Tag: truth

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You Sure That Thing is Street Legal?

I’m not super handy when it comes to working on cars, but there’s an engine concept I think is very interesting. These days we tend to be more concerned with miles per gallon or some other measure of fuel efficiency, but it seems like not that long ago gas was cheap and horsepower reigned supreme. We might someday have car racing with electric vehicles, but there’s something special about the roar of a gas-powered engine.

In high-performance combustion engines, it may not seem believable, but it’s possible for them to be a little too powerful. Ultra-powerful engines either make the insurance companies too nervous or they make professional races unfair. To make very powerful vehicles street legal, or to level the playing field on a race track, somebody came up with the idea of a restrictor plate.

Some quick background: for an internal combustion engine, one of the things that gives it power is a design that allows a sufficient amount of air into the combustion chamber to enable the optimal explosion of the fuel, which in turn generates power. Generally (at least up to a point), more air equals more power. That’s why you’ll sometimes see muscle cars with crazy contraptions on the hood or weird air intakes built into high-performance cars that have their engines in the back.

A restrictor plate is something that intentionally limits the amount of air that can flow into the combustion chamber. Using less air, the engine can’t produce the same amount of horsepower. A restrictor plate ultimately reduces the amount of power the engine can generate.

Sounds a little ridiculous, doesn’t it? If you’re going to go through all the trouble of designing and building something that powerful, why would you intentionally reduce its potential? Wouldn’t it be better to just design and build something a little less potent in the first place?

Let’s make the connection now. To all the Christ-followers out there, you gained the Holy Spirit at the moment of your conversion. The Holy Spirit is the member of the Godhead that empowers you with the things you need to perform the tasks God assigns to you. God won’t ask you to do things without also equipping you to do them, yet too often Christians install their own versions of “Holy Spirit restrictor plates.” They hold God at arm’s length in some way, or perhaps see where God is leading and intentionally avoid pursuing that goal. God will implement His plan for you whether or not you’re on board with it, but there’s more that can come from a fully devoted heart than can come from a heart that’s only going through the motions.

So I’d ask you…why not take off that Holy Spirit restrictor plate? If God’s determined to use you, He’s going to use you whether you object or not. Trying to interfere with it is just going to make things hurt more. Why not save some pain, unleash all that horsepower, and see something that’s really high-performance?

“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” – 1 Peter 4:10 NKJV.

(I didn’t originally mean to have the “manifold” pun in a post about muscle cars, but now that it’s there, I’m having a hard time taking it out.)

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A Bold, Bright Future Lies Ahead

Selfies start younger and younger these days

It can be tough to look at generations younger than you and think with confidence “this is who will one day lead the charge for spreading the gospel.” You know what, though? The same thing was probably thought about your generation at some point.

It’s exciting to see God work. From the Bible, we know that the world will get darker and increasingly hostile to Christianity. We also know the Gospel will continue to be spread, and that God wins in the end. Well if today’s not the end, God must intend to empower tomorrow’s Christians to continue doing His work effectively. He knew about radio and TV evangelism programs before the technology was even invented. He saw social media coming before anyone ever thought of it. The communication essentials of the future are already old news to Him, and He’ll pre-position followers to use them for His glory.

Another exciting thing to think about is that you, today, can play a part in future generations shining the light of Christ. The efforts you exert today may take a long time to bear fruit, but many a loud Christian voice once spent time listening to their Sunday school teacher, a Vacation Bible School volunteer, or a mentor that simply took an interest at a crucial time in their lives. I doubt the majority of churches would turn away new volunteers from their kids’ ministry, youth programs, or young adult projects.

This may be an odd way to think about it, but I’m part of an endangered species: I remember what life was like before the internet intruded into it. What’s neat to think about is how, even in spite of how much the world has changed, God still weaves experiences and encounters together in peoples’ lives with the knowledge that it’s heading somewhere bigger in the future. We didn’t formerly have a need for people to make Christian sound bites or short videos, but now we have YouTube and Vimeo. It used to be that a Christian “influencer” meant something totally different, but now they live on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. These are all things that people like me could learn, but we’ll never be digital natives like the generations younger than us.

The beautiful thing about that is it opens up limitless opportunities for people that are Christ followers, yet don’t feel at home in a traditional church setting. This creates a new space for innovation, where new ways emerge to spread the same essential message.

This one goes out to all those that never quite fit in or felt comfortable in church, but who still want to pursue Christ. People are hungry for what’s real, but they don’t know where to go to find it. If people don’t want to walk into a church, is there a way for you to bring the church to them? Above all, the most important thing is that Christ is preached. If you can come up with a new way to get that message to the people that haven’t heard it, you may have found the exact thing God created you to do. If you choose to do it, you may well be a blessing to others and at the same time be blessed in return.

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I Never Expected To See “the Snap” With My Own Eyes!

(Another entry not meant for my regular readers, but for those left behind after witnessing something extraordinary and terrifying…the sudden, inexplicable disappearance of a sizable percentage of Earth’s population.)

So it actually happened. Millions of people across the world just disappeared without a trace. What happened? What does it mean?

It means the Bible is true.

It means that over the next…probably 7 years or so, humanity will witness a level of destruction not seen since the days of Noah and the ark. I can’t put an exact timeframe on it because I don’t know for sure where the Rapture (the sudden disappearance of Christians) falls in relation to the seven years known as the Great Tribulation.

(One of the many confusing things about this era is going to be the fact that there are still people who thought they were Christians who are still left behind. The inconvenient truth they’ll have to face up to is the fact that even if they attend church regularly and do lots of “religious things,” they have not trusted Jesus Christ as their savior.)

I’ve written about this before, but it’s a pretty heavy duty topic, and I’d love to be able to help provide some direction for the people that are still here. If the Rapture actually happened, I’m not here anymore, so I can only help you through stuff I’ve already written or stuff I can point you to. Here’s the part that sounds crazy, but since you’re probably pretty desperate for answers, I’ll just come out and say it. When I say that you’ve been “left behind,” here’s what I mean. God created the world. Humanity sinned and sort of broke the deal that God had with us. For awhile we got by with presenting sacrifices to Him (the days of the Old Testament), but it wasn’t until Jesus Christ came to become a permanent sacrifice on our behalf that it changed our relationship with God. After He rose from the dead and ascended back to Heaven, He left the Church here to do His work until He comes back to take the rest of His followers away so they don’t have to endure the Great Tribulation, which is where God cleans house and lets loose on whoever’s left for thousands of years’ worth of stubborn disobedience.

Don’t worry, there’s still hope for you! The Great Tribulation will see unprecedented levels of both Christian revival and persecution of Christians. Keep an eye out for the Evangelists. There are going to be street preachers, people that hold meetings in big tents, in warehouses, in schools, in sports arenas, people that spread the news about Jesus. They’ll use whatever are the most popular tools of the day to spread the news. Go to them. As long as what they’re saying agrees with the Bible (and no other religious books), they’re steering you toward the truth. (But be careful, 2 Timothy 4 says that many people will be deceived by false teaching during this time.) In the meantime, track down a Bible and start reading it. Start with the New Testament…read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are four books that cover the same material, so don’t be confused when Jesus dies four times. Those four books are collectively called “the Gospels.”

To read a little more about what you’re living in (the End Times, the Great Tribulation, the Apocalypse, Armageddon), check out the last book in the Bible; it’s called Revelation. You’ll probably need to read it a few times, and you’ll learn a lot more if you have some kind of study Bible with notes or some kind of Bible commentary. A few other books in the Bible cover the End Times and provide more info…check out the books of Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, and First and Second Thessalonians (again, study Bibles, Bible commentaries, and online resources will be tremendously helpful). Here are a few of the things that are coming, but not necessarily in this order:

  • Mass death. Not only are the four horsemen of the apocalypse real, but one of them is given the power to kill a quarter of humanity (Revelation 6:7-8). Later, four imprisoned fallen angels (demons) are released to kill a third of humanity (Revelation 9:13-15). If we have 8 billion people on the planet right now and this happened, the horseman takes out 2 billion people, and then the fallen angels take out a third of the remaining six, cutting the population in half from 8 to 4 billion.
  • You think the idea of climate change is scary? Earth’s ecology gets absolutely demolished in Revelation chapter 8. The wind even stops in chapter 7.
  • God pours out so much wrath on the planet and its occupants that people abandon large portions of it and move somewhere else (picture Detroit as its population fell, but on a much larger scale). Of all places, Babylon, code for the famous city of Rome, becomes very important; I’m not sure if it actually becomes the global capital or if it sort of becomes symbolic of global debauchery and sin, sort of like how Vegas is for the U.S., and people consolidate there (Revelation chapters 16ish to 18).
  • At least one off-the-scale earthquake takes place (Revelation 16:18).
  • Slavery makes a comeback (Revelation 18:11-13).
  • There will be two missionaries that are invincible for a time, who speak truth to power so effectively that people can’t stand hearing their testimony and try unsuccessfully to kill them. They defend themselves like something you’d see in an X-Men movie, but watch out for the guy that eventually does kill them…he’s super bad news and will seem like he’s awesome, but believe me, he’s not somebody you should follow. Those two witnesses/missionaries also won’t let death keep them down. There will be some worldwide celebration for a few days after they’re killed, but the world will get a shock when the two of them get up again three and a half days after their death (Revelation 11:1-12).

Look, I don’t envy you. I’m writing this in August of 2022, and the past couple years have been pretty nuts from my perspective, but they pale in comparison to what you’re living through. Dig into the Bible, spread the word, and find other believers to encourage and be encouraged by. Dark days are ahead, and you’ll be hunted. If you turn to God, repent, and give your life to Him, He’ll give you what you need to make it to the end.

Don’t give up. It’s going to be worth it.

Want to learn more about specific Biblical references on the End Times? See http://peoplegetready.org/end-times/150-chapters-bible-times/

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The Dangerous, But Predictable, Erosion of Truth

Last week I talked about the shifting ground underneath our feet and the importance of having solid footing. “That’s all well and good,” you may say, “but what’s that look like in the course of living daily life?” Today I’d like to talk about an application. Today let’s examine the erosion of truth.

We’ve got an “Emperor’s new clothes” situation here. Our culture as a whole is afraid to define what a man is and what a woman is. Today’s topic has gained so much traction that even our most recent Supreme Court Justice during her confirmation hearing wriggled out of answering the question of defining what a woman is. While I certainly understand wanting to avoid being caught in an obvious trap during a confirmation hearing, the fact that anyone at this level of government was able to avoid answering such a simple question by saying “I’m not a biologist” testifies to the sad state of truth in our world today.

This post contains nothing hateful, but I imagine some will imply otherwise because of its “close minded, binary thinking.” America’s experience with COVID gave rise to the phrase “follow the science,” so I don’t see it as unreasonable for that phrase to apply in other areas of life.

Back before science got politicized to the degree it is today, this was an easy topic to address. Politics shouldn’t affect science. Biologically speaking, a human female has two X chromosomes, and a human male has an X and a Y chromosome. There is no fluidity in moving back and forth from one to the other, it’s established and set before birth. If you were born with an X and a Y chromosome, you are, and always will be, a dude. If you don’t like living as a dude, you might try to hide it, but you won’t ever change the fact that you’re a male. Dudes are able to undergo medical procedures and take hormones to make changes to their body, but they can’t change their chromosome makeup. If you’ve decided to undergo such things, medically speaking, you’ll always be a dude with an X and a Y chromosome that’s modified your body. (To be clear, this is a post about truth. It’s a completely separate discussion from your right to live according to your desired lifestyle.) Your appearance may fool me in some cases, but you can’t convince me that you were born a male and are now a female.

“That’s hateful!” Bullfeathers. Facts aren’t hateful, but they’re inconvenient if you embrace a worldview that’s based on things that aren’t true. Follow the science.

One of the clearest examples of this right now is the collegiate swimmer Lia Thomas. Lia Thomas was born with an X and a Y chromosome and got into competitive swimming. He then decided he wanted to compete in women’s swimming. Is it a sexist thing to say that Lia Thomas, born a male and possessing the musculature of a man, has an unfair competitive advantage over swimmers that were born females? I don’t know if “sexist” is the right word for it, but people definitely don’t want this thought expressed. Cranking up the fear to generate hesitation in speaking out against things like this is not an accident. If anyone is controlling your thoughts, they’re effectively controlling you, now aren’t they?

(As a brief aside here, if everyone’s concerned about fairness, the obvious solution is to move from a two-division class of sports (male and female) to an eight-division paradigm. One for males, one for females, one for those born male but now living as something they describe as other than male, one for those born female but now living as something they describe as other than female, and my favorites: the same four classes, but with all manner of performance-enhancing drugs being fair game. [I say that jokingly, but c’mon, out of those eight classes, which would YOU rather watch? Just don’t grow too attached to any of the competitors; I can’t imagine any of them will have a terribly long lifespan…])

“A person’s gender isn’t based only on science. It’s based partly on them knowing, and having a connection with who they really are.” Hmmm. Okay. How do you validate that knowledge? If you suspect you are something other than what your chromosomal makeup dictates, how do you confirm your suspicions? What test can you perform on a newborn that provides empirical results for this type of thing? If you want to use that line of thinking, what do you think about anorexics or bulimics that “know” they need to lose more weight? If they don’t even have the strength to get out of bed because they’re so underweight and undernourished, yet feel very strongly that they weigh too much, you must also believe they’re correct based on their strong feelings, is that true?

Regardless of gender or sex, every single person alive right now needs the love and forgiveness that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. I’m not saying the people discussed in this post can’t be geniuses, amazing friends, or really good people…I’m highlighting the degree to which the truth of something so basic has eroded in our society.

This is a single example of blurring the line between truth and lies. What is the ultimate goal of creating this uncertainty? As a religious fellow, I believe it’s ultimately Satan’s goal to taint every aspect of what God stands for and of how a person gets to Heaven. Lots of people believe in God or in Heaven and Hell, but they think that the way you get to Heaven is by being a good person or by living a good life. They have no idea that being a good person has nothing to do with it. According to the Bible, the single most important truth anyone can hear is that acceptance of Jesus Christ, who was both fully God and fully man, as their personal savior is the only way to enter Heaven and spend eternity in fellowship with God. You can never be good enough on your own.

If you’re Satan and you viciously hate everything about God, yet are powerless to harm Him, you will do everything within your power, working over the course of thousands of years, to distract from, water down, or erode that central truth. If the process of doing that requires you to employ a scorched-earth policy that causes confusion by eroding all basic truths, then so much the better.

I’ll say it again. According to the Bible, the single most important truth anyone can hear is that acceptance of Jesus Christ, who was both fully God and fully man, as their personal savior is the only way to enter Heaven and spend eternity in fellowship with God. You can never be good enough on your own. Let that truth ring out loud and clear, be repeated constantly, and define how you live your life.

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History in Progress

Let’s talk Ukraine for a little bit.

Things have gotten out of hand there lately. Although there’s been plenty of turmoil in the world lately, it feels like it’s been awhile since there were outright military engagements between nations.

This is only the most recent example of a world whose occupants have fought with each other since Adam and Eve were forced out of the garden. Ever since the two of them, our enemy has been working to pull humans away from fellowship with God.

Awhile back I wrote about why Satan benefits from the deaths of both those that don’t follow Christ and those that do. When unbelievers die, it cements their status as someone who has not received Christ; they have no additional opportunities to accept His gift of salvation, and Satan revels in the twisted joy of having prevented God from spending eternity with someone He loves. Conversely, Satan rejoices at the death of Christians because those that belong to Christ are more likely to play a part in snatching souls from his fold. Christians are equipped with the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, tools which can cut deep into our adversary’s kingdom. Can you blame him for celebrating when mighty warriors of the faith pass from this life, even if it means they graduate into God’s presence?

In light of this “death is good” mentality, it would make sense for Satan to do everything in his power to foment war, famine, and disease. Individual deaths are okay in his eyes, but death on the scale of thousands is something for him to aspire to. A shooting war is a good start for him, but it’s made better by the disease and famine that accompany combat conditions in an area under siege.

It’s hard not to wish ill will on Vladimir Putin. If it’s God’s will, Putin could choke to death on a pretzel today and have this whole invasion fall apart quickly. Maybe that’s the plan, but in the meantime, it’s important to remember that Putin would not have risen to be Russia’s president without the Lord allowing it.

Even though us mortals can’t see right now how God’s plan will play out in this situation, we are getting a better picture of what’s been happening. I saw a news report where a captured Russian soldier claimed to have been told by his superiors that Ukraine had been overrun by Nazis. If that claim is true and that’s what the whole invasion force has been told, we’ve got a whole bunch of misled, but well-intentioned, troops getting in firefights with people trying to defend their homeland. It’s easy to see how patriotic Ukrainians would then put together raids to hit Russians manning the stalled miles-long Russian convoy.

The whole time, in the background where we can’t see…there’s our supernatural adversary, snickering and rubbing his hands together gleefully each time there’s a death on either side or among noncombatants.

Hopefully this post serves as a reminder…there’s a lot on the line here…not just in Ukraine, but in the world today. Don’t forget about the urgency with which we should view this fleeting life. Eternity hangs in the balance, and you might be the only way the Gospel can reach some people.

Lord, the lies and injustices in this world make us long for Heaven. Some day You’ll return or call us home, but until that day comes, please help us to have the right focus, to use our spiritual gifts and talents, and to help raise God-fearing generations that will likely live in darker times than we do. Please end the violence in Ukraine and prevent things from getting any worse than they already are. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with the things we see in our world, so we thank You for allowing us to cast our burdens at Your feet. We ask these things in Your name, Amen.

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Quick Hit: What Does the World Think of the Church?

Christ commanded us to go out and share the Gospel with people. That’s one of the jobs of the people that make up the Church.

Lots of folks, wanting to get more people into church on Sunday mornings, naturally ask the question “how can we get the world to like us more?” Sadly, there’s only one answer: be more like the world.

Sorry, that’s not why the Church is here. We’re here to point the way to everlasting life and fellowship with our creator. If the world likes the Church, we probably need to take a closer look at what’s actually happening. Conforming to the world waters down the message and pulls us off that mission. When we spend time worrying about what the world thinks of the Church, we’re likely not focusing on getting out there and being the Church.

Christ wasn’t afraid to offend people. He came to bring truth, which is what we’re to do, too. We point the way and let others make up their own mind. Many will ignore us, or even laugh at us. That’s their right, but it’s not an excuse for us to stop spreading the message.

Be the Church.

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A Whole Bunch of People Straight up Vanished – What Just Happened?!

This week’s post isn’t geared so much toward my regular readers as it is the people that have just witnessed an astonishing event, and who are absolutely freaking out right now. If a sizable portion of the human race has just flat out disappeared without a trace, and you’re still here, this post is meant for you.

Right off the bat, I can offer you hope, but it’s going to come with a hard dose of reality. I’m breaking this into two sections: what happened, and what you need to do now. You’re going to think what I’m saying is crazy, but crazy just became your new norm, friend, and the things I touch on can help you start to understand this new reality.

So what happened? I can’t put a number on it, but a ton of people around the whole world just up and disappeared, right in the middle of everyday life. Cars driving down the road suddenly had no drivers, and airplanes lost their pilots, which caused additional chaos, I’m sure. Despite what’s being reported, it wasn’t aliens and it wasn’t some weird new disease. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say the people that disappeared are Christians. That is, they believed and trusted in Jesus Christ. Sure, there are still some church-goers and religious people that didn’t disappear. Ask them why others are gone but they’re still here. If they can’t seem to articulate their thoughts, ask them about their relationship with Jesus Christ. Not their head knowledge, as in their knowledge of or about God, or the money they give or the things they do for the church; ask them about their relational/experiential knowledge…the relationship they have with God. Odds are that they didn’t have a meaningful one.

Here’s the quick and dirty: after Jesus left, the Church (capital “C”) started. Throughout the Bible’s New Testament, the Church is described as the thing preserving the world (the “salt and light”). The Church is what perpetuates society’s collective morality. Yeah, things progressively get less and less like the way God wanted humanity to act. Churches give in, get “woke,” and endorse things that God himself would not endorse. Morality becomes less black and white and becomes increasingly gray. There are some churches and some folks that stand up and try to point the way back to Biblical morality, but over time those voices get drowned out, silenced, or labeled “hateful.”

Eventually (this is the part you’ve witnessed), God says “That’s enough; the evil is too much. I don’t want it to corrupt my people any further, so I’m pulling them out of there.” I don’t know when He’s going to do it, but I know that none of the people who disappeared are perfect; they just chose to love Jesus and trust Him as their savior and are now with Him in Heaven.

So where does that leave you? Well, you’re heading for some very rough waters. As it turns out, the Church was the speed bump that slowed down the moral degeneration of the human race. Now that it’s gone, there’s nothing holding back society’s decay. It’s like defunding the police and trusting that everyone will just get along and live happily together without problems. Things are about to get more insane and deadly than you imagined could ever happen.

If it hasn’t already happened, there’s a guy about to come on the scene that’s the most articulate politician/leader you’ve ever seen. He’s going to seem like he’s got all the answers and people will thrust him to global leadership. It’s a meteoric rise. The Bible calls this man the Antichrist. Circumstances will be such that you are encouraged (and maybe in some cases forced) to worship him. He’s empowered by satanic forces and will be able to do amazing supernatural things, and will perform counterfeit versions of the actual miracles Jesus performed.

Very quickly, here are some other things that will happen: Crazy, unexplainable signs in the sky…sun, moon, sky, and stars will all act strangely (Revelation chapter 6, verses 12-14, along with Rev 8:12). Imagine peace in the Middle East. This guy will orchestrate a 7-year treaty with Israel that brings peace to the region. Halfway through, though, he’s going to break it for his own benefit, desecrating Jewish holy sites in the process (Daniel 9:27, although there’s a lot more reading to do in order to grasp this meaning). Also, you’ll be unable to buy or sell or otherwise conduct normal business without receiving a mark on your hand or forehead. I don’t know if it’s going to look like a bar code, a QR code, or something else, but odds are it will somehow have the number “666” associated with it. (Rev. 13:16-18) Additionally, even aside from the disappearances, there’s going to be widespread death on a massive scale (Rev 6:7-8). Interestingly, there are going to be two guys that show up in Jerusalem that, for three and a half years speak out against the way folks are living and the way the world is conducting itself, pointing the way to Jesus Christ. People are going to hate hearing the truths these two guys are spreading, and will even try to kill them in order to silence them. During this time, these two will be invincible, but at the end the Antichrist himself will kill them both and their bodies will be left in the street as people celebrate their death by giving gifts to one another. Three and a half days later, however, both men will come back to life in full view of everyone. God then calls them to Heaven, and the two men will leave after that. (Rev. 11:3-12)

Look there’s a whole lot that happens, and I just don’t have the space to go into it all. Here’s what you need to do:

  • Accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. You’re not perfect, but you don’t have to be. I realize that “accepting Christ as your Savior” sounds kind of wonky for someone who’s not accustomed to “churchy” language, so I’ll say it differently. Talk to God; pray this prayer: “Dear God, I need you. I’m humbly calling out to you. I’m tired of doing things my way; help me to start doing things your way. I invite you into my life to be my Lord and Savior; fill the emptiness in me with your Holy Spirit and make me whole. Lord help me to trust you, help me to love you, help me to live for you. Help me to understand your grace, your mercy, and your peace. Help me have the strength for what lies ahead. Thank you Lord, Amen.”
  • If it hasn’t already, it’s probably about to become illegal to possess a Bible. You’re going to need one, though, along with a place to stash it. The Bible is a very complex book, with lots of stuff that you’re probably not going to care about (so many lineages!), and you’ll need help understanding it. There are lots of different translations of the Bible, but the most important thing for you is to get one that you can follow and that is an actual translation (not paraphrased). If it says that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man, you’re probably on the right track. If you’ve never read the Bible before, start out in the New Testament. If you’re new to this, start with Matthew. (The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are in the same group of books, and they cover a lot of the same material. Don’t read all four and wonder why they killed Jesus four times!) Some of the books of the Bible that will pertain the most to you (Revelation, Daniel, Ezekiel) are also some of the most difficult to understand, so it’s best to get either a study bible (with notes) or separate commentaries that can help provide explanations of what the text is saying. At this point you’re living in a time that’s past civility, so I’ll say this and you take it however you’d like: the homes and bookshelves of the people who disappeared are your best shot at obtaining the biblical resources that can help you the most, and those folks sure don’t need those resources anymore.
  • The Bible is your single best source for learning what you need to learn, but it can be very hard to understand. For a lot of people, sermons from pastors/priests or additional Bible study materials will help increase understanding of biblical scripture’s application. If you can obtain those resources, do it.
  • Find others like you. God empowers His followers with special talents called “spiritual gifts.” They could be things like teaching, faith, leadership, administration, or the gift of helps (this isn’t an exhaustive list). If you accept Christ, you’ll gain something that you can use to help other Christ-followers, and others will likewise be able to help you. The Bible says that wherever two or more are gathered in His name, He’s there (Matthew 18:20). Take comfort in that, help each other learn about Christ, and help each other survive. You would not believe what God can do when He wants to get something done, and you may very well see it up close.

There are very hard times ahead. You will personally understand desperation in a way I can only vaguely imagine in April of 2021. My hope is that this post will float around online long enough to reach the people that need it, starting to orient you in a time of unprecedented chaos.

I’m not out to con you. I can guarantee that I have nothing to gain by passing this information along. In fact, if I’m right about all this, I’m already gone. You, on the other hand, have everything to gain!

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. – 2 Corinthians 4:17-18

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Fighting the Battle of the Bulge

As I get older, the bathroom scale seems to become less and less forgiving.

I used to be able to polish off a ton of food and suffer no repercussions. Junk food didn’t pose much of an issue, eating late at night wasn’t a problem, and eating like I was on vacation was a beautiful thing.

Those days are long gone.

“Weight creep” is a real thing. Not a lot all at once, just a little bit at a time…and the numbers only seem to go up, they hardly ever go down.

Now, feel free to do what you want to do, but I’ve decided that I’d like to avoid putting on excess weight. Not only did Paul say in 1 Corinthians that our bodies are temples for the Holy Spirit, but staying at a healthy weight helps reduce the chances of developing a litany of other medical problems. (And my wife exercises regularly, so come on, I can’t let myself go!)

As I age and my metabolism slows down though, it takes a larger amount of conscious thought to prevent the love handles from getting bigger. I can use a few tricks, like drinking a glass or two of water before a meal, skipping snacks after dinner, and using smaller plates, but the main weapon in that fight involves regularly confronting the uncomfortable truth: I get on the scale almost every day.

Yes, Monday mornings are usually bad. The day after a vacation or trip to see family is often worse. I need to know the truth, though. It’s uncomfortable, and it’s sometimes ugly. Without having that metric, I only have a vague sense of where I am, and I just don’t know how diligent I need to be in getting back to that target weight.

Think of the Bible as your scale. It’s probably not going to help you with your weight, but consulting it regularly is going to be the way you know if you’re heading in the right direction. It’s going to help you know if your habits are healthy or if you need to make some changes in your life. Sometimes we, as Christians, begin to accept things we should not accept. In the same way that the scale can be used to combat weight creep, use the Bible to fight against “compromise creep.”

You’re not going to stay the same person your whole life, and your judgment, tolerance of the things of this world, and ability to recognize pitfalls and half-truths is going to fluctuate over time, just like your weight. Reading the Bible consistently will help you keep your focus where it needs to be, and without it you’ll only have a vague sense of where you are. If it’s not already a part of your daily routine, I challenge you to move toward that goal.

Lord, thank you for giving us the Bible and for the ability to study it at our own pace. Please lead each one of us to the passages You’d have us read and help us be consistent in reading it. Amen.

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Do You Know How To Spot the Fake?

When I was a kid there were a group of us in the neighborhood that were fans of WWF wrestling (now WWE wrestling).

It was great, man. Every Saturday morning we’d watch as a cast of colorful characters, with clear good guys and bad guys, all had a chance to beat each other up. There was “the Macho Man” Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Bret “The Hitman” Hart, and tons of other wrestlers.

We’d watch as the good guys took on the bad guys, and made the bad guys pay for whatever line they happened to cross that week. With jaws on the floor, we felt the shock and betrayal as a good guy went bad, or cheer when a bad guy turned good. We’d even try doing the moves on each other in somebody’s backyard while adding goofy commentary in the style of what we heard on TV. Thankfully the wrestlers back then weren’t as high-flying as today, otherwise we probably all would’ve gotten hurt a lot more.

As I got older, more people around me started talking about how fake it was. “Fake?” I thought. Hmmm. I didn’t buy it right away, but I started seeing things a bit differently as I watched. While there was still plenty of potential for all the characters to get hurt (and they often did), I started noticing how they acted in ways that didn’t seem like consistent behavior. “How come that guy can usually get hit with a chair and it doesn’t stop him, but he picks right now to take forever getting up after getting kicked in the stomach?” Or maybe “it sure is convenient how that referee got knocked out, then woke up right after the bad guy cheated.”

While I prefer the term “scripted,” the bottom line is that yeah, this isn’t totally real. Wrestlers are performers and athletes, certainly, but it’s somehow not quite the same when everyone in the ring knows what will happen before the match even starts. In that sense, it’s fake. In order for me to accept that, though, I had to compare what I was seeing and hearing to what I already knew.

Did you know that even now people are active targets of spiritual deception…by supernatural enemies? It’s true. Normally we think of flesh and blood enemies, but consider this scenario. If a fallen angel took the form of a “righteous” person, and tried to impart some special “wisdom” to an average Jane/Joe and gave some sort of accompanying supernatural sign, I might not be able to blame Jane/Joe for putting some stock in what they just witnessed. Here’s the kicker though: we’ve been warned that this will happen.

In 2 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul discusses not only false apostles, but fallen angels posing as messengers from God:

            13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

This is a real thing, and many people have been led away from the simple truth of the gospel because of it.

Study your Bible, both Old Testament and New. Think on it, and don’t ever let it be far from your thoughts. The more you know about it, the easier it will be for you to spot a counterfeit when it crosses your path. When someone “masquerades as a servant of righteousness,” question what you’re seeing and hearing. It may take a bit to accept that you may have been duped, but the important thing is not to delay once you’ve discovered the deception. Sound the alarm for students of that school of thought. You’re not responsible for what those people think, but maybe you can help them understand they have a choice to make; don’t be afraid to point out the inconsistencies with scriptures to them. Hopefully they’ll thank you for it later.

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It’s All About Who Controls the Script

A belated “thank you” to all our veterans and their families! Many thanks for your various sacrifices, large and small, throughout your service to our nation!

I’m going to try using a present-day example to illustrate an important principle. I understand it may be a bit controversial, but hang with me, I’m doing it to illustrate a larger point.

If I were to ask you the current status of the 2020 Presidential election, what would you say?

Most people would probably say that Joe Biden won and currently enjoys the status of “President-Elect.”

In reality, however, the election isn’t over yet. As of Wednesday, 11/11, there are three states representing 47 electoral votes where Biden’s lead is less than a percentage point (two of those races are within half a percentage point). There are another 15 electoral votes in a state where Trump is currently leading. Various news organizations have called the races and declared Joe Biden the winner, and if you go strictly by the number of votes received/counted, that may very well be the case. (It remains to be seen how many of those votes will be ordered by various legal authorities to be considered invalid.)

What you hear very little of, however, is the fact that news organizations are not the authority for declaring the winner of an election. Even though Mr. Biden has signs saying “Office of the President-Elect,” signs don’t make election results official. If you listen to most news organizations, you’d think that the election was decided more than a week ago and that Donald Trump is just a sore loser throwing a temper tantrum by refusing to concede, filing lawsuits and spreading claims of widespread cheating without producing evidence. “Officially” declaring the winner of the presidential election is consistently a months-long process, but we usually know pretty soon after election day because one of the two candidates concedes to their opponent within a day or two.

Why such a stark contrast in this case between what’s official and what we hear? Why would anyone spend so much time presenting anything other than the truth, which is that right now Joe Biden looks like he’s got a strong advantage, but we need to take a closer look at some things?

It happens this way because controlling the narrative can alter the course of future reality.

If you’re fed up with politics, stick with me for just a little longer, I’m going somewhere with this. Let’s take a “what-if” approach. What if Trump’s right, and there was a lot of tom-foolery in the election at his expense, adding states to Biden’s column that should’ve been his? If it can be proven, then he should rightfully be sworn in at the next inauguration. If not, then Trump voters will be disappointed, but will have a little more faith in the process by having people look into it. That doesn’t explain the purpose of the narrative though…

Now let’s say you want to see Trump thrown out of office. You can’t wait for the day he leaves the White House, and the sooner the better. That’s a perfectly fine opinion, and you got to have your say in the election. What’s inappropriate, however, is leading citizens/public opinion down a road that sets the stage for civil unrest. When things are this tight, if organizations are declaring one of the candidates the winner without getting a concession from the loser, what do you think will happen if “winner” status is ultimately granted to the other candidate?

It’s not a stretch to say that some of the issues raised in this election will end up in the Supreme Court. If the court decides something in Trump’s favor, the existing narrative will not allow the decision to be seen as an objective and fair decision, but rather as the courts taking away something that’s rightfully Joe Biden’s. That happens even if it’s completely fair. If even one of the states currently called for Biden flips to Trump, there will be more riots and more cities will burn. Can you imagine if a few states end up getting flipped? We’re looking at a civil war! I tend to think of this eventuality as at least partially the result of irresponsible journalism, but those reporting it this way probably think of it more like a nuclear deterrent: you want people to believe the consequences will be so bad that nobody would dare attempt it. In my mind, that’s not the role of the press.

If you’re still with me, this brings me to my main point: if you are a Christian, you need to fully expect and anticipate that the narrative will one day be flipped firmly against you. Forces have certainly dabbled in this effort here and there, and they’ve taken a lot of neutral ground, but it hasn’t gotten truly bad yet for Christians in America. If you haven’t heard it from anyone else yet, I’ll be the one to break the news to you: it’s going to get tough to openly be a Christ-follower in the United States of America, and I fully expect it to happen in my lifetime.

Many times Christians are described as intolerant hypocrites that condemn anyone who doesn’t fall in line with their beliefs. There are probably cases of that. What Christians are charged to do, I believe, is spread the Gospel to people (yes, even people that don’t look or think like us), and let God do the rest. That doesn’t always mean knocking on doors and handing out Bibles. If you don’t follow Christ, it means much more to you personally (and you’re much more willing to listen) when someone comes alongside you to help during a time of trouble than when someone leaves a pamphlet in your front door.

Unbelievers ought to be encouraged to hear that Christians are coming around. Jesus said in John 13:34-35 that people will know we’re His disciples by the way we show love for one another. We see plenty of other instances of Jesus meeting peoples’ practical needs and, well, just showing love for them in general. Regardless of who’s sworn in this January, Christ provides a model for the kind of love we are to demonstrate. It’s the roll-up-your-sleeves, get-up-to-your-elbows in filth, help-till-it-hurts (and then some) kind of love.

My friends, these days, opportunities to come alongside hurting people are everywhere. And you know what? They don’t all vote the way you vote, but those people still need help. Please help flip the narrative; when people hear “the Christians are coming,” they shouldn’t say “oh, great!” We want them to say “that’s great!” I’ll guarantee that those people shown genuine love are much more receptive to the good news of what Christ’s done for them than the folks that have political discussions with Christians only to have the Christians throw insults at them.

Keep in mind these words from the New Testament:

In everything, show yourself to be an example by doing good works. In your teaching show integrity, dignity, and wholesome speech that is above reproach, so that anyone who opposes us will be ashamed to have nothing bad to say about us. –Titus 2:7-8

God is ultimately in control of the narrative, but it’s up to us to live it out. Don’t be surprised when things get rough! Keep praying for our nation, for other Christians, and for the people that are against us; this is the only life we get to convince others of God’s love for them.