Strengthen the things that remain

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General George Patton, the flamboyant but successful American general attended ceremonies in Berlin in 1945 of victorious forces who had defeated the Nazis. Generals from the West and Russian generals who led forces who had attacked from the east, met in Berlin to celebrate. But Patton at one point attempted to provoke a major incident with one of the Russian generals there.

Patton said plainly to all that Allied western forces should just keep rolling on from Germany and immediately drive straight at Moscow to defeat Russian Communism while they could. Patton saw Communism to be a great threat to the rest of the world. Of course he was overruled and considered almost crazy at the time. But, looking back, we can wonder.

It was clear to Patton that the threat from the Left was just as grim as the threat from the Right had been. And perhaps we’re facing a very similar moment in our times. Many are sickened and exasperated by the leadership of the USA since 2016. People of all stripes and persuasions have been aghast and heartsick because of the utter lack of empathy or competence the US president has shown, as well as his lack of response to the Covid 19 crisis. Many Americans across the political spectrum have come to feel that this man and his regime have to go.

But then what? The conservative, right wing in America has given us the president we’ve had for the last 4 years. But can we turn to the liberal party of the left? Pardon me but it’s like we have two choices. “Do you want the red devils or the blue devils?” Not dissimilar to what seemed to be the choice facing the world of the 1930’s and 1940’s.

The Democratic Party now is not the party of John Kennedy or Martin Luther King, any more than the Republicans are still the party of Ronald Reagan. Maybe you haven’t been looking but the Democrats, who may end up winning the election here in 4 months, are exceptionally divided between traditional Democratic views, which triumphed the cause of the common man and workers’ rights, and the so-called “Progressives” who, when you scrap the veneer, are actually neo-Marxists in every way.

So people of our times are really stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. Like Patton saw, there are serious and existential threats from both the Right and the Left, just as it was in earlier times between Nazism on the one hand and Communism on the left.

Solution? I’m not sure there is one. But some famous words of Jesus came to me this morning, “Strengthen the things that remain.” (Revelation 3:2) I have to be honest; I don’t know how much I hold to the idea of praying for God to save America. Maybe He will. It’s like the Australians are known to say, “She’ll come round, mate.” Meaning, “It’ll all work out somehow and stabilize.” Maybe it will; it has at other times when things have been rough.

But also in history there have been innumerable times when it didn’t come round. It finally collapsed and often, looking back, people could see that it was the hand of God, finally withdrawing His protection and allowing the sins of the people and nation to finally get the best of them. Their cup of iniquity was full and collapse came.

God even told the prophet Jeremiah, just before the collapse of his nation around 600 years before Jesus, “Pray not for this people for their good.” (Jeremiah 14:11) In God’s eyes, it had come time for His judgments on Israel and they were taken captive by Babylon shortly afterwards. That may be where the USA has come to now, in spite of the fact that there are still many sincere Christians here.

But it’s always good council to “strengthen the things that remain”. Even now, maybe it’s like the council another prophet of Israel gave a few years after the times of Jeremiah to the king of Babylon, where the Jews had been driven to. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar, when God had told the king that judgment was coming on him, “O king break from your sins by righteousness and your injustice by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of your peaceful times.” (Daniel 4:27) The Democrats in America have traditionally been the party that has stood up for the poor and, my gosh, the poor and middle classes here sure need help now, “red and yellow, black and white.”

But if he gets elected, Biden’s greatest threat won’t be the Republicans. It will be from the neo-Marxists of the left wing of his own party who could work as Lenin and the Bolsheviks did in Moscow after the fall of the Russian Czar. The more moderate Mensheviks were initially leading the changes in 1917, after the fall of the Romanov dynasty. But the moderates and democrats were swept aside by Lenin and the Bolsheviks. And from there, the horrors of the reality of atheist Communism gripped hundreds of millions people over the next 70 years.

As for me and those I fellowship with, we’re going to keep serving the Lord. If those in America still holding on to the principles that existed even 20 or 30 years ago would/could band together and “strengthen the things that remain”, maybe America could weather this storm upon it now. I’m pessimistic but then again, perhaps the Australians are right, “She’ll come round, mate.”  One way or the other, I’m going to be holding on to the Lord and His calling and His will in this time. But I am a little concerned that we may be in for a very rough ride and unprecedented times over the next few months. Lord help us all.

Shedding the blood of war in peace

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Some people crack up very easily. The slightest provocation, a hint of disagreement and they just freak out. For some, they take a dive into depression. Others burst forth with a stream of accusations against the person they felt offended by. Sometimes it even goes beyond words to physically violence and death, all because of some perceived slight, something taken the wrong way that was never meant or should have never been blown up to what it was.

Yes, certainly sometimes it was more than a perceived slight. It was long term oppression and injustice and people are outraged about that. I’ll get to that in a moment.

But, about people freaking out and cracking up very easily, you might be one who says, “Happens all the time”. Yes, it does. And the damage done to friendships, families, lives, children, marriages, societies and even nations is often close to irreparable. Some of this gets personal for me. I’ve had a good life in many ways. But also I have seen this kind of destructive behavior up close and have experienced the long term devastation that is not just hurtful but damages almost beyond redemption the souls, hearts and lives it touches.

Jesus said one time, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) In my life, I’ve seen a lot of “domestic warfare”, I guess it could be called. And from seeing this, I came to where I felt the most important thing in life was the wisdom of the heart rather than the intelligence of the mind. I’d seen a lot of smart people who ruined the lives of others without regrets because they were “so smart” but they didn’t care how much they hurt their loved ones, how much they brought disruption to their families.

I have always been in a family that believed in changing the world , that there are serious problems around us in our societies and in the world, injustices that need to be exposed and addressed, causes worth fighting for, staying stirred up about and sacrificing for.

But then, how do you do that? How do you actually address those things, whether in your personal family or in society at large? How vehement do you get? What “weapons” do you use? Are there any tactics that are not allowed? Is there any need for accuracy and truthfulness in what we say and do?  Or is it more important to just be as raw and visceral as you want to be and then let the chips fall where they may? What sacrifices are worth making in order to reach your goal?

There are so many factors in this, so many tangents that could be gone down and explored. But I’ll use an example from history where this subject and difficulty is highlighted. An ancient king, David, had a most trusted and loyal commander of his armed forces, his own cousin Joab. But ultimately, David said of Joab that he had “shed the blood of war in peace”. (I Kings 2:5) Joab murdered a rival military leader in Israel, Abner, who had been the leader of the forces of King Saul.

But it was uncalled for, unprovoked, unnecessary and unwise. The murder of Abner could have easily brought Israel into full civil war between those still loyal to Saul’s regime and the new one of King David. Joab shed the blood of war in peace. He murdered his rival and ultimately Joab was sentenced to death for his crime. He wasn’t in some battle against those bent on destroying his people; he just committed murder because of jealously and rivalry. He shed the blood of war in peace.

But many today do just what Joab did. They fly off the handle at the drop of the hat and feel utterly justified in doing it. Usually it doesn’t end up as a murder but then sometimes it does. But if they don’t commit murder, their words spoken in haste and without love or wisdom go out as firebrands and stick in the hearts of ones who are often friends or loved ones. David’s son, Solomon, said, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue”. (Proverbs 18:21) Words are real things, they bless or they curse, they lift up or they drag down. Jesus even said that we will give an account one day of every word we have spoken.

Again, to remember the words of an ancient king and poet, “I am for peace. But when I speak, they are for war.” (Psalms 120:6) Today I see a lot of vehement people. I even agree with a lot of what they say and the way they see things. There are things that need to be changed, things that have been tolerated for far too long. A good measure of vehemence and righteous exasperation is needed in order to keep some of these subjects on the boil until changes have been made and corners turned.

But I do fear that behind the words and in the hearts of at least some of these folks there is more than just a call for change and justice. There is hatred and vengeance. And a determination to achieve domination over ones they perceive to be utterly evil. I often feel that nothing short of full capitulation and surrender in a most complete sense by their perceived enemies will satisfy a number of these who have grievances. And again you could say, “What’s new? It’s been going on for thousands of years.”

Well, I am for peace. I am for conflict resolution. I’m for standing up to injustice. I’m also for living peaceable with all men. Sadly, I don’t think we are going to have that level of wisdom, unity and civility in this world we have now. It will only happen at the return of “the Prince of Peace“. (Isaiah 9:6) Meanwhile, I am going to do what I can to live within the peace and wisdom of God as much as I can in my interactions with others. And I hope to persuade all I can to do the same.

Ageism

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In her 70’s, my mom said, “I’m old. But I’m not old-old.” But it’s sad and wrong to discriminate against anyone because of their age. And “ageism” is the relatively new word for this. Discrimination is a hurtful but very common thing, worldwide. You’ve heard of “racism”, I’ve written about that several times. And “sexism” is now a common word, usually meaning discrimination against women. But ageism is just as hurtful and also just not smart or even productive.

Both of my parents made it well into their 90’s. It runs in their families. My mom in particular never “lost it” mentally in any way and hardly lost it physically much at all until the last month of two of her life. In earlier generations it was not uncommon that by the time someone hit 60, they were really considered old and were sometimes at the edge of their families who treated them with detached aloofness at times. And often they died sad and alone. Progress has been made in these things and in more recent times there is more concern in many societies for “the elderly”.

But I have to admit I probably could be considered in that category at times, as are now many of my friends. How’s that working for me? Actually, it’s probably a surprise to younger readers but it’s really not too bad. If I go about things wisely, I’ve felt very little drop off in my physical abilities and vitality compared to twenty or more years ago. I’ve got a host of “irons in the fire” and “pots on the stove” that keep me busier than I almost can keep up with. I’m doing fine, as far as I’m concerned.

But it’s disheartening to run into manifestations of ageism. It seems  some folks think that people in their 60’s and 70’s are unquestionably “over the hill”. There’s that hint of condescension from some who try to be polite but you are left with the feeling that they secretly wish we’d just go away. Or at least we’d go someplace else where we are not seen or where we don’t interfere with the way things should be run and done in these times.

Sad stuff. Of course not everyone is like that. But ageism is just as real in our times and felt by folks just as much as is racism or sexism. It’s a waste of human resources as well as a lack of vision. What some short sighted people don’t get is the wealth of knowledge and experience that “older people” have gained. Certainly some folks who are into their 60’s are not able to do as much physically as they did before. But on the other hand many of them are really doing just fine and have a lot of gas in the tank and fire in the belly. The Bible says, “A grey head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.” (Proverbs 16:31)

But it’s just the inborn sinful nature of mankind to discriminate, to “judge according to the flesh” (John 8:15) and “look on the outward appearance” (I Samuel 16:7), rather than the heart. Also, it must be said that some people “faint in their minds” (Hebrews 12:3), as they grow older. “Where there is no vision the people perish” (Proverb 28:18) and this can happen to people as they age. They give up spiritually and also give up mentally and physically.

However, not everyone does that. In the Bible, Caleb, at the age of 85 famously said, “I’ll take the mountain” (Joshua 14:10-12) and he led his tribe up the mountain in military conquest of the land promised to the Jews in the years after Moses.

It’s cruelty, discrimination and a lack of godly wisdom to let ageism affect your views, especially if you are a Christian who is dealing with and shepherding other Christians. If there is any place in this world where compassion and empathy should triumph, it is in Christian circles. So when there is discrimination and segregation according to age that goes on in Christian fellowships, it is particularly hurtful and unwise as well.

“But Mark, aren’t you creating division here? In saying these things you are dividing the body of Christ and encouraging division.”

I’ve thought about that. But if a person of color experiences racism, is it wrong of him to mention it? Or if a woman experiences sexism, should she remain silent? In the same way, I mean to cause no division by mentioning the fact that ageism exists. Rather, I hope that by talking about these things we can overcome them together and heal any divisions.

It takes a mature, seasoned person to not default to ageism when it comes to Christian shepherding. You just naturally want to hang out with your kind of folks. “Old people” can just seem like a drag if you”re not looking at things with the eyes of the Lord. But this is opposite of the ways of God’s Spirit. Paul said to Timothy, “Let no man despise your youth” (I Timothy 4:12). I think we can certainly say conversely to the ones who are 60 and older, “Let no man despise your age.”

*****

 One final thought: we’re all sinners; we’ve all been guilty of these things. Racism, sexism and ageism are part of the inborn sinful nature of mankind and all of us have been guilty of these things, and more, at one time or the other. So if you’ve been affected by ageism, it’s good to remember that. Jesus said, if someone sins against us, that we are to “go and tell him his fault” (Matthew 18:15) between he and you alone. Getting self righteous, bitter and unforgiving are some of the easy sins that those who’ve been sinned against can easily fall into. Lord help us all to forgive and strive for love and unity.

The Coral snake in the driveway

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Yesterday there was a big Coral snake in the driveway. We killed it. Coral snakes are the most poisonous snakes in my part of the world, more poisonous than rattle snakes. It wouldn’t really have been right at the time to say, “Oh, don’t worry. Don’t be afraid. Everything is going to be alright.”

No, at that moment the danger was real. Waiting until the snake was biting your foot would not have been a good idea. Clear, immediate action was needed to eliminate the danger, and in this case it was to kill the snake. This can all seem so simple and basic that it doesn’t even deserve discussion. But in these times, with very real and deadly danger upon so many nations, it’s an object lesson in how to react to this.

Certainly there are times to say, “Oh, don’t be afraid, don’t worry.” Certainly there are times to “Just trust the Lord.” But somewhere in most people is a modicum of what we nowadays call “common sense”. It’s not right 100% of the time but on the other hand it often is. And just knowing when to go with the simplest and most childlike reaction to things can turn out to really be the wisdom of God in some situations.

But when things get a little more complicated than a Coral snake in the driveway, that’s when it becomes more difficult to discern truth from falsehood and reality from something conjured up in our minds or in the minds of others. It seems to me like the snake yesterday was almost allegorical of the present crisis. That snake was real. It wasn’t a hoax, it wasn’t a conspiracy, it didn’t have an agenda, it didn’t come from the Left or the Right or a foreign power. In was utterly real; it was deadly, alive and on the property.

At times like that, if ever, our most basic being needs to be working properly, our minds clear, our heart in the right place and our practical understanding fully functioning. And, I should add, we’re hearing from God. It’s a matter of life and death. For many if not most of us in these times and in the affluent West, we haven’t almost ever run into situations like this. But we have now. The snake is in the driveway. It doesn’t really matter where it came from. It doesn’t really matter if some neighbor put it there, it doesn’t seem to be the time to really get cerebral about it all.

To me at least there’s a parallel to the greater picture of our present crisis. There’s just real wisdom to, in certain situations, being very practical and not procrastinating. “Hesitate and all is lost” is a saying many of us have heard. Practical common sense yesterday was to just run get a shovel and smash the thing. It was that dangerous. Similarly in these times, those who survive, individuals and societies, are the ones who recognize the danger, recognize also what the needed response should be, and then do it.

Admittedly, every situation may not be as simple and clear as a poisonous snake in front of us. This pandemic is full of unknowns. This disease is primarily new and confronting it is not as simply as running to get the shovel. It is worldwide or becoming so. There are no extremely simply, unarguable methods in how to deal with it. But there are some lessons and parallels.

For one, focus. If there suddenly had been a big discussion and argument about what path to take as the snake slithered towards the house, that would not have been smart. Some could argue for the rights of the snake, the moral implications of whether it should be killed or not. Sides could be taken and more time spend on who was to blame, why this had happened, if we were seeing things the right way, is there an agenda, if the snake was even there or not and who could end up wining the high ground with their viewpoint on the crisis that was there on the ground.

King Solomon said, “The prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punish.” (Proverbs 27:12) We could even apply the words of Jesus here when He said, “A strong man armed keeps his goods in peace.” (Luke 11:21) I’m very thankful in these times for the practical-minded scientific and medical communities who are often working around the clock to try to find genuine real solutions to this crisis that can save lives and help make it so that this doesn’t turn into the kind of thing that happened in earlier centuries when 100’s of millions of people died from various kinds of plagues. “Oh, don’t worry! It can’t happen here” is all too easy a thought and reaction to that possibility. But I’m pretty sure it definitely can and in some places and ways it already has gone rather far that direction.

May God help us all to be clear minded, unprejudiced, not too cerebral, political or holding on to old prejudges in this very real time. Lord help us to move fast when we need to, to not procrastinate or overestimate our safety and underestimate the dangers that are about. And may the Lord help us to pull together, to love our neighbors, walk in wisdom and even be led of Him so we can make it through this time that is unprecedented in the lives of almost all of us.

Scapegoat

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A perplexing thing to the modern mind is the idea of animal sacrifice. “How could they do that?!” is the thought of so many in the West. It seems so barbaric, so cruel. If you are Jewish or Islamic, you might have a slightly different perspective. Throughout the Islamic world, the yearly celebration of Eid includes rather abundant animal sacrifices in some places. And in Israel today much is being made about the preparations there to begin again the animal sacrifices that were so essential to Jewish worship for thousands of years.

The word and concept of “the scapegoat” has remained in most languages and it comes from these times and places of animal sacrifice. In ancient Israel, the high priest was to bring the scapegoat, laying his hands upon the goat’s head, confessing the sins of the people that the sins would be laid upon the goat and cease from the people. Then the goat was to be led away into the wilderness, carrying the sins of the people, where it was slaughtered and the sins of the people were not to be found.

How strange this can sound to “the modern mind”. But then, so does sin itself. It seems to not really fit into a scientific viewpoint, nor does any element of life continuing beyond our physical death. Were these ancient peoples just fools, that we in our modern times can look back on with benign amusement?

But, if “the greatest man who ever lived” was anything, He was the ultimate “scapegoat”, ordained to that role by God the Father from the foundation of the world. In what was the opening scene of the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, His cousin John the Baptist exclaimed to a crowd of followers as he saw Jesus approaching, “Behold, the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) In those times that would have immediately been  much easier to understand than it is for many today. Because the Jewish culture back then had been full of animal sacrifice for at least 2000 years. John was saying that Jesus was “the Lamb”, sent by the Father who would be sacrificed for the sins of the world.

And Jesus said the same thing of Himself. He said, “The son of man did not come to be ministered to but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many”. (Matthew 20:28 and Mark 10:45) This theme of Jesus being the sacrifice for the sins of mankind is found throughout the New Testament.

But was this just some kind of eccentric weirdness of this ancient Jewish teacher and his followers? No, it is utterly in line and in fulfillment of some of the most profound prophecies that can be found in the Old Testament. Isaiah chapter 53 is regarded as perhaps the most significant, insightful chapter in the Bible in its revelation of the Jewish Messiah to come and His role in the plan of God. There we can read of this Messiah to come that He would be “led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7) And most people know that this is how Jesus famously was before the Roman governor, Pilate, “He answered not a word.” (Matthew 27:14)

Jesus fulfilled the roll of “the scapegoat”, the ultimate sacrifice that God Himself sent into the world to take away sin. Isaiah chapter 53, written 700 years before the birth of Jesus, goes on to predict of the future Messiah, “the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all… he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgressions of my people was he stricken… when you shall make His soul an offering for sin, he shall see His seed… he bare the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:6, 8, 10 & 12)

The “scapegoat”. “The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Jesus was not just a great teacher and a wonderful person, as I was brought up to believe. He was not just a prophet, as millions in the Islamic world are told He was. He literal came to take our sins and to take our place in death, that we can have eternal life through Him. That was His purpose, His calling, His destiny.

Do I have perfect understanding of all this? No, I really don’t. I often admire some preachers and teachers who are able to do such an amazing job of presenting the truth of all this. I even really hesitated to try to write this article here because it is such a deep and somewhat mysterious subject.

But I’m happy that I don’t have to have perfect understanding of it all. Because I do believe it. I found it to be true when I called out to Jesus to take away the power of sin in my life and to give me a new heart and a new spirit. That was when I was barely in my 20’s and it resulted in such a change in my innermost being that has remained and grown for all the time since back then.

I hope you will take to heart what I’ve shared here. Even if you don’t understand it with your mind, you don’t have to. So many people are hindered by feeling they have to understand everything first. Truth is something that quickens your heart and speaks to your soul, even when your head may be lacking full understanding. Jesus was and is “the scapegoat”, sent to take your sins so that you can pass from the death of sin to the everlasting life of renewal in Him.

“The Woman fled into the wilderness”

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What a difference a day makes. A few days, a week or two and the world is vastly different from how it was. Rationing, national lockdowns, schools closed, air travel curtailed and most nations utterly changed from a few weeks ago. For the people of faith, especially those who look to the prophetic future that’s foretold, this is a lot easier to take and to have been prepared for than perhaps for many others.

Recently I wrote an article called “Are we there yet?” which talked about what Scripture says about the times before the return of Jesus. There I went over some of the “signs of the times” (Matthew 16:3) that Jesus Himself mentioned would be apparent before His return.

But even in the short time between when I wrote that and now, things have been changing very fast. Today where I live some major grocery stores have started restricting how many people can be inside the store at one time. There are rationings for many basic staples and the cash register will not allow purchases over a certain amount. This is unprecedented in my lifetime. I think you’d have to go back to World War II in the States to find anything remotely similar to how things are at the moment.

This reminds me of what a friend years ago told me about what he had thought about the Bible, before he got saved. “Just a book for old ladies to cry in,” was his opinion of Scripture. But we know it is so very much more than this. So much more that it has many specific, exact conditions that it predicts will be a part of the world at the end of this age. And that includes economic conditions.

For example, more and more people around the world have become familiar in recent years with the prediction in the book of Revelation that focuses precisely on how shopping for groceries will be in the last years of this age. Speaking of a final demonic world government that will arise at that time, it says that it “causes all, both small and great, rich and poor to receive a mark in their hand or forehead. And that no man will buy or sell unless they have the mark.” (Revelation 13:16 & 17)

Cryptic but clear. Are we there yet? No, not quite. But the technology is already here. I don’t have to tell you how close something like this is now in our times. How simple it will be to implement a cashless society, all connected online and thus able to be controlled in a way unimaginable only a few decades ago. There just has to be an atmosphere, perhaps some international crisis like the present one, to make it easily accepted by the masses.

For the people of faith, this is going to be a major moment of crisis and decision. Because the Bible warns that this “mark of the beast” to come will be utterly Satanic and that the people of God are warned in no uncertain terms not to receive this coming mark that will be enforced in order to buy and sell.

So what will we do? How will we get food and survive? Wonderfully, the same book in the Bible also answers this question, in a somewhat amazing way. I’ll add in the verse, Revelation 12:6, that explains God’s plan and provision for His people in the final days and then examine its meaning. “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.”

That phrase “the woman” is speaking of the saved of God in the final days, the body of Christ out of every nation. The “1260 days” mentioned there equals 3½ years, the period of time of the “great tribulation” (Matthew 24:21) that is referred to in so many places both in the Old and New Testament of the final time before the return of Jesus.

And when something is really important, sometimes God will “sprinkle a little dust on it” to make it have a special shine. That verse, talking about 1260 days, is Revelation 12:6. When originally written in Greek, the verses were not separated like they are now. So this was just one of God’s “little coincidences” that the length of time and the Bible reference were almost identical.

There’s more. Since this provision of our physical welfare that God will have for His people in the final days is so important for us to know about, the Lord even went ahead and said it twice in the same chapter. Here’s where it’s virtually repeated again, in Revelation 12:14: “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”

I like to try to limit these articles to not be too long but there’s a whole lot more to all this. So if you want to know more about “the woman in the wilderness” and how this will play out in the not-too-distant end time, I’ll refer you to an article I wrote almost exactly 5 years ago called “Fleeing into the wilderness… in Bulgaria.” I’d been visiting dear friends in a remote part of Bulgaria and was struck by how it felt like a place that could be a refugee for believers in the future. In that article I go into the particulars of “the woman in the wilderness” and God’s world-wide provision for His people in the final days.

And you might also wonder what this thing is about “3½ years” of “Great Tribulation”; where in the world do I get that from? I’ve made a video on this, based on what Jesus of Nazareth said in Matthew 24, as well as the last verse in Daniel chapter 9. That video, called “The Last 7 Years”, can be seen here.

I heard somewhere long ago that there is a Chinese curse that says, “May you live in interesting times.” Well, here we are. I hope you are praying, staying close to the Lord, loving your neighbor and staying in God’s Word. Those things are our only hope in times like these.

Are we there yet?

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Are we there yet? Are we now actually in the very final events just before the second coming of Christ? Some utterly mock that whole concept. But many millions know what Jesus said would happen before His return. I’ve studied these things all my adult life and looked almost daily at “the signs of the times” to try to find where  exactly we are in relation to what Godly prophecy reveals of the final signs before the end of this age.

But I’ve often shied away from getting into “the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:3) when it comes to current events and daily occurrences. So many teachers have gone out on a limb about something, only to find that they’ve prematurely predicting some specific final event in the Word of God which didn’t happen as they’d come to think it would. And they were made fools of while the truths of Bible prophecy were made to look false because of their misguided pronouncements. I made a video about some things like this called “Famous Failures of Prophetic Interpretation.”

However, common sense will tell you that simply because someone has falsely called “Wolf, Wolf!” and been proven wrong, certainly that doesn’t mean there are no such things as wolves. And if you know the end of that little story, eventually there did turn up a wolf when the people had come to no longer believe because of the false cries of “Wolf!” that they’d heard for so long. And the wolf had his way because the people, calloused and hardened in unbelief, didn’t take heed when the real wolf appeared among them.

Are we there yet? Where are we? In the videos I’ve done on this subject, mainly based around the prophecies of Daniel, I’ve tried to keep to the most explicit, definite things that Scripture points out will happen in the last years of this age.

Personally, one of the things that I watch most closely is the possible rebuilding of a Jewish temple in Jerusalem , “the third temple” as it’s called. I believe that a temple like that, and subsequent animal sacrifices there, will be one of the most significant and definite signs that the final months and years before the second coming of Christ will have definitely started.

And you ask, “How’s it going with that?” Well, it’s surprisingly very far along. You could do a Google search on “The third temple” or “The Temple Institute” to discover how much work has already been done towards this in modern Israel. There are even reports of some who’ve begun to offer animal sacrifices again there. However, I don’t think that it’s yet fulfilled what is spoken about this in Scripture.

But now there are also many other things. Jesus told His disciples, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations. Then shall the end come.” (Matthew 24:14) Certainly for 18 or 19 centuries that verse had not been fulfilled. Just as certainly, now in the last 30 to 100 years it has been.

And other verses about the final days are also becoming more and more relevant. Jesus said, “There shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places” (Mathew 24:7). The problem I’ve always had with these verses is that it’s very easy for skeptics to just say, “Yes, but that has always been happening”. And of course in some ways they’re right.

It’s just that in our times, right now, there really are a lot of things going on. It remains to be seen how this current crisis with the Corona virus will go. Some say it will all just blow over and we’ll go back to business as usual. But many in the scientific community are saying that it’s just about time to call it a worldwide pandemic and to prepare accordingly. Already, at the time of the writing of this, substantial changes are happening daily in the economies of nations around the world in response to the Corona virus.

It was just a few weeks or months ago that Australia experienced the worst fires they’ve ever had. At the same time, the unprecedented melting of the permafrost in the Arctic religions is releasing huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, contributing to the climate change that is already a major concern of much of the world.

As you know, I could go on. It is common knowledge that here in America the country is as politically and socially divided as it has been since the Civil War over 160 years ago. Another concern that many parents are only now coming to realize is that there are agendas being relentlessly pursued in most Western nations now to make mandatory indoctrination of elementary school children in the most explicate elements of the “gay” perception of sexuality to be something that parents’ of these children have no legal rights to oppose. This gets almost no news coverage but it is pervasive everywhere and ongoing.

This would also tend to fulfill another of the things that Jesus pointed out would be a sign of His imminent return, “As the days of Lot, so shall also the coming of the son of Man be. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:28 & 29) So it would seem that elements of Sodom and Gomorrah are also predicted by the Lord to be a part of the spirit of the times, just before His return.

And to go back to my original question, “Are we there yet?” Recent events have caused me to look again at how I’ve been viewing these things. I’ve always expected that there would need to be some kind of major international economic/social crash or war to bring on conditions that would be ripe for the final days of the endtime. But there are just many increasing earmarks on every side that certainly look like the things I was expecting to see many years ago. It all very much bears watching closely, as well as being prepared for, both spiritually as well as physically.

Red Cards

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There are a lot of red cards flying around nowadays and most people are scared to death of them. “Oh my God! I’m a what?! No! No, I am not!” Somebody just red-carded you. It’s a tremendous way to control others and 99% of us will back down and draw back instantly if anyone throws a red card at us.

What am I talking about? I have to be careful with this since it’s no laughing matter. So I’m trying to find some example to use which won’t immediate get me in hot water with many people or even have a law suit filed against me, Facebook ban me and “the cancel culture” mark me for extinction.

Let’s try this one. Let’s say you make some kind of light hearted, spontaneous, off-hand joke about your mother or wife, your sister or girl friend. Someone immediately frowns vehemently and, shaking their finger at you, says forebodingly, “That’s sexist!” You’ve been red carded.

Your only appropriate reaction at that moment which stands any change of getting you out of this is to immediately apologize abjectly, with approbation and utter remorse, with the hope that further prosecution and censure will not come from your accuser. “Sexist” is one of many red cards that are bandied about in our times. And most people know they better not mess with them or it may be their doom and end.

You get the idea? Are maybe now other “red cards” coming to mind for you that are similar to “sexist”? (And I really better add this part as it’s really important.) No, I certainly don’t mean to belittle the mistake/crime/sin/wrongdoing that is genuine sexist behavior or language. I’m old enough to remember actual commercials where they were selling something on TV and they literally said, “So simple, even mother can use it!” And they meant it. If anyone sees that now, they cringe at how blatantly sexist and demeaning it was of women.

Same with “racist”. John Wayne movies from when I was a kid had white cowboys galloping through Native American villages, firing their rifles indiscriminately as indigenous women and children were seen running from the mounted white men. But the white men were depicted as the good guys. The TV of my youth is now recognized as, at times, overtly sickeningly racist. If you want to read about my racist past, you can read “Raised Racist” And “Raised Racist part 2”. So there certainly is racism, there is sexism too along with a bunch of other things that there are powerful, fearful red cards fly about now a days.

The only thing is, those wielding the red cards have tapped into the power in their hands and have been able to use them to do some very successful social engineering themselves. Folks, this stuff is so potent that I hesitate to even mention some of the more powerful red cards that are the most feared in our times. Seriously, you don’t even mention these things except with the utmost respect and utter reverence.

Dare I? Dare I go any further with this? I will tip-toe. I lived in Eastern Europe off and on for years as a missionary. In some of those countries (God bless ‘em, I love them), the recognized state religion of the country is not one of the main ones in the USA, although they are Christian. And anyone who was not a part of the main religion of the state and country was considered to be in a …uhh…umm…cult. So when I was living there in the 90’s, the then President of the United States was deemed to be a cult member, a Baptist, as were many millions of American Christians. So it sort of gets complicated.

It’s like another fearsome, powerful red card word, not the most powerful but certainly up there in rank: terrorist. Having lived in over 50 countries, I’ve come to experience how a “terrorist” as seen in one country is a “freedom fighter” in another. And I’m not talking about the views of some rogue state. I’m talking about the difference between how people in the USA look at things compared to our closest allies in Europe.

Friends, I’m treading lightly. But hopefully you get the idea. Some words in our times have come to take on an extremely powerful aura of social censure. Everyone has been conditioned to an instant, knee-jerk, Pavlovian reaction if you are red carded with those words, so you’ll willingly fall in line with the socialization that’s imposed on all of us through the use of the red cards.

Is it good? Well, first, the  genuine, germane reality of sexism, racism, terrorism, cults [and a few other similar red cards that I am myself too fearful of to even mention] are in their real sense bad, things which should be opposed. But the frivolous use of red cards to herd us all into submission to current agendas of the extremely right or left, transgenderism, foreign powers or main stream banality should be opposed somehow, no matter how powerfully they have become. And they have become powerful indeed, both in the fear and dread they strike in almost every soul, as well as often the legal framework they have backing them up which, as the Bible says, “makes a man an offender for a word.” (Isaiah 29:21)

It’s just really gone too far. Try to recognize the red cards of our times for what they are. One of the signs of the final days are “false accusers in the last days” (II Tim. 3:3). They devil is “the accuser of the saints” (Rev. 12:10) and wants to try to accuse you of things you are not guilty of in order to keep you in submission to his agenda. Don’t let it happen to you. “I will walk at liberty, because I seek Your commandments.” (Psalms 119:145)

Turkish Daniel 7 video: “Daniel Kitabı Bölüm 7”

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I’ve been able to complete the Turkish version of the video on the book of Daniel chapter 7. Daniel 7 is the Old Testament chapter that most thoroughly prepares us for the book of Revelation. The imagery, information, characters and timing found in Daniel 7 are all seen more fully in Revelation. I believe much of Daniel 7 has been fulfilled. But the parts Daniel himself was most desirous to know about are for the endtime soon to come. Here is the link to the video:

Should Christians be passive?

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There is a time for believers to do more than fold their hands and pray. There is a time for that, certainly. But, equally, there’s a time to take action in the real world, to put feet to your prayers and deeds to your faith.

Part of the crippling weakness of so many people of faith currently is that they’ve been conditioned to believe that there’s very little they should do besides pray. Of course, prayer is vitally important, essential, necessary and even required.

But nowadays it just escapes many believers that there would be any more than prayer that God would want from us. I could cite innumerable examples from the Word of God where believers were commanded to take action in real time to do God’s will in this world.

In one situation even, some people were praying when the Lord spoke, asking them why they were praying when there was sin to be confronted. “And the Lord said, ‘Get up, why do you lie there upon your face? Israel has sinned.” (Joshua 7:10)

Probably most believers know (if they know much about the Bible) that it’s full of commandments to action, not just prayer. “Go into all the world.” “Roll away the stone.” “Teach all nations”. “Visit the fatherless and widows.” And on and on it goes.

So why doesn’t that resonate with believers today? Why is prayer all they think they can and should do? Are they lazy? Fearful? Complacent? Do they think that all the admonitions through the centuries to Godly activism are now all in the past? Do they think, “All we need to do today is be good citizens, acquire wealth and after that give a little to charity and missions” ? No, we should just pray and “Trust the Lord”. “The Lord knows”, I’m often told.What a sad delusion and compromisers’ limbo has the vast majority of modern nominal Christianity fallen into.

Most of us have heard of “The Salvation Army” and many people, Christian or not, respect the work they do with homeless people and the dregs of society in our times. But few know that in the late 1800’s Salvation Army workers were being killed on the streets of Europe, martyred for the work they were doing at that time. What were they doing? Well, for one, they were some of the most adamant and extremist folks there were when it came to fighting against the greatest plague on society of that time, the demon of drink.

One of the most famous Christian fighters of those times against drinking was Carrie Nation, a 6 foot tall woman who became famous for walking into bars in the US in the late 1800’s with a hatchet (!) which she used with vigor to do all the damage she could as frightened patrons and bartenders looked on.

Don’t laugh. Yes, alcohol in our time has been far eclipsed by a host of seemingly worse things, cocaine for decades and now the opioids crisis. But back in the 1890’s, alcohol ruined countless families and was the bane and scourge of generations, rather like it is still in parts of eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union to this day.

Did the Salvation Army offer “thoughts and prayers” back then? I’m sure they did. But the Christian activists of those times who went into bars and starting destroying the places are perhaps reminiscent of Jesus going into the temple in Jerusalem with a whip. Seems to be a pretty good example there of the Lord Himself getting active against a prevailing evil of His time when He was here on earth.

And certainly it can be mentioned with this that the Civil Rights movement in the southern USA in the 1960’s was frequently led by ordained ministers, black and white. These ones came to feel that simply praying against the racism and injustice that had prevailed for so long was just not all that the Lord wanted them to do. There is no greater example of that than Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer could be mentioned, one of the most famous modern martyrs who stood up against the Nazis in World War II and was killed by them shortly before the end of the war. Ordained minister and theologian, Bonhoeffer choose to speak and act with passion against the Nazi regime, becoming well known in the 1930’s for his opposition to the doctrines and actions of the Nazis.

If there is anything Jesus wasn’t, He wasn’t passive. And He didn’t command His disciples to be passive. But maybe it’s like Paul said in one place, “To will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.” (Romans 7:18) We do want to be led of the Lord in what we are doing, not just do a bunch of feverish good works and helping needy causes of which there are so many. “But wisdom is profitable to direct”. (Ecclesiastes 10:10)

I guess sometimes it’s like the saying, “The boat has to be in motion for the rudder to take effect.” There seems to be a paucity of Christians really willing and ready to get “in motion”, to stand up like the Salvation Army, Martin Luther King and Dietrich Bonhoeffer did, at the forefront of the moral and spiritual crises that are also now everywhere in our times.

And to bring this all back home, I personally am facing some of these things right now. I’m looking to the Lord about things going on in my part of the world, appalling, infuriating things that are beyond the political and are fully into the spiritual sphere, which need spiritual warriors to confront and expose what’s happening. Or so it seems to me. I’ll try to keep you updating as I look to the Lord about what my reaction and actions should be in the next months. God bless you and God help us all.