Life After Death . . .

It’s been over thirty years ago that, while attending a two-week course in Irvine, California, I was privileged to attend services Calvary Chapel Irvine. Pastor Chuck Smith founded Calvary and served there as head pastor. Pastor Smith had the ability to draw an audience into a sermon taking them to places they’d never have imagined. I recall part of one of his sermons in which he spoke about Heaven. He illustrated Heaven as if it were Earth, divided up giving each person a share of land, which he calculated to be three acres. He said things like there won’t be plumbing in the house, because things will be perfect. What I have remembered about Pastor Smith’s sermon is that even if Heaven looked anything like Earth, it is very different. Perfect, for one thing. The physical presence of our Lord Y’shuaJesus is the most significant difference. And after our physical deaths, we who are saved though faith in Y’shuaJesus will experience Heaven as life in the presence of G-d.

There’s another kind of life after death. And we who are marked, having our names engraved in the Book of Life, are experiencing it right now. This life began when we responded to the call of the LORD. For our response was one of dying to our flesh and receiving a new life of the Spirit.

. . .now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. Romans 7:6.

From the time the Law was given to us on Mount Sinai, until the Cross, we were bound by the written Law. We were not certain of our afterlife. We were certain only of the overwhelming guilt that didn’t seem to come clean even with the sacrifices. We thought if G-d told us what we were to do, we could do it. Like children, we said, in effect, “I’ll be good, Father.” But we couldn’t. We needed something more. It took the Blood of Y’shuaJesus to wipe away the guilt and shame, to pay the price we simply couldn’t pay. We have now the Spirit, and the Law is written upon our hearts. We are saved. We are Genuine. We are Authentic.

Sure, we’ve from time to time fallen back into the flesh, into some sin or other. But we don’t stay in it. We see it for what it is, and move away from it. Things aren’t rigid anymore. There’s flexibility. We don’t have to fit into a mould, fit into a small rigid box. We are free to walk in the way the Spirit guides us. Free from condemnation.

This way of walking didn’t come easy for me. Call it legalism. It doesn’t have to be enforced by a church; it can be self-imposed. I must do this, or that, or . . . But I don’t have to be that way. That’s the freedom we have in Messiah. The freedom we have in the Spirit. It means we can serve G-d in a way that’s uniquely tailored to our personalities, our gifts, our talents.

There are time, however, in which we are called to stretch ourselves out of the comfortable, into other paths. We are promised, however, the Lord’s Lamp to guide our feet, His Light to guide our paths.

These were the potters, and those that dwelt among plants and hedges: there they dwelt with the king for his work. 1 Chron 4:23.

C.H. Spurgeon in Morning and Evening (June 03) uses this scripture to speak about service to Christ that is less than glamorous. He mentions that some are called to live in the country and not the city, as they might prefer.

I am reminded of the fellow in SLO with whom I once discussed St. Francis of Assisi. He said he was so very suited to be in a monastery but a friend said he could, and should, “make the world his monastery.” His life could be spent not doing what is comfortable for him, but what is not within his comfort zone.

For me, it’s helpful to know that the Lord won’t let us bite off more than we can chew. I’m a county boy at heart. I long for the wide-open range, the mountains, a long stretch of barren beach. A small town is okay, too. As I’ve said before, I’ve little use for cities. But, then here I am, a stone’s throw from Atlanta, Georgia. And I’ve accepted that it is this way for the moment. Praise the Lord, for when I am up to my neck in too much city, the Lord allows me to find times of refreshing, both physical and emotional/mental, with Him.

Responding the Gospel

Beginning with a discussion of what many see as dangerous times ahead for Christians after the
U. S. Presidential Elections this fall, I talked about the Festival in celebration of the giving of the Ten Commandments, took a look at the Salvation of Y’shuaJesus and Street Evangelism and receiving Messiah. It seemed a bit disjointed, but I shared concerns over the rising conflict and lack of peace that is occurring in America and has been ongoing in many parts of the world.

Rounding it out is the way we respond to situations that affect us. For instance, in some of the videos on YouTube, Street Evangelists evoked responses from an audience that became bitter, angry, and often threatening. I’ve heard that people are tired of the Gospel being used to beat them on the head. This reminds me of a farmer and his grandson. The boy was trying to get a mule to move. He was pulling hard on a lead and yelling at the mule, and getting no response at all. Finally, the old man intervened. “Gentle, Grandson,” the old man said, “on must gentle and speak softly to this fellow.” The boy looked a the old man, and the old man nodded. “Let me show you.” So Grandpa picked up a stick and hit the mule hard on top of his head, then leaned down, stroked his ears, and spoke softly. He then gently grasped the rope and walked with the mule following. “Grandpa,” the boy said, “why did you hit him when you said to be gentle and speak softly?” The old man sighed deeply. “Grandson, we need to get his attention first.”

Messiah Y’shuaJesus never beat anyone on the head, though many may have felt as though he did. What he did was elicit responses from people, some who bowed down, others who picked up rocks. Luke reports how the disciples responded Sunday morning after Friday afternoon’s crucifixion of the Lord.

[Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and other women] went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Luke 24:1-9

The absence of the body of Y’shuaJesus at first “perplexed” the women. When they saw two men in dazzling apparel, they were frightened, and then bowed their faces to the ground. It only took a Word from the two angels to remind the women of what Y’shuaJesus has said. The women returned to where the disciples of Messiah gathered and received mixed responses. Some of the disciples said the women’s story was an “old wive’s tale.” Peter, though, headed out to check out the situation for himself. What Peter saw made him return home, marveling about it all. Two of the disciples left Jerusalem walking west down an old Roman road west to their village, which we now call Emmaus. They ran into a fellow who “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Himself being the Lord Y’shuaJesus whom the disciples didn’t recognize until, in their home, the Lord broke bread. Then the disciples realized to Whom they’d been talking, just as the Lord left. “They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures.’ ” [Luke 24:13-25]

The Lord appeared to the Apostles, who at first were startled then frightened. While still disbelieving, Lord Y’shuaJesus showed his wounds, asked for food, and when they came to there senses,

He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. Luke 24:46-49

In the Gospel of John, we learn that Thomas was not with the other Apostles at that encounter. When told of it, Thomas responded, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.” [John 20:25] When the Lord did appear to Thomas, He said, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” To which Thomas responded, “My Lord and my God!” [John 20:28]

Look, you can see by these few examples the variety of ways in which people respond to the call of the Lord. There are so many other examples. The Lord knows what is needed for each to come to repentance and find his or her salvation in the Lord Y’shuaJesus. Apostle Paul described out place in the process of another’s salvation this way:

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. 1 Corinth 3:5-9.

Peace On Earth. . .

There’s a scene from some movie that just popped itself into my mind. There’s an angry man spouting off about something, and another man says to him, “Ah, does someone need a hug?” Anger isn’t exactly an emotion; rather it attempts to cover an emotion. And a hug from “Mom” can go a long way to rid one of anger, expose the underlying emotion, and sooth it. Unless, that is, that a person has a problem with Mom. Dr. Sigmund Freud was hung up on “Mom” and sex, and peoples Oedipus-like desires to have sex with their moms and kill there fathers. He thought that while we were still babies our fantasies centered around having Mom all to our selves and not letting Dad near her. It didn’t work too well, and some people never got over it all. They grow up to find other ways to get even with their moms and dads.

So with 300 million people living in America and a social media that puts everyone in everyone else’s face all the time, feathers are going to be ruffled as we play out our Oedipus fantasies on each other. People have their underlying emotions stirred, that then surge, and the result is that angry words spew forth. People discover there are other people that feel the same way, and they gather together to protest someone they feel has offended them. Lately it’s been presidential candidates who’ve modeled the use of verbal assault weapons, and become the object of protests. Conflict. And the television/internet media gets to watch, film, and report all of it to an eager audience, perpetuating the cycle of conflict.

Why can’t people just get along? Why isn’t there peace on Earth?

Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. [Jesus said]
— Matthew 10:34

Why? Why does it seem there needs to be conflict? In a writing class, I was once instructed on the use of conflict and resolution. In a story the author allows conflict to drive the story along. building a certain tension. At some point the author must allow the reader to feel resolution, too. There must be some form of resolution after conflict has built or the reader will feel let down.

Just as conflict drive an author’s story, so does it drive our lives. But conflict is only useful if we are able to find a resolution to the conflict. A solution. An answer. Conflict drives us to look for answers.

On the back of a Jeep was a bumper sticker that summed this issue up well. It read:

Jesus is the Answer. Now, What was the Question?

Receiving the Messiah

Yesterday I waded through lists Street Preaching videos uploaded to YouTube. Among them were videos by people who scolded or harassed Street Preachers, videos of Street Preachers being attacked, videos of Street Preachers being arrested, and quite a few by Street Preachers doing their thing. I even watched a few minutes of about twenty videos.

In addition to those videos, there were instructional videos on Street Preaching as well as a video of a conference on Street Preaching. The instructional videos mostly were just more videos of guys wearing flashy “Jesus” tee-shirts and yelling to crowds of angry people. A few were videos of talking heads discussing Street Preaching. The first part of the video taken at an Atlanta Street Preachers’ Conference was about a portable megaphone system for screaming at people, confronting them.

It became clear early on as I reviewed those available videos that this form of evangelistic effort was not my thing, not my style. I don’t feel called to stand in a city screaming into a microphone at people. What, to me, was disturbing, is that these Street Preachers seemed content more to threaten people with Hell, than invite people to Heaven. Perhaps that’s a calling for them. Perhaps that’s a way to offer the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Y’shuaJesus The Messiah, to a stiff-necked, nearly reprobate people. I don’t wish to seem judgmental. All who are called use their talents their own ways to fulfill the calling.

God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.
—Romans 2:4

But there are some other effective ways for the rest of us to Street Preach. A woman once told me her story. “I was in terrible shape. I didn’t know what to do. I was using drugs, living with two men, and on the very edge. . . dying inside. I was in a laundromat when a woman approached me and said, ‘God Loves You!’ ” For her, that was enough to bring things into perspective. In the midst of sin, she heard the voice of the Living G-d speak through a woman the equivalent of “I LOVE YOU!” That was all she needed to start the process of receiving Messiah Y’shuaJesus into her heart and then allowing Him to extricate her from her sin.

Now don’t get me wrong here. While Y’shuaJesus extended His hand to a woman about to be stoned for adultery, He also was clear about sinning no more. He healed people out of love from them, and still does. But Y’shuaJesus loved the Father so much He drove sinners out of the Temple. He screamed at people, calling them vipers. We can’t cite just one incident in the life of Y’shuaJesus and see it as the only way He modeled Himself for us. We must take hold Y’shuaJesus in His entirety.

So I’m not particularly comfortable with the style of Street Preaching that screams to crouds at a “Gay Festival,” things like “God hates homosexuality. It is a sin. Repent or go to hell.” But the Street Preacher is right. And those who hear the words can’t come to the judgement seat of Christ saying “Hey, we didn’t know!”

Another thing I’ll say about this form of Street Preaching is that at least those folks are actually doing something. How many people warm pews on Sunday, live their quiet lives the following week, and return to warm a pew the next Sunday? And there are many like me who say, “I’m not comfortable with that style of preaching, witnessing.” Time to raise our hands to G-d, and say, “What can I do?”

That brings to mind a song in which the refrain is something like, “We can at least pray!” That is truth. If there is nothing that we seem talented enough to do, or nothing that we truly feel comfortable doing to help save the lost, the eternally dying, then at least we can pray.

I read about a man in Wales, around the turn of the Century—19th to 20th Century. This man became the preacher of a small church. He wasn’t exactly the preacher-of-the-year sort, either. A bit weak and timid. But two older, stronger women began to pray for that young pastor. I don’t recall how long it took, but the great Welsh Revival was spawned through those two women and that pastor. That Revival spread throughout Wales, and proceeded by several years the Azuza Street Revival in the United States.

And the preacher says, “Let Us Pray!”

Salvation and the Sinner’s Prayer

Lone Cross atop a mountain in east central California, hope of a sunny day breaking through. c Will Robinson. 1975.

There is a lot we need to understand about ourselves, and about G-d and His plan for all people, in order to become Genuine Christians. To this end, when reaching out to people with the Gospel, refer to four spiritual laws before offering to have folks pray the Sinner’s Prayer. I’ve included the text from a tract below that explains these laws and contains a version of the Sinner’s Prayer.

There are times in which G-d has sown the seeds of need within peoples hearts, and they simply need immediate peace though receiving the Lord Jesus. Hence, they’re often offered a hand and prayed with to receive Christ. I’ve included another version of the Sinner’s Pray toward the end of this column.

It seems to me G-d is not limited in the way in which He finds and saves the lost. Luke tells of a criminal, a sinner, dying on a cross next to our Lord Y’shuaJesus.

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise. Luke 23:39-43.

The Four Spiritual Laws and Sinner’s Prayer

Law 1

God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.

God’s Love

“God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NIV).

God’s Plan

[Christ speaking] “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly”

[that it might be full and meaningful] (John 10:10).

Why is it that most people are not experiencing that abundant life?

Because…

Law 2

Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God’s love and plan for his life.

Man is Sinful

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Man was created to have fellowship with God; but, because of his own stubborn self-will, he chose to go his own independent way and fellowship with God was broken. This self-will, characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference, is an evidence of what the Bible calls sin.

Man Is Separated

“The wages of sin is death” [spiritual separation from God] (Romans 6:23).

Separation

This diagram illustrates that God is holy and man is sinful. A great gulf separates the two. The arrows illustrate that man is continually trying to reach God and the abundant life through his own efforts, such as a good life, philosophy, or religion -but he inevitably fails.

The third law explains the only way to bridge this gulf…

Law 3

Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin. Through Him you can know and experience God’s love and plan for your life.

He Died In Our Place

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

He Rose from the Dead

“Christ died for our sins… He was buried… He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures… He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).

He Is the Only Way to God

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me'” (John 14:6).

Bridge The Gulf

This diagram illustrates that God has bridged the gulf that separates us from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sins.

It is not enough just to know these three laws…

Law 4

We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God’s love and plan for our lives.

We Must Receive Christ

“As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12).

We Receive Christ Through Faith

“By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as result of works that no one should boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).

When We Receive Christ, We Experience a New Birth

(Read John 3:1-8.)

We Receive Christ Through Personal Invitation

[Christ speaking] “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him” (Revelation 3:20).

Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us what He wants us to be. Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. We receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will.

The following explains how you can receive Christ:

You Can Receive Christ Right Now by Faith Through Prayer (Prayer is talking with God)

God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The following is a suggested prayer:

Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? If it does, I invite you to pray this prayer right now, and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.

(from CRU store)

Sinner’s Pray, another version

Father, in Jesus Name I ask you the best way I know how that you forgive my sins and take my life and direct it, lead it, and guide it, all the days of my life. I want to know You Lord Jesus in a more personal way and to have You help me to grow in Your Word. I believe that You died on the Cross for me and that You were raised from the dead. I confess You Jesus as my Lord and my Savior. Thank You Lord Jesus. Amen.

Celebrate the Ten Commandments

The Feast of Shavuot is celebrated after eagerly counting 49 days from the second day of Passover. So, it has been seven weeks since Passover, and we commemorate the giving of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai beginning the 50th day. Remember 50th day.

“On the 6th Sivan of the year 2448 from creation (1313 BCE), seven weeks after the Exodus, G-d revealed Himself on Mount Sinai. The entire people of Israel (600,000 heads of households and their families), as well as the souls of all future generations of Jews, heard G-d declare the first two of the Ten Commandmentsand witnessed G-d’s communication of the other eight through Moses. Following the revelation, Moses ascended the mountain for 40 days, to receive the remainder of the Torah from G-d.” —Chabad.org (click here)

And God spoke all these words, saying,
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
“You shall not murder.
“You shall not commit adultery.
“You shall not steal.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”
Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
—Exodus 20:1-11

The Christian Church celebrates this Feast as Pentecost, and marks its dates beginning with its Easter celebration counting forward fifty days.

“Pentecost, i. e., “fiftieth”, found only in the New Testament (Acts 2:1; 20:16; 1 Cor. 16:8). The festival so named is first spoken of in Ex. 23:16 as “the feast of harvest,” and again in Ex. 34:22 as “the day of the firstfruits” (Num. 28:26). From the sixteenth of the month of Nisan (the second day of the Passover), seven complete weeks, i. e., forty- nine days, were to be reckoned, and this feast was held on the fiftieth day. The manner in which it was to be kept is described in Lev. 23:15- 19; Num. 28:27- 29. Besides the sacrifices prescribed for the occasion, every one was to bring to the Lord his “tribute of a free- will offering” (Deut. 16:9- 11). The purpose of this feast was to commemorate the completion of the grain harvest. Its distinguishing feature was the offering of “two leavened loaves” made from the new corn of the completed harvest, which, with two lambs, were waved before the Lord as a thank offering.

“The day of Pentecost is noted in the Christian Church as the day on which the Spirit descended upon the apostles, and on which, under Peter’s preaching, so many thousands were converted in Jerusalem (Acts 2).” — Easton’s Bible Dictionary.

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. — Acts 2:1-4

The Feast of Shavuot and Pentecost are one in the same. When G-d gave the Torah to His people on Mount Sinai, it foreshadowed the Giving of His Spirit in the Upper Room in Jerusalem about 1330 years later. On Mount Sinai, the Law was given to G-d’s Chosen. In Jerusalem, the Law was placed within G-d’s chosen. It has often struck me that we can cry out to our Father in Heaven, saying something like “Just tell me what You want me to do!” and walk away unable to do it. We need more. G-d knew it from the beginning, but He, in His wisdom, allowed us to discover our need. So now, G-d invests Himself in us, that we may live out His commandment, His Laws. G-d writes His Torah on our hearts.

U.S. Elections Results may be Dangerous for Christians Worldwide

I read Dr. Dobson’s article on “What’s at stake” [Please read it for yourself.] for the election when it was first published. I took a look at the article again yesterday evening, and it’s as relevant today as it was three months ago. I particularly enjoyed the way Dr. Dobson takes a look at the various turning points throughout America’s history that puts us all in the position of being “ruled” by a handful of . . . men. . . men who I see as liberal/socialist judges that aren’t even elected by the American people. The action the Supreme Court, and many Federal Courts is seriously unConstitutional.

And just as true is Dr. Dobson’s closing remark, “I’ll say it again. We can’t afford a mistake this time around. There is just too much at risk. Our great nation is in serious danger.“ While much can, and most likely will, happen between now and the election, I have grave concerns about any candidate that will be put on the ballet this November. At this time, it appears that Mr. Donald Trump and Madame Hillary Clinton will be the prime contenders. I suppose a vote for Mr. Trump could be considered a vote against Ms. Clinton. But will Mr. Trump act, even unknowingly, in G-d’s interest as did non-Jewish kings whose actions are recorded in the Bible? Will Mr. Trump actually be able thwart America’s slide toward oblivion? I am not hopeful. Has a modern Abraham cried out to G-d to search for enough True Christians to prevent destruction? Will G-d, not finding the required number of True and Genuine Believers, allow the Islamic State to further its invasion, intensify its destruction? Even now, borders are constantly being crossed, countries invaded, by those who would contribute to a slaughter of Christians given the opportunity.

Some time ago I shared The Rev. David Wilkerson’s warning to America. In his conclusion, he suggested preparing a food supply for the times of disaster he believed will come to America. It can’t hurt have a well-stocked pantry for the use of our family and to help other Genuine Christians in the Church.

The Men of Sodom were Wicked

Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord. Genesis 13:12

USA-GA-Atlanta-RandySanford1 — Atlanta, Photo by Randy Sanford

Cities, in my thinking, are just plain wrong. Abraham choose to settle in the land of Canaan, while Lot choose to settle near the city of Sodom. Eventually, Lot moved right into the city. A N D look what happened to him. A N D look what the Lord did to the city.

Nope. Humans were made for gardens, wide open spaces, even the vast deserts. Out in Death Valley, there is a military post, Fort Irwin, which has become important for troops preparing to depart for the Middle East. When I trained there many years ago there was a landing field called Bicycle Lake. Every year it flooded and became an actual lake, though very shallow. And just after the rain came the brine shrimp. They hatched. They lived. They reproduced. Then as water soon receded, they died. Wild flowers followed. The damp sand activated seeds that immediately sprouted. The plants grew and bloomed. The flowers dropped seeds. Eventually the flowers dried and fertilized the area beneath them, where the seeds remained until the next rain. Who’d have thought of such an incredible garden in the desert. There just isn’t anywhere on Earth that those who have eyes to see can call a “G-d forsaken” place. Unless it’s a city. A city like Sodom.

There’s nothing to argue about when you say that there are such beautiful buildings. When you travel to London, the sites include St. Paul’s, the Tower of London, Big Ben. When in 1962 the London Bridge was falling down, it was taken to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, for tourist trade. The thing that the cities have in common, including their beautiful buildings, is that they’re all creations of mankind. When we get too many man-made things in one place, I think we suppress the G-d-made wonders. When we forget G-d, we separate ourselves and fall err to pride and all the related sins.

Sure, there are some gardens in cities. New York’s Central Park comes to mind. I’ve not been there. I don’t have any desire to go there. I’ve heard about the bad things that happen there. I don’t have any desire to experience it. I’d rather spend a day on the lake, with the wind behind the sail, the sun warming my head. I’d rather look at the trees along the shore and the hills that surround the lake. I’d rather anchor near an island and enjoy the quiet, the peace, surrounded by things that G-d made.

There’s an exception, of course. Jerusalem. G-d had it in His mind long before it was settled. And G-d was part of the initial settling of Jerusalem. It’s rich in history, memories of past times, some good and some bad, seem to ooze from the stones of the Via Dela Rosa. And the Western Wall of the Temple is sacred. There’s a small road leading down out of the city. Old Roman stones are still seen here and there. Walking along the road, one can hear among the trees and rocks the whispering of its story; day after day for two thousand years the story has been told over and over.

. . .two of them [Apostles] were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. Luke 24:13-35.

Perhaps the problem with modern cities is that the sacred is not there, never was. And even most of the ancient cities that remain have lost too much of the sacredness that G-d seems not to be there.

If. . .

if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
(1 Peter 2:3)

Charles Spurgeon, in Morning and Evening, wrote:

“If:—then, this is not a matter to be taken for granted concerning every one of the human race.

“If:—then there is a possibility and a probability that some may not have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

“If:—then this is not a general but a special mercy; and it is needful to enquire whether we know the grace of God by inward experience. There is no spiritual favour which may not be a matter for heart-searching.”

In his commentary, Matthew Henry wrote:

“All true believers are a holy priesthood; sacred to God, serviceable to others, endowed with heavenly gifts and graces. But the most spiritual sacrifices of the best in prayer and praise are not acceptable, except through Jesus Christ.”

True Believers. These are the ones whose names are written in the Book of Life. These are the ones who receive the Mark of G-d upon them. These are the ones who will die rather than receive the Mark of the Beast.

Pastor J. Glyn Owen, in a sermon, spoke on John’s epistle and the characteristics of a what he called the “Genuine Christain.” These are:

1. Obedience;
2. Love for the Children of G-d;
3. Belief/faith. (Belief in the Oneness of the Father and The Son.)

“Whats it all about Alfie,” Barbara Streisand once sung, “Is it just for the moment we live?”

As “Genuine Christians” we live in this moment in time, and we also live in an eternal moment with Y’shuaJesus. We must, like the Israelis in the desert (Joshua 24:14.15), declare:

But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!

So not going to read the news before bed

I am SO not going to read the news in the evening again. I read an article about the President of the United States sending letters to all schools encouraging school administration to allow students to freely choose which bathroom they want to use.

The Profound Unfairness of the Baltimore Riots - The Daily Banter — Baltimore Riots – The Daily Banter

So, anyway, I had a couple dreams during the night. In one I dreamt that somebody shot the Angel G-d assigned to maintain order upon Earth. I saw people in the streets laughing and rejoicing that the restraints were lifted. Cars came to a stop in the middle of the streets and people got out and started rioting. It was happening all over the world.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Romans 1:28-32

The dream was not a nightmare; there was no fear that I felt. I only experienced sadness. Not even shock. Just sadness. It’s been nearly eight years since I felt in the Spirit that G-d was beginning to gather His own. An Ingathering. A Spiritual gathering of people who would praise and worship and pray, linked together in the Spirit. And in Revelation an Angel of G-d travels the Earth marking the People of G-d. This comes before the antichrist calls for all people to be marked with the mark of the beast. There is a division happening. Over the past eight years so much has happened. Preachers and Christians are coming out of the woodwork, declaring their allegiance to ideas never before associated with Bible-believing people. They are in the physical Christian church but are not Christian in their belief. Now they begin to articulate a false view in public. There truly is a falling away of Biblical Christian viewpoint, of True Christian belief. And those espousing non-Christian ways remain in the shambles of the Physical Church, taking it over, making it their own. A coup.

It’s as if for the past six-thousand years the Spirit of G-d has maintained a certain order on Earth. An order that limited chaos. Limited evil. Not totally supressing it, but limiting how far it could go. But now. . . evil is beginning to take center stage. Evil is consuming the people of Earth. There seems no limit to what people will do, what people will support others doing. The Earth dances at the edge of decadence, ready to take the plunge, ignoring the Dante’s sign warning: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”

But for those who marked by G-d, whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, we are taught by the Apostle Paul that:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 31-39