For the love of God; have we forgotten Him?

When Alexander Solzhenitsyn was a young boy, he would often hear form the elders in his community why Russia had fallen to the Bolsheviks, and Soviet Communism had taken over.
"We had forgotten God" was the comment he heard over and over.

Today, in the United States whe have a huge division.  The coastal states against the central states seem to be the dividing lines.  On the coasts, we have nearly godless societies where roughly 10% of the population goes to a church regularly, and less than 20% in some instances believe in God.  These people believe that man can solve all their problems and we just need to work as one big collective society for the betterment of all.  Just like Solzhenitsyn's Soviet Russia believed.  And if you are against these people once they are in power, they will declare you to be an enemy of the state (aka racist, homophobic, intolerant, etc.) and you need to be re-educated, or executed.  OK, so they havn't gone as far as the re-education/ execution yet; but something tells me it will come to this.

The heartland of America is more resistant to this trend, but they too are falling away.  As their Ten Commandment monuments are being removed; by order of the activist judges who are rewriting definitions of laws; people are not reading them anymore and taking them to heart.  Thus, they fall away as well.  The end result will be the end of the United States, ushering in a global, communist  government... just what the globalist elites want.  Then, the prophecies found in the book of Revelation will begin.

Those of us who still read God's word are not surprised when they read that the falling away must take place before Jesus comes (2Thessalonians 2:3).  And when you piece together the signs that Jesus described in Matthew 24, we know that the end is near.  We may not know the day or the hour; but we do know the season, which is rapidly approaching.

So, what should we do?

As a Christian, we should lovingly preach the gospel.  Sure, point out the Ten Commandments, and how you me, everybody on planet earth is guilty of breaking them.  Include yourself, so they don't take it personally.  Discuss how these "sins", these violations of these commandments makes us deserving of the death we all will face.  Then discuss the grace and mercy of God, who sent us His only Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to pay the price for all of our sins, past present and future.  This free gift is for anyone and everyone, because God doesn't want anyone to perish, but for all to have eternal life with Him.   All we have to do is accept this free gift with gratitude.

Know this as well:  most people will reject this gift.  They would rather live their life, their way.  God gave us free will, so we must respect their choice, but not without explaining the consequences of their choice.  We are not to judge them; yet we are to warn them.  Explain to them they have that choice, but if you want to live your life your way, apart from God, God will allow that.  And when eternity comes, that place separated from God is commonly known as Hell.  Now God and I don't want that to happen to you.  That's why I am here to encourage you to repent; to change.  You have until the moment you die to change your mind; be it 50 years or 50 seconds from now.  "Are you sure  you really want to live your life, your way?"

Do this all with an attitude and tone of love.

Why this may be my last post

Ok, so it probably won't be my last post, since no one knows the day or the hour when Jesus will come in the clouds and take His followers out of "the trial that is to come" (Revelation 3:10).

But, since we don't know the day or the hour, I cannot tell you or anyone when the last post will be, or what it will be on.  This rapture may be 25 years from now, or 25 seconds from now.  But we do know the season of His coming.

Matthew 24 is the key to this.  This is Jesus' Olivet Discourse; where He gives His Disciples a description of the events that will be taking place at the time of His coming.

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

7) For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be famines, plagues and earthquakes in various places.

8) All these are the beginning of sorrows.

While many will point out this is part of the Tribulation, and they may be right, I believe the descriptions in Matthew 24 refer to his "meeting us in the clouds" to "catch us up" or rapture His followers home as described in I Corinthians 15:52, or I Thessalonians 4:16-17.

Should this rapture take place anytime soon, I'm ready.  But are you?

I can only speculate that should this rapture I am faithfully insisting will happen does happen, someone may just stumble upon this post.  The rest of this post is for them.

The Bible says you will have a very difficult time from here until they day Jesus returns.  And it will get harder and harder, stranger and stranger each and every day.  Half of the world's population will die.  Half of all life on earth will die off, land and sea.  When will it end?  Roughly 30 days short of seven years from the time a great peace treaty is signed between a new global leader and the nation of Israel.  That is when Jesus is to return, ready to do battle with those against him.  Again, we don't now when it will start, but we will one day know when it will end.

You do not want to be against Jesus.  You want to be against this global leader, who is the anti Christ. 

The AntiChrist will kill you for going against Him, but choosing death instead of following this man is possibly the best way you can be saved from the wrath of God at this point.  It may offer you a way out of the pain and misery that will come with His wrath.  Jesus said "dont fear the one who can take your body, fear the one who can take both body and soul" (Matthew 10:28)

This period of tribulation will last at least seven years until Jesus returns and restores order.  You can count of seven years from the day this AntiChrist signs a treaty with the nation Israel.

Find a bible.  Read the last book, Revelation.  Then, assuming there are cross reference notes in that bible (many bibles have them; some don't) read any place the notes in that bible refer you to.  Then, read the entire bible; from the mindset that everything in that Bible is true; and that the Bible; in spite of it's documentation of many vile, vicious acts caused by one man upon another; is really a love story from God, from the very beginning to the end. A love story that transcends all time and space.    You may not see it that way right now, but if you look at the Bible with that thought in mind, and look past the violence caused when mankind treats one another poorly, and when civilizations rebel against God; you will see a God who has compassion on all who turn their backs on their own way and in so doing, turn their hearts toward God.  

You see, God does love you.  He really does.  He doesn't want you to perish; but instead, He wants you to live forever with Him.  He wants you to love Him.  The trouble is, he can't make you love Him. That is your choice.  And most of the human race is choosing to love anything and everything except God.  I pray you will not be in the majority.

Why you shouldn't look for God in "The Shack"

There is probably not one of us who has either seen the movie The Shack, or read the book, or at the very least, knows of someone who has, and thought The Shack was the best movie or book they have ever read.  Now, while I can believe such a book or film can be entertaining, and insightful; even plant seeds of faith in a non-believer; we have to be able to discern what is truth, and what is fiction.  The Shack is fiction, and dangerous fiction in that while it feels good on the surface, it has some false premises that can damage or even destroy ones relationship with Christ.  Below are just a couple of key points:

• In "The Shack", God the Father Himself comes to the shack...as a woman?  God has always referred to himself as masculine (sorry, ladies; but please stay, with me for a bit longer!) and never in the flesh.  That was Jesus's job, to be God in the flesh.  Jesus walked and talked with us on earth.  God the Father on earth could not be directly viewed by sinful man without dying (Exodus 33:20; Isaiah 6).   What The Shack does is recreate god in man's image; or, in other words, promote idolatry.

• What? No Hell?  The Shack implies through an underlying theme that all of mankind and even Satan and his fallen angels can and will be reconciled to God, enter Heaven, thus eliminate the need for Hell and the Lake of Fire.  Very appealing, but not very biblically Sound.  (Revelation 20:10-15)  Satan will not be let back into the heavenly realm, so he can try to overthrow God again.  Those who choose to reject God and his offer of love will not be forced to repent and be thrown into Heaven, as The Shack suggests.  That's not love, love respects freedom of choice.  (Ladies, you know that guy you had no interest in who kept pursuing you?  Would that be love if he forced you to love him??  God is not just a God of love, but a God of justice as well.

While The Shack can be treated as good, secular fiction, with a lot of biblical truths; one must be careful in regard to the half truths and falsehoods that are laced throughout the book and film.  This story paints a universal message, that all religions lead to God; while Jesus said He is the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6)  So while all religions do lead to God, most lead to a God, sitting on a throne of judgment, seperating himself from those who chose not to have any relationship with Him while they were on earth.  The only place for an eternal human being to go who does not want fellowship with God is the lake of fire; the second death, that truly lasts for eternity.

Christianity is not a religion where you need to appease a god; it's about God's love for us, that He (Christ) died for us (Romans 5:8).  God has done all that needs to be done to reconcile the relationship between mankind and Himself, that will we have left to do is say, "Thank you, Lord Jesus", and spend time with Him; in prayer, in reading His word, the Bible, and sharing this good news with others.

Why does God allow suffering, injustice and oppression on Earth?

In having a conversation with an atheist some time ago, he cited all the reasons why he and others like him refuse to believe in any kind of a deity.  Most of them claim science will eventually be able to prove the universe was not created but evolved, but one of their "evidences" comes from the notion that God cannot be all that powerful; or if He is, he must not be all that good of a god since there are so many injustices in the world, so many diseases, so much oppression, pain, suffering and misery taking place.  A good god should not permit such things to happen.

Those of us in Christ know that God actually permits such evil to exist on the earth.  When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they chose not just to rebel from God, they chose to learn what good and evil truly are.  As a result, we live in a beautiful world that also has earthquakes, tornados, plagues, and a host of maladies the make life difficult at times.  God from the beginning cursed the ground for our sake (Genesis 3:17, NKJV). So we can enjoy the appearance and the fragrance of a rose, while getting pricked by its thorns.  Good and evil.

Albert Einstein described evil as a lack of good.  Just as cold is actually an absence of heat, and darkness is an absence of light.  And if every good thing comes from our creator God, then the absence of God is in effect, pure evil.  The realm of Lucifer, aka Satan.

We as humans get to choose whether or not to do good or evil; to ourselves as well as to one another.  The Bible gives us lessons on how to do good, as well as examples of doing evil.  It also gives consequences; good and bad, for doing either good or evil respectively.  And we get to choose whether or not we follow God's good rules; or our own rules, which by God's standards, are truly evil.

This is what Heaven and Hell are all about.  Heaven is eternity with God; Hell, on the other hand, is eternity separated from God.  And everyone gets to choose where they spend eternity.  In this day and age, that choice is based on one's faith that Jesus Christ is their Lord and King; and because of that, we seek a complete, perfect relationship with Him.  (Prior to Christ, or for those who die without ever hearing this good news, those with the heart that seeks God will find him, and His eternal Salvation (Romans 1:20).)  I believe God's grace will give such a person a place in heaven.  But God will not send anyone to Hell; the individual chooses Hell because he or she wants to avoid having a relationship with God.

How do I know this?  Seriously, I'm not anyone's judge, jury and executioner.  I'm just a messenger; and as such, I may get the message wrong.  Yet, when asked the question, "If there became scientific evidence that removed any and all doubt that God is real, and that Jesus is real; would you become a Christian?", most atheists would either refuse to answer the question or flat out say, "No".  The honest ones who say no would state they like their lifestyle just as it is, and refuse to answer to any higher power.  Others would insist on debating the point further.

The bottom line is, God cannot make any of us love him.  As much as He loves His creation, we as individuals get to choose to love Him back.  And Heaven and Hell are the places we go; based on who we choose to love.

Keeping the Faith, Regardless of Your Politics

So, we have a new president. Not a politician, not a military general, but a wealthy, private citizen.  The kind of person our founding fathers in many ways wanted to have in government.  That private citizen who takes a few years out of his or her career to help guide and manage the affairs of this nation.  Not someone who makes a career out of managing said affairs.

Scary, isn't it?  Donald Trump is no politician.  You know where your views stand with him, be they for or against your .  And he doesn't play political correctness, either.  He'll take that political sacred cow and turn it into a pork chop every chance he gets; so all of us can be assured of being rubbed the wrong way more than once over the next four years.

He's going to tear down many idols we have developed in America.  Idols in the form of bureaucracies that appear to help but only hinder and enslave us.  Idols that create the illusion Governments are our hope and salvation, in place of Jesus.  And when this happens, those who are dependent on the government will have to rely on themselves, their families, and most important, their faith to carry them through.  This kind of strength has proven to help significantly reduce and eliminate many of the addictions so many people of the modern world are struggling with.  So by removing the safety net/ hammock so many depend on - a scary thought, no doubt - many of these formerly dependent people will find their way and become independent.

Please, encourage one another through this.  The country is so divided, half wanting to become more socialistic, the other half wanting to embrace micro-capitalism, the kind of biblical capitalism that encourages every one to enjoy the fruit of their labor, instead of the rich oligarchs who do earn their wealth on their hirelings, often in disproportionate fashion.

Two thousand years ago, another politically incorrect man walked the earth.  Ane while his speech and demeanor was calmer, more gentile, more loving, he did have his moments when he railed on the establishment of His day.  Now, Donald Trump is not Jesus Christ...if anything...he is more like the antichrist.  Then again, anyone who has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God is more like the antichrist, perhaps that is why Jesus said he "would deceive even the elect, if that were possible".

Overall, if God is the one in control (He is!), and he is the one who exhalts those whom He exhalts, and humbles those who He chooses to humble, then He is truly in control, even right now.  So enjoy the roller coaster ride, keep your eyes on the prize of Christ, and occupy until He comes.  And may the One who is able to keep you from the various trials of this life comfort, direct and make your crooked path straight during this challenging season.

Happy New Years resolutions!

My wish for everyone who reads these words to have a wonderful, prosperous 2017.  May all the riches you have increase, and your troubles decrease.  May your faith in Christ's imminent return be boldened, and may you be consoled through the bad times that God is in control, He has big plans for you, and His will will be done.

Of course, with a new year, come our new year's resolutions.  You know, things like eating healthier, exercising more and losing weight, those seem to be the big ones.  Maybe you want to work on being a better employee, a better parent, or a better spouse.  The point is, we make these resolutions, and for whatever reason, all too often we fail within the first few weeks, and we give up.

Give up?  Why???  Is it because the challenge we place upon ourselves is too great, or so daring, that when life gets in the way just a little bit we throw in the towel and quit?  What does this say about any of us who take on a new challenge, pledge or yes; even a resolution; that as soon as we fail in perfection we simply give up!

Most of us reading this are forgiven sinners.  So if we are forgiven in our sins through Christ, why quit in our endeavors to improve our lives, our health and our relationship with others?  Do we give up in our (albeit futile) efforts to refrain from sin all because of one sin?  Of course not!

Several years ago, after a binge session of sinning, I came back to Christ and begged for forgiveness. I knew I had sinned a horrible sin; repeatedly, and while I knew in my mind I was forgiven, my heart continued to wrestle with this.   Until I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me, "Stop it!  Get up, dust yourself off, and get back in the fight!  You are much to valuable to be feeling sorry for yourself and wallowing in pity!!!"

Since then, one of my continuous resolutions is to continue to press on towards the goal.  Sure, I stumble and fall, but I get right back up and keep on going.  And THAT resolution should be the FIRST resolution you take on! This way, when life gets in the way, and you fail at your other resolutions, you have another one in place to get you back on track!

So, get back up, dust yourself off, and get back onto your resolution.  Don't quit, keep pressing onward, upward and forward.  Your life, your health and your relationships are much too important to those around you to give up; including God and Christ!

Oh yea, and one more resolution we should always have?  That is to put Christ first!  It too, gives this whole resolution thing the staying power it needs!