I was asked by a friend what inspires me to write and what resources do I use?
Five things that influence and inspire me:
- Lifetime of reading Scripture.
- Reading and understanding Church history.
- Observation of current events, (watching and listening to reliable men and women, and paying attention).
- Observation of the spiritual and political times/climate in which we live.
- Application of these fundamentals determines probable outcome, i.e. cause and effect.
These are the five things that impact me everyday. However, there is one other impact in my life, and since it is not a thing, it’s on its own list and category. It is none other than the Holy Spirit, the Voice of Scripture and the Whisperer of God’s heart.
God’s Spirit makes alive the Holy Scriptures, in an almost four-dimensional way. Speaking at times, to the center of my being; awaking my conscience, convicting my mind, easing my worries, and wooing my heart. So, there it is, six areas of impact and influence.
Aside from the Holy Spirit and Scriptures, History is a very reliable teacher. History truly does repeat itself. It’s not hard to look at the past to understand our future. The old saying is true:
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905
This explains the Cancel Cultural. They want to forcibly cancel and erase the past to assure the past will repeat itself. More pointedly, their objective is to implement the Marxist past into our current reality without notice and without resistance. But if the masses knew the past atrocities of Marxism and Communism and the failure of Socialism, we would still be a free nation. I say this with meaning and unfortunate intentionality, as we are no longer a free nation.
Sadly, our “freedom” is a mirage, an illusion. We lost it some time ago. What we perceive as “freedom,” is what “they” tell us. Most of what is broadcasted are lies, misstruths, misstatements, well crafted and expertly produced propaganda.
If Christians knew Church and secular history it wouldn’t be stuck and steeped in Romanism, Hinduism, and paganism. If American Christianity didn’t sell its birthright of light and salt to the nations for the warm stew of a 501(c)(3) tax advantage, Christianity would’ve been an enormous and effective influence over culture and politics. Freedom would still be a reality.
If Christianity would’ve understood the impact of unbiblical eschatology and the recent emergence of premillennial dispensational theory of the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Gospel would have singlehandedly changed our nation and the world.
So I write to inform. To inspire. To alert and to awaken curiosity and hopeful action.
Interestingly, when I write on my favorite topic, matters of the heart, and the Father-heart of God, it gets little attention. But when I write on political issues or commentary, it gets much more notice and conversation.
The truth is being connected to God and deriving our core identity as his beloved children should supercede politics, religion, health, and beauty. But it does not. This is a very sad and unfortunate commentary of 21st Century Christianity. It is being replaced by humanism, the occult, sadosexism, gender disforia, and the sexulization of children, all being done in broad daylight!
The Church is to be about the Father’s business not about Church business. We’re left to expand and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. But alas, Jesus’ Great Commission to the Church has become the “Great Recommendation,” and so our culture and the world suffers.
There is preaching going on in the world and culture, don’t get me wrong, but it’s the antithetical gospel of heathenism and hedonism. The Kingdom Gospel is to the world and not to the Church. The Kingdom of God is meant to expand into the world and nations from the Church.
So, the opposite happened. Instead the world has entered the Church, taken over its mission, the proclamation the Kingdom’s righteousness to the proclamation of their unrighteousness. Therefore, unrighteousness has entered into and metastasized throughout culture and society more rapidly and deadlier than a virus.
Jesus didn’t leave us behind to simply hold-on or to hold-out until he comes back — quite the opposite!
This word “occupy” means to be busy, it literally means “to carry on business of investing and trading. Jesus’ meaning is not too difficult. He is telling us to “TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS,” TO KEEP BUSY UNTIL HIS RETURN. It means to carry on with his work, his commands, and his commission. He came to save the world not to condemn the world. He showed his disciples (us) how to carry on his plan of redemption. But instead, we’ve condemned the world with our silence and our misunderstanding of occupying.
The Roman army didn’t confuse the concept of occupying when they sacked kingdoms. They knew that to occupy was to culturalize the conquered territory; to make it Roman, to Romanize the people, politics and religion. Roman generals were also called apostles.
Did you know that the term apostle, oringally came from Greece? Jesus borrowed the term “aspostolos” when he declared his twelve disciples as “apostles.”
“And He Himself gave some to be apostles…”
— Ephesians 4:11
“During the time of the ancient Greek orator Demosthenes (384-322 BC), the word apostolos was a naval term that described an admiral, the fleet of ships that traveled with him, and the specialized crew who accompanied and assisted the admiral.
The fleet would be sent out to sea on a mission to locate territories where civilization was nonexistent. Once an uncivilized region was identified, the admiral (called the apostolos) — along with his specialized crew and all their cargo and belongings — would disembark, settle down, and work as a team to establish a new community. Then they would begin the process of transforming a strange land into a replica of life as they believed it should be. Their purpose was total colonization of the uncivilized territory.” Source: https://renner.org/article/the-historical-meaning-of-the-word-apostle/
Do you now have a better understanding of the concept of occupying until he returns?
You see, if Christianity does not see itself as a spiritual and cultural occupying force, another force will occupy and it won’t come with “healing in its wings.” It comes with a spirit of devastation and destruction in its horns.
“But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall” (Malachi 4:2, ESV)
I don’t think we, or our neighbors, are “leaping like calves from a stall,” these days.
“But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.”
“But for you…,” but, who is the you?
“…who reverence my name,” thats the “who!” The “who” can also mean the unsaved. It is our responsibility to bring about reverence of God’s name and rule to the nations, so that they too would have reverence for the Creator-God.
The point is that Christianity has so far, failed its mission, and, among many other things, has disobeyed Jesus’s commands. Christianity is fragmented, into what some are reporting, as many as 44,000 denominations among Evangelicals, Protestant, Pentecostal, and Charismatic churches. Talk about ignoring history, how about Christianity ignoring His Story? Ignoring the power of history has affected the unity of Christianity.
What must we all do?
Repent, believe and obey the Gospel!
Re-engage community and culture with the Kingdom Gospel and stay busy occupying every sector of society in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Let’s create a better history together!
Until Jesus returns. Amen
Thank you, Cor Dolor, for your inspiration!
Call To Courage 