Making notes–on scraps of paper, in the margins of my Bible–is something I’ve been doing for years. I do this even while keeping notebooks of my studies. Most of the time I take from what’s written on these note scraps and rewrite them into the notebook I’m working on at the time. Several months ago when I got to the last page of what was then my current notebook, I had a pile of scraps left over. I gathered up the pile and simply pasted them between pages where they seemed to fit– like a patchwork quilt.

Now these notebooks serve as pre-writing and facilitate thinking before any writing I do, such as postings to JonahzSong. For a couple of months I’ve been having trouble starting a new notebook. In the morning, sitting in the kitchen, bowl of oatmeal and cup of tea, open Bible, an a new notebook, I’d read some passage and get an idea, and then jot it down on a piece of paper. I want to continue the thought before starting the notebook, I tell myself. Day after day I seemed to do the same thing, without continuing the previous days work. I’ve not been able to put together anything resembling coherent notes, nothing to write in the new notebook, and certainly nothing to write for JonahzSong.

It’s a matter of getting started. It’s the “blank-page syndrome.” Once a page gets started, it’s much easier to continue writing; once something’s down on the page, it can be rewritten. It’s a matter of just getting started. So. . .

Along with my studies, and the normal work that occupies much of my daily life, I’ve followed various blogs that try to interpret current events in light of the Bible, especially prophesy in the Bible. A common thread among these websites is that we live in the Last Days, and that current events follow along the lines of Lord Y’shuaJesus’s response to: “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Rev. 24:3) Y’shuaJesus replies to one part of the question only:

See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
                                                 (Rev. 24:4-14)

The first thing out of the mouth of the Lord involves people that lead us astray. The Lord says many will come in His Name, proclaiming to be The Savior. They are going to have the ability to lead people away from the Truth, and into another truth, that isn’t truth at all, but a lie. These false prophets, false messiahs, will make some sort of sense by twisting the scriptures, often using one scripture while ignoring others. They will gather support from both nominal believers, as well as non-believers. They’ll be charismatic. Look at Charles Manson and Jim Jones, just to name two. And while we may think that it is only religious leaders that we need to beware of, look at Adolph Hitler’s rise to power 1930s Germany. He used both political and religious deception to stir up the German people’s unquestioning adoration, which encouraged their support and contribution. Look at the evil Hitler and his followers did to the world.

This year we face grave threats to our practice of true faith, a faith based upon our relationship with G-d through Lord Y’shuaJesus. These threats begin as attractive lures, such as finding purpose in our lives. There is also a desire for revival and we fall err to such experiential stimulation as began in Toronto and shifted to Florida. From the political arena, great strides are being made at influencing our faith. We are inundated with reasons why our traditional faith is no longer valid. And some of our denominations are buying it. Pastors and church leaders are influenced by the wishes of their congregations. To this Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, posted recently on his Facebook page: “God’s Word doesn’t need a majority vote. God’s Word is true regardless of the winds of moral change, and we must stand up for biblical truth in the midst of a depraved society.”

Yet what happens to Christians in these what may be the Last Days? A baker is not only driven out of business, but given a court-issued order to pay a large sum of money for refusing to make a wedding cake for homosexuals, which the baker considered inappropriate based upon her Biblically practiced faith. This faith, her practice of this faith, is protected under the rights accorded all people by G-d, and specifically protected in America by the American Constitution. The court has seen fit to toss out the Constitution to uphold a civil complaint based upon no right at all. In another state a florist refused to provide wedding flowers to a homosexual couple. She is under attack from the court also. There is evidence that these situations are to be repeated throughout America in support of a larger agenda by individuals that are taking a stand against Christian’s rights to practice their faith. Outspoken individuals are saying that Christians have no right to own business if they feel they need to practice their religion in them. It seems it’s okay to have faith inside one’s home, but not in public. Sounds like Germany in the 1930’s, which led to Jews not only losing their businesses, but their homes as well. And you can say that these are just a few cases and it won’t happen here, now.

There’s a strategic approach to the take over of America, and is summed up as the approach of the Fabians. Here’s something from one of my note scrapes: “The Fabian Society is a very old group originating in England in 1884, with the purpose of forming a single, global socialist state. They get their name from the Roman general Fabius, who used carefully planned strategies to slowly wear down his enemies over a long period of time to obtain victory. “Fabian Socialism” uses incremental change over a long period of time to slowly transform a state as opposed to using violent revolution for change. It is essentially socialism by stealth. Their original emblem was a shield with a wolf in sheep’s clothing holding a flag with the letters F.S. Today the international symbol of the Fabian Society is a turtle, with the motto below: “When I strike, I strike hard.” — The Fabian Society, The Weather Eye

Why is this all happening? If you haven’t figured it out yet, we who would attempt in any small way to follow in footsteps of Lord Y’shuaJesus, are going to find out that his footsteps lead not to prosperity of the material sort. We are not living and working and striving throughout our lives to retire to a nice cottage on a hill overlooking a tranquil valley covered with green grass and flowers. We are being led along a road that leads to trials and tribulations and eventually if we endure we will be granted a lovely death with Messiah on Calvary, or beheaded in the name of someone’s false god. Guess we missed that part when the alter call was made for all the hurting, lonely, empty people to come forward and accept the peace of the Savior of the world, Jesus! Well, there’s nothing to do now but suck it up. I like the way Thomas put it when the Lord’s other disciples were saying that it wasn’t safe to go to Jerusalem. Thomas said:

Let us also go, that we may die with him.
(John 11:16)

Seriously. What’s next. The hand writing is on the wall. We’ve been given various signs. We make a choice. We either offend people by our choice to be Christians First, or we offend Lord Y’shuaJesus, and be spit from His mouth for being lukewarm, neither hot nor cold. It begins with keeping our eyes toward heaven, toward the One seated upon the Throne, toward G-d through Lord Y’shuaJesus. Sure, we continue to pray from our family, our friends, our neighbors, our communities, our nation. We continue to pray and hope for revival in this land. Who knows, G-d may find more than ten in our modern-day Sodoms and relent, withholding his fury. It is our’s to continue in His Word as we walk in His steps. We must remember the courage of those who stood fast in the face of persecution. We must hold fast to the teachings of the Bible, putting away from us all that opposes it. And when all is said and done, we will endure. And in our enduring “to the end [we] will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Rev. 24:14) Hallelujah!

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .