We have....in the church....lost the grace of meekness. We chose instead the brute force of Jehu....vicariously of course....for we ourselves do not pound on the door of the immigrant.....and haul him away in front of his family....nor do we call in the civil servant....fire them....and order security to escort them to the door....nor do go to the black person....and point off in the distance....and give directions to where they can find their low-income housing. We are not present when an elderly person puts the roast beef back in the grocery store freezer....and instead picks up a pound of bologna....or when the doctor tells the patient that their medicine is no longer covered by Medicare. We don't even think about these things when we walk as a tourist around our nation's capital....admiring the improvements in the parks....or the new ballroom being built....or triumphal tower.
                  The honored Puritan pastor Thomas Watson wrote that...."meekness is opposed to malice"....and that...."malice is the devil's picture"....that it is...."mental murder"....and...."unfits for duty"...."how can such a man pray?"....and that meekness is also...."opposed to revenge"....that malice is...."vermin that lives on blood." 
                   We no longer know how to forgive....or even to forget. We have....as in the letter in Revelation to the church in Ephesus....'left our first love'.....and in Jude....."...run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit"....and we have done all of this....in the name of God....offering praises that He has no use for....and sacrifices that are a stench in His nostrils.

Rev. 2:4
Jude 1:11                   

Alan King......And The Kings Of Kings

                 God gave us humor in this life....and we have abused it as we do all of the good things that He gave us. There are smiles and laughter even in the bleakest times that we may go through....to help us. I'll keep this post up for a short time and then transfer it over to my humor posts.

                There was a popular comedian on television all the time when I was in my early teens. His name was Alan King....a Jewish man. He had two brothers who were very respected doctors. Their elderly father had developed a significant limp...and the three brothers were very concerned. The two doctors examined him....and came up with some theories on what might be the problem....and recommended some treatments. Alan....the comedian...was putting his father to bed that night....and found a sock crumpled up in the toe of the shoe of the foot that was limping! So the lounge lizard comedian came into the room and told the two brilliant doctors that he had diagnosed the limp....and cured the problem.
                 This past weekend our son and his family came in to celebrate my wife and my 50th anniversary. I cannot continue this without giving praise to God for keeping a wretch like me married for so long! So....we walked to this very nice restaurant....and I was limping much more than from my usual aches in the knees....and I was very concerned....that my son and his family might be overly concerned. Well you may have guessed it...the next day I found that the cushion in my shoe had bound up somewhat in the front of the shoe....causing me to limp so badly.
                  There have been many times in my long Christian walk where I would be as if limping through life....slowed down significantly....but determined to keep on going.....and invariably in those times I later find out that there is some sin....some inflamed weakness in my character....that was causing me to struggle. God uses both the shepherd's staff....and the shepherd's rod....one to gently pull us in....and the other two smart us and get our attention....to safely take us through this life. Oh how wonderful and perfect is His design....and His mercies....and His strength and power and holy majestic righteousness! 

"And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying...'Amen...blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might belong to our God forever and ever. Amen'." Rev.7:11

"He who testifies to these things says....(this is the end of the book of Revelation)....'Yes...I am coming quickly.' Amen...Come Lord Jesus." Rev. 22: 20,21

Jonathan Cahn......And Charles Spurgeon

         Jonathan Cahn starts off this video from his ministry....asking for those in the audience who may have heard of Charles Spurgeon....to raise their hands. Spurgeon was quite possibly the greatest preacher since the Apostle Paul....but Jonathan Cahn....this would be my guess....may have never considered Spurgeon before....until this Spurgeon sermon on the Jews and Israel was brought to his attention.
          There are represented here two very different...brands....of evangelicalism. In the charismatic movement....(it's really not technically a movement anymore....but rather a more of a sect)....experience is the key....attributed to the Holy Spirit....where beliefs are influenced if not determined by experiences. In Spurgeon's world....it's the word....and the Holy Spirit within the believer....that determines....even that we know that Jesus is Lord...and that we are indeed saved....and that the Bible is God's very word to us!
          David Wilkerson....(raise your hands if you ever heard of....The Cross and the Switchblade man?) David Wilkerson was Pentecostal....not Charismatic....in fact he was often critical of what the Charismatic Movement was doing. He was something else that he probably didn't even realize. He was a Puritan. Those men from the past that influenced him....are the same men from the past who influenced me. He preached like a Puritan. One of the books that helped change my theological life was a three volume paperback set by William Gurnall....titled....The Christian in Complete Armour. I was just browsing in a Christian bookstore....way back when....when a bright orange neon color of a paperback caught my eye.....volume one of that set. 'What is this'.....I thought....so I looked on the back to see if there were any blurbs on it....one blurb was by a man named.....Charles Spurgeon....'never heard of him' I thought.....(folks this was probably about 1984....and I was very new to the faith)....there was another name....David Wilkerson! Well I knew of Him! That was all I needed.....so I bought the book.....but think about this....a Puritan book....with two blurbs....one Charles Spurgeon....and the other David Wilkerson!
             In 2011 Jonathan Cahn wrote a mega-bestseller....The Harbinger. He did something that I do all the time....as he looked back at the reasons that God judged Israel and Judah....and likened them to the very same things that we do today....and all of this evidenced by 9/11! So far...so good...but he continued to write bestsellers....and each one was progressively more speculative than the one before it....even becoming grossly speculative. He is the one who labeled Trump the new Jehu....sent by God to save America....but in reality Trump was the man who gutted and neutered evangelicalism itself! I have all Cahn's books....for research....and I don't recommend them....but I am putting this video from Jonathan Cahn in this post....not primarily because it does show that Spurgeon had a God-given discernment that translated into his sermons....and that he clearly saw from God's Word....almost a century before it happened....that the state of Israel would come into being....but I put the video here rather to let you hear....that it might introduce Charles Haddon Spurgeon to you....that you might listen often to his sermons from Google.
              Also included here is another video from Jonathan Cahn's ministry....that is titled...."Is Trump the trumpet of God for America's recovery?' This was the greatest mistake that Jonathan Cahn has made....that transformed him from an author on biblical prophecy....with some benefit to the people....to a false prophet....sending multitudes astray.

                                                                                    

                                                                              

                                                                             

   

Why Did Benedict Arnold......Do What He Did?

Preface: Trump is often calling political opponents....traitors. Sigmund Freud called this....psychological projection....in an attempt to assuage their own guilt. Dictators often use the tactic to confuse the situation. We need to keep theses concepts in our mind....for future reference....because Trump does things and says things....and it is getting much worse....that make it seem like he is intentionally aiding....the other side? The following was first posted this past July:                 

                  Twenty or thirty years ago I read that students were no longer taught about Nathan Hale. How about you....do you know who Nathan Hale was? In the 60s....he was probably a whole chapter in our grade school history books. What about Benedict Arnold? It's more likely that most know about how he was a traitor to the American cause in the war for independence.
                  It's more complicated than just describing Arnold as a traitor. He was in his mid-thirties....a merchant....struggling because of strict tax regulations of the British government. He was on the other side of the world doing business when the Boston Massacre occurred....and was outraged...at the loss of liberties.
                  He came back and began his military career as a captain in the Connecticut militia. His courageous and successful exploits began to mount up....and he was seriously wounded twice....a genuine hero in the making! When the war was not raging he felt very comfortable living with the amenities of the upper class....of which he married into in 1779. 
                  There are at least a half dozen theories that I have come across....on why such a man would willfully and eagerly become a traitor. There may be some truth in all the theories....but this stands out to me....he had an ego....and he thought that he wasn't getting the respect and the honor that he deserved because of his military accomplishments....and he was probably right about that.
                  Washington liked him and respected his abilities....and put him in charge of West Point...which was not a military school at the time....but an important fort on the Hudson. Arnold's heroics in upper New York state....and particularly at the important Battle of Saratoga....would have cemented him into our history books....but this man flipped over to the other side! Why? The plan was for Arnold to surrender West Point to the British. He had already purposely let the fort's defenses seriously decline.

  "The heart is deceitful above all things....and desperately sick....who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9 ESV 

                   There were other factors....for instance his wife had Tory sympathies....and he was offered today's equivalent of 3 million dollars to....do what he thought was difficult but right....the war at the time was not going well....and a lot of men were dying. A lot of people today are similarly conflicted. Is Tucker Carlson a traitor....he's about as naive as a human being can be....but a traitor? Would he actually......consciously....aid an enemy? Benedict Arnold demonstrated that one does not need to be an Aldrich Ames or a Robert Hanssen to be a traitor.
                    In 2015 the FBI and the CIA became very interested in a man who they had already taken note of....because he had for decades been courted by....first Soviets and later Russian oligarchs and Putin himself....and this was not your normal businessman or entrepreneur. He already had forty years under his belt of staying one step ahead of government investigations....and loved the life of luxury....and flirted with financial collapse on a few occasions....and to top all of this off....he was always spouting off on protecting American business interests....and staying away from wars....and holding to a transactional ideological view....that didn't want anything to do with....allies....like NATO....but rather business partners....whoever they might turn out to be....and he seemed to agree with Putin's worldview a little bit too much for comfort!
                    So....looking back on all of this.....how did it all turn out? Well....all of those in the CIA and FBI and in the congress and everywhere else....that had enough concern here to do something about it....have been purged....(considered by some as traitors!)....and replaced by fierce loyalists. The country has been torn apart....NATO might as well be considered an enemy....and Israel is not far behind....and right now there seems to be nothing in place to even look into these things.
                    Maybe Trump actually believes that going it alone is best for America? Maybe Putin doesn't have anything on him after all....maybe this is all just incompetence....but whatever it is....everything is a royal mess! Russia is estimated to have suffered 450,000 mortal casualties....and Ukraine 125,000 to 150,000....because of Putin! Can we even wrap our minds  around that? That fact alone seems to eliminate any real concern for human life or for doing what is right.

God Help Us........Woe Are Us!

                The issue as it is debated....and it is really more ignored than debated....is how much should we know about the timing of the appearing of Jesus Christ in righteous judgment? For the purpose of this post....if I were to attempt to completely ignore the Second Coming.....and all of the warnings that God has given....increasingly over the past sixty years or so....if I were to just ignore all of that....and look only at the societal and economic and governmental issues of the United States of America....including terrorism and pandemics and artificial intelligence....then I would be just as concerned....and warning just as much....as I do today. I would ask of you to do the same thing....which in reality you should have been doing all along anyway!
                 Forty years ago....we in America had two functioning political parties. Yes we had greed all through them....with many members of our congress primarily concerned about continuing their tenure....but we also had leaders and many members of those congresses who debated issues....and when their party lost....they would accept the situation and continue their work until the next election cycle. It worked. We did not hate each other. That part of America is gone!
                 Whose fault would that be? Well....the Democrat Party fell first.....beginning with the Clintons....and then moving on to Obama....who promised to "fundamentally transform the United States of America"....which never happened....because saner heads prevailed. Where would we go next? There were seventeen candidates on that Republican debate stage at the beginning. We in the Republican Party at that time still held tightly onto the high ground of ethics and truth. Even if Hillary would have won....the pandemic would have done her in....and Republicans would have put a competent and honest man or woman into the White House. We have since lost all of the high ground of ethics and integrity!
                 A vile man rose up....buoyed by evangelicals....I voted for him.....but within months I started to read about who this man who we put in power really was. It is 116 books later....all on Trump.....on every part of his life....and what I found out was that this man is never to be trusted....as he has a life history of taking advantage of people.
                 There was no choice in 2020.....with Biden and Trump....there was no lesser of two evils. Both men were judgments upon America and upon the Church. Biden gave everything away to radical progressivism....thinking it would buy him another term....but his own age did him in....and he was succeeded by a man who was now a criminal....totally responsible for the horrors of January 6....who now in his second term seemed to be an entirely different entity....as if he has been possessed by evil. His political resurrection and gaining power is so very similar to another man who thought that he could rule the world....this back in 1933.
                 We had alliances that we not perfect....but they were sound and strong....and Putin hated them. Trump has destroyed or seriously injured most of them. Israel is the most precarious situation they have ever been in....by far. They thought that Trump was their hero....but are finding out that he is in this for himself. Taiwan....in a news report just today....is learning that they may have to defend themselves on their own. Canada....who I always looked at almost as brothers....are now....because of Trump....almost enemies!
                  We did not learn from the pandemic.....in fact we as much as denied that there was a pandemic....and we might now be seriously hindered in dealing with any future outbreaks?  In a starting turn of events....artificial intelligence....which we were all quickly finding out that it has existential dangers within it....is being defended by Trump officials....at his direction....and upon his orders no doubt! 
                  God help us! Woe are Us! Money and greed has become everything to us. This once....land of the free....hardly even has a free press left! These next four weeks are of particular concern....for Trump knows that if the Democrats take the House....then he is done....as all of his money-making schemes will be investigated. And if the Republicans somehow retain the House....and the 'speakership'....the gavel....what would Trump be capable of as a lame duck? God help us! Woe Are us! We went the way of Balaam...."who loved gain from wrongdoing." We evangelicals said that we were fighting for our heritage....but in fact we were running from our heritage in faith and dependence upon Jesus Christ!
                  So....even if you do not believe that God's Word tells us that Jesus is about to return....even looking around at the pure evil in this collapsing world....this evil generation....(unless  you believe the lies about a Golden Age that supposedly is already upon us)....you should be able to put aside all of the baubles that ruined our discernment to begin with....and look up and say....in reverence and godly fear....Maranatha....Lord Jesus....come!"
       

"Let My People Go!"

              Moses had been a shepherd in the desert of Midian....for forty years....when God appeared to him....and told him to go to Pharaoh....and tell him....that God said...."Let my people go!" We all know what transpired after that.
               We in American evangelicalism right now....have no voice that can speak as to the nation....or the 'Pharaoh.' This can change in a day....but as for right now....since Billy Graham and John MacArthur and R. C. Sproul and Voddie Baucham and Tim Keller....and maybe a very few others are gone....there is no one of that stature. You might come up with a few names of your own....and they may have great followings.....Jonathan Cahn would be one....and they may even be able to start a movement....but not have enough wisdom to....stop a movement.
               Donald Trump has taken captive....and this increasingly so for the past eleven years....much if not most of American evangelicalism. He has a hold over them. Paul asked the Galatians...."Who Has bewitched you?" Well...Trump has bewitched some members of just about every congregation in America....enough to effectively have it said....that he holds evangelicalism captive....the Trumpian Captivity of the Church!
               Oh that we had today a shepherd....with enough gravitas in American public life....to come out publicly and tell Trump.....that God says to him....."Let my people go!" Let them go...."that they may serve Me." (Exodus 9:1) Run again for president....make yourself king....hold sway over the multitudes that want to continue to blindly serve you....but let those who have groaned under the weight of greed and pride and revenge....and have forsaken dependence on God...."Not by might nor by power"....in favor of dependence on that might and power....and this for a decade now....let them go....that they may worship the only true God! 

Lord's Day Post

Preface: The post below is from May of 2022  At the bottom is an old teaching from R. C. Sproul....and below that is the very last sermon that Sproul preached....only weeks before he went to be with his Lord....this in December of 2017. You can easily tell the difference in the voice....once young and spry....and then raspy and even at times hesitating. John MacArthur's voice change is even more pronounced....as he once spoke rapid-fire....and at the end he was very slow of voice....which I actually liked better....for it gave me more time to think!

                It was certainly one of the biggest earthquakes in history....8.2 is the most often used numeration. There is archaeological evidence galore that it indeed happened....and that it covered a large area....and probably centered in what is today....Lebanon.
               The prophet Amos....a simple herdsman....began his prophecy by writing...."two years before the earthquake".....and Zechariah....maybe 250 years later still referred to that earthquake....as being during the time of King Uzziah.
                So Amos prophesied destruction upon Damascus and Gaza (the Philistines) and Tyre and Edom and Ammon and Moab and Edom and Israel and Judah....and he detailed what they had done to get God's anger to such a degree. Amos saw the destruction in multiple visions....and wrote about this later pointing out that he had these visions....two years before the earthquake. There was no need for him to try to describe a particular earthquake....for this was truly the....mother of all earthquakes.
               Chapter six should get our attention in America....for we have been for a long time...."at ease in Zion"....proud of our power...."I abhor the pride of Jacob, and hate his palaces; Therefore I will deliver up the city and all that is in it." (6:8) Here Amos is prophesying a future judgment....and also....unbeknownst to him....another future judgment after that....which would be us today....for we also sleep on our beds of ivory....so to speak....stretch out on our couches....eat and drink and be merry....all the while having no compassion on our brothers who are not safe under the great and powerful king....commissioned by God Himself to make us great again....or so we believe.
                So is there another earthquake coming in the same area? Yes....and even greater than the one during the life of Amos....as even the Mount of Olives will split in two....and we likewise are given warnings before the earthquake....and ignoring those warnings....just as did Judah and Israel.
                 There is much more than an earthquake coming....and the judgments have already begun. As you read through Amos....if you should choose to do so....you will find some interesting verses to meditate upon. You will read in 3:7...."Surely the LORD God does nothing unless He reveals His secret to his servants the prophets"....and God has indeed though men like Billy Graham warned us for a half a century. 
                  You will read where God told the Israelites to go ahead and offer their sacrifices and pray and give offerings....in Bethel....where they set up pagan idols to worship....kind of like us with Old Glory hanging just feet away from the pulpit. (4:4, 5:5)
                  God told them that He already sent many judgments upon them....one being plagues....or in our case a pandemic....yet we still did not turn from our idols. God told them that he despises their feast days and does not savor their sacred assemblies. (5:21)
                   The people told Amos....this mere herdsman....with no credentials....to get lost....to go back to his own land....that they had their king!
                    The Lord's hand of mercy is also extended to the people....but not before Amos prophesied of a day...."Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God....'that I will send a famine on the land....not a famine of bread....nor a thirst for water....but a hearing the words of the LORD'." (8:11)
                    The above famine of the Word of God is today folks. How was your sermon two days ago? Were you humbled under the holiness and judgments of God? Were you warned of the evil days that we live in? Were you told to look to that day when Jesus returns in great power and glory.....revealed to the whole world as One whom they rejected? Did your knees shake at times under the message....were there any tears either in the pulpit or in your own eyes? Probably not....but there was most likely an abundance of laughter and gaiety.....signifying....evidence of....brothers and sisters....that....famine of the Word of God.

R. C. Sproul has a wonderful YouTube video available on Amos and Hosea....Dust To Glory....Amos and Hosea.

                                                                            

                                                                               

                 
               

I Lead Two Lives

               There was a popular television show from the fall of 1953 to the spring of 1956 with the title....I Led Three Lives....about a typical white collar worker....(one life)....who worked for the FBI....(second life).....as he infiltrated the Communist Party....(third life.)  What's odd to me is that I remember watching the show....probably in reruns....but I still would have been under ten years old.
                 I lead two lives. In the one I am a 76 year old retiree....a one-time prankster who could...(and I did)....put a new replacement mop head....on my head....as a plumed helmet....and use the handle as a baton....as I glided through the power plant control room as a Drum Major....leaning back at a 45 degree angle....or take on a French accent....(I called myself Frenchie).....as I gave a daily weather report over the power plant's radio communications. And....I could....and did....as we slowly walked a boardwalk on the beach....buy those googly eyed glasses.....and wear them. I can schmooze at parties with the best of them....talking about politics or just about anything. Yeah....I'm just a wild and crazy....normal guy. The problem is that it is no longer me.....and hasn't been for a long time. I can still play the role at parties....but it is hard....and I generally do not like myself when it is all over. I can go to church....and appear normal.....even though I know that our Lord and Savior and King....is already mounted....along with His powerful and holy angels.....just waiting for the command from Him to advance....knowing that those I talk to do not know this!
                  Paul wrote this in 1 Corinthians 9:22-23...."To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings."
                  Paul also wrote this in the same book....chapter 4....verses 16 and 17...."I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church."
                  I do a terrible job of imitating Paul.....and I acknowledge that....but I try....as we all must. So when in conversation with different people....non-believers....or believers in different stages of their walks....I might  go directly to the nearness of God's judgment on our nation....or I might go slow....and look for an opening. I might appear harsh....knowing that they might not like it.....but they need it....or I may have to rely on prayer.
                   We read this in Jude....verses 22 and 23...."And have mercy on those who doubt....save others by snatching them out of the fire....to others show mercy with fear....hating even the garment stained by the flesh."
                   It does not matter what people might think of me. I look at everyone that I meet....and on every one of my friends and acquaintances and family....and you also....if we know each other....and think only of their eternal destiny. I might smile and talk of the weather.....but inside I am praying for discernment....for me in what to say....and for you.
                   This may be one of the most glorious joys that God gives us....hoping and praying that others attain the mercies that we have! For as I look at my own life....and know the depravity of the human heart....and know from that which I was saved....and the glorious and eternal salvation given to those who have no right to claim it from their own works or even faith....as I see and realize all of this....I can also see that we are called....to call others into the kingdom! And I thank God for this great and joyous calling!

              

Why Do Some Of Us Know This.....And Others Do Not?

                 Jeremiah is known as....The Weeping Prophet. His ministry was over forty years....so for forty years he lived with the knowledge of what was going to happen to his beloved Jerusalem and Judah. His own town folk tried to kill him....and his own family betrayed him. Lamentations described what eventually happened to Jerusalem and the temple. Daniel was given a vision of the last days.....including strange things that he would have no idea what they were....but he could perceive the horror....and it made him physically ill for quite some time. Jesus said to the Pharisees...."Jerusalem....Jerusalem....You kill the prophets and stone to death those who are sent to you." (Matthew 23:37) The people of Nazareth....who knew and probably loved the young carpenter....tried to throw him off a cliff. Jesus had said earlier...."A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown....and in his own house." (Matthew 13:57) The grammatical structure on that verse is a little difficult....so a contemporary Bible translation puts it this way...."Prophets are honored by everyone....except the people of their hometown and their own family."

                There are those of us in the church that know....not only that Jesus is about to appear....but we also know....or have enough of an idea....of what it will be like for everyone in this world when that happens....and the time preceding it. I have a Christian friend....believe it or not....and we meet for dinner often. We have known each other for forty years. The majority of our conversations are on God's Word....and anything related to it. So....often....quite naturally....for it cannot be avoided.....the topic of the return of Jesus will be broached.....and I know what is ahead for the conversation. I will begin it by commenting on something about the Second Coming.....and he will invariably respond in the affirmative.....but he will add...."But we cannot know when that will be." Our little tete-a-tete will continue as I will say...."I know".....of which he will say.....(you would think he would learn by now)....."No....no one can know"....of which I will purposely pause....and look him seriously in the eyes....with a slight smile....and say again...."I know!" He won't back down....and neither will I.
                 Why....why do some of us know this.....both the great and the insignificant....(that would be men like MacArthur....and men like me).....why are we so sure? Well....I can only answer for myself....but John MacArthur and many others have touched on the same subject. Unless one sees the depth of one's own sin....and the evil within one's own heart....then one would not have the tendency to look for the Savior to return with the same intensity. And if one does look for the Savior with an intense desire to know....and hope for Him to return....because one knows the precariousness of life in these sinful times....along with the powers of the devil to attack and to confuse....then one will be shown the nearness....complete with what it will be like at the time when Jesus returns!
                  Here is where preaching comes into it. The Puritans preached this message of the depravity of the heart.....it was their specialty! Spurgeon and J. C. Ryle and Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached this. MacArthur preached like this....as did R. C. Sproul.....as did David Wilkerson. So for someone like me.....I was inundated....saturated with preaching like this....thus I can say....Maranatha......Come Lord Jesus!"

Presto Chango

 "But you...Daniel...shut up the words and seal the book...until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro...and knowledge shall increase." Daniel 12:4 ESV

              We have all read this verse....countless times depending on how old you are and how many years you have been reading the Bible as a believer. There wasn't really any need for scholarly interpretation on this because it seems pretty cut and dried.....people....will just become more knowledgeable with everything as the centuries and millennia go by....and the explosion of scientific knowledge since the beginning of the twentieth century seemed to fit nicely into the prophetic scheme of things.
              Indeed that may be the meaning....but AI might possibly add a new dimension to the study of the biblical text.
              Artificial Intelligence as a news item is bad news for Trump....even though he now knows that he needs AI for his own personal glory in the future. So....conveniently....he officially changed the name from artificial intelligence....AI....to super intelligence....SI. All government agencies are now ordered to use the new nomenclature.
               He didn't invent the term....for it seems to be the chosen description by some to describe intelligence even beyond artificial general intelligence and all human intelligence....in all areas.....but with Trump it serves a secondary....or primary....whichever viewpoint you might have....purpose....for everyone it seems is bringing up AI in existential terms....and now....presto-chango....he changed the name....in essence buying him a little time.
                It is interesting though....that the definition of super intelligence....is intelligence beyond that of humans? Thus....many of these big tech billionaires are right now running to and fro....and....'knowledge'....may indeed be on the cusp of....increasing?
           

ICHABOD......The Glory Has Departed

   It's more than a paradigm change. This isn't simply going from something like Newtonian physics to quantum physics. Americans have changed in how we think. Whether it is because forty or fifty years ago we started learning from the image rather than the word....or whether the digital age and the Internet changed somehow the neurons in our brains....or something altogether different....we can see the same facts and evidence that we did a half century ago....but we interpret it differently....and often come up with totally different answers. 

               Forty years ago Christian radio...talk radio and teaching....was vital to the burgeoning born again evangelicalism that was everywhere. 1976 was called....the year of the evangelical. Christian bookstores were literally everywhere. We listened and we read! Christian music....90% of it maybe....was like one Christian witnessing to another....about Lazarus....or the blind man given his sight....or the Second Coming. Reagan famously said...."Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." We knew that quote and would repeat it at times. Brothers and sisters....one generation is all that it takes to depart from the gospel of Jesus Christ....and guess what....we are just about there!
               We memorized Scripture back in the 80s. Those Christian bookstores sold little memorization kits with cards for us to carry. We knew what a cult was. Everyone....everyone I knew anyway....was familiar with and had listened to or read R. C. Sproul's series....The Holiness of God....and everyone could quote Zechariah 4:6...."Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts." No....this that is upon us is not just a paradigm change....or a chemical imbalance in the brain....but more as when Israel thought that all they had to do was carry the Ark of the Covenant into battle and the battle would be theirs. Eli had not reprimanded his sons....in effect as saying....'Let Hophni and Phinehas....be Hophni and Phinehas." When the Ark was lost to the Philistines....a baby was born to the wife of the departed Phinehas....and she named him...."Ichabod....the glory has departed from Israel." There is our answer....the glory has departed from the church....that relied upon its own power and might....and simply thought that by saying....'God bless America....God bless America....God bless America' ....that the battle would be ours.

"I Am......The Code"

               Put some time into thinking about this. What would the Devil....(you do still believe in a real Devil don't you)....what might the Devil do to downplay the coming of his tool....the Antichrist? Might it not be that he would try to make the thought of an actual Antichrist seem preposterous to the general public? And might he not have prepared the way by leading multitudes of confessing though wind-driven....clouds without water Christians over the years and even centuries....to panic about everything end-times in general? Whatever his plan was....the Antichrist is here on this earth today....in whatever way shape or form that might be....and the church in general does not want to touch the topic with a ten foot pole....other than perfunctory sermons here or there meant more to end study on the subject than begin it.
               Here is a verse that you probably do not hear much about....Revelation 13:18....ESV...."This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666." Or how about this....also from Revelation....1:3...."Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near."
               Now I admit that there are self-proclaimed prophesy experts all over the place. They provide blurbs for each other's books....and speak at each other's conferences....and probably get their hair coiffed and teeth whitened and suits made by the same professional Gentlemen's Quarterly class of fashion experts....but protracted and in-depth studies by the shepherds of the sheep are hard to come by.
               John MacArthur was one of the exceptions....as was R. C. Sproul....and Billy Graham....but they are gone. In the case of R. C. and Billy Graham....they were called home over eight and half years ago....before January 6 of 2021....and before the Sukkot attacks in Israel. John MacArthur took ill on January 1 of 2023....and in the two and a half years before he also went to be with his Lord and Savior and King....he continued to warn his sheepfold on what was just a head for all of us.
                So we have this Antichrist in waiting. His name may be a name that as of today we have never heard in the news.....but probably not. Gorbachev was a legitimate candidate....a man who at the time appeared to bring peace to the world....admired everywhere but in his own country....but he died four years ago. Barack Obama was and continues to be a candidate. I remember the giant white horse on the top of the stadium....(Denver's football stadium)....and the almost replica as a stage for the nominating convention....of the Altar of Pergamon.....or Satan's Throne.
                 As for Donald Trump....I've written this many times....I do not believe that he will be the Antichrist....and I hope and pray not....because we evangelicals put him in power....although that hesitation is lessening all the time. I do believe this....that far from being the Jehu or the Cyrus that evangelicals have been told.....who God sent as a blessing....that he is rather a curse....and at least the man who is crazy enough to send this world into a tailspin....that will usher in the Antichrist.
                 Here are some of the issues that make Trump a genuine candidate. He exalted himself to an almost unbelievable degree....and he does it with an arrogance that in itself is more than unsettling. He made a statement this past week that might help seeing who he really is....in that it came to light that this new ballroom....in order to meet Trump's plans....were going against building and fire codes. Trump....who never thinks before he says anything....said...."I am the code."
                  He thinks....and he has always thought his entire life....that he is above the law! He does not even have a concept of what the word truth means. That my friends is Bible prophecy Antichrist thinking!
                  This coming election is problematic in so many....even existential ways. If the Trump Party loses....from day one in January....there will be continuous and non-stop investigations and impeachment charges. Now....in this situation Trump could do things that even today we would be amazed at and confounded by. There is no telling what he might attempt!
                   And if he pulls off another miraculous resurrection....and continued to consolidate his powers....increasing them by his own imperial dictates.....then another verse from Revelation might be worth considering....13:3...."One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound....but its mortal would would be healed....and the whole earth marveled as they....(willingly or being ordered to).....followed the beast."
                   There are six weeks until that election....Lord willing. Trump therefore has those short six weeks to do something. If I would do expanded post....in outline form....with 1A and 1B and 2A....etc....subtitles....on the issues concerning Trump....one of them would be on Artificial Intelligence....AI....Or SI....Super Intelligence....as Trump is attempting to rebrand it. Trump was initially against it....attacking those who were for it.....but then he saw the money he could make....so now he is for it....attacking those who are against it....and ordering everyone below him in the administration to take up this banner! As existentially important as this is....here is something of supernatural importance. AI....artificial intelligence....is definitely related to the Antichrist that this whole post is about! If there will be a seemingly distinct independent intelligence behind AI....which the news every day seems to be pointing to....then it will not be independent....but ruled by the demonic.
                         Whether AI praises the great Trump....or Trump praises the great AI....or AI praises someone else....these things we do not as of today know....but we know this....not one jot or tittle of God's very Word to us....will not be proven true. God is revealing things to us according to His perfect timing....sometimes slowly....and sometimes in bursts. AI....is exponentially growing....exponentially growing. All of these so-called talks about reigning in AI are too late.

"Life......Life.....Eternal Life!"

                 Fifty-seven years ago today I was about a week into basic training at Fort Dix....New Jersey. My life of hot dogs and Twinkies and a Coke....had drastically changed. (note: I had hot dogs and a Twinkie and a Coke for lunch and hour ago! I kid you not.) I got out of my bunk at about 5:30 every morning. That's about the time that I was getting to bed before basic training. I didn't have any hair....no one had any hair....it was great....for we were all equal. If any of my new friends came from rich families.....I wouldn't know it. There were no cliques! Let's see....there was Broadhead....and Spedding....and Walton....(the first black friend I ever had).....and Andre....the young man fresh off the boat from Poland.
                 Fifty-four years ago today I was about a week out of the army. I had an MG.....and the G.I. Bill to go to Pitt. That monthly check in the mail.....somewhere around $350....was exactly the amount for my tuition at Pitt! Hard to believe isn't it? I worked in the library for money to live on. I went to St. Paul's Cathedral every Sunday for 6 o'clock mass...after work in the library. I got my B.A. in economics in 1976....and married my boss at the library....the ceremony was in Heinz Chapel on the Pitt Campus. We honeymooned in the Poconos and at Cape Cod and Boston and Niagara Falls.
                  My father died of liver disease on November 4, 1979.....the same day that Iranian students took the American hostages. The day was a blur to me. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery....accepted there because of serious wounds sustained from a kamikaze attack in the Pacific.
                   I had given up alcohol....totally....after my father died from it. Three years later....working in a coal-fired power plant....(all these things....marriage to a wonderful girl and giving up alcohol and getting a job that would last for thirty-seven years.....were blessings from God on a person who did not deserve any of it).....working with men getting....'saved'....all over the place at my workplace....and witnessing to me....I ran along with all of them yelling....as did Christian in Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress...."Life....life.....eternal life!"
                   It has been forty-four years now....and I am here to tell you....it has been a march....a 'pilgrimage' would be the most used word....one foot in front of the other for forty-four years....falling often....even at times get beat down....but through God's strength....getting back up.....maybe crawling for a while....and often limping....but....and this is something I want you to know....never stopping putting that one foot in front of the other....for you can worry and complain and pray every bit as much while you are pressing forward....and if you stop for even one day....you may never put one foot in front of another ever again!
                    There is no graduation in the Christian walk....there is no time when you stop learning....in fact these gray hairs only make the learning more intense....and the joy.....oh the joy....it may look a little different on the outside but inside there is no longer the need for a telescope to see the glory of eternal life....for it is as if you are standing right there at the gates.....only on the other side of the river!
                    One last thing....and it is very important....if you are up in age and as of yet have not come in humility and repentance to Christ....or if you are young and think....what's the use now....for it appears that Jesus is returning....know this....come and join us who have been in this walk for a long time....for we did nothing to deserve it....and neither will you....for we are all just sheep that Jesus came to save! So just lift your head....and listen for the Shepherd's voice....for He Himself said...."My sheep hear my voice....and I know them....and they follow me."

John 10:27 ESV
                    

             So it was a nice get-a-way to Virginia Beach....but no sooner did we get there than the nor'easter hit....and my wife and I had to hold each other up for two days.....for the winds were so strong. It was the biggest week of the year for Virginia Beach as they held...or tried to hold....their 52nd annual....Virginia Beach Boardwalk Neptune Festival.
            We stayed on the boardwalk about fifty yards from that giant statue of the Greek god Neptune....the equivalent of the Roman god Poseidon....and it was sad watching all the people taking selfies of themselves with that colossal statue.
             The beach itself really took a hit from the storm....through erosion....and the forming of ridges....and the black minerals brought up from the churning of the bottom of the surf.....but sadder still was all of the talented crafters who expected three days of income.....but probably only sold half of what they expected to sell as the venue moved to the convention center. Sadder even still is the havoc that the storm played as it moved up the coast.
             Forty-three years ago I was mercifully brought by grace alone....through faith alone....in Christ alone....into the Christian faith....and no small part of this was Pat Robertson's 700 Club. I wore a 700 Club pin on my ball cap for years....and we actually vacationed twice at the Founders Inn on the burgeoning campus of CBN University. So this past week we fit in a trip back to what is now Regent University....and Regent Law School....along with the 700 Club studios.
              Pat Robertson was an extraordinary man....a senator's son....and marine Korean War vet....who could have been making martini's with the upper class....(and he did for a while)...but chose to live off of soy bean recipes....while beginning his ministry....he and his wife DeDe....that fit their budget.
              Pat resurrected a small non-functioning UHF radio station in Portsmouth....and it eventually became a multi-billion dollar media empire.
              Now those on our side....reformed and reformation traditions....can and do look down on the ministry of Pat Robertson....and I could type for a while here on a number of his beliefs that I wish that he did not have....but God used this odd man in not only bringing multitudes into the Christian faith.....and I was one of them.....but also in helping the physical needs of many more through his Operation Blessing.
              So when in these posts I lament the fact that God has taken home just about all of our shepherds who had enough gravitas to get the attention of the America public....men like John MacArthur and Billy Graham and R. C. Sproul....and Tim Keller....I include men like Pat Robertson....and David Wilkerson....for God uses all different kinds of men....whose hearts are devoted to the proclamation of the Gospel....but even these men who accomplished so much....need to be careful of getting too big....for as evangelical history seems to show....the bigger and more successful the ministry....the harder the founder often attempts to hold on to it....as If God needs the ministry.

Lord's Day Post

Preface: I came across this post from June of 2017....and thought it interesting enough to bring back. Jeremiah....in one of his many Jeremiads....told the people of Jerusalem....not to keep saying....."This is the house of the LORD....the house of the LORD....the house of the LORD." They thought that simply by having the temple in Jerusalem....that God would protect it. Well....we seem to think similarly by always repeating.....'God bless America....God bless America....God bless America'....that He will always protect us because.....because we are America! As bad as we were in 2015....after all of our attempts to rid America of evil....it does seem like....seven other spirits more evil than the original one have returned. 
      
"Who Are You?"

               The book of Acts in the 19th chapter details the actions of seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva who saw the miracles that Paul was doing....evil was being expelled....surely they could do the same thing by using the same name of Jesus. Candidate and now president Trump was going to come in and do miracles. He would use the formula 'God bless America!'
               The seven sons of Sceva demanded, using the name of Jesus, that an evil spirit come out of a man. The evil spirit looked at them and said..."Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize-but who are you?" The evil spirit then overpowered them all and the seven sons ran away naked and wounded.  President Trump has the forces of hell against him right now. They're in effect saying..."Jesus I know, and we recognize a once God-fearing America-but who are you?'
               An interesting thing happened to the people of Ephesus where this had taken place...to both Jews and Greeks, as Acts puts it...."Then fear fell on all of them, and the name of Jesus was magnified." Many had become believers and even many others burned their Harry Potter books. They had had enough of magic in light of the power of the name of Jesus through his emissary Paul. Acts concludes this passage with...."In this way the Lord's message flourished and prevailed."
              There's also a passage in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus tells of an evil spirit that leaves a man only to return later to an empty house with..."seven other spirits more evil than itself"....an empty house.... as Matthew Henry wrote in his commentary....where Christ is not there to keep them out!
              If President Trump has success for a time but we remain a nation without God then that evil would return many times over. Our prayers thus should not be that President Trump makes America great again.... but that Christ once again takes residence in the hearts of its people. This should be our primary concern!

'You Foolish Galatians....(Evangelicals)....Who Has Bewitched You?'

                Republican voters....conservatives and evangelicals.....everyone actually in the Republican Party....have not had a choice in anything....since Ted Cruz dropped his nomination in May of 2016....and his campaign's defeat in the Indiana primary. Kasich stayed in for a little while....but if was a done deal....Trump would be the nominee. No other candidates had a chance in 2020 as Trump threatened and twisted arms and didn't even show up for debates....claiming....lying as usual....that pending legal issues prohibited him. 
               At the convention in Cleveland in July of 2016....Cruz was given his time for a speech.....as the second place finishers always are....and as he was speaking....(I watched this on a split screen on the TV)....Trump purposely walked into the arena.....and the arena erupted....and Cruz was given his final humiliation.
               Since that day....actually about a year before it....when Trump paid people to stand there and cheer as he came down that golden escalator....all of us in America have been subject to a continuous barrage of threats and exaggerations....and hate and anger....as he exalted himself above everyone else on earth.
               For those who were MAGA from day one....it has been initiation into a full-blown cult....complete with a Messiah....and its own holy scriptures of Fox cable commentators and formerly conservative talk radio and podcasters....and purges and excommunications. For Christians who came to see very quickly....such as myself....for I voted for Trump in the 2016 general election....we have been increasingly vexed! It has been a struggle within the soul. For other Christians who refused to recognize a serious problem....they have been changed for the worse...where they show little to no compassion for anyone except American citizens....and even there nothing is guaranteed....and they....we....have shown ten years now of increasing trends towards racism....all in the name of patriotism.
              Donald John Trump....born on a blood moon on June 14 of 1946....and having begun ascending to the pinnacle of power in the middle of that 2014/2015 extremely rare tetrad of blood moons....may be the worst thing ever to happen to America. He....as of now....literally destroyed the Republican Party....and conservatism in general....and neutered evangelicalism. He has serious and significant psychological disorders....so much so that it appears now that he may have lost his mind. So this basket case of hate and anger and perpetual revenge-seeking is the most powerful man on the entire planet! That I believe qualifies for being a candidate for the worst thing ever to happen to America.

Note: As I saw in the news a few minutes ago....if you can believe Fox....as Trump's plane flew over the stadium in Knoxville....there was a thunderous ovation. This is the heart of the Bible Belt.....and evidence....if you are willing to accept it....of what has happened to evangelicalism and the church in America...and thus America itself....in the past ten years.

Title....Galatians 3:1

Trust In God....Yes....But Trust In His Word Also....Specifically In The Warnings Of His Word!

               On September 19, 2023.....three years ago....Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke before the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations. It was an almost empty hall....just as it was yesterday. His speech was pure optimism....with only a few caveats. He talked about the Abraham Accords....and a new Middle East on the horizon. I posted this at the time....that began with some of the Prime Minister's words....

"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 (Netanyahu) 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. (Where did he learn that tact?) 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."

               Yesterday....gone was the optimism.....in Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech to the 81st United Nations General Assembly! It was the Benjamin Netanyahu as I remember him....before Trump. It was a very hard-hitting speech....and realistic....optimistic only in the outcome of this war....not in the future.
                Did you notice the date....September 19....2023....the day of the first speech....the optimistic speech....that it was only 18 days before that which was...even as Netanyahu pointed out yesterday....the worst day for Jews since the Holocaust! So there was this optimistic speech....September 19 of 2023....which I thought at the time was absurd....and 18 days later there were the Sukkot attacks....and the world changed!
                Israel is surrounded by enemies...."seven fronts" is how Netanyahu described it yesterday. Really folks....you can  ignore or even ridicule this stuff....denying that the problems today with Israel...and America....are like they never have experienced before....but you will only fool yourself. Every pastor ought to be bringing these things up....the warnings in God's Word....and how they fit us today so perfectly....for that is what shepherds do!!!! I hear this all the time...."Just trust God"....yes Lord....thank you Lord....increase our trust and our faith....but what they miss is that they evidence no trust....no trust....in God's warnings to us from His Word!

 

Note: "And he (Jesus) said to them, 'I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven'." Luke 10:18 ESV

Some Good News

               My wife and I have been in the habit over the past six years of going to Southern Gospel concerts.....groups such as the Booth Brothers and the Isaacs. A few days ago it was Triumphant. This was a smaller setting....a church maybe twenty miles from our home. We had visited this church....oh....twenty years ago at least.....and it was for a Christian concert....Steve Camp if you remember this popular Christian singer from the 80s and 90s?
               We had also attended worship services there a few weeks....and I have always had a good feeling about the church. More recently the congregation went for quite some time without a pastor. We have friends who are members and whose son was on the search committee....so we had heard that a new pastor had been installed. I saw him the evening of the concert. When we returned home.....I looked up his bio....and was in for a shock....for he and his wife enjoy the outdoors.....and history....and reading the Puritans....and listening to Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermons!
               Folks....if you are at all familiar with these posts of mine....I am always recommending....and even pleading with people to listen to older sermons from.....as I always put it....'preachers from the past....(men like Spurgeon and Lloyd-Jones)....and preachers today who preach like preachers of the past!
               Well....their first service is two hours earlier than our service....so I streamed it. This young man....I'm guessing he is about 33 years old....is a graduate of John MacArthur's....The Master's Seminary....and the sermon was rather wonderful....as I could see John MacArthur's mind working there.
         

"Jesus Christ Is The Same Yesterday And Today And Forever"

               Mark Biltz gave this topic three pages in one of his books....but to me it deserves more....for in my four decades of evangelicalism....I don't think that I ever heard of this possible scenario. The setting is Jerusalem....on Passover. There might be two million people in Jerusalem....as it is one of the three feasts that Jews were required to attend. It was Nisan 14....Passover....and the first day of the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread. Each day....three times a day....at nine and at noon and at three in the afternoon....the people would almost in unison sing from what is known as the....Hallel....Psalms 113 to 118.
                Now picture this....as Jesus is being nailed to a cross...with upwards of two million people attending the feast....He may very well have heard these words from inside the walls being sung...."God is the LORD. which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar." (Psalm 118:7) 
                 Every movement of the cosmos is according to plan....every crack in the earth's crust....or burst of wind! The same God that had Jesus on the cross as the people in Jerusalem sang the Hillel....is the same God that uses familiar numbers all the time....forty years or forty days so often....or four-hundred years....or seventy years....or seven years....and the same God that has us here at almost exactly six-thousand years of creation....and the same God that told Jeremiah that the captivity in Babylon would last seventy years....and told Daniel that sixty-nine weeks into the seventy week prophecy....from the decree to leave Babylon would lead to Messiah the Prince being...."cut off!"
                John MacArthur once said of 1948....and the beginning of the state of Israel....that God had put the world on notice....the last of the last days had begun! How many years exactly we would not know....but we would know that as sure as Jesus came in His first incarnation....right on time....just as His Word had said....that He will in like manner return....right on schedule....as we are right now seeing more clearly all the time!

Note: Title....Hebrews 13:8

Ho-Hum

               From what I have read on the reasons for the collapse of the towers on 9/11....the extreme heat from the fire deep down into the elevator shafts......weakened the support beams....causing them to bend....and the top floor eventually collapsed onto the floor below....adding to the weight....which caused the domino effect all the way to the bottom of the towers. I imagine a lot of people did this....over the 25th anniversary of the attacks....looking back at documentaries? What surprised me a little bit was that it seemed to affect me more than it ever had before....possibly more than when it happened....but shock may have numbed the senses at the time. There was one movie/documentary....I believe that it was called....World Trade Center....Flight 11....that focused on the restaurant at the top of the North Tower of the World Trade Center....Windows on the World....and the people working that day....and then focused also on the firefighters walking....up....up....in an attempt to help others....and also on the possibly hundreds of people who had no choice but to jump. Twenty-five years later and it is still difficult to think about that day.
             I begin with the above paragraph....for a reason apart from 9/11....rather....the bending of the support beams of our country....that may result in the same domino effect.... for as I look at America today....I see support beams that are bent so far from the heat of the sacrificial fires on our altars to foreign gods....that I have to wonder what is keeping that top floor from starting the domino effect?
             Every single 'beam' is seriously weakened....and bending out of shape....as our federal government is in total disarray....with the political side ethically corrupt....and as the First Amendment is under attack....and our legal system ineffective against the financial resources of billionaires....and as our churches remain oddly detached....as if the gospel has nothing to do with false prophets and greed and vengeance and power-mongering....and as hatred of Israel is raging....along with racism....and you can hardly turn on the television or the computer without some fantastical commercials on how you no longer have to go to Las Vegas....but you can just sit in your seat and gamble your life savings away.
             Russia attacking Europe....ho-hum....China attacking Taiwan.....ho-hum....Israel all alone in the world....an asteroid heading right for us discovered at the very last minute....AI going berserk....another pandemic....this time with no one brave enough or knowledgeable enough to shut down the spread of it....a civil war in England....or Germany....or here in America....all of it and much more....ho-hum!
             Folks....we were given sixty-six books in God's Word. There is no way to know exactly but it might be safe to say that a quarter of God's Word to us relates to telling us what will happen....and what to look for before and during the Second Coming. It is just sitting there....waiting for us to....tolle lege....'take up and read'....but this is 2026....and we are not interested in 'doomsaying'....as we see it....but we want our own prophets tickling our ears.
             Right now I cannot think of anything worse in Bible reading....than following one of those....read the Bible in a year schedules. There may have been a time in the past when these things served a purpose....but not today! I cannot think of a worse plan for preaching than be limited from hearing from the Holy Spirit by spending multiple months at a time on one book....let alone six months to a year. Once again there may have been a time and a place for this....but not today! 
              Pastors....what does Jesus want you to preach to His flock this coming Lord's Day? I believe that it would be a trumpet call....call an assembly....consecrate a fast....for enemies are right now ascending ladders on our bulwarks. What are we to be reading....every day....throughout every day....as often as we can? I believe that it is where the Holy Spirit would lead us....as we ask of Him directions....plead with him for wisdom....and not something like....'chapter 15 through 33'....on whatever that read the Bible in a year might give for that day!
              Jesus gave the people of Jerusalem a prophecy that their generation would see every stone of the temple and the temple mount be torn down. We today essentially had been given that same warning! We need our pulpits at this time. We need these men to say...'take my pulpit away....my position....I will not sit back and watch....I will defend the gospel....and my sheepfold as long as their is breath in me....for that is my calling!"

The Man Who Dropped Dead In The Pulpit....That We Might Read About It Today....And Amend Our Ways

                                                                     

               John Piper was twenty-two years old at the time. The place was Wheaton College. The setting....chapel services for about 2,000 Wheaton students at the Edman Chapel....of whom John Piper was one. The speaker was V. Raymond Edman....who had two years previous retired as president of Wheaton College. They had already....while Edman was still president....named the chapel after him....such was the respect that he had!
              The topic of Mr. Edman's chapel message was....In The Presence Of The King. About eleven minutes had passed....V. Raymond Edman was still speaking....you can hear all of this on the link above....when Mr. Edman dropped dead behind the microphone!
               A few years ago....four or five maybe....my wife and I were visiting the campus of a military academy....a university....I won't mention the name....and we walked into a building with a large auditorium. The entire student body was there....in uniform....and they were being scolded by one of the university leaders. It was a bit of a shock. Maybe a minute or two into this....a young man....apparently one of the student leaders as he was standing in the back....came up to us and very politely said that we probably should not be there at that time. So I apologized....and we left.
               Well in this chapel service that V. Raymond Edman was giving to students on September 22 of 1967....almost fifty-nine years to the day from today....he was scolding the students! They had apparently forgotten that when they enter a chapel for a service that they are entering the presence of a king....not only a king....but the King of Kings!
                Tomorrow....roughly twelve hours from my typing this....evangelicals will be entering their worship service....and it will not be as if they were entering the presence of a king. There will be laughter....and chit chat....before and after the service....and maybe talk about today's football games....or the ones on the schedule for tomorrow. Such is the America that we live in.
                 May God....if it be His will....and if it be to His glory....have mercy upon all of us....and upon me....as I also struggle in this Vanity Fair that we call our home. May His Holy Spirit tomorrow shake timbers in our churches....as Samson....in a blinded state as we are in today....shook the pillars.....not that they would collapse.....but that we would be rudely awakened to an existence that God gave....and that we let grow with weeds....and that now stands in judgment! May he have mercy upon these pastors who have neglected their duties to warn us....so that we who neglected to demand that they feed us all that we need....might then also receive mercy....and that all of us might finally come together in spirit....wherever we are....in whatever nation we are....not merely for fellowship....but for worship....and praise....and thanksgiving....and that we might amend our ways....and call out....Maranatha....Lord Jesus Come!

"The God Whom We Serve Is Able To Save Us......But Even If He Doesn't...."

            I thought that it succeeded....and I recommend it....the film....released just today....Daniel....and the Fiery Furnace. The unfortunate part of it is that it took a lot of poetic license....storylines that are not in God's Word....but in the essentials....it is a powerful film.
            It was a superb portrayal of Nebuchadnezzar! Everyone else was just good. Jeremiah had more than a cameo appearance....and the portrayal of the weeping prophet....was not that of a prophet weeping for his people and Jerusalem. The graphics....from a distance....of the walled city of Jerusalem....and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon....were alone worth the price of the ticket. The fiery furnace was done very well....and the idolatry....even of child sacrifices....to the Babylonian god....was effective....while the statue that Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego would not bow down to....although probably not accurate at all....proved to be very effective filmmaking. The musical score was also good....I thought anyway.
             To see the film without being solidly grounded in the books of Jeremiah....and Daniel....is somewhat problematic. So if you are planning to possibly see the movie....I would recommend that you first watch this 1998 movie....Jeremiah....that starred Patrick Dempsey as Jeremiah....and Oliver Reed as a fictional general of King Zedekiah. This film also took a lot of poetic license....but at least it presented the weeping prophet in a more accurate light. Daniel and the Fiery Furnace....had....and missed....an opportunity to show what a false prophet was....when Jeremiah appeared before the king with a wooden yoke on his shoulders. The Jeremiah film did a very good job with this vital passage of the book of Jeremiah....because we have the very same false prophets today....telling us how great and glorious times are just ahead!

                                                                    

"Where Is My Roy Cohn?"

               In the mid-1950s Roy Cohn was one of the most famous people in America. My being born in 1950....I seemed to have known about him forever. He was the chief counsel in the various McCarthy hearings. Senator Joe McCarthy was right in his concern about communists in our government....and he has since been vindicated in that general charge...but the problem was in how he went about his business of rooting out communists. It's similar in a way to Trump immigration deportations....as he also is right in that there is a major problem....but likewise very wrong and even unconscionable in how he has gone about dealing with that problem. Robert Kennedy....RFK....Bobby Kennedy....was an associate counsel....(until he resigned)....second to Cohn....and they utterly despised each other.
                 When Cohn's time in working for the Congress was done....he went to New York City....and became almost equally famous as a divorce lawyer....and a personal lawyer to the elite...in many cases mob elite. His tactics were always the same....attack....and take no prisoners....deny any and all charges....never ever admit to anything....and he was often criticized as....displaying no decency whatever toward other human beings. He met Trump in the early 1970's. They took an instant liking to each other.....and Roy Cohn saved Trump's bacon on a number of occasions When Trump and his father were facing federal charges of discrimination in their rental properties....it was Cohn who told Donald to fight the government. Cohn saved Donald a lot of money over the years. It was in Trump's first term....when he was facing all kinds of accusations....that he famously uttered in desperation...."Where is my Roy Cohn"....in other words....where is my unconscionable attack dog lawyer like I used to have?
                 I put off doing a post on Roy Cohn....because this was a public figure with a long life....with every decade filled with high profile controversial exploits. How can I attempt a short post on such a figure? And I would have avoided it altogether....but I wanted very much to bring up this one identical similarity....(there were many)....that Donald Trump has....and that Roy Cohn was known for....and here it is....
                 Everyone who knew Roy Cohn....and most in Washington and New York who only knew of him....knew that he led a very public and accepted gay lifestyle. He did not even try to hide it....but here is the thing....he denied it to the day that he died....in 1986! It wasn't in that he was gay....for it could have been anything. He was always walking around the room....and occasionally being stepped on....by the elephant in that room! How can I adequately emphasize this point? It is a very important point! Cohn....on anything that he chose....the topic matter not being the important thing....no matter how obvious it was to anyone who knew anything about the subject....simply....calmly....and confidently....seemingly without a care in the world on it....just looked into the camera....and denied it....and he did this regularly with many things....for it was the plan....and it worked! Extraordinary....the boldness...and the arrogance....and the effectiveness of it!
                 I do not think that I have even come across anyone....in public life or in my own life....or even for that matter in literature....who....as if they were giving the time of day....or the day of the week....could not only tell a lie....but the polar opposite of the truth....that almost everyone would know anyway! To make this even more astounding....the two men who could do this....not only knew each other....but were fiercely loyal to each other....with Cohn in fact having been the chief mentor of Trump!

                 

The Ghost In The Machine

               There is hardly ever a day where I am not doing some kind of research on the Internet. It is 8 AM as I type.....and I haven't even had a sip of coffee yet....and I was already Googling Robert Kennedy's book....The Enemy Within....to see the exact year it was published. It was 1960. I woke up with that book on my mind....most likely because last night I had finished a biography on Roy Cohn....the mentor of a young Donald Trump....and an archenemy of RFK....for as an early teenager....maybe 14 years old....I remember walking into the Turtle Creek library....a few miles outside of Pittsburgh....where I was staying with family for the summer....and borrowing that book....and reading it! Strange....for I wasn't a reader at that age....but I picked out this intense book on corruption inside America? It was probably because I already had a fascination for JFK....and his brother RFK....this because I was a Catholic youth....and they were my heroes.
                I use Wikipedia often. It's very easy and simple....as you ask it a question about a date or names or any kind of fact at all....and if the topic is in Wikipedia....you can get your answer....and Google was much the same way....only Google would direct you to where you could find an answer.
                 Well that has changed with AI. On occasion it has seemed to know what I was going to ask....before I complete my sentence! It might correct me....and ask if I'm sure that I didn't mean this....or didn't mean that. It can be like Dorothy sitting before the Wizard of Oz....where the entity behind the curtain and the machine winds up giving wisdom....instead of an actual heart or a brain. Right now....MAGA....or much of MAGA....is defending AI. They are like the winged monkeys sent out by the Wicked Witch. 
                 Will AI eventually kill humans? This much is sure....AI will definitely kill the jobs of humans. So there are legitimate concerns....some of them great concerns....some of them existential concerns....but then....AI will make money for the rich....so case closed. This is all a hoax!
                  In Oz there was a man behind the curtain....behind the machine so to speak. With AI....we still have a machine....and there may be a man behind it....coding and directing. it....data in....data out....but that is changing rapidly. The man is being taken out of the equation. There is enough data for the machine to 'think' on its own....and that is indeed potentially a great problem....but there is something more....something much more sinister that most people do not even believe in.
                  In the New Testament there were demons everywhere. Jesus and His disciples were casting them out all over the place. So where are these demons today? Where have they been for the past two-thousand years?  Well they have always been there....but it does seem that just as this realm was stirred up to great agitation when Jesus first came into the world....that they are being stirred up again as Jesus nears in His triumphant return.
                 How does this relate to AI? This much seems certain....AI will be part of the end-times deception. I think that Christians that know their Bible....and have read diligently in God's Word warning of various things that will take place....recognize....easily recognize....that AI must be part of all of this!
                 So will AI....or the lack of the United States becoming the primary developer of it....would that have a disastrous effect on the economy....and the national defense....considering how China and others are going full-steam in this? Even if the answer to this might be in the affirmative....I pose this question to the Christian....compare it to Satan himself behind that machine....behind AI? 

Note: The title here is a phrase that was coined in 1949 by Gilbert Ryle as he contested the supposition of Descartes that the mind and the body were separate entities. There has been a book and a film with the same title.

"But Also Those Who Have Loved His Appearing."

                 It seems that most of the prophecy teachers that are everywhere today.....on television and through podcasts and their books....and all their conferences....believe in and therefore teach a....pre-trib....rapture of the church. If you are not familiar with this....it means that the church is taken up....in the twinkling of an eye....and then the seven year tribulation begins. This teaching is relatively new....mid-19th century. We may not know....indeed we do not know....the exact timing of when the church will be taken away....but it is safe to say this....it will not be pre-trib.
                 It was a different church when this eschatological doctrine came into being. We did not have all of the toys and entertainments that we do today. It is a totally different world and church than it was a hundred and fifty years ago. The problem with pre-trib was not nearly as stark back then as it is today. People were serious about their faith....and were actually born again....and not just recruited in an attempt to get back their socially and economically conservative country.
                 If there would be a pre-trib rapture....then those being taken up would by-and-large be Christians who read regularly and believed all the Bible verses that talk about a straight and narrow way. Today....well let me give you this anecdote....forty years ago their was a popular T-shirt in Christian bookstores.....with an imprint on it of a pair of sneakers....empty sneakers....in what was obviously some kind of sports arena stands....and the person had been taken up....you could tell this from the graphics....while there were legs all around the sneakers....of people still cheering the game. The message was that we in America could go right on enjoying all of our pastimes and entertainments....and when we get zapped up....well....we get zapped up.....who cares which team might win the game.
                  So....I don't think that we today should even want a pre-trib rapture....because we are not ready....and we are not really even that concerned about beasts and bowls and seals and trumpets and oceans and rivers turning red....because we will have been gone....taken away. The alternative is daunting....and humbling....for if these things may be just ahead....then we had better be in serious self-examination on whether or not we are even slightly prepared....and whether we have plenty of oil for our lamps....and whether or not we would even be among those taken up!
                  Here's one thing that we are good at....we are good at saying how we just have to trust God in whatever may be ahead. The problem is that we do not have a corresponding trust in God's warning about whatever may be ahead! Therein is a great difference friends! We might try this....we might actually put ourselves into the situations that God's Word describes....about even family members turning on us....for that is coming folks....for even if we consider the issues in the news today....particularly political issues....the confusion and delusion and anger and hate that abounds literally everywhere....we should be able to discern that there would be very difficult times ahead!
                  There is a verse....another one of those many verses that we have conveniently pushed off to the side...."Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness....which the Lord the righteous judge....will award to me on that day....and not only to me....(Paul)....but also to those who have loved his appearing." 2 Timothy 4:8 ESV
                  "Loved His appearing"....these are believers who are earnestly looking forward to the appearing of Jesus....the crown is for those who want and desire and plead for His appearing. If we take this literally....this might....and maybe should....shake us to our very core....in that Jesus might not be coming for those who outwardly profess belief....but inwardly retain a greater love for the world! 

Addendum: As I mentioned above....'prophecy teachers"....are literally everywhere. It's almost like a good gig for a lifework....where you go around telling people about this from Daniel or that from Revelation....and write all these books....and go to all these conferences....and you do not have the responsibilities of being a pastor....but there are a lot of pastors who do preach and teach on prophecy....the difference it seems so often is that prophecy teachers today.....most of them....are just a little too cheery....with a few too many smiles....as they teach about the Antichrist and the Tribulation....whereas if they realized that when Daniel became ill just seeing the vision....that it will be more than a vision to us....and to them....if they are indeed secure in the mercies of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.