightning speed"....such a major part of a major speech.

Addendum: There you have it. The speech unnerved me a little bit....and fourteen days later....modern day Israel had its worst day ever....and the situation continues to be more dangerous as every day passes! But I have to add here a much older post concerning President Trump's 2020 State of the Union speech. It was the same situation. This was a victory speech....and the Republicans in the chamber were having a party....but God was at that very time unleashing a pandemic upon the world that would change just about everything! Here is that post....titled.....

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

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

This italicized paragraphs was added shortly after the first posting.

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

A Gentle Rebuke

                 My opinion anyway....is that it is a very hard book to interpret....Job. Oh some of it is clear but there are 42 chapters which leaves a lot that isn't so clear. So I want to give you one interpretation....or rather my interpretation of one interpretation....of one chapter....and encourage you to look at this on your own....and view other interpretations.

               Chapter 35 has Elihu wondering if Job is saying that his righteousness was greater than God's righteousness? Elihu speaking...."Do you think this is right? Do you say, 'My righteousness is more than God's...?" Job had already extensively pleaded his case to God. He was in no way saying that his righteousness was greater than God's....but it was if he was saying that his argument was more righteous than God's....and that is what Elihu was dealing with.
               Job was doing what we all at times do.....as we think that we are doing our best....we are trying to oppose evil men....but God doesn't seem to be hearing our prayers? I submit to you that that is much of what evangelicalism is doing today. We are sure that we are doing our best to confront the evil of abortion and so many other plagues that are upon us....but are frustrated in that the battle is not going well....therefore we will take matters into our own hands.
               The text seems to support the interpretation that indeed God was not answering prayers because of pride....and because of the lack of humility....."Surely God will not listen to empty talk." We today in evangelicalism lack humility. None of this that is going on today is our fault....or so we believe. Elihu later reminds Job of God's goodness and power and righteousness. It was a gentle rebuke.
                It is not as much that we today are arguing with God....but that we are going out on our own and therefore challenging God to take sides. We found the prince that we want....and it does not matter that he is using us as much as we are using him.
                Elihu said this of Job....."Therefore Job opens his mouth in vain. He multiplies words without knowledge." That is what we are doing....opening our mouth in vain....'God bless America'....and multiplying words without knowledge....'We are one glorious nation under God.'

Even The Stones Would Cry Out His Praises

Preface: The following post is from January of this year:           

                The story came out in March of 2020. A California stay-at-home mom was proud of her small succulent plant that she cared for on the kitchen window sill for two years....until she attempted to replant it....and found out that it was a fake plant. As strange as that is....how many people watered their own Christian faith for years if not decades before mercifully finally finding out that it was a fake faith?
                When I was....oh seven or eight I suppose....my mother granted my request and bought me a small Ivy....and I liked watching it grow because it was low maintenance. I have an Ivy wall-hanging plant today.
                This is how it transpired...to the best of my knowledge....in moving some fake plants...one colorful bloom must have fallen on the floor....where I found it later....and just stuck it in the soil of the hanging Ivy that was right there. Well...I guess that a year had passed....and I never took the fake flower out.
               The soil was good....but the best of churches cannot grow a plastic believer....but the power of the Word can make of that plastic plant a living and breathing soul....and a glory to God!
                I have been of late focusing on the Spurgeon's sermons from later in his life. I have one to recommend to you today from 1888. The church in England was collapsing from liberalism. Few were getting saved....the church being invaded by a modern 'gospel' that deceived and did not save. I know what must have been going on in Charles Spurgeon's mind....and also J. C. Ryle's for that matter....for we in America are well into that age of delusion. Please consider listening to this sermon....the most challenging and clear to the Christian that I have ever heard him give. Just Google....Spurgeon Sermon Youtube....An Urgent For An Immediate Answer. It is a blessing to have readings of sermons available to us today.....but sometimes they come with little irritations that we have to deal with. In this case....the sermon will a few times be interrupted by a commercial. When that happens just wait a moment and then click on the...skip this ad....that will appear in the lower right corner.
                One can live their designer Christian life only insofar as they can avoid hearing the Holy Spirit driven preached Word of God. Any peace that is had without this will be a faux peace....as an artificial plant that looks real....but cannot turn the words into food. No matter what area of the United States that you live in....it will be difficult....but not impossible....to find a man....educated and established or humble and itinerant....to preach God's Word with power and to His glory. Therefore....my advice has so often been in these posts....utilize the recorded or recited sermons....of either men from the past....or men today who preach like men from the past....until God would either provide a faithful shepherd....or awaken the sleeping shepherds that are already on every hill and dale.

Addendum....Tuesday....September 18.....2024: After rereading this post from earlier this year the question came to my mind of if that were me that watered an artificial plant for two years before finding out that it was not a real plant.....would I then keep that beautiful but fake plant....or would it be a constant reminder to me how dumb I could be....and therefore get rid of the plant? Well I don't know what I would do....probably get rid of it....but what about all the other dumb things.....(and worse than dumb)....that I have done in my life....things that I am ashamed of? I know the answer to that for I have already had to confront these issues. I keep them secure in the back of my mind....to bring out occasionally to remind me of God's grace to such a sinner. There is a danger of sorts there for if I would dwell on those times it would surely in effect incapacitate me....probably in depression....but there is a danger also in getting rid of the memories.....for they serve as a vital purpose in reminding me of my weaknesses....and God's grace. Fortunately God protects us.....as He turns the fake flower into a living plant....and He would make the stones shout out praises if we His disciples did not!

I decided to add the link to the Spurgeon sermon....

 AN URGENT REQUEST FOR AN IMMEDIATE ANSWER

                                          

 

DISPATCHES

Note: The bold highlighting in the paragraph on Ben Sasse below was just added to emphasize a point....and was not in the original posts.

BEN SASSE....In October of 2022 I posted this...."Ben Sasse is about to be offered the job as President of the University of Florida.....and he is probably going to take it if that offer is extended to him. Senator Sasse and I are of the same theological persuasions....although there may be a...."distinction without a difference"....in that he is very heavy in that Christians must join in to make a difference in the culture.....while I agree with that....until the chief engineer tells the captain that the ship is going down. We are going to need our best minds in the Senate....and there are not that many....Sasse's expected decision lowers that number by one....and what do we get out of it.....a 'Gator nation' president."And then on November 2 or 2022 I posted this...."Senator Sasse has one more university vote to get by to officially be offered the President of the University of Florida....and that vote will likely pass....and then Senator Sasse would presumably resign from the Senate. Don't do it Ben. Stay in the fight. There's a line in David Mamet's 1999 film the Winslow Boy....I'm sure you've seen it....where Sir Robert turned down the office of Lord Chief Justice....describing it this way...."The robes of that office would not have suited me." The robes of this office would not suit you. Remember this also Senator....likewise from the film...."Easy to do justice....very hard to do right." Ben Sasse this past week resigned from his position as President of the University of Florida. There are family health matters involved....(that we can all pray for!)....but there are other issues. He never should have left the United States Senate.

"I'm reading a book right now about the Russian revolution and the year 1917 in Petrograd. Central to what I've read so far are the dispatches from foreign journalists back to their newspapers and magazines in their home countries. The word 'dispatches' sat very well with me when I read it as that's what I look upon many of these posts as....dispatches.....eye witness accounts so to speak....sent to others who because of time and circumstances view these things from afar. I've sent these posts back week after week and month after month and year after year to everyday Americans, detailing the unravelling conditions in our government and our society in general. The Russian autocracy, clad in their furs, feasting and travelling in their elegant automobiles and troikas, enjoyed their ballet and theater right up to the moment that their country collapsed. 

The above was the first paragraph in a July of 2017 post. I've posted about a hundred DISPATCHES posts since then. The book mentioned was Helen Rappaport's....Caught In The Revolution....Petrograd, 1917-A World On The Edge. 

ISRAEL is a bellwether....indicating where the world is going. They are in a fight for their lives right now....and just about every bit conflicted and divided as we are. When Jesus talked about....A house divided....He was warning us of what it would be like before He returned.

RUSSIA....who woulda thunk it....that conservatives would become the useful idiots that we warned about for decades?

CONSERVATISM as it has been known in America is gone....replaced by an Ayn Rand extreme selfishness....modified and now known as Trumpism.

EVANGELICALISM has been rendered powerless by Trumpism....taken in by a genuine biblical false prophet.

THE NEWS MEDIA....right now we have no legitimate news media....so we are in effect as a Civil War general....blind without its cavalry.  CNN and ABC and NBC and CBS are long gone....FOX only recently....within the past few years....has abandoned fair news reporting.....and Drudge....who once served as a buffer....has instead taken sides....and Breitbart....as well as all the smaller independent news organizations....are worse than all the above. 

TALK RADIO....conservative talk radio as we once knew it....a major source of our information....has been taken captive by Trumpism. I listened once again to Rush Limbaugh's very last caller. He defended Trump right up to the very end. He was such a nice man....but completely taken in. He thanked Mark Steyn at the end of the program for being on call....and said...."See you tomorrow."

FRANKLIN GRAHAM.....learned nothing from his father on the quicksand of politics and the gospel. The Rev. Billy....according to Franklin....could not even converse in his last year. I have to believe that he could see what was happening....and only prayed for us.

JOHN MACARTHUR....has not been in his pulpit for the last eight weeks. He made his share of mistakes also since Trump came on the scene....but we need his voice in that pulpit!

AS FOR THIS ELECTION....these two candidates are God's judgments on all of us. We evangelicals are as the princes of Jerusalem who ridiculed Jeremiah's warnings. The wooden yoke of Babylon would be broken....the false prophet said....but Jeremiah rebuked him and said that an iron yoke would take its place. 

SUPERMOON....PARTIAL LUNAR ECLIPSE....and BLOOD MOON....(sort of)....tonight....Tuesday the 17th....all three of these will be viewable....(weather providing)....here in North America. Technically it is not a blood moon but should appear red enough that some have labelled it as such. 10:44 is the time that you should be out there. The next total lunar eclipse and legitimate blood moon will be March 14 of 2025. On a side note....Trump was born on a blood moon on June 14, 1946. April 15, 2014 to September 28, 2015 evidenced the now infamous blood moon tetrad. It is almost forgotten today as if nothing happened....but Trump came down that escalator during of that tetrad....June 16 of 2015....if anybody is interested.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO....Psalm 1: 1,2?
"Blessed is the man
 Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
 Nor stands in the path of sinners,
 Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
 And in His law he meditates day and night."

Is There A More Wonderful Christian Ever In The History Of The Christian Church Than....

               It has to be one of the top five questions that unbelievers ask.....'Why does God allow suffering?' Well if I were asked that I would recommend that the questioner would Google sermons on that topic by Charles Spurgeon or Martyn Lloyd-Jones or John Piper....for I have heard such sermons by all three men and they do a far better job than I ever could....but I will provide an anecdote of sorts.
               I had an interesting day beginning as I visited an elderly person.....90 years old....who has very limited mobility with a walker....maybe twenty feet at most....and many other assorted ailments do to their age.
               I came home and cut the grass before a scheduled visit by our pastor. While cutting the grass I noticed some odd pains in my right knee while pulling the mower backwards. Thirty minutes before my pastor.....and friend....was to arrive....while coming up the steps from the basement....the back of my right knee gave out. It took me about twenty minutes to crawl up five steps....and now it was ten minutes before he would arrive. My wife then came home and asked if I wanted her to call the pastor and cancel....but I said no....I want fellowship and to talk of our Savior more than I want to deal with this knee. She procured a walker from a neighbor.....if I could get up on the walker. I did just as the pastor was coming up the front steps. I explained the situation....and we had a wonderful time of Christian fellowship for about two hours.
               So he then left....and my wife had to leave for an appointment that she had to honor. What could I do....for I can't hardly move? Well I was able to sit at a table....and I booted up this computer....and surely God put this idea in my mind....I watched that wonderful Billy Graham 1979 movie....Joni!
               Is there a more wonderful Christian ever in the history of the church than Joni Eareckson Tada? Well I'm sure there are others who are up there with her....but none surpass her in speaking....both orally and through a faithful life....than she has!
               I saw this film way back when....probably the early 80s....and a few times since....but it is....or rather Joni Eareckson Tada is....God's answer in a faithful life....to the question on why suffering is allowed. There will be a day....the beginning of eternity....when this lady runs and skips and cartwheels praises to her Savior. You can take the effect that she has had on me....in encouraging and humbling me....(Oh my poor little knee hurts)....and multiply it millions of times with millions of Christians over the past many years!
               Why don't you boot the movie up and watch it tonight?

...
               

We Are In Worship Mode......And It Is Not Christ That We Are Worshiping

               I have read some bad books in my life. One particular comes to mind. The year was probably 1973. I was fresh out of the army....and at Pitt....where I did most of my thinking in the popular college bar. (this from recollections of the time period) Friends and I would sit around the table....over pitchers of Budweiser....and discuss the latest popular books. The book in question was the 1968 supposed anthropology book....The Teachings Of Don Juan....A Yaqui Way Of Knowledge....by Carlos Castaneda. As I remember it....a UCLA student in anthropology met with a Yaqui sorcerer....over a few years....peyote I believe was their Budweiser....and thus the student was taught the Yaqui Way of knowledge. Phew! I have to own up to that one.

               Well I think that I just finished the second worst book....a Christian book....where the author was once nominated for a Pulitzer Prize....and a blurb on the back is from a nationally known megachurch pastor....prolific author and televangelist....and a Baptist nonetheless!
               I'm not even going to give the title of the book because the contents of the book....(about as biblical as Don Juan's peyote induced knowledge)....is not the focus of this post. Trust me though please....it borders at times on the occult....and makes Jonathan Cahn's books look like the Westminster Standards.
               The focus in this post is on Paul's letters to the Thessalonians. The church is experiencing persecution....and remaining faithful. Paul mentions the Second Coming in all five chapters of the first letter....and two of the three chapters in his second letter. You will remember these verses in the first letter....

"But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, 'peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes up on them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in the darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore....(did you catch that....'Therefore')....let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober."(NKJV)

                But my focus is on the "falling away" that Paul warns of in the second chapter of the second letter. Both of the epistles are particularly for us today. What did the Steelers do yesterday? I don't know....but you probably do know....and that is why you do not know that Jesus is near....that is why you want the Steelers in the playoffs more than Jesus to return! The verse that I want to highlight is 2 Thessalonians...chapter 2....verse 11....

"And for this reason, God will send them strong delusion, that they shall believe the lie."

                 We understand things like fake news....and the deep state....and the New World Order. We can orate on a global warming hoax....or vaccines....but we have spent little to no time on this existential warning from God....to us! Jesus gave us the same warning in Matthew 24:24....

"For false messiahs and false prophets arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect"

                  That's us folks! There are hundreds....at least....of people running around in Charismatic evangelicalism right now claiming to be prophets! That book I just read....the one that the national megachurch pastor endorsed....talks about nonsense like this....and worse. It's like Nostradamus....evangelical style. "If possible, even the elect"....should that warning alone not send us to our knees? Right now....in American conservative evangelicalism....we are in worship mode.....big time....and it is not Christ we are worshipping!
                  This that we worship is in effect a false messiah....and a false prophet....with great signs and wonders evidenced. This is part of the "falling away" that we are warned about....but true to Scripture....the 'elect' are not buying it. We see what is going on. That in itself though....doesn't mean that we all handle it in the same way. Some of us see it more clearly than others.
                  My comment on the Steelers may be true....it is absolutely absurd to be entranced or even partaking in such nonsense as the Lord of Glory is at the door....bringing with Him judgment....but it is only one of the temptations attacking us from every side today. I have my own idols that cloud my vision. This is a process that we are going through. We learn the hard way on some things....I certainly have....but nonetheless these distractions have to be weeded out. We are slowly by necessity coming out from the world....and slowly but surely a threshing and winnowing is taking place. We can rub each other the wrong way as the grain is separated from the husks....and tumble aimlessly as if tossed from a winnowing fork....but the final result is that we will be together in Christ!