Fri, Dec 3rd - 10:57AM

Dithering

  The shape of our world has changed, but we in America have not. We are being left farther and farther behind in our efforts at maintaining what has become a fictional status quo. This is happening in both the world and the “church” and in the process, we have become inoculated against receiving, and benefiting from the truth. We in America, and the “church” have been living in our own fictional reality for so long we routinely reject any truth that exposes the lie.

 Nationally, we are already firmly in bed with Globalism, but many, perhaps most Americans, still think we are simply leaning in that direction. Wake up! We’ve arrived already! And the unsolvable problems we hear about all the time are the result of that arrival, not the leaning.

 In many of the mainline, denominational churches we are starving for meat, but are continually fed pabulum. Wake up! The cramping in your spiritual stomach is caused by the steady diet of non-substance, not just a temporary bad week! If your church is mainly teaching pre-resurrection theology – LEAVE IT! And don’t walk away – RUN! The overriding truth of the Gospel is this: THERE IS LIFE, REAL LIFE, ON THE FAR SIDE OF THE CROSS, but it is up to us as individuals to seek and find it. 

 I do not understand why we Americans settle for the status quo of pew warming in both government and the church. Worse, we not only settle for the mediocre, we seem to get fighting mad against any other proposals. So here’s the facts: we are getting exactly what we deserve in both government and the “church”, and it is grievous to God. But do we really care what God thinks?  I don’t think so. We seem to think our opinions are of at least equal value to God’s expressed Truth. Our arrogance is killing us, and we don’t seem to care.

 We say, “God is love” to cover up any of our responsibilities. How idiotic is that?! You men, you are at fault. Yes, you MEN. I’ve been alive for over six decades, and I still find mostly women in the church. Where are you guys? So let me weigh in concerning the gender discrepancy in our country and our churches: YOU MEN ARE AT FAULT. You are weak, sniveling cowards content in letting your wives and your children run your households and your lives. While they “take care of you”, you take care of yourselves while truth lies suffering in the gutters of our society and the world. I have total contempt for any “man” who lives like that. You are NOT men – you are self-seeking cowards.

 What’s wrong with America and the “church”? LEADERSHIP. We don’t have leadership in this country – we have instead multitudes of human lemmings, and we’re headed for destruction as fast as we can get there. 

What’s wrong with the “church”? You left the real Gospel, you invented your own Jesus, and you are teaching your country club members to hang on for heaven, while they live like hell. Guess what, the real Jesus didn’t die for your theology of death. Guess what again, you preachers who preach on the near side of the cross will be judged severely for it. Do you consider that success? Does your denominational retirement policy cover the cost? Think again. Would you send your own sons to die for the gospel you’re preaching?

As a friend of mine told me repeatedly prior to my official retirement from my career – “There is life after (it).” That is the message we men need to hear. We need to step up and say, “No more!”. It’s a sad day when the Muslims who blow up our buildings have more leadership ability than free American men – but they do. I’m not Muslim, and never will be, but I do admire them for at least having convictions they consider worth dying for. We should, and do not.

The Church needs to reinvest itself with the responsibility it was given by the real Jesus Christ. It needs to harp on the biblical morality He taught and died for until it brings about the inevitable persecution He predicted. The Church needs to take over the conscience of the United States and teach us to have the steel spine of Jesus Christ rather than the worm-like jello we currently use for guts.

Morality is our weakness, and we being set up for a great, national death if we don’t acquire that truth in our souls. Politicians haven’t changed for many hundreds of years – we have, and it’s killing us, both now and for eternity.

Concerning eternity – where do you want to spend it? Right now, during this life, we have control over that answer – in the next life we will not. I’ve purposely written this so it will be easy to be labeled an “alarmist” by those committed to eternal death, but bear in mind – in this country 150 years ago, what I have written would be considered redundant.

John

Thu, Oct 7th - 3:05PM

Is It Me?

 Many stories in the Bible hit me crosswise. One of them is the passage beginning in Matthew 26:21, where Jesus says to his disciples that one of them will betray Him. I’ve always been interested in their responses; each one asked if they were the one. The parable in Matthew 25:1-12 continues to bug me. Like the disciples in Matthew 26, I read this parable and wonder, is it me? Am I wise or foolish?

 I confess I’m guilty of not presenting anything new. I’m not particularly entertaining or innovative. Any “revelation” I may have is no more than that which is given to many by the Holy Spirit. It comforts me that I really don't care to be entertaining, innovative or revelatory. I deeply care to present what I feel the Lord is telling me to present – when He says to do it. That said, here’s some un-original bread – fresh for today.

 There will be incredible judgment some day for those who lied to us, telling us that “believing” in Jesus was all we had to do to be “saved”. That is simply not true. It’s not that simple. Leaving the erudite discussions about the underlying meanings of the groups in Matthew 25 to others, let’s back up and look at the bigger picture.

 Numerous places in the Gospel accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus, recount His commands for us to “follow”, and I submit, following is a lot more involved than just believing. In fact, “following” follows “ believing”. By stopping at the believing part, we have simply begun to read the instructions and excluded every point after bullet #1. Then, for some reason, we begin to pat ourselves on our backs, fat and happy over our good decisions. It is not good enough. There are more instructions, and they clearly indicate there is a personal cost – something we conveniently bypass if we don't read further.

 Put yourself in the place of the five wise virgins. If you have studied the Bible, prayed, fasted and begged for more intimacy with God, done your dead-level best to hear the daily directions of the Holy Spirit to you from the heart of God, turned your back on any form of known or revealed sin, begged for your hard, intractable heart to be cleansed and softened, begged for more ability to love God and serve Him – while realizing all that activity not only does not obligate God but is only reasonable – would you risk your trip to the clouds to explain to some Sunday pew-warmer how they can make the trip too? 

I can't answer for you, but I wouldn’t even take their phone call. I’d be too occupied with the trip! After all, if they didn’t want to hear the whole truth when they had the time, they won’t be able to understand it when time runs out. That’s too bad.

 I know this is going to sound like spiritual arrogance to some readers. I realize it could be interpreted as some “holier than thou” person lecturing to the unwashed masses, but believe me, that is not true. We are all in the same boat, but we need to understand the ride might get rougher before the Master calms the wind and the waves upon His arrival. 

There are trip expenses, and it could get expensive for each one of us, but I would be cheating reality if I was convinced it was free. Even the Hell’s Angels used to charge for the ride, and I wouldn’t trust a Salvation that cost me nothing! It wasn’t free for Him, and it shouldn’t be free for me – if I’m truly following.

 And when He does arrive, as He surely will, I for one, don't want to be running hither and yon trying to crib for the trip. I want to be ready. 

The good news – right now there’s still time.

John

Thu, Oct 7th - 3:03PM

Lessons From Our Dogs

  Many years ago I remember when my kids were old enough to go squirrel hunting with me. They individually expressed an interest in going with me, so I made it a special event. I took them out one at a time on three separate occasions; one of those father/daughter trips good authors make a living writing about.

 We would get up early and head for the woods in the dark, arriving just as the woodland creatures were beginning to stir. I told each one of the children in turn to pay close attention to my directions. Specifically, I told them that if I said “Don't move!”, they were to freeze instantly in place. 

I told them there were snakes in the woods, (Missouri/Kansas) and I might have to order them to do something, or not to do something, that they might not understand. I told them not to ever question me about an order, but to obey me instantly! I said I’d explain it all to them later, when we had the time. Then we practiced how they would instantly obey my orders. It was a game to them, but I was deadly serious. On those outings, my children had fun, and nobody got bitten by the copperheads. They obeyed, and their ability to obey was an honor for each of them. 

But we American adults are like children without honor. We whine and complain about nearly every aspect of our lives – I’m talking to professing Christians here – and if (God forbid!) God would actually order us to do something, or refrain from doing something, we ask “Why?” instead of instantly obeying. We actually demand to understand before we commit to obedience. Is it any wonder why we get “snake” bit? Why is it we are blind to our own arrogance when we demand understanding before obedience? Perhaps we don't see our responses as demands, but they are.

I think the underlying issue has always been rebellion, plain and simple. While we pay lip service to “serving God”, we’re demanding that He serve us. How dare God request (order) us to give up something we like? Would a good God do that? Would I be a bad father to order my child not to play with the pretty snake under the rock? If I had to raise my voice and risk hurting their feelings, would I be a cruel father? Would my order be misconstrued as unloving? Sadly, within the confines of real time and space, rather than this essay, the answer is often “yes”.

I think we are dealing with two issues: rebellion and trust, and as long as we give a home to rebellion, we won't have any room for trust. We gravitate to rebellion (or whatever we like to call it), and refuse to trust God until He proves Himself to us – over and over. Frankly, if I were God, I would have more hope in my dog. Which brings up a point I’d like to make. 

Some modern churches are fond of catchy slogans they proudly post on their signage. I suppose the signage is supposed to take the place of evangelism – sort of a 24-hour pastor – he never sleeps…. 

I’m sure you’ve seen the same one I have: “Be the person your dog thinks you are”. Well, that’s catchy, but the real point is the other way around. That sign should read: “If your dog acted towards you the way you act towards God, he’d be up for adoption”. And honestly, my dog obeys me much better than I obey God. 

For my dog, obedience was a learned response, but he did learn it, and it wasn’t easy for either of us while he did. My dog trusts me completely. Again, he learned that too.  And my dog hears MY voice; now he also hears other voices, but he obeys mine. My dog knows he belongs to me, and never doubts it. And here’s the clincher: my dog knows I am the boss, and he is NOT. And it is because of all this that I also learned to trust my dog! See the point?

In these End Times, with the world around us spiraling into Bible prophecy, perhaps we should at least try to learn some lessons from our dogs.

God is King – we are NOT. 

John 

Thu, Sep 30th - 11:03AM

Point of Contact

One of the first things new Christians learn, or should learn, is to cease from any form of divination or spiritism. Per Deuteronomy 18:11, we are admonished not to ‘call up the dead’. But what do we do if the “dead” call us up?

 I often have house dreams. Most of my house dreams are of complicated houses containing secret hallways, back staircases and convoluted floor plans. Usually I’m looking for something, or trying to find a hidden room, but the house always seems to be mine, and is vaguely familiar to me, like I’ve been in it before in other dreams. But last night was different.

 In last night’s dream, my wife and I both were in our house, and we knew a relative was going to visit us in the house, and we were apprehensive because the relative had been recently “loosed” from somewhere (in reality, the relative has been dead for many years).

 To get ready, we closed off some hallways and opened others, trying to be tactical in our preparations.  But finally, my wife and I entered a large, dark room in single file. I could see my wife, but I could not see in front of her. She encountered the relative somewhere in the dark to her front, and I asked her if it was him, and she told me it was. I then woke up.

 It would have been easy for me to dismiss the dream as just another non-sensical event, but instead I began to think about it, and I remembered all the dreams we’ve both had where our departed parent(s) would be in our dreams, mute, but notably in the dream. Concerning my dream last night, here is what God told me:

 The house represented our persons, the contacting relative was a demon in disguise, contacting us in a frontal assault upon our persons. In effect, we had just been involved in spiritism, which originated not with us, but with the demon!

 None of this made me afraid in the slightest, but I was very grateful for the lesson. I immediately got up and prayed, demanding the contacting demon leave us immediately, and I prayed until I felt it had. I just love it when God’s light unmasks the devil! 

 Some of you reading this may think all this talk about demons is a bit over the edge, but I assure you, any concept endorsed as valid by Jesus Himself, should be taken seriously – and if you’re not taking it seriously, be assured it has already taken you with impunity.

 I see no place in scripture where we are admonished to fear demons, or quake in their presence; we are, however, commanded to cast them out. In other words, we are to be engaged in an offensive attack on Satan’s kingdom of darkness wherever it’s encountered. 

If you are purposely avoiding the demon issue, be aware you have already capitulated to the enemy, and he doesn’t have a shred of mercy for your stance of non-participation. With Christians, ‘ignorance is no excuse’, but rather a ticket to ineffectiveness at best, and it will eventually lead to torment (sickness, disease, etc.). You cannot wrap yourself in safety by ignoring the devil. With him, there is no middle ground, no neutral zone, and choosing not to fight is to lose the fight. Fight or flight are the only two options, and as I read it, God’s ‘breastplate’ has no backplate. 

Many times, God will give us His version of R & R, a brief respite from our warfare, but it comes from Him and in His timing, and it is brief. Our warfare does not consist against flesh and blood, and will continue until Jesus returns. The principalities and powers of darkness that we fight don't rest, and never relent. We beat them, or they beat us – if we let them.

It is our great honor to enforce the victory that Christ already won in His resurrection. It is not always easy or fun; it’s often down and dirty, but it’s good for us to fight because we gain eternally by enforcing, and bringing His Kingdom to earth. 

And as warriors, we need to be aware we are the doorkeepers to ourselves, and some who knock on the doors of our houses need to be aggressively turned away. 

Not every ‘stranger’ comes from God.

John

Thu, Sep 23rd - 11:08AM

Thin Ice

 It’s important that we become students of human nature and students of God’s nature, particularly now. Several problems immediately arise. First, if we assume God is a bigger, cosmic human, we look no further than ourselves in our search for Him. Secondly, if we assume God is so incomprehensible as to be “otherworldly”, we give up and again, look no further than ourselves. Third, if we look to some one human to be our “Spirit guide”, i.e.: guide to the Spirit and God, we forfeit the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, as designed by God. Fourth, if we look to the Holy Spirit and don't let Him drive us into the written Word of God as our primary source, we open ourselves up to the wrong spirit. Fifth and last, if we become so afraid of making mistakes that we don't search for God at all, Satan wins, and we stand to lose our place at the table.

 Elevating the spirits of deception above God’s Spirit, and reacting with fear, or non-participation, we fail to be effective for the Father, and we begin preaching fear in one form or another. With regard to ‘signs and wonders’, it’s quite common to run into Christians who are so afraid of being deceived that they refuse to pursue God through anything other than their particular church doctrine. 

 While originally conceived to keep believers within the guidelines of the Word of God, as judged by the early apostles before the New Testament was completed, doctrine quickly ascended to the throne. In many denominations, doctrine controls believers within it’s own structure, while keeping them away from the liberty of the Spirit. For instance, what purpose would Presbyterian doctrine serve if it allowed Presbyterian believers to grow out of itself and into the whole counsel of God? Of course, that question continues to make no sense to those trapped within the concrete walls of their doctrine because they don't see the trap, but in fact, their doctrine might just be keeping them IN while keeping the Holy Spirit OUT.

 Right now, many mainline denominations are in a dither over declining membership, and it would appear they are being abandoned by all but the “satisfied”. Pew warmers have been left behind because they were never searching for more of God in the first place, and the escaping droves are staying home on Sundays because football is more relevant to them than “church”, or “religion”. This is so obvious it’s sadly funny when the denominations hold leadership meetings in vain efforts to upgrade their relevancy. I can just imagine James, the brother of Jesus, calling just such a meeting in the early church, can't you? NOT!!

The fact comes down to one simple principle, and I can put it into one sentence:

Only the Holy Spirit brings LIFE to God’s Word, but He will NOT operate outside of it; problem is, many churches haven't let the Holy Spirit operate at all! 

They’ve done this for what they consider good reasons – they are afraid of the Holy Spirit (indeed, they are afraid of ANY spirit!), because once out of their doctrinal box, who knows where He might lead? As an unknown person, He might be uncontrollable!! Can’t let that happen, now can we?

But there needs to be some control, and here it is; first, we must let the Holy Spirit of God operate in our churches – MUST – failure to do so is killing our churches and leading the congregations into spiritual anemia at best, and potentially, hell itself. Secondly, we must trust the Holy Spirit to work only within the confines of the written Word of God – again, MUST. And third, we must trust the Holy Spirit to give us the Wisdom of God as we administer 1^st John 4:1 within our churches. That’s the job of every Christian, not just the leadership of the churches. However, they are the point of the spear, or should be – that’s why God put them in charge.

Many years ago I had a close, Christian friend who portrayed himself as a prophet. He wore overalls and an Elijah body odor! I don't think he ever got within arms reach of a razor, or had made it past the sixth grade, but he prophesied in fluent King James, so he always attracted quite a following. The problem I didn’t see at the time was that while he was acting as a prophet to many different groups, he was committed to none. I was honored to be inside his close circle of friends, and we shared many revelations together as I began to grow in Christ. 

My prophet friend owned nothing but a banger of a pickup and a worn out Bible. He lived gratis outside the county on a farm owned by a widow. Do you see where this is going? Is it any surprise that he took the widow’s mind captive and eventually “inherited” the farm and dropped out of sight? That was in the 70’s, and I haven't heard from or about him since. And my question remains: why wasn’t this man judged right up front by the collective leaders of the groups he frequented? And if he indeed was, why wasn’t anyone made aware of the danger he demonstrated; it would have made a great lesson at the time; it did for me. 

But you know, even though I was deceived at the time, because I had learned early on to work ONLY within the confines of the written Word of God, rather than elevating signs and wonders above it, I suffered no harm, and in fact, learned a good lesson. Today, I thank God for that lesson, and it’s on my mind this morning as I write, because we “seekers” have been presented with good news and bad news, and we must be cognizant of both if we are to enter into God’s plan for each of us.

Yes, it’s totally and holy (pun) healthy to seek more of God, but as we expectantly seek more of Him (which makes Him glad!), we need to be aware of the thin ice we tread. Only our absolute reliance upon the Holy Spirit will help us, and the closer we approach to Almighty God, and the closer He works within us, the ice around us not only becomes more and more thin, but the solid ground becomes a minefield. 

ONLY the Holy Spirit can direct our course – after all, it’s His job, and if we let Him, He’ll do it well. If through fear of deception we back away from the table set before us, someone else will do our job – and eat our food in the process. He who begins to plow and looks back…..

Expect the Holy Spirit to reveal more and more of Jesus to each of us; expect the Holy Spirit to dramatically demonstrate His mighty power through signs and wonders….DO NOT expect the Holy Spirit to operate outside of the written Word of God, because if he does, it isn't Him.

John