Don’t Let The Bed Bugs Bite! – By Thomas J. Koester

It’s those forgotten little memories that can change everything!

Early in 1998, my brother called and told me that my dad was dying of cancer and that dad was asking for me.

When I heard this, I was very upset. Not that my father was dying, mind you, but that he’d asked for me. I needed him all my life, and now, he’s asking for me?

“Tell Dad I’m not coming!” I replied.

I have four brothers and a sister, and they all called me, urging me to visit Dad. A week or so went by, and I finally caved into the pressure.

I first visited my dad in the Contra Costa County Hospital, as the VA in Martinez, California, was short on beds. There, he lay in a bed surrounded by adjustable rails. My younger brother, John, and my mother were present.

My mom pulled me aside to tell me the seriousness of Dad’s esophageal cancer. She said, “It doesn’t look good, I’ve researched the prognosis, and he doesn’t have much time left.” By the time I had visited my father, he’d already been battered by chemotherapy and every other treatment.

The cancer had permanently closed up his esophagus, and he could no longer swallow but was fed through a feeding tube, which was surgically inserted through the side of his abdomen and directly into his stomach. My father was so frightened; I had never seen him so fragile and helpless.

Since things did not look good for my dad, I called one of my pastors from our church in Danville, California, called East Bay Fellowship, which I was attending with my wife and kids. I asked if Pastor Allan Shrewsbury could come by and pray over my father in the hope that it would give him some comfort.

Pastor Allan quickly arrived, praying with my dad and confirming my father’s faith and trust in Jesus Christ as his Savior.

It was getting late, and we began to ready ourselves to leave when I noticed tears filling my father’s eyes, along with the room filling with a sense of heaviness. It seemed as though this might be our last goodbye. I think the feeling of; “he may not make it through the night” hit all of us at the same time.

Compassion began to rise within my heart. I leaned over his bedrail and gently kissed my father’s unshaven face. His prickly whiskers caused my lips to tingle. My brother John leaned in and kissed our dad, as did my mom, and then we all tried to convince and reassure him that he would be fine as we slowly left the room.

As John and I walked out together towards the parking lot, my lips still tingling, I said:

“John, there is something strangely familiar about kissing dad.”
I continued:

“My lips—they’re still tingling!”

John responded:

“What’s up with you, Tom? Don’t you remember when we were little kids, we’d line up in front of dad’s favorite chair and kiss him goodnight on his cheek, and he’d say with a smile,

’… Don’t let the bedbugs bite!’”

All of a sudden, good memories came flooding into my mind. That gentle kiss on my father’s unshaven face was a key to my dungeon of despair and loneliness. All my years of anger, bitterness, and hatred; all my doubts and unforgiveness, all swallowed up from the tingly whiskers of my father’s unshaven face!

After that moment, I couldn’t wait to see my father. I saw him over the next several months as often as I could.

Several weeks before my dad passed away, a nurse came into his hospital room, asking:

“Who is your executor and healthcare director?”

My father lifted his feeble arm and pointed in my direction. I turned to see if one of my two older brothers was behind me, but there was no one.

For some, this would have been an unwelcome appointment, a burden, but for me, it meant I had my father’s complete and utter trust and respect. The significance of my dad’s appointment was a paradigm shift for me, possibly one of my most life-affirming events.

Later, I learned that my father had consulted with my mother about whom he should appoint as Trustee of his estate and healthcare. My mother agreed with my dad on his final choice. My sister, Laurie, was also named co-trustee. Simply amazing!

A few weeks later, my dad’s condition was worsening. His organs were beginning to show signs of shutting down. At this point, my siblings and I would trade off, spending the night with Dad alone.

Finally, it was my turn. It was October 7, 1998. I arrived shortly after the dinner hour. A nurse brought in a cot with a blanket and a pillow for me to sleep on. My dad and I talked for quite a while, mostly about politics, which was my dad’s favorite topic. Soon, it was lights out, which never happens in a hospital.

As I lay there, realizing the significance of this moment with my dad, I knew if I didn’t say what was indeed on my heart now, that this moment would be lost forever. You see, my father had never told me that he loved me. I was thirty-nine years old, and my dad was about to turn sixty-nine the next day. I wanted so much to hear those words from him; no, I needed to hear those words from him—something in me was guiding me and granting me the courage to say what I needed to say:

“Dad?”

“Yes, son?” he replied

Dad … I love you!” I said cautiously.

Only mere seconds passed by, but it felt like years.

“… I love you too, son,” Dad replied.

I exchanged “I love you” with my dad for what seemed like all night long! I said those precious and life-giving words, which he echoed back:

“I love you too, son.”

All my hate and anger against my dad had washed away, and now for good! I heard the three most important words every son or daughter needs to hear:

“I love you, son!”

“Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the LORD arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.” — Malachi 4: 5-6

The days of the “curse” were finally over for me. For a greater spirit than Elijah had entered that hospital room that night. The Spirit of the Living God had softened the hearts of father and son, and the mess I had made of my life suddenly became beautiful!

“His wrath, you see, is
fleeting, but His grace
lasts a lifetime. The
deepest pains may linger
through the night, but joy
greets the soul with the
smile of morning.” — Psalms 30:5

My dad, while broken with cancer, poured into me so much life and hope, and, in such a short time! The man whom I had despised all of my life was my dad, with whom I just fell in love but who is now leaving.

The morning came, with it, a smile and a “Happy Birthday, Dad!”

It was October 8, 1998, and my father wanted to get cleaned up for his Birthday. He said:

“Tom, get my shaving bag, it’s over there, in that cabinet.”

“Here it is, Dad,” I replied.

“Okay, get my Electric Shave lotion and my razor out,” my dad directed, and then he asked:

“Son, will you shave my face?”

This may sound silly, but this was the most intimate moment I’ve ever had with my father. The whiskers that tingled my lips and softened the hardness of my heart, the mouth that finally spoke: “I love you too, son,” was the face I was about to care for and shave.

“The deepest pains may linger through the night, but joy greets the soul with the smile of morning.”

… and I shaved my father’s face.

That is why I would not change a single moment of my life. The pain is swallowed up in the sweetness of heartfelt forgiveness and the “I love yous.” For what had become broken has now been given, and the mess of my life has now become beautiful!

Four days later, on October 12, 1998, my father passed away. At his right-hand side, I stood a restored and beloved son, loved and approved. As life was quickly draining from my dad, he looked up towards the ceiling, letting out his final breath; he smiled, his heartbeat stopped, and we wept loudly in the grief of our great loss! I then reached over his body and closed my father’s eyes.

He died my hero triumphantly and bravely; he faced death and passed from this life into the heart of God.

“Death swallowed by triumphant
Life! Who got the last word? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of
you now?” – I Corinthians 15:55

While this was both a painful and magical time for me, these events with my father were a new beginning and a paradigm shift for my present and future.

I can honestly say that God used the final moments of my father’s life to make me into a better man, a restored son, and a better father.

Letting my anger for my father go allowed love to come bursting in. Becoming my father’s beloved son made it possible for me to believe I could be God’s beloved son, too.

Good night. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite. I’ll see you in heaven. I love you, dad!

Don’t Be Overcome ☆ Be an Overcomer! – By Thomas J. Koester

Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. – Apostle Paul

The years 2024 and 2025 are promised to be filled with unprecedented crisis and political and social upheaval such as this country has not witnessed. How will you stand during such infamous days?

Picture our nation’s birth pangs and struggle during its war for independence of 1775 through 1783. Remember America’s Civil War of 1861 through 1865. Recall America’s Great Depression of 1929 through 1939 and two World Wars, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In spite of all these calamities and crises, our nation still stood its ground and overcame.

No, these historic events didn’t happen in the space of time of your favorite sitcom or blockbuster movie. These struggles took years and even decades to reach their climatic ends. All of these events caused an incalculable loss of life, loss of comfort, ease, and prosperity. But, still, America overcame.

How about today, tomorrow, and next year?

Will you be an overcomer or be overcome with fear, anxiety, and panic?

It is likely that as many watchers, prognosticators, pundits, and forecasters have predicted, we’re in for the greatest economic and societal crash of all times. Economists and financial experts that accurately predicted the Great Recession of 2007 through 2009 are predicting financial crises exponentially greater than the Great Depression of the late Twenties and Thirties of the twentieth-century.

I’ll ask again, how will you stand in such perilous days ahead?

Is your trust in government, politicians, police agencies, the FBI, CIA, Home Land Security, and our borders?

Tens of thousands of Americans in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida have recently learned in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene that FEMA was late to the seen, ill prepared, and unfunded.

Hasn’t all of these institutions failed us with broken promises, broken policies, bad operators, and bad agencies? Do you sense, as many people do, that our once trusted institutions have become weaponized?

If all hell breaks loose, where will you go, and to whom will you trust?

Now, not later is the time to ask yourself, am I an overcomer, or will I be easily overcome by chaos?

I’m not trying to scare you, but to prepare you! I’m reminding you that all we once placed our faith and confidence in is gone. Yes, you heard me, it’s all gone! We’re all on our own!

Just look at our nation’s largest cities in red and blue states. New York, Detroit, Chicago, Memphis, Dallas, Huston, San Francisco, and Oakland, just to name a few. How about all those smash-and-grabs? They have now become crash-and-grabs, using stolen vehicles to crash open storefronts, allowing not just a few looters but mobs of them in and out in a flash!

We’re intrigued by watching movies displaying crazed dystopian societies, with brazing lawlessness, cold-blooded murder, mayhem, and continuous looting.

Folks, we’re living in it!

If the recent debate between Biden and Trump wasn’t unsettling, how about the Whitehouse’s cover up of President Biden’s stage five dementia? Did you enjoy being lied to by all mainstream news outlets?

It’s here, not just in Hollywood’s latest blockbuster, but in many of our communities, cites, schools, and shopping centers. You don’t see it because you’ve been enchanted by MSM; lying politicians, bureaucrats, and technocrats.

I believe that Hollywood has purposely desensitized us by its endless portrayal of apocalyptic and dystopian doom. You see, Hollywood’s programming has programmed the masses to accept chaos as near normal. It’s an age-old tactic called, “normalcy bias”

“Normalcy bias, or normality bias, is a cognitive bias which leads people to disbelieve or minimize threat warnings. Consequently, individuals underestimate the likelihood of a disaster, when it might affect them, and its potential adverse effects. The normalcy bias causes many people to prepare inadequately for natural disasters, market crashes, and calamities caused by human error. About 80% of people reportedly display normalcy bias during a disaster.” Source: Wikipedia

I want you to understand that the surest way to defeat an overcomer is to normalize calamity, i.e., lull you into unpreparedness, which, in turn, sets you up to be easily defeated.

And that is exactly where we are today!

We have been propagandized and programmed through an elaborate PSYOP.

“Psychological warfare involves the planned use of propaganda and other psychological operations to influence the opinions, emotions, attitudes, and behavior of opposition groups.” Source: RAND Corporation

If you’re a true conservative, patriot, Bible believing, child-rearing, faithful American, black, white, red, or yellow, a certified “basket of deplorables,” then you’re their “opposition group.”

We’ve all seen what public pandemonium looks like, either on the streets during riots or in blockbuster movies. No one really stands out, as everyone is in a state of shock, and all are overcome by panic and fear.

You see? Unpreparedness robs you of the mentality and fortitude of an overcomer.

Do you know how Jesus Christ withstood all the torture and the ignominious death on the cross?

He was prepared!

Jesus was zeroed in and fully cognitive of what he was to suffer. The Holy Scriptures says that Jesus set his face like a flint. Which, means, Jesus could not be detoured. This is because he had the spirit of the Overcomer before the ordeal of the cross.

“For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.” – Isaiah 50:7

My friends, we must be strong in the power of God’s might; understanding the days in which we live; be rock-solid in our faith and with full determination, preparing ourselves to pierce through the darkness!

If you understand anything, understand the utmost confidence that Jesus Christ had in God the Father to vindicate and honor him in his death and resurrection.

That, my dear, brothers and sisters is the Overcomer’s spirit that you must believe and secure deep within your heart and soul, now, and not when all hell breaks loose here in America!

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:2

And that my friend is how you become an overcomer and stand during the evil days ahead! Your family is going to need you to show them how and all those that have allowed themselves to be programmed by the programmers.

“Let your light shine like that in the sight of men. Let them see the good things you do and praise your Father in Heaven.” – Matthew 5:16

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, They did not love their lives so much that they were afraid of death.” – Revelations 12:11

The world needs more overcomers to help those who’ll soon be overcome with grief and despair.

Healing For The Splintered Mind –By Thomas J. Koester

We can’t live a happy life with an unforgiving soul and a stubborn heart.

When we refuse to forgive ourselves and others, we split our identity. One part loaths the offender, and the part hates self. It is the inner voice of self hatred and toxic unforgivness, which curses the outer self of life and the inner self of peace.

I know you know what I’m saying. I’m not trying to gulit you, but to help you!

I don’t want you to end up with two personalities in one body. That’s a horrible way to live!

One world is real, full of life, hope, and dreams. The other is false — filled with lies, masks, and illusions. Sure, you can survive in your false world, but you were made for so much more than surviving…

… and I think you know that!

You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong. You don’t know what it is—you feel trapped inside—imprisoned by offense. Maybe you feel like a hostage, only it’s you that holds the key to your own prison cell.

In the movie The Matrix, Neo asks Morpheus a question:

“If you’re killed in the matrix, you die here?”

Morpheus:

“The body can not live without the mind.”

The book of James puts it this way:

“The splinter of a divided mind shatters your compass and leaves you dizzy and confused.” —James 1:8

Do not yield to thoughts of condemnation for others and hatred of self, for the end of such thoughts are self-destruction and death. You need to yield to, and desire wisdom from God, who understands both the body and the mind. But if you reject his wisdom and truth, your inner thoughts, no matter how untrue and false, will become reality. For either the wisdom from God and the belief of self-hatred are both initiated by faith. You see, faith activates the power of both truth and lies.

If you believe in the truth and wisdom from God, you will live and thrive. Conversely, if you believe in self-hatred and unforgivness, you will become lifeless and die. For the body obeys the mind, and a double minded person is unstable, confused, and lost.

I don’t want you lost—I want you found and freed!

The standard of God’s Word, Wisdom, and Truth never changes, so anchor all your thoughts, fears, and doubts on him, and you will find your way again.

This very moment, you are standing at the crossroads—as Jeremiah puts it:

Yet the Lord pleads with you still: Ask where the good road is, the godly paths you used to walk in, in the days of long ago. Travel there, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, “No, that is not the road I want!” —Jeremiah 6:16 (TLB)

Don’t yell an angry, “NO!” Cry a humble “yes,” and find rest again.

If you will not turn to God, The Holy One of Truth and Wisdom, not even your loved ones can help you. Until you’re willing to expose your false self and cease your fake salvation, you can’t be helped. Until you ask to be rescued, you’ll continue to drift further and further away.

Unrelenting unforgivness hurts no one but yourself. The one who offended you is unharmed by your hoarding of anger and offense. They’re free, but you’re not!

I plead with you, turn to God and be honest. Be brave. Be loving to yourself again and live! You may not realize it, but you’ve had the keys to your own prison all along.

“… You will weep no more. He will be gracious if you ask him for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries.” —Isaiah 30:19

Jesus Christ died that you may live and was raised to life that you may never die.

For there is no peace and no rest in wasting your life being unforgiving. There is life and peace in Jesus Christ.

Here, please read Psalms 23 — it’s a beautiful passageway to life!

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” —Psalm 23

Trust Him—He will give you rest for all your weariness and heal your splintered mind!

Maybe you’ll be restored enough to even feast in the presence of those who once hurt and offended you.

I’m here, if you need me.

This Too Must Come To Pass – By Thomas Koester

A while ago, I was awakened in the middle of the night, deeply troubled about the potential results of the 2024 elections. I got up to use the bathroom, and on my way back to bed, I distinctly heard a voice say:

“And this too must come to pass.”

I wrestled with those words for a few moments. And then I understood what the Lord was saying. If you truly trust and believe in my Word, then you must understand that these things must come to pass.

While nothing more would please me, and possibly you as well, would be a change in the moral and economic condition of this great nation. Even if for just a few years of reprieve, so that some of us can get back on our feet again and reengage the “American Dream.” Or perhaps finish our education and land a career. Or enter retirement with a full nest egg and an adequate 401k.

Now, as it must prophetically roll forward, the future seems unclear. But is it as unclear as we think, or have we forgotten, as we so easily do, what the scriptures have said?

“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” –Mathew 24:6

“If you examine the past, you will find direction for the future,” has always been a reliable saying. However, we must examine our future and God’s promises to understand the times we live in and the days in which we’re all heading. Then we can understand what the Spirit is saying to the Churches:

“And this too must come to pass.”

This is our greatest opportunity to meet the tremendous needs unfolding before us. As our forerunners of old, we must declare that the Kingdom and the Economy of God are at hand. This hope must replace the hope we have in our politicians—in the American dream—in our careers and in our retirement. All these things are mere shadows of the bigness, brightness, and expansion of the Kingdom of God! Don’t we want this to come to pass?

The Kingdom of God is where all our hopes and dreams should be focused!

It is, and always, will be necessary for us Christians to engage in our civic duties and be good citizens of whatever country God has placed us in. But we must remember that we are also citizens of the Eternal Kingdom and a better place called Heaven. Our lives must reveal our eternal hope in God’s promises and the future he plainly marked out for us in his Holy Word.

If we truly live as citizens of Heaven and declare to this needy world that the Kingdom of God and its glorious economy is here, now, then we’ve lost nothing but have gained everything!

I love politics. I love to watch its unfolding — the potential of good vs. evil. I love to see good men and women statesmen stand against evil and the injustice of our time. These are the vanguards of our society, suppressing the evil power against the weakest among us. But wokeism, Leftest ideologies, and the sexual exploitation of children are too much to bear.

“And this too must come to pass.”

I don’t like this—not one bit! But again, God’s word and his promises drive us all forward and set the stage for what will soon be. If we engage our citizenship of Heaven, what lies ahead is to be welcomed—not feared!

I say, let us be like the people of Whoville; while Christmas had been stolen, they still gathered as a village and celebrated Christmas anyway, and even to the Grinch’s shock and surprise:

“How could it be so? It came without ribbons!—it came without tags!—it came without packages, boxes, or bags!”

Rise up, O People of God! Rise up! “Greater is He within you than he in the world!” Act like a people whose God is the Lord and declare that a far better political order has arrived! It is The Lord God Almighty, Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace! And the government shall rest upon his shoulders, and his kingdom shall know no end.” This is our true heritage, our future, and our true identity!

We may fail with political might. But, let us succeed with true spiritual power by loving each other so that the world may see and hear the True King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and President of Presidents!

Let us welcome all of it and fear not but rejoice because nearer are the days of our Lord’s return than when we first believed.

Remember and have faith, as “this too must come to pass.”

Beautifully Broken – By Thomas J. Koester

What stands between many of us and the life we’re supposed to live is our ability to bullshit.

No, this is not a treatise on global warming or climate change or the negative impact of cow flatulence on our environment—far from it!

This is about fleeing pretense and duplicity and becoming the real you. It’s about breaking down the fake areas in our lives and being honest with ourselves and others.

Wholeness can only be achieved by utter and complete brokenness. This is a universal principle. This is also the opposite of what the world thinks.

I like what Jerry Maguire said in his moment of a breakthrough:

“… Two nights later in Miami at our corporate conference, a breakthrough. Breakdown? Breakthrough. It was the oddest, most unexpected thing. I began writing what they call a mission statement for my company. You know—a Mission Statement—a suggestion for the future. What started out as one page became twenty-five.

Suddenly, I was my father’s son. I was remembering the simple pleasures of this job, how I ended up here out of law school, the way a stadium sounds when one of my players performs well on the field… And suddenly, it was all pretty clear. The answer was fewer clients. Caring for them, caring for ourselves, and the games, too. Starting our lives, really. Hey, I’ll be the first to admit it. What I was writing was somewhat “touchy-feely.” I didn’t care. I had lost the ability to bullshit. It was the me I’d always wanted to be.” —The Movie “Jerry Maguire”

You see a breakthrough, I mean, the kind of breakthrough we know we really need is always preceded by a breakdown. And, when we lose—no, rather, when we refuse to bullshit ourselves and others, we’ll become the people that we’ve always wanted to be.

You’re divinely purposed to become a living act of God’s love and glory. You can’t become what your Creator has intended until you surrender your own mess. That is, your constant self-effort to holding the broken pieces of your life together. Living in fear and dread that your secret life will be exposed at any moment to a live audience.

Living life on constant defense and acting co-dependently, or as a self-enabler, justifying the actions of your false self at the expense of your true self. This is the definition of what I’m referring to as a “mess.”

You can not become assembled in body, mind, and spirit, all the while holding everything together. You are robbing yourself of the very strength and energy you need by wasting it on supporting your falseness and phony facade. Stop being driven by voices inside your head, echoing the curses from your mother or father, or from the other significant persons in your life.

These curses are the voices of “false coaches,” driving you to repeat a cycle of self-destruction and family dysfunction. These curses are carcinogenic to your desire for wholeness and wellness. They are the cancerous agents eating away at the divine purpose for which God has created you.

“Gloria Dei est vivens homo,” wrote Saint Irenaeus, which means:

“The glory of God is a living man.”

The glory of God is you fully living, and not your daily self-destruction and learned dysfunction.

In the human body, you can not build muscle without first tearing down the muscle you have. Tearing down the muscle requires a determination to submit to the pain and deny yourself comfort. Likewise, you must have a willing determination to submit your very life and comforts to God.

James says it this way:

4-6 “You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”

7-10 So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God, and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.” —James 4:6-10 (MSG)

Pride is self-destruction, low esteem, self-loathing, and such, is what’s been behind your self-effort of “holding it all together.” This is why pride always precedes a profound fall. There is nothing good in this kind of a fall because it’s always a fall from grace and not towards it.

Do you want God’s grace? Become truly humble. Oh yes, it is painful to stop your self-salvation and accept the truth, and act on it. But the light, which will come flooding into your darkness, will bring the wholeness and wellness you’ve been searching for.

The problem with bullshit is that it is no respecter of person, race, religion, or age—it flows from all of us! Far too many of us hide behind B.S.

“Men love darkness, rather than light,” this is true. But you can not become the man or woman you were meant to become all the while remaining in darkness. Just as painful as it is to build muscle, is it painful at first to step out from darkness into God’s marvelous light!

The gain from the pain of coming into the light is worth the life of wholeness and holiness.

Did you know that embracing your brokenness rather than hiding it will cause collateral beauty?

There may be a divine and strategic purpose behind your brokenness that, when shared with others, may cause a chain reaction of hope and healing in you and in them.

At this very moment, you’re standing at a crossroad—at a turning point; your next decision can create a paradigm shift of unprecedented emotional and spiritual change.

“The Lord said to his people…

“’You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. Ask where the old, reliable paths are. Ask where the path is that leads to blessing and follow it. If you do, you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not follow it!’” —Jeremiah 6:16 (NET)

Stop hanging out with the “We will not follow it” crowd!

You no longer belong to the crowd who refuse to follow the right path.

Stop staring at the crossroad in front of you and follow the right path. Stop saving yourself and fall into the grace, mercy, and love of God, and you will become the man or woman you’ve always wanted to be. After all, God put the desire to be his love and glory in you so that you may be fully living, fully alive to a world content with dying and taking you with it.

A breakdown is always before a breakthrough. God is waiting if you are willing. Open up to God or find a trusted friend to help lead you to God’s grace.

God can turn the ugliness of your brokenness into something beautiful!

May I be honest and a bit crass?

… It’s my prayer that you’ll lose your ability to “bullshit!” – Amen

The Great Recession – The Sequel –By Thomas J. Koester

I can’t emphasize enough how tragic and significant the upcoming economic rest will be. We all must become aware and prepare ourselves and families.

I had a very vivid and story-like dream. People were panicked, filled with hysteria, fear, and confusion. It could be the same in a matter of weeks and months. Some are saying in ninety days or less. Either way, enough news and evidence are out there to warrant our attention and to at least evaluate the possibilities of an economic collapse.

Interestingly, banks began collapsing almost exactly one year from the date of my April 16, 2022, dream. Since early April of 2023, banks have been closing at a rate that has surpassed the bank failures of the 2008 Great Recession! If you haven’t been paying attention, the economic forecast over the next upcoming months will be nothing short of apocalyptic! Are you prepared?

Okay, here’s my nightmarish dream…

I had dreamt that I was driving in town with two of my youngest children. Suddenly, traffic slowed to a stop. Civil unrest and pandemonium were everywhere, chaos—on the streets and sidewalks.

I rolled down my window and asked what was going on?

Someone shouted:

“The banks are closing, and the ATMs won’t work!”

I immediately turned my truck around and headed to my bank, Wells Fargo. When I arrived, people were lined up in front of the bank, restless, panicked, and afraid. Nobody was prepared for the chaos—everyone just wanted to withdraw their cash. The police tried to control the crowd, but they, too, were concerned and worried about what looked like a financial collapse.

[In reality, I’m the well-informed type of guy. I’m like a watchman when it comes to political and financial news, but in my dream, I was taken by complete surprise like everyone else.]

I stayed at the bank for what seemed like hours, pounding desperately on the door, demanding our money. Finally, a manager poked her head out from behind the glass door, saying, “Sorry, we’re closed, there’s no money inside—please, please go home!”

I got back into my truck. My kids had fear and confusion written on their faces, saying,

“dad, please just take us home!”

Instead, I drove to our other bank, Umpqua. The manager was outside and politely speaking to the crowd. We all pleaded for our money, but she said, “There’s no money here.”

I stuck around until most of the crowd had dispersed. I asked the bank manager what was really going on? All she knew was that she was ordered to close the bank.

I got into my truck, assuring my kids that it would be alright and started for home.

As I was waking up, during the brief moment between dreaming and awakening, a message scrolled across my mind, like a news chyron, during a televised breaking news event…

… The Feds Have Just Announced The Dollar Has Been Replaced With Federally Issued Digital Currency.

Moments later, I heard Toni, calling me down for breakfast.

I got up from bed, still sleepy, processing my dream, and wandered downstairs for a cup of coffee.

Toni was at the table, enjoying the breakfast just delivered to our beach cottage in Mendocino. I shared my dream with her and said it was an unusually realistic dream.

As a matter of fact; I had awakened a few times during the nightmare only to drift back asleep, stepping right back into the dream where I had left off! Typically, my dreaming is abstract and meaningless, but not this dream, folks.

Several things come to mind…

Our faith must be 100% in the Lord and not in the world or in the world’s systems.
We must get our financial affairs in order. We must get out of debt and cease our dependence and addiction to credit.
We must get our relationships with one another in order. We must not withhold forgiveness. We must become one people, one family, united in truth and in faith.
We must prepare for persecution and severe trials. (If I read any comments, “don’t worry, cause we’ll all be raptured,” please unfriend me).
We need to walk in peace and confidence, being solidly in Lord now, or we won’t when calamity and pandemonium strike.
This collapse will indeed arrive sooner than later and without expectancy. Therefore, we must be prepared to shine brightly, holding forth the Word of Life.
Belief in the empty tomb will strengthen you during the time of empty banks.

“‘Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.’” —Philippians 2: 14-16

The world is crooked and warped. The opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics should be clue enough! To those who believe in the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, we must prepare ourselves to shine among them “like stars in the sky.” We can only do that if we have an unbreakable grip on the Word of Life—the resurrected life of Jesus Christ.

I’ll say it again; Belief in the empty tomb will strengthen you during the time of empty banks—You’ll soon understand the meaning.

You’ll need to stock a lot more than toilet paper in the coming days.

Encourage one another while the lights are still on. Darkness is coming. Your day of shining is fast approaching. “Be brave and courageous—be very brave and very courageous—for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” —Joshua chapter one.

Your Hour Has Come – Time To Wake Up Your Faith – By Thomas J. Koester

Misery and slavery are certain for those who ignore the warnings

I will post and repost this article until enough of us wake up to reality.

There is no doubt that we’re living in the time of Joseph and Elijah. A time when it’s wise to gather and store. A time when it’s wise to trust the Lord for ravens and hidden streams.

Gather for your friends and family. Gather to be in a position to give and provide. Trust the Lord to guide you and marshal unexpected resources that He sends. Move closer to the Lord than ever before, and be ready to tap into His presence for strength.

Be ready to let go of life as you know it, and cling to the Lord as never before. Bolt yourselves to God’s Word. Anchor yourselves to God’s promises. Dig deep into the Holy Spirit. Train your hearing on the voice of your Shepherd. Discern and obey God’s commands.

The Years 2020 and 2022 were dress rehearsals for what lies ahead in the remaining months of 2024. A “Great Economic Reset” is coming and it won’t be pleasant. The rumblings began in our financial institutions at the close of 2022, and fissures are now undeniable present throughout domestic and international banking. Commercial real estate is crumbling as I write.

The Far Left and its shadow government has revealed its insidious plans and is poised to do whatever it takes to hold onto power.

Government is not your God. The Feds are not your Lord. The Network News Agency isn’t the Holy Spirit. Stop acting as though they are!

Turn back to The Lord God Almighty!

Prepare and train yourselves for endurance. Ready yourselves and your families to do with little and live without. Your value was never in what you owned or in your career. Your value and worth are your identity as a child of The Most High God and not as a son or daughter of this world.

Remember, our warfare is not against flesh and blood. Our enemy is unseen and entrenched in high powers and principalities. Therefore, remember to whom you belong and the might and majesty of our God. Saints of God, stand firm in your calling. Heroes of our Faith are watching. Angels are positioning. Demons are strategizing. Something is breaking out.

Remember, you’re on the winning team, no matter what you see or hear. God is well pleased with His sons and daughters. Act like it and know it to the core of your being, deep within your heart. They will try to demoralize, defame, and demonize us. Many will doubt and fall prey to their wicked schemes.

Protect your minds with the Helmet of Salvation. Guard your hearts with the Breastplate of Righteousness; wear the Belt of Truth firmly; take up your position with the Shield of Faith, and your feet dressed with the Readiness and Power of the Gospel. Grip tightly the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God! Ephesians 6: 10-17

Stand firm and sure in your faith.

Jesus never promised safety and security; rather, he said;

“For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it.” Matthew 16:25

… You will soon learn what this means.

Your belief in the empty tomb will help you during the time of empty banks. Memorize that!

You were not saved for an easy life but were chosen and equipped to become Saints. The world will soon be paying attention to those whose God is the Lord. Let the Daniels, the Josephs, and Elijahs of our time rise up!

Evil is rapidly burgeoning beyond belief and it must be met with unyielding devotion and allegiance to God.

Wake up your faith ~ you’ll not survive without it!

Culture of Life vs. Culture of Death – By Thomas J. Koester

If nothing changes in your life after facing death, then nothing will ever change while facing life.

While the Spirit brings life, the flesh and all its desires bring death. And this is why when so many face death, nothing changes because they already live in a culture of death.

Instead, walk in the Spirit, and you’ll not satisfy the desires of a death culture but an active community of spiritually alive people.

Being hope-filled makes you attractive to those that want to live, but to the death culture, you’re bad news! Your hopefulness points to heaven, a place unfamiliar to them. Their paradise is boozing it up and partying like it’s “1999.”

They celebrate the flesh; plump it up here, tuck it in there, lifting it to the top, and stretching out the wrinkles. They’ll pay thousands of dollars on their temples of doom. But im afraid you can’t “nip and tuck” your way to eternal life. There’s no fountain of youth, and Nirvana, well, it’s a myth!

Life is not what you are on the outside but who you are on the inside. All that body emphasis stuff keeps you from from really enjoying life while your soul rots away. A joy-filled and hopeful life changes you from the inside out! It causes your insides to radiate life.

Proverbs 4:23 tells it this way…

“… Guard your heart above all else, for from it flows the wellspring of life.”

Your heart is where the issues of life flow from. Live from your heart and you’ll become a life-giver.

It will change you from a sourpuss to a sweetie pie. Just ask my friend, Paul Spaar. He has all the reasons to be sour but instead chooses to be hopeful, upbeat, and positive. Sure, he’s had bad days—heck, we all do. But we wouldn’t know what a good day is without the bad days to measure against. Oh, and the ladies, well, they see Paul as a handsome dude. He radiates from the inside out. Psst, that’s Paul’s superpower…

… I’ll have what he’s having!

I’m not saying to deny reality; I’m just encouraging you not to make your reality about serving Death rather than serving Life. The difference is to stop worshiping that which is dying and start honoring the One who’s giving Life.

Jesus faced a terrible death so that you don’t have to. Eternal life starts as soon as you cancel your temple-of-doom worship and allow Him to make you into His Temple of Life!

When physical death comes, as it inevitably does, you’ll face it, not with bargaining but with a triumphant entrance into heaven. That’s where the real party will be.

Choose life and leave the culture of death behind.

Oh, and be like Paul Spaar. He dishes out doses of joy, gratitude, and positivity, to anyone tuning into his FB Live Broadcasts.

Make America Great in God Again! ☆ By Thomas J. Koester

Many years ago, August 4, 1984, to be exact; God called Toni and I to Youth With A Mission (YWAM). We needed $4,500.00 tuition for the Discipleship Training School and traveling money from California to the city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, some 3,500 mile distance.

We embarked on our cross-country journey with our two small children, Josh and Jordan. Toni and I had only $300.00 cash, and a gas and oil guzzling, 1973 Chevy station wagon. Needless to say, we were over $5,000.00 short. Yet, we truly believed that God would provide.

On our way to Canada, and after driving all night, the following morning, an 18-wheeler hit our car clocked by a Nevada State Trooper doing 90 miles per hour. The truck burst into flames on impact, skidding 600 feet before it exploded, catapulting debris 100 feet in the air! The truck driver jumped out safely, seconds before the explosion onto the center medium. Later, the State Trooper told us that the truck driver had dosed off, which was why he collided into our car. Miraculously, none of us were seriously hurt, even though our Chevy station wagon was totaled. Our trip to Canada appeared to be cut short.

I put my family up in a Motel 6 in Elko Nevada, using part of the $300.00 we had started out with to cover the hotel expense. Within 24 hours, a knock on our hotel room door. It was an insurance adjuster, representing the trucking company responsible for the accident.

The adjuster wrote Toni and I a check for $25,000.00. Way more than enough for our YWAM tuition and travel expense. We then took a bus ride to the airport in Salt Lake, Utah. While staying at another hotel, It was the next morning that God took me to a passage of Scripture:

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Since you have forgotten me and turned your back on me, you must bear the consequences…’ — Ezekiel 23:35

This verse popped up three times within 24 hours. It took me a while, but I understood what God was saying because we had received such a large sum of money that our faith and trust shifted from God to the money. In other words, we put our trust in the gift and not the Giver.

Later that morning, I lost my wallet with all the money in it! That Ezekiel verse kept echoing in my mind. Fortunately, I had kept part of the $25,000 settlement in the form of a certified check for $4,500.00, the rest in cash. But the certified check was also in my wallet.

You see, it is so easy and subtle to shift our trust and focus in God to other things. Because God loves us and that he’s a good and faithful Father, he won’t leave us in our sins. He corrects every son and daughter he loves.

Two weeks after we had arrived in Canada, the Salt Lake Police Department in Utah sent me a letter, asking me to call or write back and describe the wallet’s contents. I want you to know that I didn’t have time to file a lost wallet report, and nothing in my wallet could’ve led the police to our temporary stop in Quebec. It was an absolute miracle that the Salt Lake Police Department found Toni and I while staying on a farm in Quebec, Canada! I still, to this day, do not know how they found us.

Everything was still there in my wallet, except the $20,500.00 cash. Fortunately for us, the Canadian exchange rate in 1984 was 130%. Turning that certified check from $4,500.00 to $5,850.00! Because we had repented and adjusted our hearts, God gave us back just enough. As a matter of fact, because of God’s faithfulness, we were the only students who paid the required tuition in a lump sum!

I believe what we’re all going through as a nation is that God won’t leave us in our sins, and as a faithful and good father, he’s chastising America. He remembers our commitment as his people and as his nation to follow in His precepts and laws. After all, our country is founded on His principles.

In reality, we’ve all chosen to worship America and all its bounty, rather than the God of Heaven, Earth’s only Redeemer.

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” — Psalms 11:3.

Unfortunately, the 21st-century Church has been too preoccupied with leaving the world. If the Church would’ve been occupied with the Kingdom of God, as an occupying force for good, we would not be this far down the river! Perhaps the “foundations” could’ve been repaired. I believe our nation’s fondations can be restored, as I hope and believe you do, too.

Our task is to occupy until He comes back—to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to all the world for a witness. Not hasten the day of destruction because of our misguided disengagement and our pre-tribulation, premilienial exfiltration focus.

We need to individually and corporately acknowledge our sins and turn away from them. We need to shift our trust and dependence on America and on our government and place our faith and trust back to God.

If we do this as a nation, I sincerely believe that God will restore America. Only God can make America great again.

It is better to have God and just enough than to have more than enough and no God.

It’s really not about making America Great Again it’s about making God Great In America Again!

Not A Shot Was Fired – By Thomas J. Koester

Whether you realize it or not, we are in a bulletless revolution.

Did you know that our liberty is directly tied to our economy?

“He who controls the money controls the world.” — Henry Kissinger

The W.H.O. the C.D.C. and the Federal Bureaucrats, along with Corporate Mongrels, got their teeth into the heart of our Great Nation. Rogue governors, mayors, and district attorneys are destroying the rule of law and justice.

The Blue States and Blue cities wouldn’t release the masses to go back to work until they caused irreversible financial damage and civil unrest. But, they’ve released murderers, rapists, thugs, and thieves into our cities and towns without a thought.

The Oil Barrons are involved, too. Our crude oil dependency must also be destroyed, according to them. So they’ll raise the price of crude until we can’t afford to drive our vehicles. They’ll even sabotage the Petrol-Dollar just to create hyper inflation here in America and abroad.

Their lust for power and financial gain, all willingly granted to them by the scared masses, in exchange for the people’s security and safety.

‘Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.’ — Benjamin Franklin

The perfect trifecta is happening: Destroy health, wealth, and our monetary system and capitalism will collapse. The Left has avoided a bloody revolution by using the over-sensationalized and politicized COVID-19 virus and the creation of a digitized currency to be controlled by a centralized Federal Banking System. This new monetary system will be known as the Federal CBDC, Central Bank Digital Currency.

All of us have proven to the world rulers how easily we gave up our liberties and how willingly we allowed them to disregard our Constitution and Bill of Rights. All for the avoidance of a virus that has been present among us during every flu season. They just picked the COVID-19 virus to scare us all into submission. Now their planning on replacing our currency to programable digits.

The “pandemic” was the dress rehearsal, preparing us for the next emergency, the ruination of our currency. And, yes, the federal government will step in and save the day because that’s what they do.

“We create the chaos, and then we move in and capitalize on that chaos.”

At first, you’ll love all the incentives they’ll provide so you’ll give up your dollars, your gold, and silver in exchange for a fiat digital currency that you can’t see, hold, or feel. “You’ll own nothing and be happy,” as the World Economic Forum, puts it.

Our foolish COVID compliance was the “test-run” that showed those in power how easily it was to control our lives and suspend our liberties. The crisis of that most dreadful hour has assured the powerful that any hyped-up crisis can be a useful tool against useful idiots. (I hope this offends you into action and not passivity).

Big Pharma, Hollywood, Big Tech, and politicians told us all to get injected with an mRNA vaccine cocktail. These are the very people that argue for population control, they are the pro-abortionists, and pro-euthanasia; they are the main purveyors of The Green New Deal and a Global Economic Reset.

Now, their next agenda is called: “Project Icebreaker.”

“Project Icebreaker is unique in its proposition. It first allows central banks to have almost full autonomy in designing a domestic retail CBDC.”

President Biden signed Executive Order No.14067, back on March 9, 2022.

In part, “The Order calls for interagency coordination to implement the Order, and it articulates the “highest urgency” to research and develop the design of a United States Central Bank Digital Currency (“CBDC”) that is consistent with the priorities outlined in the Order, to ensure the global financial system has appropriate transparency.”

It is likely that the up and coming Great Financial Collapse beginning early 2023 and exploding into 2025 will make it difficult to govern no matter who wins the presidency.

“Buckle your seatbelt, Dorothy,” cause America, well, it just might be going bye-bye!

I hope not!

Are we a nation of sheep and cattle? Have we so easily forgotten the miracle of our liberty and the price for which it was won?

Liberty first won and then lost is far costlier to gain back, as those that have taken it keenly understand the significance of their long-awaited goal.

Honestly, people, do you not see with your own eyes and hear with your own ears what’s happening even the day before July 4, 2024? A former president being prosecuted by a sitting president, that’s about to be tossed out by his own party! This is unprecedented, and is driving America towards a constitutional crisis!

The Democrats have painted themselves into a corner. They have trapped themselves with their own trap! Trump must be defeated at all costs, but their “lawfare” has granted him the keys of the Kingdom.

The Left’s hatred for Donald Trump has nothing to do with his orange tone, awful tweets, or salty character. They hate him because he’s ant-CBDC and an outspoken opponent against their Marxist-Socialist ideology and agenda.

Will the America we love be lost without a shot fired?

Yes, because COVID-19 compliance is all the proof the Marxist-Socialists needed to confirm our passivity. They are hidden within our government, news media, and multibillion-dollar corporations. They are the ones secretly pulling the levers of power. The Bident / Trump debate should have made that crystal clear to both parties.

They’ll try to win at all costs because they know you can’t shoot an enemy that you can’t see!