I Understand Why They Think As They Do

"Mr. Boehner...and Mr. McCain...and Mr. McConnell....and Mr. Graham....and Mr. Rove...and Mr. Bush.....we are not alone. We are Americans who trust in their God and recognize His hand in all of creation, His omniscience and omnipotence in forming this people, His power in sustaining us though we often strayed far away, and also His warnings to us after years and years and years of our increasingly ignoring Him..... the continuance of which you are advocating. You have become impervious to common sense, to wisdom or to any light in your darkened halls of power.

               I posted the above in May of 2014. Twenty years before that I was writing letters-to-the-editor that the newspaper gave titles such as....Only God Can Save America. I was Tea Party before there was a Tea Party. I know first-hand what happened back in 2015 with Donald Trump. In essence we had an employment ad out there for decades....and people like Jim DeMint and Nikki Haley and Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio showed up for interviews but it wasn't until Trump started shouting and stomping around that we put our own nominee in the Oval Office.
               Oh I didn't like him....not at all....but after almost a half century of political awareness I knew that he was going to win.....and I voted for him in the general election....and I celebrated....for a few months.
               The other side had just pushed and poked for too long. We were forced to watch our country decline beyond belief....until Trump came along....and bad and obnoxious and dangerous as he was....by 2024 we no longer had the capability to debate or even to reason. We were fully indoctrinated....and no one was ever going to take the power away from us again!
               I know what these folks went through as cities were becoming war zones....and LGBTQ was being pushed on our children....and Joe Biden looked like death warmed over....and Kamala Harris was worse yet if that were even possible. I understand their frustration because I shared it....longer than most of them.
               What these folks do not realize is that in Donald Trump's victory they gave up something precious....their minds....and their consciences. They are not cognizant of the fact  that they have changed. What they are fighting for today....is not what they.....we....once fought for. Germany in 1933 had had enough of the communists on their streets....they would take their streets back....and they did....only they gave their power over to a force....which is exactly what we have done. I wrote the following in that same 2014 post to the Republican establishment....

"America's future does not lie in these elections that the Republican Party is selling more than its birthright for; and the winners of these elections will have no power that God does not permit and no wisdom that God does not give, for His purposes and to His glory! Our duty is to elect God-fearing leaders and pray for God's mercy knowing that His will is perfect, and that it may or may not include the United States of America as a source of stability in the world or even an entity in itself. Celebrate your polling figures all that you want. We'll celebrate a risen Savior and a returning King.

                Those 2014 mid-term elections that I was posting about were a big victory for the Republican Party....but I was warning them that we can do nothing in our own power. Little did I know that one year after this post a man would arise in the Republican Party who would use God's name to subdue the evangelical mind....and give us a cult of personality....a malevolent personality.
                I write this post to say that I know what is going through the minds of evangelicals. I know what they think that they want...and what they think they have already achieved. I know why they feel that they have to unconditionally support Donald Trump. I can commiserate with them on many things....but I can only feel sad for them....for they are as the Galatians that Paul wrote to....amazed at how they could so easily turn to a different gospel....or as Jude warned of...."dreamers....have [ing] run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit...speak [ing] evil of whatever they do not know....spots on [our] love feasts....serving only themselves.....clouds without water....raging waves of the sea....murmurers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts....they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage....sensual persons....causing divisions."

Lord's Day Post

Preface: The following post is from October 8, 2015 and was titled....Restraining Force. The past nine and a half years proved how much God's hand has been lifted....and how far removed from common grace we are. As Donald Trump moved in....was booted out....and Joe Biden then moved in and stumbled out....and Trump came back with a vengeance....the shotgun pattern described below that once described America's center is now gone. The fringe now dominates....violence and hate and mob rule....fueled by rage and anger and ignorance. It may not be the majority but as with the Bolsheviks in Russia 1917....and the National Socialists in Germany in 1933....a smaller entity has seized the day. Our heavenly Father is in control of all of this.....none of it took Him by surprise. His church is floundering right now....malnourished from lackadaisical preaching on incidentals. The glory has indeed departed. May God have mercy upon us....may it begin tomorrow....and may that mercy be upon me also. 

Restraining Force

            I'd like you to picture a shotgun pattern....a tight pattern where most of the holes are bunched together in the center of the target. The holes around the outer edge we'll call the fringe. Now apply this shotgun pattern to society if you will. Most of the people are tightly bunched together, so much so that the center is one large hole frayed around its edges. The holes on the outside are those people who live and believe on the fringe and they themselves can be as different as night and day...from harmlessness to criminality, and from genius to mediocrity. A portion of those on the fringe are susceptible to behaving in a criminally sociopathic way.
            What is happening today in America is that that shotgun pattern has become a scattergun pattern. The grouping is anything but tight with the holes spread all over the target. The same principle is at work with people on the fringe, only that percentage of people out there is much higher. The issue is not gun control, in fact in this scattergun patterned society more people need the self-protection from the more people on the fringe.
        The real issue is in how a society is to maintain a tight pattern with the fewest people on the fringe as possible? A totalitarian society where guns are not permitted to anyone other than the ruling element would produce a very tight pattern...but with.no freedom, no liberty....and no life to speak of. What holds the pattern together in a free society? It's called common grace....God's restraining of evil in mankind. Our conscience is a restraining force. Government should be a restraining force. Both are given by God in varying degrees.....possible more at one time than at another time.....and different in different places within our world.
      God's hand has been lifted from America and common grace along with it.....at least a great portion of it. We requested that God remove Himself or we would remove Him ourselves. Subsequently, we now have little perception of what is good and what is evil. Wisdom is extremely rare. Logic and reasoning atrophy in the recesses of our consciousness and memory. Our defensive bulwarks are collapsible as a house of cards, our ramparts scalable and our battlements mere decorations.
      Common Grace serves as the choke in a shotgun that directs the pellets to the center. (If I understand the mechanics adequately) That choke has been removed. We do whatever we want and have few restrictions...and we are paying the price. The remedy for our sickness is one that we do not want to hear...and we won't even consider it......Fear God and Keep His commandments. We'll find other remedies and medicines......worthless but palatable.

       

Answer...."Because It Is There"

              A Texas biotech company reports that it successfully brought back into existence the formerly extinct dire wolf. They accomplished this genetic engineering through the DNA from a tooth fossil. There are two males....Romulus and Remus....named after the mythical twins raised by a she-wolf....and one female....Khaleesi. They call this process....de-extinction. The twin boys are said to have founded the city of Rome....so this would in a way point to a revived Roman Empire. The name Khaleesi apparently comes from the....Game of Thrones....and means....queen....as in Queen of Babylon. I'm just throwing out examples folks.

             The dire wolf is much bigger than the gray wolf and therefore would hunt bigger animals for food. The plan is for monitoring these wolves for a while before they would ever release them to the wild....which is a plan that I'm not too thrilled with. They can't even be sure if this is just a wolf that looks like what a dire wolf probably looked liked....in other words....a wolf in dire wolf's clothing....or a genuine dire wolf?
              When asked in 1924 why he wanted to attempt to climb Mount Everest....British climber George Mallory said simply...."Because it is there." This was three decades before Sir Edmund Hillary was the first to reach the summit. Mallory and his climbing partner probably never made it to the top....as they were last spotted about three hundred meters below it. Mallory's body was found in 1999....with a snapped rope around his waist.
               So why do we today embark on such formidable tasks as bringing extinct life forms back to life? Well probably....because it is there! We have given artificial intelligence not only a lease on life....but possibly....the lease on life....because it is there. This company also cloned some red wolves....because they are near extinction. Why not?

DISPATCHES

Trump thinks that Europe will respond to tariffs....but then negotiate....which will probably happen....but he cannot see all of the other possibilities that could spin off of this dangerous gambit.

It has come full circle. In 1982/83 when I was shown mercy by God and was born again...haunting Christian bookstores....I was very blessed by the simple devotional writings of Corrie ten Boom. Today....for the last few years actually....I read as much as I can get on the heroic exploits of the ten Boom family....as the world is heading back to totalitarianism....at times even in the name of God.

Saturday....March 29....We had the privilege today to attend the basketball Special Olympics....that wonderful organization started back in 1962 in Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Sargent Shriver's back yard. There is so much to learn from these wonderful young athletes....and so much to be thankful for in how people can help other people!

I would rather use the name....Putin....than....Russia....because the Russian people are not as much led by this strongman dictator....as in bondage to this strongman dictator. Europe had been our ally against the threat of the USSR....and now Putin....and we had been their ally. Trump would rather it the way around....where he could be the ally of the strongman dictator....and him our ally....than having to deal with elections and courts and parliaments and constitutions and  ethics and truth and the concepts of what is right and what is wrong....and especially a free and vibrant press. That way....Trump could have authoritarian rule....which would go hand in hand with an ally who also has authoritarian rule. Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz and the others cannot as of yet see this connection. Right now....conservatives and evangelicals kind of like this authoritarian stuff....and will probably continue to like it until they are firmly under that authoritarian thumb.

Kristi Noem....head of homeland security....you just have to shake your head. That photo/op of her in El Salvador's notorious prison was absurd and grotesque  to begin with....and now it's been reported that the watch she was wearing cost in the neighborhood of....are you ready for this....$50,000. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said that she took her earnings from best-selling books....and bought something that her children can keep....which should get a prize of some sort for most ludicrous attempt of an excuse for strolling around a prison looking like a fashion model.

To the people in Greenland....think through this....he already....back in his first term....told NATO that he might think about defending them....if they are paid up.....and now he is telling you how beautiful your country is and how he wants to keep you safe. I've studied Trump for eight years now....and I am on book number 106 on him....every decade of his life....and every area of his life....and feel that I know him as well as anyone in the public can....don't ever believe a word that he says. This is exactly how he bought property to build his towers on....but he would turn on a dime....on anyone....if the winds of fortune shift.

You had better believe that Trump is worried about the coming special elections....and with good reason....because the people are starting to see just how disastrous he is so many ways. I've posted on these coming special elections for a few months now. Trump strung Elise Stefanik out to dry....which is what he is always prepared to do with all of his supporters.

SNOW WHITE....if I didn't already know about all of the controversies with Snow White....I would not have spotted them. The movie was a little slow the first twenty minutes but it was an entertaining film.

Our son was....I'm guessing about six years old at the time....and he and I were sitting in a sandwich shop booth....with a poster of the television character ALF....right there next to us. He looked at it and asked me...."Dad....what kind of animal is that?" I tried to skirt the issue and said...."I don't know son....maybe it's a dog"....to which he replied...."That's no dog dad!" We didn't have a television in our home for his first nine years....so he did not know the popular television character. I always researched and hand-picked any movies that he would see. So today at the movie theater....it is always my habit to stand outside the door until all the previews are over.....because I tend to consider most of them genuine assaults on the mind of the Christian. Well today with Snow White I thought I could get through the previews....and some of the movies looked entertaining but in two of them....(I can't remember the titles)....the main lovable animated character....when he or she or it or whatever they were....whenever they got mad....they looked like what I would imagine that a demon looked like. Children have long been subjected to these subtle frightful faces in supposedly children's movies.

Have you noticed this I wonder? If you Google something to get some facts....at the top will be a paragraph type of answer. That is AI....artificial intelligence....an entity of some sort. I know the statistics but Googled this anyway...."Are earthquakes increasing?" AI said that it  may seem that earthquakes are increasing....but they are not! Phew....I was beginning to think that Jesus was at the very door....and judgment was coming right now!

Atlantic magazine....I have bought quite a few Atlantics from the news stand over the years....depending on the cover story....because they are the most professional journalistic news magazine out there.

There is a bill in the House right now....actually it's the latest incarnation of this concept....that would prohibit members of Congress to trade individual stocks. There is one member of Congress....one of the most vocal Trump supports....who made considerable stock purchases while the stocks were plunging....and then made considerable profits a few days ago when the market soared. Trump tweeted or X'd or whatever they call these things today....that it was a good time to buy. Now this will be interpreted as just sound advice of buying into the market when it is down.....or.....it can be interpreted as a signal to people like this above person in Congress....to buy. One of the sponsors of the bill likened it to baseball's rule that players cannot bet on games. It wouldn't surprise me if now they finally pass a bill prohibiting those in Congress from making individual trades in the stock market.

The calls for investigating possible insider trading over the quick and purposed reversal in the Dow Jones is political....but unfortunately it is also necessary....as almost a formality in such a situation as we had....which was rare. This includes the Trump family and Musk....whose whole life is making moves in the stock market! He can't be having lunch with the president every day....during a tariff war....and still doing his normal billion dollar moves. I hope these people know this....but I wouldn't be surprised if they do not know or even do not care.

None Of Us Know How To Blush

                 I've given this advice before. All of us need at one time or another the warnings from Jeremiah.....because he....(actually Baruch taking dictation from Jeremiah....as Jeremiah hears from the LORD)....he is speaking to America and the West every bit as much as he was speaking to Jerusalem and Judah....but this is a long book....fifty-two chapters....and they were not....(only God knows the reason right now)....they were not compiled chronologically!

                So I recommend that the new reader start with Jeremiah chapter four....and read through chapter nine....slowly....taking days if not a couple of weeks to do this....praying over every passage....and substituting at times....America....for Jerusalem or Judah!
                Actually....read a couple of verses in chapter six first. Start with verse thirteen....and think of us....our leaders and our pastors.....all of us....and then concentrate on what the middle of verse fifteen says to us....

"Were they....(all of us)....ashamed when they had committed abomination? No!....(folks none of us are ashamed at what we have corporately and individual become)....They were not at all ashamed; Nor did they know how to blush." (emphasis mine) (Jeremiah repeats all of this warning in chapter eight?)

                That's it folks....as I look all around....from nonbelievers....to evangelicals....to national ministers....and to all those in our government....none of us knows how to blush anymore. We on our side blame it all on Democrats....but we all built this entertainment culture that has no real need for God....and it's the MAGA people that brought pride and greed and a lack of compassion into it.
                Malachi said that the people were always saying to God...."Me? What did I do?"...and God would tell them that they were fooling themselves....and that their sacrifices were a sham. That's what we in evangelicalism are doing...."Us? What did we do wrong? We brought in Trump!" And God is as if saying...."That's right.....you brought in a false prophet who tells you the exact opposite that My Word tells you....because that is what you wanted to hear!"

"Let's Chat"

                The journalist had the same initials as a government official....so he was added to the text of addressees. That was bad enough but Trump's motley crew of amateur loyalists exchanged some texts about Europe....and trying to get money for anything that they did for Europe....that really they all should resign....but of course that won't happen. When Hegseth was initially asked about what happened....he actually denied it....and attacked the journalist....even though the administration had already acknowledged it? And Trump....two hours after it was in the news....on being asked about it by a reporter....acted surprised and said the didn't hear anything about it. This kind of fake transparency and dishonesty is what we can expect on anything in the future....because it is always what we get from Trump.

Note: Fifty-five years ago I was in the army with a top secret clearance....and worked in a compound. Nothing came out of that compound. If you blew your nose into a tissue....that tissue went into a burn bag.

Vance:           "OK let's start. Give me ideas on how we can extort money from Europe?"

Hegseth:        "I think that we should charge them for every bomb dropped on Germany in World War II.

Gabbard:       "Do I really have to be in this meeting. I only have this job because of my looks?"

Sergey:          "Here's an idea....how about annexing Norway for national security purposes?"

Rubio:           "Lavrov....how did you get in this chatroom?"

Sergey;          "Elon let me in....right Elon?"

Musk:            "He paid a billion dollars for it. Anyone can get in for a billion dollars."

Rubio:           "Elon....how did you get in here?!"

Musk:            "I'm looking for fraud and someone to fire."

Vance:           "OK everybody....let's settle down! Marco...."

Musk:            "Polo!"

Vance:           "This stuff is serious! Marco....."

Musk             "Polo."

Vance:           "Cut it out Elon! Marco....you are being very disrespectful to the President."

Musk:            "😜"

Hegseth:         "🔥"

Rubio:            "President Trump is in here?"

John Baron:    "No I'm not."

Rubio:             "Who is John Baron?"

Vance:            "I'm talking about President Putin."

Putin:              "I am only here to tell you how great your President Trump is!"

John Baron:     "If I was here I would say that I love Vladimir too....but I'm not here."

Vince's Pizza   "Hey....who wants to order a pizza?"

Waltz:              "Oops....I thought the VP meant Vice President?"

Bondi:              "I'll take a small with pepperoni and extra cheese. Make it white sauce in case I spill some on my white Brunello Cucinelli twill jacket."

RFK JR.          "I just banned extra cheese on pizzas."

John Baron:     "And if I were here....which I'm not....I would tell you that I am putting a 100% tariff on Swiss cheese and French fries and Spanish olives and Canadian bacon and Irish stew and Swedish meatballs and Belgian waffles and Mexican jumping beans and Italian salad dressing and Polish sausage."

Musk:             "Donald....I eat Mexican jumping beans at every meal. That's why I jump around like I do."

Vance:            "OK....there's a problem here. Let's all switch over to Facebook where it is secure!"

Musk:            "And why aren't we going to X?"

Rubio:            "You're not going anywhere Elon. You don't have a security clearance!"

Musk:             "Yes I do....Donald gave me Chief Justice John Robert's security clearance."

Hegseth:         "This chat is over! I have to go on Fox and deny that this ever happened!"

John Baron:    "Make sure you call it a hoax and a witch hunt! They fall for it every time."

Note: Trump has used fake names at times when he wanted someone to know something....but not that it was him who was telling them. John Baron is one of those names. In this recent Signal chat disaster there was someone that signed in as Jacob....and no one seems to know who that might be. Hey....maybe it was Trump....or maybe Elon?

Here is another ploy that Trump has used for a long time....he will say that....'a lot of people are saying' or 'a lot of people would like me to do this.' There may be no one saying anything but by putting it this way....if there is a blowback on the comment....Trump can always say that it wasn't he that said it....but he heard someone else say it. Yesterday he talked about a third term....and said...."a lot of people would like me to do it."

        

DISPATCHES

Today....Friday....March 27: The latest in Trump and Musk's punitive scorched earth....Ride To The Sea....is RFK JR's announcement that 10,000 people will lose their jobs at HHS. Two things about this....all this is not being done to cut America's deficit....that would be impossible....it is done to give Trump immediate laurels....for he needs constant laurels....and for retribution....revenge....it is a sickness....and second....conservatives are going to turn on Trump big time when they see that their own families are being hurt....and the elderly and the disabled are losing benefits....and when the Democrats return to power....if we can get that far....they have all the precedent they will ever need to have their own....executive orders....Ride To The Sea....because Trump did it first!

If the president and his national security advisors and joint chiefs of staff decided to bomb a country in 24 hours....then that right then is classified! It does not need to be written down....placed in a Manilla envelope....and stamped....CLASSIFIED....to be classified. Telling the Congress that there was nothing classified in those texts is the deceitful and untruthful and maybe unlawful tact that our intelligence heads are taking....and this surely on direct instructions of President Trump. Some of these people have to go....Gabbard and Hegseth for sure....and any of them that are telling the Congress that there was nothing classified in the chat texts. If they are ignored on this then there is nothing that they could ever tell us that could be automatically believed!

The four primary government ministries in Orwell's 1984 were the Ministry of Truth....(Trump has to have a plan for this)....the Ministry of Peace....the ministry of Love and the Ministry of Plenty....Trump does have his Ministry of Government Efficiency....of which he just changed the word 'ministry' to 'department.' Top Republicans today said that they are out of the loop on changes being made to Social Security. I've said it many times in these posts....this is supernatural....because there is no way that the Republican Party could permit these things to be happening if this was not a direct blindness from God as part of our judgment.

March 26....There have been large protests in a couple of cities in the Gaza Strip over the past two days....with people shouting....."Hamas Out!"....and that they want peace! I watched a couple of those videos and prayed for God to have mercy on these people and grant their wish. 

March 25....Speaker Johnson today threw out there the possibility that the Congress can just eliminate certain district federal courts. First of all...Mike Johnson would never come up with an idea like this in a million years. Trump directs absolutely everything that everyone does. Secondly....can you not see what is happening here....if you do not like a certain judge or court of judges....just get rid of them. Whatever Trump does not like....just try to get rid of it. In a recent post titled....A Midwinter Nights Nightmare....I paraphrased Martin Niemöller's famous poetic prose....'then they came for those holding signs....and I said nothing....then they came for those who did not stand to pay tribute....and I said nothing....then they came for me....and there was no one to hear what I said.' Evangelical....this man will come for you in due course....as soon as you are no longer needed....or have become a hindrance! 

In late October of 2008....Barack Obama said in a speech that...."We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America"....and we conservatives went ballistic. That never happened and Obama never really tried. Today....Trump is open about trying to fundamentally transform and redesign and reshape America....to more of a monarchy....with a coterie of loyal prefects of discipline to enforce it....and he is actually doing it....and we....former conservatives....are wildly applauding it.

NCAA wrestling championships....A father....a mother or both....watched their son train and struggle through pain and possibly adversity over years as they followed his dream of being a wrestler....maybe even making it to states....and then in college....maybe even to the national championships. It's an honorable extracurricular effort....low key as far as campus celebrity goes....and then the big day comes. He probably will not win a national championship but just being there is such a reward....something to take with him throughout life....and then that day is taken away from all of them as the most vile person in America decides to use that august venue to build his ego while participating in his own favorite sport....making countless numbers of others cringe as they are forced to participate in his sport....subjugating and irritating others. That is what we saw yesterday. Yes....many of those present cheered who have been taken in by this fake sportsman....but probably half of them just shook their head as they cannot seem to get away from this man that has elbowed his way into the national psyche.

I believe that most of us are getting....and probably will continue to receive on our computers....advertisement videos of those little colorful lifelike bunny rabbits. I guess there are a number of ways to look at this. One would be..."Aren't those bunnies adorable?" The other would be that America will be inundated with that pagan symbol for Easter....and this right up to Easter Sunday. The cross of Calvary is long gone in America....Easter was the last day that it made a regular appearance....but is now being pushed aside by a bunny rabbit.

J. D. Vance was upset that his young child was exposed to protests while the family was in Vermont. Point taken....but I had to wonder how upset Vance has been at the many toddlers in the Ukraine blown apart by Putin's missiles over the past few years? Apparently not that much as he chose to hammer Zelensky. The first time around we had Mike Pence to fall back on. This time around it looks like we have no one to fall back on.

Franklin Graham today thanked God again for Donald Trump...."a president who knows the importance of diplomacy and negotiations." The Rev. Graham has no clue as to who Donald Trump really is....or why he does the things that he does. He then asked for prayer for President....Putin...that God would...."work in his heart." If Franklin Graham lived during WWII....I wonder when the prayers for God to work in the heart of the Fuhrer or for Stalin....would change to prayers to protection from these evil men? Franklin Graham needs our prayers....John MacArthur needs our prayers. I need your prayers. We are all in this together....on some have compassion....but on others pull as out of a fire.

What is going on with Trump is so similar to what happened in Germany in 1933 when the hated Weimar government was removed....and hasty decisions led to the National Socialists and their Fuhrer. Those first hundred days were one continuous consolidation of power and purging of opponents. The man was wildly popular....as Germany was going to be great again! Most of the German church was taken in by all of this....just like today in America. Pray with me....please....that if it be God's will....that He would open the eyes of those who trust in Him....and have mercy upon us for our dalliance with pride.

The last eight years have been a disaster. Yes the economy took off when Trump took office the first time....and we got good Supreme Court justices....but this would have happened with any Republican president after eight years of Obama policies. We had two very legitimate impeachments....and when the pandemic came....Trump royally screwed it up for an entire month until forced to take some advice. Because of Trump...families and churches and just about everything has been ripped in two. Had he accepted a pandemic as a pandemic....they happen....he might have won in 2020....but instead he attacked and attacked and then just denied losing the election....himself causing a violent insurrection....and continued to tear us apart as a nation. He wound up destroying the Republican Party and conservatism and evangelicalism....and a number of formerly strong and faithful national ministries and ministers. No one had a chance to break through his stranglehold in the 2024 primaries. He defeated probably the worst president America ever had....before him....in Joe Biden....with a VP who shouldn't even have been in state government let alone on a national ticket.  We on our side came down off of the ethical high ground into the putrid swamp of lies and greed and followed him like lambs led to slaughter. He has since destroyed alliances that kept the West strong...turned friend after friend against us....dismantled hedges of protection....placed in power a motley crew of sycophants like Bondi and Hegseth and Vance and Musk....turned everything once held sacred into a WWE Smackdown....and threatened everyone in the world....except Putin....to bow to him or feel his wrath. 

Bible recommendation: I have given away quite a few Study Bibles in my day....as a matter of fact I have a couple on the shelf right now ready to give away if someone needs one....but....in this day of technology everywhere....if you have a smart phone or a computer....you do not need a Study Bible.....because for commentary on any Bible verse all you have to do is Google it. I recommend Googling the verse....and "John Gill"....or the verse and the word...."Ligonier"....or the verse and....."John MacArthur." What is most important in choosing a Bible is getting one where the print is very easy to read! As for the translation...the ESV would probably be my first choice....the New American Standard...NASB  my second....and the New King James my third....NKJV. Get highlighters and use a mechanical #2 pencil for notes. You can probably do all of this for under $40. Also....get some books of the Bible tabs....and choose the hardcover Bible over the leather which is more expensive....and it is easier to set a hardcover on your lap to read.

America Enters A New Phase......Monarchy......With A Parliament Just For Looks

                The statistics for the numbers of evangelicals in America have always been substantial....but few of those evangelicals were born again redeemed children of God....of which 10% of Americans would be a generous figure. That 25% or even 40% who were evangelical but not Christian....still had a very positive effect on America. They were God-fearing....and thus their politics was pro-life and pro-family and pro-America.
                Forty years ago in the church we knew that a great delusion was coming in the last days....and we knew then that we were in those last days. We knew that there were false prophets and false teachers and false signs and wonders ahead. God's Word tells us that....'if it were possible'....even the elect would fall for the delusion....and that is exactly how it played out....because the evangelical-only fell head over heels for the false prophet....while the born again Christian largely did not want any part of this man....the rest taken in right now but will see their error in due time.
                 What Trump did was take that half of America that still had a great respect for the constitution and the rule of law....and he lured them with every possible lurid temptation until they abandoned all that they previously believed. The result was and is that the separation of powers in America is now gone....and all the checks and balances along with it. A tyrant has been born and coronated. So many precedents have been set that a constitutional republic is now just a thing of the past....until Trump gets a hold of the textbooks....and then it won't even be remembered as that....for they will say only what he demands that they say.
                We still have a functioning Supreme Court....but then again Trump is after that also. The Justice department is damaged....along with all the intelligence agencies....their new responsibilities no longer are protecting America....but protecting Donald Trump.
                 We needed that voice in the church that warns. John MacArthur had always been one of those voices....along with Billy Graham and  R. C. Sproul and many others....but during the pandemic he choose instead....to keep his church doors open....and his gty.org ministry viable. God took Graham and Sproul and Tim Keller home....who otherwise would be warning us right now....and John Piper....maybe he has health problems....maybe he is busy writing a giant book that will only be read for reference....I don't know....but I do not hear him out there warning us.
                 Tomorrow is yet another Lord's Day and pastors will be rushing home after church to watch March Madness. As bad as all of this is....God will not be mocked. We are right now running after silver and gold....but will perish along with it. We...."may build"....but God...."will tear it right back down.' May He have mercy upon our pulpits starting tomorrow....and thereby have mercy upon all of us....all for His name's sake alone....and His glory alone....and only if it be in His perfect will.

Addendum: The definition of an evangelical has changed....or rather evolved....not only over the years but over the centuries. It was once pretty much another word for Christian....but in modern times it was one who believed that one had to be born again to be saved....but today it is more a description of that powerful political bloc within the Republican Party that believes that the United States of America was a Christian nation....(which it never was)....and should therefore return to....whatever it was that it once was. The post above references the last of these incarnations.

When We Come To See Who We Really Are.....Then We Will Come To See Who He Really Is!

Preface: I am posting so often that I will have to bring past posts back up front more often or the new visitors will never hear some concepts that I believe they need to here....in this post for instance....God has blinded us to Trump. He has judged His church first. Unless we come to see who really are....we will never see who Trump really is. The following post is from late February:

                The wonderful chapter 53 of Isaiah begins with this...."Who hath believed our report?" This the KJV....or as the ESV has it...."Who has believed what he has heard from us"....or the NIV...."Who has believed our message?"
                Not many believed what Isaiah had told and warned them of over his entire ministry to them....nor had many believed all the words of the apostles. So those ministers today who have warned about Donald Trump....and what he had and is doing to us....and those of us other believers who tried our best to sound this trumpet....we can say....lamenting....as did Isaiah....'Who has believed us? Has any believed us?' There is nothing else that we can do. This before us with this man is as plain as any of the warnings throughout Scripture....but God has blinded the eyes and stopped the ears of evangelicals....and shut the mouths of the shepherds in their pulpits.
                The Psalms are in a chronological order....of some sort....not in when they were written....but in a pattern of redemption. Psalm 106 is the last Psalm in Book Four....and begins with....Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Psalm 107....the first Psalm in Book Five....begins with the same words. I want to point out verses 12 to 15 of Psalm 106....for what the psalmist says of Israel is also true to us today. The people sang God's praises after He parted the Red Sea...but they soon...."forgot His works." That's us also. They were in the wilderness and did not have patience to seek His counsel. that's us again. We made our choice nine years ago in who was going to lead us to what we wanted. God gave Israel their request....and He gave us our request. Verse 15 says...."But He sent leanness into their soul." That's the NKJV....the ESV puts it...."He gave them what they asked. but sent a wasting disease among them." That's where we are today.
                 Quite simply....we do not want warnings....we want winnings! This man has been a destroyer his entire life. He is the very definition of a deceiver. There is no greatness coming back to America. There is no peace coming to the world....or to Israel.   This I know....because God's Word tells us so. What I do not know is how long that we will think that what is happening before our eyes is good? This is all delusion....prophesied to us in God's Word. We should have been expecting false signs and wonders and proclamations of peace and security. 
                 One sermon from a man of God....(on the national scale....but we have none anymore)....who preaches in the power of the Holy Spirit....(not these phony preachers who take your money to build their reputations...they have their reward)....one sermon would show us how we have taken the wrong path....and Trump's name or politics or governments would never have to be named....only the name of the one who leads us down this wrong path....and only how we always have a tendency to go down this wrong path. For when we come to see who we really are....then we will also come to see who he really is.

Is Donald Trump The Antichrist?

Preface: In answer to that question....possibly....but not probably....but he is definitely a legitimate candidate. I say that because he is by far the most....what word do I use....megalomaniacal government leader in the entire world....and....he would like very much to be viewed as the savior of the world....even if he would have to force people to accept him as that. There may be leaders all over the world who at times lie....but there is no one in the entire world who has perfected the craft of lying and deception more than this man. He is driven by the lust for revenge....thrives on instilling fear and rage in others....relishes in being a messianic figure to so many....may actually believe it himself....and has a literal horde of false....charismatic....self-proclaimed prophets telling anyone who will listen how God sent him to save America....while he attained all of this adulation by way of delusion.

Is Donald Trump the Antichrist?

               Now that is one provocative question! I used the same title on a post back in August of 2020. What I have wanted to do over the years of these posts is to shake the timbers....just shake them. My hope was and is that pastors and elders....seminary professors....synods and denominational conferences....the whole lot of....'leaders' in the church in America today....that as they meet over donuts and coffee in their weekly or monthly or yearly conclaves....that someone would say that they should at least address the rantings of that Special Blog....or....Deputy Dog....or whatever the name of that crazy writer.
               It unnerves me to even think about Donald Trump possibly turning out to be the antichrist. At this point in time I don't think that he is....although he is definitely at least paving the way....but I won't rule that out....and that is the reason for this post. It is bad enough that evangelicals and born again Christians all over America....and in some of the finest denominations and congregations....and even some of the most influential and even stalwart ministers on the national scene....it should be enough to really shake timbers knowing that they actually chose this man....a genuine false prophet at the very least....and a possible antichrist candidate....to lead America....affect the entire world....and lead Christians like a pied piper!
               So what I envision in this is that as these conclaves meet to address my rantings....or even in some local Bible study or cell group meeting....that after they summarily dismiss me....on the ride back home....before they settle into their Lazy Boy recliner and spread the sport pages out before them....that a twinge of conscience unnerves them....what if....what if this Trump is at least a genuine false prophet....and what if he is one of the antichrists that the Apostle John warned about? That may be a still small voice but also a gentle shaking of timbers.
               Much if not most of prophecy in God's Word is based on telling us something....in advance....so that when it comes about....we won't be shaken to the core. It is meant to keep us vigilant....and to prepare us. That is why Jesus Told His disciples that He was going away....and then coming back. That is why we are told about coming persecution....and also delusion and false prophets and false teachers....and false signs and wonders....and angels of light....so that we are not taken totally by surprise....and if taken by surprise....that we will see we were taken by surprise....and then return to trusting in our Lord and Savior and....coming King.
               There will come the time when Satan will enter someone or something....just as he entered Judas. Judas was obviously an empty vessel....and Trump is an empty vessel....that is what concerns me most.
                Forty years ago in the church we were talking about these things....and we were somewhat prepared, Today we are not talking about these things....and we are totally unprepared. That is all I want to do....jumpstart that conversation.....or stress those timbers so that they let out a noticeable creak....with maybe a little dust in the air?

DISPATCHES

I've heard this a few times. A brother or a sister in Christ will say to at least give Donald Trump a chance. This is not a situation where a candidate won a nomination....and then an election....and should be given a chance. Trump instigated an insurrection where people's lives were lost. It was pure horror....and all the explanations trying to deny this are lies. I had to turn the television off that day....while watching what was going on at the Ellipse....(this before the horror at the Capital)....because....as I wrote at the time...."It unnerved me." Trump then spent the next four years....threatening Republicans....calling in favors....flattering....seeking the weakest politicians around as supporters.....promising rewards....avoiding debates....promising the world....peace and security...and riches. Back in January of 2017 that argument to give him a chance might be legitimate.....but not this time. If only everything this time around was just built on sand....but it much worse than that. It is built on ruined reputations....greed....revenge....and hatred. It rendered evangelicalism helpless....significantly hurt national ministers who up until Trump had defended the gospel over defending a political party....dissipated compassion....and took our eyes off of Jesus Christ...all this to build a statue of a man who is the embodiment of everything that God's Word tells us to flee from!    

If I am to go too far in this paraphrase reading of a few verses in Galatians then I  apologize....but this is essentially how I read it in my reading this evening....starting with chapter 2 verse 21:b...."If righteousness comes through being against abortion and homosexuality and all of the other cultural and societal sins of today....then Christ died in vain. O foolish evangelicals....who has bewitched you? Well I know who bewitched you....Donald Trump! Did you become Christians by being against abortion....or did you see your sin....and have faith in what Jesus says in His Word. Having begun by being born again....have you now advanced in the faith by trusting in yourself again?  

There was today in the Oval Office the typical....gather around Trump and lay hands on him and pray....by the "Faith Office"....led by super-false prophet Paula White-Cain....and about fifteen other assorted deceived ministers. If you have never watch Paula White's prayer from four years ago....calling on angels from Africa and South America....then you should. Just Google it to see who leads this group....and to see who you have joined with as you turned away from the gospel of Jesus Christ once delivered to the saints.       

I would not be a good critic on literature whether it be prose or poetry or anything....nor would I really want to be. I only know what I like. So when I say that  ....Alexei Navalny.....Patriot.....A Memoir....seemed to me to be great literature....well I'm the same guy whose favorite poet fifty years ago was Rod McKuen. I could not put the book down once I really started into it....and I highly recommend it to get a much needed fresh view of what Russians are dealing with in Vladimir Putin....and also what evil....evangelicals here in America have cozied up with.

March 20....This is no surprise....Trump's Elon Musk ventured into the Social Security area. Here is how it works. Trump uses Musk to broach a topic....outrages most of America....then denies that he is behind it. He then....actually he already has....orders Musk to find back doors into cutting money from the elderly and disabled. Just one way they are doing this is making it very hard for nursing homes to survive. Technically they are not 'cutting' benefits....but the result is that people have a harder time finding a nursing home.

Think about this evangelicals....personally my hope is that our Lord and Savior and King is already mounted along with His myriads of holy angels....but should the Lord tarry....and the 2026 mid-term elections come about....I would expect that the Republicans would handily lose both chambers of congress. Imagine....just imagine how these progressives will react if they get power back....after the abuse of power that all of us have witnessed in just the last two months? We have given them a precedent to run with....and O will they run with it! If a Democrat House calls an independent counsel to investigate Trump's many constitutionally challenged executive orders....and treatment of long time allies....not even Trump's loyalists at the FBI and Justice will be able to hinder it.

Trump will surely say that all he wanted to do was get NATO countries to pay more of their fair share....but in reality he just wants to destroy it. He is right now forcing them to form their own army....hey....maybe ten nations....ten horns and seven heads....who knows? Who cares right? I mean it's not as important as keeping transgenders off the girl's swimming teams right?

Trump says that tomorrow....March 18...."all of them"....the 80,000 pages of JFK files....will be released. Let me say this....as someone who has studied JFK for almost a half century....and someone who is right now on book number 105 on Trump.....every aspect of his life....and every decade of his life....first of all Trump tomorrow may....or he may not....release...."all"....the files. He has absolutely no comprehension of what the word truth means....so on any question....in any area of life.....if he makes any kind of statement at all....it can never....ever....just be accepted at face value. This is unfortunate....but it is the way that it is. Second....Trump said he did not want to summarize what was in them....these 80,000 pages....but this should be considered....Trump would be hard pressed....if it is even possible....to read 80 pages of anything straight through. His ghostwriter for The Art Of The Deal....said back then....after spending a long period of time with Trump....that it may be possible that Trump never read a book straight through in his entire life. And Third....I have learned this in my eight year study of Trump....whenever he makes a decision to do anything that is of any substance....that will occupy the American mind.....then he picked that moment in time for a purpose. He usually needs something to be a distraction for something else!

March 19....Trump said today that he had a "good call" with Zelensky. After eight years of intense study of this man....here is my advice on how to handle a statement like that...it has absolutely no veracity one way or the other. The man is like an AI robot with no conscience as to what truth may or may not be. I feel that I know the man like a brother....and he is utterly and totally untrustworthy....on anything. He will say or fashion a statement on one criterion alone....what would benefit him.

A few days ago a conservative evangelical friend....out of the blue....said to me that they could not believe how biased Fox News was. He was astonished as he related to me how they cannot say anything negative about Trump. I told him that I had been posting for years now for Christians to...."Flee Fox News!"

Their own news media is firmly ensconced. Everything is 100% pro-Trump....as no negative stories are able to enter. Efforts are underway to secure the new Trump Hollywood....including television....while the Kennedy Center is flanking the arts. Sports are progressing to Trump.....as education of the youth is coming into line. All dissent within the Republican Party has been squashed. Fear is ruling....as planned....and purges have been taking valuable people from many areas of America's defense....particularly intelligence and criminal justice....which pleases to no end our enemies. 

The United States collapsed....from within....just as so many had warned....those warnings going back all the way to the Founding Fathers....but more importantly to those many writers of God's Word! So watching us collapse from within is not surprising....what is a surprise though....is that it was the Grand Old Party that brought in the Trojan Horse....and it was the church that gave sanctuary to the tyrant so that he could have free reign to dismantle the bulwarks!

My initial concern was that Kari Lake would turn Voice of America into Trump propaganda....but as it turns out that this now privatized organization has instead had it's U.S. supportive grants taken away. Whatever the financial abuse....if there was any....and there probably was because that is a natural in most settings....Left or Right....whatever that abuse may have been....not only would it be gone....but also gone is a voice that Putin and China and Iran and many more enemies to the United States hated. In other words....Putin is very happy about what we are doing.....nothing new there.

Maybe you've already noticed....I had.....there is an article somewhere right now about the gilded look in the Oval Office. I first noticed it in during the Zelensky meeting. To me it looks like what the executive bathroom might look like at the Trump Tower...with gold everywhere.

Trump has multiple psychological illnesses. He has since taking office focused on one thing more than anything else....putting very average people into very important postions....people whose primary mission is to protect him from the law. We see this today in this statement made by one of those people chosen to insulate him....an Attorney General....as she said...."We will never stop fighting for him and for our country." Did he give her those words to say? Quite possibly....for who on their own might frame their job position in such a way?

The South African ambassador to the United States was expelled. What is concerning is that Marco Rubio stated that the ambassador...."is not welcome in our great country....because he hates America and he hates POTUS." Do any of these men and women...Rubio in this case....ever actually speak for themselves.....as it seems obvious again where those words originated?

There are two types of evangelicals that I would like to point out. The first likes to tell you how they do not like Trump.....but he was the lesser of two evils. That little ditty....'I do not like Trump'....is meant to absolve them of all responsibility of what is happening and what will happen. They can now go back to their entertainments with a clear conscience. Their hands are now clean because they volunteered that...they do not like Trump. These are probably the majority of the two types of evangelicals that I mention. The other type may not be in the majority but are everywhere. They know that Trump is everything that God's Word has told them to flee from. they know that God would never use a man like this....a man who lies as easily as he breaths....a man who flatters and threatens and a man who loves to....indeed lives to instill rage in others...,to being about anything good.

We have as a nation in these short past seven weeks.....broken covenants....dismantled the rule of law....despised the alien in our midst....set in place a junta to lop off the heads of anyone who dare utter any challenge to a man who is stabbing long-time friends and allies in the back....and is proving before our very eyes the concerns about Trump and Putin were valid.

Take note of this! The Republicans now hold a four seat advantage in the House....218 to 214. There are two special elections scheduled for April 1 to fill the seats of Gaetz and Waltz. These are strong Republican districts. There are two more seats in question. Texas Congressman Sylvester Turner (D) died a few weeks ago. The Republican Texas governor is trying to strategically deal with this. Elise Stefanik hasn't been confirmed yet for UN Ambassador. If she is eventually confirmed then her seat will also be up for a special election....in another strong Republican district. It is highly unlikely....but if Democrats would win those seats in Florida....then it would be 218 to 216. If the Democrats would hold the seat in Texas then it would be 218 to 217....and if a Democrat would take Stefanik's Seat....then the Democrats would retake the Congress. Can you even imagine the repercussions from that? 

Update on the above....ten hours after it was posted. Another Democrat member of the House died today....Raul Grijalva....which makes the numbers right now....2018 (R)....and....213 (D)

                 

"Bye Bye....Miss American Pie"

                Sixty years ago.....I know that shocks a lot of you but here might be a surprise....you are not the only ones in America or on the planet....sixty years ago and thereabouts in America the staple for evening viewing on the television was the variety show....Glen Campbell or Andy Williams or Carol Burnett or Sonny and Cher....not to mention Ed Sullivan and Lawrence Welk. You might be surprised how many different shows there were that were hosted by different celebrities. They were all the same....some good songs and dance routines and comedy skits.
                 None of the many friends that I grew up with ever went to the beach for a family vacation. The closest was a single aunt who went to Virginia Beach one year. I never saw the ocean until basic training at Fort Dix, New Jersey in the fall of 1969. Today everyone seems to be going to Hawaii or Europe or Alaska or Yellowstone. I thought about doing this post yesterday while on the highway....passing hundreds of cars....as I tried to find what we would call back then....a 'clunker'....but could not see any that might qualify.
                 The Cuban missile crisis and November 22, 1963 began the change in us.....there's no doubt about that....and then less than three years later that sniper went to the top of that University of Texas tower and began his rampage....and in a phrase that Trump likes to use....'all hell broke loose.'  We went from Bobby Vinton....to the Hell's Angels clubbing and knifing a man to death in front of the Rolling Stones at a Woodstock type music festival in California.
                  Both sides of the political aisle like to use the concept of....the quality of life. That is why we have assisted suicides today. That is how we choose our presidents....'is your life better today than it was four years ago.' If everyone having a smart phone and driving a smart little SUV to the beach every year is data for quality of life....then we would be in good shape....but there is more to it than that.
                  God's Word tells us....in John 10:10...."The thief comes only to seal and kill and destroy, I [Jesus] came that they may have life and have it abundantly."
                  Oh I travelled too as the years went on....and my wife and I were woken up many years ago somewhere around midnight in a very nice London hotel....as a small group of revelers below our window were singing....I honestly can't remember any of the words that night other than the famous refrain....but these words are in the lyrics...."Now for ten years we've been on our own....And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone...." Well for ten years now we have been on our own....since Donald Trump came down that golden escalator. Is your life better today than it was that day in June of 2015?
                   I submit to you that if you have been a Christian since before that day....that you have not been living more abundantly. You have largely forgotten how to love your neighbor....certainly not your neighboring country....and most certainly not the alien in your midst....and your compassion has become a mechanical duty....a soup pantry here...or a check to a Christian relief ministry there. You no longer are worried about anyone's soul....that's God's concern....you are more concerned with their vote. You were no longer panting for Jesus to return....but for Trump to return. We have either been purposely stirred up to hate....(that's us conservatives and evangelicals hating the other side)....or....the other side is driven to hate because that is Trump's main goal in life....to get others to hate him. 
                 We have deceived ourselves by thinking that Trump winning an election....and everyone who didn't agree with us getting fired....is somehow God blessing us. This isn't God's grace....nor is it His peace and love and mercy. We have merely turned the quality of life into as being the winner of one of those caged fighting matches. If only Donald Trump could step into one of those cages and beat the ever-loving you know what out of Anthony Fauci....well that would be heaven on earth.

                   

He Has Become Our Master....But We Do Not....As Of Yet....Realize It

 resist the devil, [and] he will flee from you; (James 4:7)

"Satan is to be looked upon as an enemy, and to be opposed as such, and to be watched and guarded against; the whole armour of God should be taken and made use of, particularly the weapon of prayer, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and the shield of faith; and also the grace of humility, than which nothing is more opposite to him: he is a proud spirit, and he endeavours to swell men with pride of themselves; and when he has worked them up to such a pitch, he is then master of them, and can manage them as he pleases; but a poor humble believer, with whom God dwells, to whom he gives more grace, and who comes forth not in his own strength, but in the strength of the Lord God, as David against Goliath, and who owns his vileness and sinfulness, and flies to the grace of God, and blood of Christ, Satan knows not what to do with him, he is puzzled, baffled, and confounded; such he leaves, from such he flees; he does not like the power of prayer, nor the strength of faith, nor the sharpness of the two-edged sword, the word of God, nor the humble believer's staff, bag, scrip, and sling."

             The above is the commentary on James 4:7 by eighteenth century English theologian John Gill....who Spurgeon admired. "And when he has worked them up to such a pitch, (a proud spirit) he is master of them." That description is exactly what Trump has done to evangelicalism....not to mention what was formerly conservatism and as it appears the entire Republican Party....a name that really has no meaning anymore.  He now is master over us....in his Masters College so to speak....we having acceded to him our intellect and our freedom and our honor and our integrity.
              So how do we....resist Trump? What might this resistance entail...and how might we come to be this....resistance? Well we resist his schemes. He has done things like this his entire life....he will give something....but require much more in exchange for it. For instance....he will give through an executive order something that conservatives always wanted....but we must then overlook all of the horror that he does elsewhere. In times past he might give the people an ice skating rink....and expect them to ignore everything else that he does.
              We have to keep our eyes on Christ! God's Word is the grid we put everything on....so we must reject the grid that Trump wants us to use. As for becoming this....resistance....we reject all that he has to offer us....even that which is good. Christ will give us that which we truly need. So Trump wants to give us an election of even more of his blind folllowers....we will want no part of it. Our election in Christ is the only election that matters. 

              We will have one Master.....and it will not be Trump....for we have one life to live....and then shall come judgment. We will not gild over our transgressions....but display them....as belonging to those of whom Jesus came to redeem....as in many cases....certainly in mine....the lowest of the low....offered mercy....and this to display His glory and power and blessings...."in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy...."

Romans 9:23

All Of This Long Post....For The One Short Thought At The End

                To the best of my recollection....this was my entire experience with the Bible in my early life. The first was my First Holy Communion....as a second grader in Cheektowaga, New York....an outskirt of Buffalo. The tradition was that someone was to give the young boy or girl a Bible. I remember being very disappointed because my uncle gave me a very small pocket New Testament. I could hardly read the print. To this day when I recommend a Bible to someone....I emphasize that more important than the translation or the binding or all the pictures and maps and helps....is the readability....the print. What good is it if you have the most expensive Bible but it is hard to read?
                 My second experience was not really with a Bible....but what many Catholics had with them at Mass....and that was a daily missal. I have no idea if they still use these.....but they were something special back then. The pages were real thin....and the writing was large and easy to read....either in black or red....and there was Latin all through it. The purpose was to help the person follow along with the Mass....a Latin Mass at that time....and I owned a missal....and treasured it. I didn't really have any idea what was going on there.....but it made me feel like I had some kind of inside track....on something?
                The third experience was in high school....a very good.....super-rich in tradition....Catholic high school in Pittsburgh....which I always have to add that I may not have partaken in the rigorous academics....but I at least experienced the atmosphere....and value it to this very day. Anyway....they were two paperbacks....the Old Testament and the New Testament....and they were used in religion class....more as literature than anything else.
                 I did not own a Bible during my three years in the army....even though I occasionally went to mass....even in Vietnam. I immediately went to Pitt upon getting out of the army and was somewhat a regular at St. Paul's Cathedral in Oakland....but still never actually owned a Bible....and no one ever offered me one.
                 I would finish class and then take the bus home. Now most of the days I would go to the local bar until it closed and then either take the last bus or thumb a ride home....but I did manage to go home at the regular time some of those days. 
                 So on this particular day....as I waited for the Port Authority....Lincoln Line....(to the Lincoln Highway)....I stopped in the National Record Mart....to browse the paperback titles. This also was my regular habit....and even though I needed to be reading my text books....I preferred the latest bestseller. I could give you twenty names right now off the top of my head....I'll give the first one that comes to mind....The Greening Of America....1970....by Charles Reich.
                  Anyway....I walked out of that record mart one day with a paperback. You could easily Google it to see what it looks like. I have it in my hand right now....roughly fifty years later....Reach Out....The Living New Testament....Illustrated....$2.95....Tyndale House Publishers....edited and paraphrased by Ken Taylor....sixteenth printing....October 1972....2,250,000 copies in print. This was at the Jesus Revolution time folks.
                  I remember being excited about it....but that excitement only lasted a short while. I used to....over the past few decades....pull this book out....open it up...and put my nose right in the middle of the spine....because the smell brought back in a way those first moments of excitement. I just did it right now but either the smell is all gone....or my olfactory powers are all gone....after working for 37 years in an old factory.
                  So ten years passed....and I praise and thank God for the many mercies over all those years....and that my life was not recalled before God opened my eyes to the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ! 
                  I was....along with so many others in the early 80s....becoming interested in this....born again thing....that so many of my fellows at work were talking about. My wife noticed this....and lo and behold....as I opened my Christmas gifts....there was this Bible....that I also have in my hands right now.....for after at least a dozen new and fancy Bibles over the years....all of which I used and highlighted....maybe four or so years ago....I dug this old first Christmas gift Bible out of my bookshelves....and now it is my regular Bible.....no helps....no maps....no fancy leather cover....but very easy to read! This Bible is a....Thomas Nelson Publishers....NKJV....third edition....1982. Both front and back covers are about to fall off from use....after sitting pristine on the shelf for almost forty years.

                  An hour ago....as I was reading in the Gospel of John....I had one single thought that I wanted to post....so I wrote all of the above....just to lead to this....to someone who is not a believer in Jesus Christ....never having been born again....born from above....name written in the Lamb's Book of Life....to them....to you who may look at a Bible you may own....and even open up from time to time....please read John 12:48...."He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him-the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day."

                 So go ahead....put the book back down and go on to other things....but that which you put down....is that which you will be judged by when you are called....for everyone is eventually called. If you but would believe that one verse....it might encourage or lead you to open it up seriously....to see what that judgment....and salvation....is all about?

Possibly The Most Penetrating....Maybe The Most Clear....And Certainly The Most Urgent....Evangelistic Sermon That I Have Ever Heard

The following was first posted in June of 2023:

             Home from vacation....with a couple of days of yard work waiting for me....I just had to stop midway this morning to give you this post. Listening to sermons as I cut grass and do other tasks....as I always do....from either....men from the past....or men today who preach like men from the past....I stumbled across this morning possible the most wonderful evangelistic message that I have ever heard.
             The sermon was preached by Charles Spurgeon on a Lord's Day evening on May 10, 1891. Spurgeon had less than nine months to live. Well let me give you the sermon title....you simply have to Google it....An Urgent Quest For An Immediate Answer. I understand so well where Spurgeon was coming from in this sermon. He had preached the gospel for four decades....most of it in the heart of London....and he...as it were...was upping the ante....and demanding an answer right then as to whether his unconverted hearer would be converted.
              I have found myself in these posts becoming more and more urgent as time goes by. Either believe or don't believe....either become serious in your faith....or admit that you will not become serious in your faith.
              Spurgeon will not let you go away unchallenged in this sermon. Settle it now friends. Why waste your time in hesitation that is only sinking you deeper in unbelief....and taking the precious time of ministers and Christians who try to throw you a rope out of the judgment that you will come to....where you will no longer be able to put things off.

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Filing A....Freedom Of Information Request....With God....For This Lord's Day

                I was watching a Russell Moore interview recently.....Russell Moore is a Christian author.....theologian....minister and editor of Christianity Today....and he gave this testimony. He said that when he was first in the ministry if a young person came up to him with a crisis of faith....it usually revolved around not being able to believe miracles or some such thing.....but today.....(he is 53 years old)....when a young person comes up to him with a crisis of faith....it is usually because they see the evangelical church that they are a part of does not seem to actually believe the things that it teaches....the truths that they were converted with.
                Did you catch that? I said as much many times in these posts....as one doesn't even have to be born again anymore to be a Christian! We will deny it till the sun goes down....but we have increasing racist tendencies....and compassion is out the door. Tens of thousands and counting are losing their jobs....for nothing but Trump to get another crown to wear. Is the government overloaded. Certainly it is. "We Built This City"....as the rock group once sang....but you don't just come in and bulldoze it with everyone inside of it! We used to love the alien. We saw it as an opportunity to evangelize. Today we just want them and their kids out. That is indeed enough to give a young Christian....whose salvation came in the midst of love....to have a serious crisis of faith.
                At a different juncture of the interview....Moore mentioned a....'line item veto'....(he just used that as an example)....as these political things have somehow become as important as Christian doctrine. When he mentioned that term....'line item veto'....my mind went right to God's Word....for evangelicals did in effect get their much desired line item veto  that they always wanted....only it is with God's Word. 
                 If there is a verse that we do not like.....we just cross it out and veto it....all the warnings on what America has become and the rightful judgments that are coming.....VETO.....flee from the wrath to come....VETO.....come out from among them....VETO....be sober, be vigilant.....VETO....love your neighbor as yourselves....VETO....help the alien in your midst....VETO....don't hang around with angry people.....VETO...."Not by power nor my might but by my Spirit"....VETO....."Seek ye first the kingdom".....VETO...."lean not on your own understanding"....VETO. I could go on and on and on and on until God's Word with all its redactions would look like the Mueller Report or the Epstein or JFK files.
                   Tomorrow is yet another Lord's Day....and men will enter their pulpits or stand behind their plexiglass lecterns....but I would officially like to file a....Freedom of Information....prayer request with God . May His Spirit....if it be in His perfect will....and to His glory alone....move upon these men in those pulpits to....'Release it all.....unredacted....that they shall know the truth....the real truth....not Truth Social....and that truth alone shall make them free!

                        

Zechariah.....Chapter Eleven

Preface: the following was first posted in December. I'm bringing it back because we need to meditate on it....read that chapter slowly....and seek help from commentaries and Study Bible notes. They don't know for sure what God is telling us here....but they are doing their best for the time that we live....which is fast changing each and every day!

"For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even the hoofs. Woe to my worthless shepherd who abandons the flock! The sword will cut his arm and pierce his right eye. His arm will become useless, and his right eye completely blind." Zechariah 11: 16, 17 ESV

                The prophet Zechariah....of whom the Old Testament book is named....may or may not have been the prophet whom Jesus referred to in Matthew 23:35....in proclaiming woe to the scribes and the pharisees....

"Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar."

               It is easy to spend days and even weeks on any one of even the minor prophets. You can reread them over years and decades....and always be blessed even though there are still veils in place....as God will lift them on His perfect timetable. So I encourage you....in this case and with this prophet...go there and read and meditate and pray and wait.
               In this post there is one chapter of Zechariah that I want to focus on....chapter 11....sometimes given by the publishers a chapter title such as....Prophecy of the Shepherds. There are some interpretations of these verses in this chapter that seem very possible....but even if they are accurate....there seems to be much more to be revealed in God's timing.
               So we know this....these (three) shepherds....whomever or whatever they turn out to be....were dispatched. We see a shepherd's staff called....favor in some translations....and....beauty in others....and grace elsewhere....we see it broken in two. And we see another staff.... translated....Union....in some translations....and bands or bonds in others....and that staff is broken also. What is God telling us here? We simply do not for sure....not at this time....but we will when God deems it necessary for us to know!
               We do know this...that this chapter seems to point to one single bad shepherd....most probably the Antichrist. Zechariah is as if speaking the words....or has taken on the person of that bad shepherd. If that is the case....then the few verses that speak about it....are clues about the Antichrist. The three shepherds are taken out of the way....and this new one comes in.
                
I have to segue here for a moment as I heard a thump on the window next to me....which usually means that a bird flew into the glass. I got up and looked out the door....as our local Peregrine falcon was swooping down almost at roof level. That bird was flying in panic trying to escape.

                John MacArthur has some interesting comments on Zechariah 11...."the foolish (wicked) shepherd had a broken staff or club which he used to beat stubborn sheep into submission....God permitted this wicked shepherd to arise, to destroy the sheep....because they did not choose the Good Shepherd. Israel will receive a foolish one who will do absolutely the opposite of what is expected of shepherds....he will destroy the sheep....exactly what the Antichrist does." MacArthur is theorizing that Israel will want this evil shepherd....the Antichrist! Indeed scripture seems to be saying this. 
                It's not only in Zechariah....but all the prophets....and all the words of prophecy throughout Scripture....some prophecies were already fulfilled....and that is it....a child was born to a virgin....but some were fulfilled with Isreal....but also have an end-times fulfillment. On most....God opens our eyes at different levels and in different times....even eras. Some we have absolutely no idea right now they mean....although you can probably find teachers who say that they do know.
                 I was wondering how to end this post. All I wanted to do was to encourage readers to look seriously and prayerfully and patiently into the prophets....and point out the references to the Antichrist in Zechariah 11....and maybe generate some interest in those two shepherd's staffs....for surely there is meaning there....for us to know at some future date....but that bird flying into the glass of our window has led me to close with this. I have at times found birds lying dead below a window. When that predator appears they scatter in panic. That is what we in the church....which will be a remnant....with everyone against us....will not want to do. That is why God's Word....not only warns us of what is to come....but Jesus comes right out and tells us that He is warning us in advance!

 Matthew 24:25, Mark 13:23, John 13:19, 14:25, 16:4

  
              

This Has To Be Biblical Prophecy Unfolding Before Our Very Eyes

John 12:5, 6....(NKJV)....Mary had just used some costly fragrant oil on the feet of Jesus...and Judas took exception to it...." 'Why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor?' This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it." Just because a politician makes a statement about wasteful spending....doesn't guarantee that he is concerned about anyone else other than himself.

               This is bad stuff...what is going on in Washington. I use that common....almost street vernacular....'bad stuff'....to hopefully express more than indignation...but alarm. I listen to men or women who I know are genuine Christians....but they act like Hare Krishnas who for some ungodly reason fell head over heels for a charismatic guru.
               How does one who has always been compassionate....lose all their compassion on the national....and international level? This would never have happened to the church forty years ago. There were heretical teachers that could come into the sheepfold....but not a Reverend Moon....or as with today....an Elon Musk. Donald Trump could never have bought himself a seat on the dais of a Christian event back then. Everyone would have protested.
               John MacArthur....a man who preached more warnings than anyone else over how to spot a false prophet....not only missed one in Donald Trump....but in effect strongly endorsed him for president of the most powerful nation on this earth....why....because the false prophet was deemed less dangerous than the liberal woke Democrat?
               Franklin Graham....known....and rightfully well-respected....even rightfully admired....for his ministry of compassion....to this day....is totally blind to the most willfully and deceitfully uncompassionate man ever to occupy our White House.
               This has to be supernatural. I've posted that comment before. This has to be biblical prophecy unfolding. 
               I am posting this about 9 PM on Friday....March 7. I boot up John MacArthur's church just about every Lord's Day at 2:30 PM....(EST)....hoping to see that John MacArthur is back in his pulpit....for he has had very serious health issues over the past fourteen months....and we need him....evangelicalism needs him....the old John MacArthur....someone on a national level to warn us once again. Billy Graham is gone....R. C. Sproul is gone....John Piper for whatever reason has been too quiet.....and Tim Keller is gone. Even Pat Robertson would have shouted from the rooftops that something was terribly amiss today.  David Wilkerson would be running up and down the aisles of a Turning Point USA....young adult-centered conference yelling....'Ichabod....Ichabod!