If ever there were a time to get your house in order, it’s now!
Every generation before us has been born into its own mediocrity and narcissism. But never has there been a generation as indifferent and self-absorbed as the present.
These carcinogenic attitudes have eaten away the underpinnings of the Republic. The Left has split our nation in two, and this was no accident.
We must be the generation that breaks this cycle. We can no longer be bored with complacency or be distracted by consumerism and wokeism. We must shake off the Corporate Mongrals that only see us as algorithms. We must deny them their marketing strategies of profiting from our blood and sweat.
We MUST pull our children from all governmental institutions of indoctrination, known as public schools and universities.
We must break free from the enslavement of debt and instead learn to be independent and live with less so that we can become more. They don’t want us to become more. Their power is in our becoming less human and woefully dependent.
Our greatest hour is quickly approaching – if we are to be the greatest generation, we must wake up from apathy. The ending of our way of living will require more from us than at its beginning. You will become either an Overcomer or a Deceiver. If you cling to the junk in your life, you’ll fall prey to their trickery and deception.
It will be much easier in the darkness as an Overcomer. The Truth already blinds a deceiver; light or darkness means nothing; he’s lost. Overcomers do not stumble in dark times; they are surefooted because Truth guides them and lights up their path.
Overcome your obstacles now. Waiting won’t afford you the time to untangle your bad choices. Correct decisions matter now more than at any other time in American history.
Get your house in order. It will be helpful for you and others that you are clearheaded and not a cluttered mess. In the coming months, you’ll need to act decisively and with purpose. Timing will be crucial and maybe the determinant factor of your survival.
Pray for wisdom, the kind of wisdom that only God the Father can give. You’ll need it to discern right from wrong and to avoid the great delusion that is coming and is already here being broadcasted over the airwaves and internet.
We’re headed into a time when sight won’t matter. Faith must become your eyes. Trusting in God’s Word and His promises will be the only surety left.
You might not be aware, but America has gone bye-bye.
Don’t rely on politics or politicians – We went from a Representative Republic to a Democracy and now to a Communist State, while you had your faces buried in your smartphones.
And now, a few recommendations:
Belief In the empty tomb will surely strengthen you during the time of empty banks.
Absorb the Holy Scriptures so that you may become a beacon of light.
Sweep out all that is unnecessary, as there will be an inspection. God wants you to be sharp, sure, and confident when the collapse begins.
So, get your body, mind, and heart in order, and not just your financial affairs. Unbelievers and doubters are going to need you clearheaded and hopeful.
America is soon to become either Америка or 美国这个名字 or perhaps both.
To Know His Heart Is Everything; To Know Your Heart Is Where It Begins…
The wounds and scars your body and heart now bare are not those of an abandoned boy or little girl but of those of an adopted and well-loved child.
If you can’t recognize or misinterpret God’s chastisement, it’s because you don’t believe in your sonship.
It’s because you don’t quite know the heart of God. Well, maybe not enough just yet…
… You see, I just want to inspire you to ponder a little, just below the surface of your heart and mind. Just to get a glimpse at another possibility or maybe a deeper reason behind those pesky feelings.
Don’t focus on how you’ve been wounded and scarred, but seek out the teacher who permitted it. If you seek Him, you will find Him and discover hidden treasures that God put there.
Sometimes what’s motivating our feelings is a sense of unworthiness. True, none of us are worthy of God’s grace and goodness, but emotional unworthiness can cause you to doubt God and miss his good intentions for your life.
As soon as your heart learns the significance of your wounds and scars, light will come bursting in, and your strength and passion will be renewed like never before.
Or, you can reject all this and be stuck in a “Groundhog Day” life, whereby you repeat the cycle of God’s chastisement until you surrender to his love.
Kind of look at it this way; you’re being tested, not tempted. God knows your heart, and the tests occur so that you’ll know where your heart is. The hardship is to draw your attention to what’s going on inside your heart. If you’re stuck on doubt and abandonedment, you’ll fail God’s test. He’s cheering you on to succeed and not to fail.
Look, God wants you to pass his tests with flying colors. He’s always nearby to show you the way to his finish line.
I know, sometimes it doesn’t feel like God is there. Sometimes, it feels like no one is there, not even a close friend, your wife, husband, mom, or dad. You may think no one understands or cares. I know, all too well, how you can feel lonely, even in a crowded room.
Do you want the honest truth? All of that stuff; loneliness, doubt, and abandonedment, are feelings and are nothing more than an orphan mentality. God doesn’t orphan those he loves. Nope, not at all. It’s not God making you feel that way. It’s the Father of Lies, not your Heavenly Father.
God treats every son and daughter with the same passion. He wants you holy so that you can be whole. He’ll cut away anything that stands in the way of your wholeness. He wants you to be just like him, holy; separated from all that stuff that separates you from Him. Sometimes, it feels like abandonedment — even in your loneliness, though, God is at work.
Don’t relapse into your old ways. Don’t pretend to have it all together — pride is not the answer. Abandon, your false attempts to cover up — God sees right through your charades.
Did you really think you could get away with sin?
Did you honestly think God would allow sin, despair, and the devil to be your downfall?
Well, I don’tthink so. God bankrupted heaven in giving up His Son, Jesus, just to show you how much he loves you. Don’t think for a second that he didn’t love his Son. Jesus died to make you into a real child of his Father. That’s why he resurrected his Son from the grave! He got His Son back, and He wants you back, too!
Well, would you look at that—Father and Son – working together to make you a permanent member of His family!
Only an illegitimate son or daughter can escape correction, but a true child of God must be refined. And his refinement, well, it comes from a good place, from his heart.
So your hardship is not a string of bad luck. No, they’re a rope to pull you closer to the heart of your Heavenly Papa.
Seek to know the heart of God, and you’ll never get lost in difficult days. You’ll never again forget that you belong to him.
So, say good riddance to loneliness, doubt, and abandonedment because you’re a child of the Most High God, and He happens to be in love with you!
He is a fierce lover and a faithful Father. Hallelujah and amen!
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” Psalms 147:3
“A wound where there is no weeping, writes, John Eldreged, is a wound that can not be healed.” Your wounded heart can be healed. But you must share your wounded heart with God.
Wounds and scars, whether physical or emotional, are essential to being human. It happens to all of us. The following is written on the back of my business card:
“Living a scarless life is not living at all. Sometimes, our greatest triumphs lie in our greatest defeats. In all things, I am a child of God and never a victim. I do not, therefore, interpret tragic circumstances as mishaps, but a divinely scheduled trip to God’s beauty salon.”
If we only see ourselves as victims in every crisis, loss, or betrayal, we deny the very instrument and tool for which God is doing his best work in us. When you refuse to become the victim and instead respond in praise and thanksgiving to God, you, therefore, thwart darkness and defeat the devil.
The devil wants you to wallow in bitterness and anguish. He wants you paralyzed, frozen in time and eternity with a wounded and broken heart. He knows that a heart not healed will keep you from God, keep you from salvation.
The old saying, “time heals all wounds,” is not from the Bible. It’s from the devil!
This is why Jesus of Nazareth read from – Isaiah 61: 1
“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal and bind up the brokenhearted…”
As a matter of fact, Jesus’ reading of the Isaiah passage was the official announcement of his earthly ministry.
The Psalmist, King David, penned:
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” – Psalms 147:3
“His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.” – Job 2:9-10
God is in control – He’s not only our Creator, but He’s our Father also. He touches our lives with wisdom and cares for us greater than our earthly fathers. He’s preparing us for eternity with Him, and His actions are always with this in mind.
The devil wants you, if possible, to never meet your Heavenly Father. If he can’t prevent that, he’ll at least pervert it by causing your earthly father to wound your heart and soul. When our hearts bear the scars of father’s wounds, it is so hard, if not impossible, to trust God as our everlasting father.
And this is the central theme of Jesus’ ministry; to rescue you from the penalty of sin and the grip of the devil and to heal your broken heart so that salvation can come to you.
“No one can come to the Father,” said Jesus, except through me.” – John 14:6
Your heart must be healed because it is to become your Heavenly Father’s dwelling place.
He alone is the home for your wounded heart. Trust him, He’s making you beautiful inside and out.
Scars, are for some people, important symbols of heroism, bravery, and sacrificial achievements. But for many, scars are unfortunate circumstances of abuse, violence, rape, and simply being in the wrong place at a wrong moment.
The truth is, scars, whether bourn on or inside our bodies can, become a force for good. We all know and have experienced healing from pain, pain of broken bones, cuts, wounds, and emotional hurt. Thank God that he designed our bodies to heal itself. But not completely, right? Many wounds leave scar tissue. Even emotional wounds, wounds of the heart and mind can leave scarring.
Our scars all have stories behind them. For example, during the years of my youth, I played outside every summer break, doing dangerous stuff that kids do. Falling from trees, crashing bicycles, jumping ramps, doing all sorts of daredevil stuff, had scarred me up from head to toe! But I wouldn’t want to grow up any other way! Many of those childhood scars are still visible and still to this day tell many stories and fond, but painful memories.
Your scars, physical or emotional, also has stories. Some stories, I’m sure you don’t want to remember. But nonetheless, they happened, good or bad. But here’s something to give a little thought to; beneath your scars may be a hidden glory. How can that be? You may ask. Yes, I know you may not be a former all-pro football player; you don’t have to be a sports star or hero for your scars to add glory to your life.
Scars may be indicative of a well lived life or an indication of being human and vulnerable. A mother, for instance, bears the scars of childbirth, and each stretch mark represents the growth of new life within her, which she selflessly endured for her child. Her children, born to her, arrived during painful, agonizing labor, and, are a significant glory to her life. I don’t understand it as a man, but as soon as that baby is born, a mother’s face lights up with joy. Her joy miraculously replaces the pain and labor of birthing.
I’m thinking of a Bible verse, located somewhere, I think, in the book of Hebrews. Okay, I found it…
Hebrews 12:2 tells very clearly:
“… He who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
This verse says Jesus focused on “the joy” that was set before Him as He endured the agony of crucifixion. He knew of the glory that was to be set upon him for his sacrifice. And he was crucified publicly. Wow!
I’ve spent too much time and energy trying to hide my scars, especially my emotional scars – scars of inner pain deep within the womb of the heart; scars of hurt, betrayal, and abuse. I’ve learned that healing isn’t the removal of such scars but accepting them and humbly wearing them like chevrons or stripes on my shoulders, indicating my rank and experience with pain.
My scars, hidden or not, are my carte blanche, approved by God. When God permits, my scars allow me to act as someone else’s wounded healer. Don’t be ashamed of your scars. Scaring means that you’ve survived, and maybe your survival and scars have a divine purpose for others. In other words, perhaps God masterfully ordained your hurt and pain so that your body, mind, and heart may produce abundant life and healing beyond yourself.
One day, as we pass from this life, we will see the scars planted on Jesus because of our sins. We will know then the significance of his scars as never before. We will have perfect clarity that our ultimate healing has come from those scars, and all our present pain and tears will be wiped away forever.
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes, we are healed.” – Isaiah 53:5
Have you heard the song, Scars?
Lyrics By: I Am They from the album: Trial & Triumph
“We came up to a new sunrise Looking back from the other side I can see now with open eyes Darkest water and deepest pain I wouldn’t trade it for anything Because my brokenness brought me to You
And these wounds are stories You’ll use
So I’m thankful for the scars Because without them, I wouldn’t know Your heart, And I know they always tell of who You are
So forever, I am thankful for the scars
Now I’m standing in confidence With the strength of Your faithfulness
And I’m not who I was before Now I don’t have to fear anymore
So I’m thankful for the scars Cause without them, I wouldn’t know Your heart, And I know they always tell of who You are
So forever, I am thankful for the scars
I can see, I can see How You delivered me In Your hands, in Your feet I found my victory I can see, I can see How You delivered me In Your hands, in Your feet I found my victory
I’m thankful for Your scars Cause without them, I wouldn’t know Your heart, And with my life, I’ll tell of who You are
So forever, I am thankful
I’m thankful for the scars Cause without them; I wouldn’t know Your heart, And I know they’ll always tell of who You are
So forever, I am thankful for the scars
So forever, I am thankful for the scars.”
Are you scarred body, mind, and heart? If so, you are in good company.
Learn to be thankful for each scar, and suddenly, without notice, what was meant for your harm, will instead produce a harvest of life and healing for others.
“Give me four years to teach the children, and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.” – Vladimir Lenin
Our Nation’s future is only secured in how well we parent and educate our children.
The sixteen points I’m about to layout are not opinions or political theories long forgotten. They are based on observations, news broadcasts, lawsuits, and current events. While many were first published in manifestos, books, etc., long ago, they have become daily mainstream news and the topic of many podcasts and publications.
Now, sadly, it’s our turn to witness the collapsing of a once great nation. You and I, regrettably, have a front-row seat.
Every fallen nation before us has encountered these destructive trends:
State and federal controll of education. To educate or re-educate the children away from national and religious morals, tuths, and foundations; to inhibit the royalty of self-governance, personal responsibility, and patriotism; to destroy parental authority and autonomy.
Democratization of the Republic. To replace our representive structure of government, “for the people and by the people,” to a mobocracy, whereby government is ran by mass-appeal and populism; to progressively usher in a Socialistic State; to pave the way for dictatorial, communistic governance.
Seizure and polarization of the Free Press. To control all communications for the purposes of the state and federal governments; to either control or be controlled by partisan means.
The loss of journalistic integrity. To control and create narratives; the abeyance of fact; to avoid exculpatory evidence, fact, and truth that may enforce or promote the counter party’s ideals and positions; to simply distort and twist narratives for party gain.
Cancelation of patriotism and everything that promotes healthy nationalism. To pervert anything that promotes unity, the American way of life and liberty; to distort national pride, ingenuity, achievement, and excellence.
The refusal to teach American, Constitutional, and World history. To create ignorance; to lessen or eliminate the impact and importance of the past; to control future outcomes by eliminating historical fact and evidence.
Destruction of relational norms, i.e. family, sexuality, maternity, and paternity. To attack and destroy the very fabric of society. To corrupt mother and father archetypes, whereby either sex can occupy the opposite roles; to distort and redirect offspring from normative and healthy relationships; to destroy future generations.
Sexual deviation and exploitation. Normalization of pornography, pedophilia, and gender dysphoria. To corrupt and destroy all morality, sexual boundaries; to inhibit and reduce reproduction; to control population; to distort mankind as God’s image bearers.
Destruction of free, fair, and open elections. “Those Who Vote Decide Nothing Those Who Count The Votes Decide Everything” – Joseph Stalin. To control the outcome of all elections, ensuring and maintaining a one-sided control.
Persecution and imprisonment of political dissenters, detractors, and rivals. To create a one-sided control of all political power, including every sector of state and federal government; to put fear in the minds of political and ideological detractors and dissenters; to dissuade political rivals.
The creation of a State and Federal controlled surveillance system. To monitor and track dissenters for future arrest, persecution, and imprisonment; to set up a social scoring system by use of personal algorithms on social media platforms.
State and Federal control of all forms of transportation. To control and limit freedom of movement; to corral people into manageable classes, sectors, regions, or groups.
The creation of a programmable digital currency. To control personal and corporate financial freedom; buying, selling, profiting, and distributing. A form of financial rewards and punishment.
The rise of a cancel culture of anything that defies progressivism and primitivism. To crush, marginalize, and destroy common decency and common sense; to promote un-American ideals, trends, and philosophies; to essentially and fundamentally change America into a fascistic society.
The perversion of the judicial system and law and order. To create chaos and confusion; to allow for injustice, political favoritism, cronyism; to pave the way for political and corporate evil and lawbreakers.
The exploitation and manipulation of racial differences, i.e. race wars. To cause disunity and societal fragmentation; to exploit for political needs; to create mass distraction, hysteria, riots, etc., for political means; to gain thought and mind control, useful to maintain political power and control over minority groups.
The destruction of our Second Amendment Right Keep and Bear Arms. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” To keep the citizens from having the power and the means of protection against a tyrannical government; to thwart any domestic power from dictatorial control or governance: to throw off the restraints and infringements of a rouge and renegade government; to provide for personal defense and safety.
I could literally go on and on. But I think by now you can clearly see that America is so far down the river that I’m afraid the current has become too strong to paddle against.
“If the foundations [of a godly society] are destroyed, What can the righteous do?” – Psalm 11:3
God’s children should never be the people with their heads in the sand. But, sadly, our American history shows that we are!
If you carefully consider the sixteen articles I’ve written above, you can see what has happened during our absence as godly vanguards of culture, classroom, church, and Constitution. We failed, but not as politicians and patriots, but as Christians commissioned to teach, preach, and baptize the nations, beginning with our own. The antidote to all the corruption, darkness, and evil is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Do you realize that it took evil intentioned men and women only eighty years, that’s two generations, to flip Western civilization, culture, and society upside-down?
“Give me four years to teach the children, and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.” – Vladimir Lenin – Founder of The Russian Communist State.
Where do you think the evil Vladimir Lenin got this principle from?
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6
Yes, that’s right, from the Bible! Don’t forget, evil men read the Bible too!
You see, to the fact that our children have been co-opted and re-educated by the State is our fault. We willingly gave them our children, and sadly, most still do.
People! The government has had our children since the 1830s, when the government officially inacted compulsory public education. In my estimation, that day was the beginning of the end of America. If there were an autopsy on the death of America, the report would read cause of death: abdication of child education and parental authority to the state.
Many religious people have long since given up their parental, religious, and patriotic duty for a pre-tribulation rapture theory. This theory has taken care, custody, and control from their vocabularies. The darker it becomes, the more it ensures an eminent exfiltration. Pre-tribulation, Dispensational rapture theory is another gospel, and its pontificators and false teachers should be avoided.
This destructive theory has played into the hands of evil-minded, secular cultists, secret societies, evil politicians, and educators. Coincidentally, pre-tribulation and dispensational premillennialism came on the historical scene within the same mid 19th century as compulsory education theory, John Dewey, Evolutionism, Charles Darwin, Communism, Karl Marx, and Religious Humanism, John H. Dietrich. I do not believe that all these new theories and philosophies were mere happenstance, but may be demonic implantations.
“Nevertheless, even if we ourselves or an angel from heaven preach any gospel to you other than that which we have preached to you, hold him as accursed.” As we said before, so say I now again: If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which ye have received, let him be accursed! – Galatians 1:8-9
A perverted gospel curses culture, children, church, and country.
Parents, rescue your children! Get them out of public schools! Maybe, if you do, you can save your family’s future, and America’s too.
When I get strong, I get lost. When I get busy, I get independent. When I get successful, I get lonely.
I was down and out from October 11th, 2013, through mid-January 2014. Life had been hard and painful, but God has never been closer than he’s been with me through those difficult months. I’ll tell you, my dear friends, I’d rather be laid up and laid out with God by my side than lonely but successful in the world any day.
I had gotten to the point in my suffering that I began to thank God for my injuries and sicknesses. I began to see the blessings and the beautiful breaking to my stubborn heart and the fresh and living water flooding into my dry soul. My pain in a miraculous way allowed God’s voice to become magnified, and the whispers of “I love you son” filled my troubled mind in those long and dark, painful nights.
I truly want God, but he’s not necessarily in my busyness, nor is he in my business. He’s not in my self-imposed deadlines, or in the deadlines of others, which weary my body and mind, and cause me to strain and to force my goals above Gods’. He’s not in the coulda, woulda, or shoulda’s, nor is he in my goals of independence and worldly success. God is definitely not in my confused tantrums, my sulking, or complaining.
God is in the midst of suffering; he’s nearby the crushed and the weary, the sick and the lonely. Our God is with the widowed; he’s with the fatherless and alien. He hears the cries and prayers of the broken, the injured, and the weak.
“He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle.” Isaiah 42:3 (NLT)
When I get strong, I get lost. When I get busy, I get independent. When I get successful, I get lonely.
I want God, and therefore, I welcome the pain and suffering so that I might gain all that he has for me through it. This is the process that can get us found in God, which can make us strong in the right things and focus on eternal values, which can bring contentment during our seasons of affliction.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not looking for pain and suffering, only that when it comes, the goodness and presence of God is magnified through it, and therefore, I can revel in it and celebrate because of it. Through it, I have learned that our greatest changes can result from what we suffer. Pain and suffering are powerful for our good!
So, while my body was aching and writhing in pain and anguish, my soul was soaring with God. I worshiped God and thanked him through so much of my illnesses and injuries. The pain still lingers, and the scar, which I now bear on my left leg and knee, will always remind me of God’s faithfulness to me all the way through it.
And so, I thank God for all of it.
One day, I was complaining to my wife, Toni, about a difficult client. I was through and ready to cut the relationship and take a significant loss just to get out of the misery.
Then, Toni pulled the “Book of Job” on me:
“Has not God provided through this person?” she said, and then continued: “Do you really to throw people away because they sometimes cause difficulty?”
Wow! I was called out and convicted. Thank you, Toni!
I had set aside, not only heaven’s provision for me, but I had set aside God’s provision of grace and mercy towards the one whom God set up to bring such needed financial provision.
“Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not also receive evil?” In all this, Job did not sin with his lips. Job 2:10
I am not deformed, but I am being transformed. The more we complain and lay blame, the slower our remaking through our braking goes. In my recent story with my client, God used my wife to get me back on track and with God’s program.
Our complaining always works against God’s transforming work, and so we fail to see how God masters evil for our good. Our complaining and blaming causes us to only see the badness of evil, rather the goodness of God in spite of it and His creative use with it.
“I form the light and create darkness: I make peace and create evil: I The Lord do all these things.” – Isaiah 45:7
Ha, I’ve not heard that verse preached in Church!
So, if God masters light, darkness, peace, and evil, how can we be destroyed in the day of pain, sickness, and disease? How can we lose if what we fear can not keep us from winning? How then shall we live, if even evil and the day of disaster, is under the control of such a loving and caring Heavenly Father?
I’ll tell ya how we should then live – in Total Victory and with an Overcomer’s Spirit!
Hey, there’s power in what we suffer, no matter how miserable or deadly! But you gotta put away the complaining and start the thanksgiving and praising.
I was just a young teenager of 14 years old when I got a hold of a book titled “By What Standard” by the late Dr. Rousas John Rushdoony, the father of Mark Rushdoony.
Like the late Dr. Rushdoony, the life and story of Job, set the standard of who God is and His power over evil. Page 185 through page 205 of By What Standard is what impacted me most in my life as a teenager. The Book of Job established my foundation for all my understanding of the ways of God and the ability of God. The Book of Job became my standard of biblical understanding and godly comfort.
Like Job, it is blind faith and trust in the Almighty, whereby God shall succeed in spite of our lack of understanding and even confusion. Our suffering is not the end of the means, but the means to an end, forewhich Satan’s must comply with God’s will over our lives and our wellbeing.
So, the key is to invest all of your faith and trust into God’s will, and pain and suffering will become allies to your transformation and glorification.
“In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.” – Hebrews 2:10
Was it not God who invited Satan to consider His servant Job?
Did not God establish the boundaries after he invited Satan to afflict Job?
The Book of Job, chapters one, and two.
God masterfully controlled darkness, sickness, and disease over His servant Job, but He also displayed His power over the Prince of Darkness.
The Book of Job reveals how Satan must obey the very boundaries that God sets up, leaving Satan and all evil under the power of the God of the Universe and Creator of all things. And yes, including all angelic beings, and even those who’ve failed at the Heavenly coup d’état of God’s throne and power, and dare I say, they failed miserably!
‘God spoke to Cain:”Why this tantrum? Why the sulking? If you do well, won’t you be accepted? And if you don’t do well, sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it’s out to get you; you’ve got to master it.” – Genesis 4:6-7
We can master sin because God has mastered evil, and his Son, Jesus Christ, has vanquished our sin. He destroyed death and conquered the grave! But tantrums and sulking leave you vulnerable, and instead of victory, you’ll end in defeat.
So, we can thrive in pain and suffering, in loss and betrayal, and evil shall not destroy us. Evil becomes a weapon in the hand of God, disarming our enemy and thwarting evil’s plan for our destruction.
Do you want to disarm the Evil One? Then, praise God in the midst of all that hell has unleashed and bask in the suffering with thanksgiving. Trust fully in the God who knows what He is doing and the limits for which evil must obey.
Can we lose?
“No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:37
Put your faith and trust in God and become transformed and not deformed by all that you suffer.
Your pain may be your breakthrough into victory and validation that you are a true son or daughter of God and not a fatherless victim.
As a victor, you, too, will see The Miraculous Power of Pain and Suffering.
The reason reassuring lies are so popular is because lies are safe and convenient. But the world and Church are out of time for safety and convenience.
There is no other important message to the Church in America today than repentance. I’m not speaking about the lost repenting, but Christians repenting for the sins of omission. A retreating Church in a culture war is the death of any nation.
We’ve forgotten how important the Church was to the Founding of America, not only to its formation, but also to its influence on politics and education.
America dosen’t necessarily suffer from bad politics, as bad as they may be, but more so from thousands of Churches suffering from disassociative disorder.
Symptoms of a disassociative disorder: “feeling disconnected from yourself and the world around you.”
There’s far too many Christians and Churches disconnected from their identity as true disciples of Jesus, and therefore, they lost their witness to a lost world around them. A self-focused Church is not the work of Heaven. It’s symptomatic of a lost identity and purpose.
So, I gotta ask, why all the self-focused Churches? Where did this philosophy come from, if not from Heaven?
So, here’s the inconvenient Truth that many of us are avoiding, repentance from omission and disengagement.
Somewhere along the way we ceased being a missional Church to something else.
Early Protestants accused the Catholics of making big business out of Christianity. The Roman Catholics had fused a business concept to its ecclesiastical order and to soteriological precepts. They used to sell religious stuff, like trinkets, souvenirs, even selling indulgences, a monetary payment of penalty which, supposedly, absolved one of past sins and/or released one from purgatory after death.
Sadly, today, many mainstream Evangelicals have made Christianity into big business. They kept the business concept of church structure intact from the Catholics. While mega-churches and TV Evangelists are the extreme examples of “church business,” many mainstream Protestant and Charismatic Churches are structured like business.
How do you tell if a Church or ministry is a business?
“If someone ceases to be valuable to you because they no longer attend your church — you’re not in ministry — you’re in business!” – Author Unknown
Many Churches want large buildings, big budgets, catchy names, and viral exposure. Heck, many rebrand themselves every decade or so, just to stay on the cutting edge of marketing. Yep, there’s a lot of competition out there for those parishioners! Hmm, kinda sounds like a business to me. But is that model that Jesus wanted?
Well, we know He didn’t want a seeker-friendly, money focused Church.
He wants a Kingdom seeking Church. A Church that sets its priority seeking first God’s Kingdom and His Righteousness.
So then, what about budgets, buildings, and ledgers?
Well, Jesus thought of that. He tells his followers that all those things, which the world toils and sweats after will be freely given to us!
Yep, Matthew chapter 6: 25-34. This is a great passage to read in unison as a congregation.
I dare you to try it!
Yes, yes, I know these are indeed hard words, but they are necessary. Sometimes Truth is inconvenient. It certainly was for Jesus and His Father. Speaking Truth cost Jesus His life, but look what it won for us — look what He’s done for the World!
You remember, John 3:16 don’t you? Let me ask you; has it simply become a catchy phrase, a lovely cliché you like to recite? Don’t you think if we truly believed John 3:16, we’d be out in the world seeking out and speaking to the “whomsoevers?”
The truth is, if God’s people do not repent of these evils, as subtle as they may appear, God’s judgment will begin with His House. If it begins with God’s House, what of the world? Where is your compassion of them?
I’m sure you remember the story of Jesus, as recorded in John chapter 2, chasing out the moneychangers, you know, the sellers and buyers and money managers inside His Father’s House?
Yep, and it goes onto imply that Jesus was not a happy camper; taking the time to brade a whip, afterwhich, he stormed into His Father’s House a whippin and a thrashin, knocking tables and chairs over, while chasing the prayerless and money focused from His Father’s House!
“… and the Zeal for your house shall consume me!” John 2:17
So, don’t hangout with moneychangers and so-called business focused ministries.
So, to wrap things up…
You have the Light of the Glorious Gospel for a world going darker day-by-day.
Simply repent from retreating and being AWOL (Absence Without Leave) from your duty to King and Kingdom. Then go shine God’s Light into the darkness. Cancel out the reassuring lies with the inconvenient Truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Once they believe, Truth won’t be so inconvenient. Especially, after you show them how to repent.
Because my side, your side, or their side may be equally wrong.
Frankly, I’m amazed at how many people post and boast about the Lord being in their side. Isn’t it the other way around?
Who is on the Lord’s side?
Are we not a blessed people because we’re on the Lord’s side?
If we post and boast about God being on our side, then His will, which exists in Heaven, is ignored and left undone. Even Jesus taught us how to pray in the right direction…
“…thy will be done on earth as it exists in Heaven,” taught Jesus.
It seems as though the prevailing theme among many “believers” is to pray the opposite of what Jesus taught us.
“My will be done in Heaven as it exists on earth,” is not what Jesus Christ had in mind.
We get our needs met by obeying God, by doing His will; by seeking first the Kingdom of God, and then our essentials will be given to us.
God encouraged Joshua to “Be Strong and Courageous.” This encouragement wasn’t given to Joshua and his buddies so they can get their needs met, but that he would lead God’s people into His promises and for His purposes.
Remember when Joshua and his army crossed the Jordan river? When they got to the other side, they were met by an angel with a bright sword.
“Are you on our side, or the Enemy’s side?” questioned Joshua.
“Neither,” said the Angel, “I am on the Lord’s side.”
Psalm 11 (ERV)
To the director: A song of David.
1 I trust in the Lord, so why did you tell me to run and hide? Why did you say, “Fly like a bird to your mountain?”
2 Like hunters, the wicked hide in the dark. They get their bows ready and aim their arrows. They shoot at good, honest people.
3 What would good people do if the wicked destroyed all that is good?
4 The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord sits on his throne in heaven. He sees everything that happens. He watches people closely.
5 The Lord examines those who are good and those who are wicked; he hates those who enjoy hurting others.
6 He will make hot coals and burning sulfur fall like rain on the wicked. They will get nothing but hot, burning wind.
7 The Lord always does what is right, and he loves seeing people do right. Those who live good lives will be with him.
Verse 3 says: “What would good people do if the wicked destroy all that is good?” Isn’t this what is exactly happening? The wicked are perverting the rule of law and justice. They are changing the definition of everything which used to be sound and good.
How can we do the good that God has planned for us if we fail to call upon his will and purpose from heaven?
The truth is that you and I, and even the church collectively can do nothing but repent, pray, and turn our hearts towards the God of Heaven and Earth. Our fate is now in the hands of God, as it should be. But alas, had we acted like the people of God in the first place, perhaps things wouldn’t have gotten so off course. Perhaps the people’s fate would be synonymous with the will of God in Heaven.
Perhaps if we would’ve prioritized the Kingdom of Heaven and pursued the Righteousness of Jesus Christ, that his righteousness, being our righteousness would have exalted our Nation. Perhaps the age-old foundations of sound truth and justice would’ve prevailed and withstood the onslaught of such wickedness, and our out of control, wayward government.
Here is some good news. Though they will try, and seemingly succeed in their schemes and wicked plans, the Lord knows what they are up to. He does not blink, nor does he shrug it off. Our God is tirelessly on duty! He will avenge his Truth and His Justice and the innocent of the earth. He will not be mocked, nor will he allow these who pervert all that is good and true to go unpunished.
All we can do at this point is put our whole trust into God and know that He is not like man that he would lie, nor like man, or governments, who make their plans in darkness. Our hope is in the Lord. He is the God of the Angel Armies. We know the end of the story! He is God our Redeemer, Father to the fatherless, to the widowed and to the orphaned, and to the wanderer. He is our shield in times of disaster and adversity. He is our only refuge and our only shelter. We must put our trust and faith in him.
Gird yourselves up in the Lord. Read and understand all the promises of God. Keep Truth and Justice alive in your own hearts, homes, and businesses. Seek the heavenly order of God’s ever-present and ever-expanding Kingdom. Practice righteousness to your neighbors, to your coworkers; at your board rooms and dinner tables.
Practice all that is the opposite to what this evil regime is perpetrating over us. Operate in the opposite spirit. Where there is greed, sow generosity. Where there is hatred, sow love and forgiveness. Where there are lies, sow truth and honesty. Where there is evil, sow what is innocent and pure.
Refuse to become corrupted. Stand in Christ, and only kneel at his feet and not at any despotic or tyrannical government, no matter how benevolent or generous they may appear. This is the sleight of hand that you must become wise to.
“Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright, that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong; that is your oath.” The Kingdom of Heaven” (Movie)
One other thing… When asked to pray, pray while they are still near you and in your hearing. Why? Because far too many of us say we’ll pray but forget to do so. Maybe saying you’ll pray has become a kind phrase, its just something you say to cheer up hurting people. Or perhaps you use the famous 🙏 🙏 🙏 emojis to simply show support.
What people really need from us is the Lord God, from whose side we’re on. They will benefit from our connectedness to the Lord.
“Be strong and courageous. Be very strong and be very courageous. Do not be dismayed or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua, Chapter One, verse nine.
Who is on the Lord’s side? Who do you choose to serve?
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!
We earnestly pray that God is victorious in his plans, and in so doing, as we join Him in His work. Then our needs are met here on earth, as it exists in Heaven. Amen
The Most Powerful Event In All History, The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
It is undeniable that America is in a post-Christian era. The culture of death and darkness is everywhere. I truly believe the lack of preaching on the single most important event in history has created a vacuum for evil to flourish and death to prevail.
When eternal life is unoffered, uncelebrated, and relatively unknown, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ diminished to a mere annual holiday, overtaken by pagan ritual, the power of the resurrection becomes unknown and untapped.
Target, Walmart, Macy’s, and Hallmark are not to blame for the commercialization of the most powerful event in all human history. This is Christianity’s doing. For they are the arbiters of this most important truth, not department stores!
The sad thing about what this Sunday has become in many churches across America is summed up in one word, “powerless.” Matter of fact, the title Resurrection Day has been replaced with the title ‘Easter Sunday.” The Gospel replaced with Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies, colorful baskets, pastel dresses, and shiny shoes.
It’s not the world offering Easter egg hunts. No, it’s thousands and thousands of churches.
In their minds, it’s the ends justifying the means. A marketing strategy, if you will.
However, I see no such market strategies in the Bible, by either prophet or apostle, preacher or evangelist.
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the central theme of The Gospel!
For Christianity to impact the world and chase the demons and devils of death back onto the shadows, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ must once again become the central theme of The Gospel.
Immediately prior to Jesus’s crucifixion, he appeared as a failure; deserted by his closest followers, deceived by one of his disciples, and rejected by his own people that he came to save. Silent before his accusers, no one spoke on his behalf.
His Father let him suffer a naked and terrible death on a cross. He was buried in a borrowed tomb, which was carefully guarded by nearly a dozen Roman soldiers. He certainly was despised and rejected.
Yet, Christianity finds its roots in the single and most important act:
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“…and if Christ has not been raised from death, then we have nothing to preach, and you have nothing to believe.” – 1 Corinthians 15:14
It is the power of Christ’s resurrection, which should both compel and propel churches and not budgets, charismatic preachers, or in-vogue programs, pageants, and parades.
“The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all.” – Acts 4:33
The focus of a Church living from the roots and foundation of the resurrected Lord of Life is to seek and save the lost rather than a mausoleum of inactive Christians.
To the early Christians and First Century Church, the Resurrection was their main message. For us today its become an annual holiday.
“I want to know Him inside and out. I want to experience the power of His resurrection and join in His suffering, shaped by His death, so that I may arrive safely at the resurrection from the dead.” – Philippians 3:10-11
If you want a vibrant and alive Church, preach the Resurrection of Christ throughout the year.
If you want a dead church, stay with your religious tips and tricks, and keep following those mainstream, so-called Christian fads and fashions. You may get your numbers and budgets, but you’ll have no real spiritual power.
Without real spiritual power, you’ll have no real spiritual fruit.
The Church was founded and propelled by an Outlaw, and today, the Church is held back by its bylaws.
Get back to the message of Resurrection, and not just on once a year on “Easter” Morning.
Preach powerfully the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing will be upon you all.
The greatest critic and deniers of the resurrection of Christ are not disbelievers and atheists, but those who refuse to preach and live it.
True spiritual success still comes from the most powerful event in all human history…
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“Do you believe this?”
If you did, you’d be full of life and full of power, and no worldly or spiritual force could stop your message.
Tap into it and live it and gain true spiritual power, power the Lost and the Broken are waiting for.
In the Fall of 1984, Toni and I joined Youth With A Mission in Canada. While there, a young Canadian woman handed me a folded white sheet of lined paper as though she was on a clandestine mission. I unfolded the paper and found the following poem written in pencil. I read it every now and then to remind me and ground myself in the significance of true living through the death of self.
I confess that this is a huge struggle in my life, saying yes to God and no to self. As a matter of fact, it is my biggest daily battle, and many times, the battle is lost. On those days that I lost the battle of wills, I realized that I was saying no to the abundant life that God offered me.
I realize that physical death is, and always will be, the final threshold we must cross over one day. For some, this crossing will take us into the very eternal presence of God and, for others, into eternal separation and darkness. I have witnessed both my parents crossing the threshold of death into the everlasting joy of God.
We can practice dying to ourselves and self-importance. We can choose those things which promote life in others and for others. If we begin living in eternity now, we can, therefore, experience the Father’s everlasting joy in our present life and even in our suffering.
In other words, by living as Jesus lived and being made conformable to his death, we can become living fountains of life. Through our daily dying, we are reborn into his daily living. It opens us up to hear the same words Jesus heard from his Father and inspires us to do the same things Jesus did in obeying his Father’s wishes.
“This is my beloved Son,” said God, “in him, I am well pleased.” –Matthew 3:17
True Christianity is a daily battle of wills. We either obey the Father’s will and find life, or we obey our will and find death (separation). Dying to self is the proverbial “Fountain of Life” because it makes us into that fountain, a spring of Living Water, which is the Spirit and nature of Christ bubbling up from within us.
Okay, now that poem I had spoken about…
The poem, Dying To Self
“When you are forgotten, neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don’t sting and hurt with the insult or the oversight, but your heart is happy, being counted worthy to suffer for Christ, that is dying to self.
When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinions ridiculed. You refuse to let anger rise in your heart or even defend yourself, but take it all in patience with loving silence; that is dying to self.
When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, irregularity, impunctuality, or annoyance; when you stand face-to-face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility – and endure it as Jesus did – that is dying to self.
When you are content with any food, any offering, any climate, any society, any raiment, any interruption by the will of God, that is dying to self.
When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, record your good works, or itch after commendations, when you can truly love to be unknown, that is dying to self.
When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met and honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy, nor question God, while your own needs are more significant and in desperate circumstances, that is dying to self.
When you can receive correction and reproof from one more petite stature than yourself and can humbly submit inwardly as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising within your heart, that is dying to self.” – Author Unknown. . Are you dead yet?
In these last days, the Spirit would bring us to the cross. “That I may know Him…being made conformable unto His death. –Philippians 3:10
It is exchanging our will for God’s will, whereby we die to our will, which is no easy thing. But the rewards outweigh the difficulty.
If you let your own will and life go, you’ll become a fountain of life, and the Lord of Life will bubble up from within your heart and into the lost and lonely.
Let Jesus become that Fountain of Life within you by dying to self.
Call To Courage 