2019 - It's Nearly Over

It's been a very tough year, and this month was merely a reflection of the other eleven months. Yesterday morning I had some good news to share with my church family here at the First Berean Congregational Church, but I didn't read it, I'll get it next week. I didn't want to give 2019 the honor of hearing such a blessed event. 

When I got the False Teacher Of The Year post out I simply felt exhausted, tired of the whole thing, then I started to put together a Random Bits article and it was all just evil. So I withdrew, no more news, no TV (other than Paw Patrol with the grandchildren). However this morning I turned on the radio to hear the evils of Gnosticism, Legalism, and Dualism being lectured on the flagship of the Mormon church - The Glenn Beck program. These are foundation stones of that faith - so the truth was coming out but it's all so upside down.

So let's just let 2019 slink into the history books as we part with it with the first and best benediction:

24 The Lord bless you, and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; 26 The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace.(Numbers 6:24-26)

See you again in 2020!

False Teacher Of The Year 2019

It's that time of the year when we look back on the months that have passed and reflect on what happened in our world. We make lists of what happened in the past year, including list after list of the celebrities who had died during the year. As for me, I've had better years - my spinal issues have caused severe pain in my hips, my pulmonary hypertension pressures in my heart have gone up, and after 20 years of working in the cable industry I was let go. But it hasn't been all bad, God allowed me to be born in the greatest nation on earth where doctors are able to diagnose and treat my myriad of medical issues, where that evil Big Pharma can provide me with treatment, and after 20 years of slaving away in the cable industry I was given my freedom. But, as hard as you may argue the opposite, it's not all about me. We are here to stand in shock as false teachers gnaw away at the visible church, the body of Christ here on earth, and to recognize the efforts of the lead gnawers. (I think that's a word)

False teachers are everywhere you look, through their messages of disunity and mammon worship it's clear that Satan is on the march. From Sheep Poaching church planters to howling Poverty Pimps, Christianity is under attack from within. These  malignant parasites are clearly spiritual cancer tumors feeding off the body of Christ in an effort to destroy the Church founded on the cornerstone of Christ and built by Jesus Christ Himself. 

I wish I could list the top 10 churches for 2019, but a good church doesn't make headlines. In the near future when we Christians fall under blanket persecution by the government and self serving Satan run atheistic special interest groups, good churchs will make headlines, but until then all we hear from the good churches is the Word of God, and that's all right by me. On the other side of the spectrum, the agents of Satan have been having a banner year. From private jets to $600 t-shirts the false teachers are wallowing in this world. And it's not just A private jet, Jesse Duplantis already has three jets, he wants a fourth, a $54,000,000 Dassault Falcon 7X.

A Simple Prayer Request

I haven't been around much because: life. My stepdaughter and her children, my grand babies, and both a blessing and a lesson on patience and humility and their living with us for the past few months has been a household calamity and a joy that lifted my heart from the other pains of this world.

At 62 I find myself disabled and unemployed, I'm not whining, God has a plan and is under no compulsion to share the details with me. I applied with the Social Security Administration for disability and I was approved in just a few weeks. And that's why I ask to be included in your prayers. I've applied with the Veterans Administration for disability benefits, I believe my petition with them is true and I am only asking for their honest consideration. Your prayers can only help. Thank you.

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

This world is not my home I'm just a'passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

While I have several extremely painful back and hip issues, I am not spineless enough to call myself a "Never Trumper". Then again I'm not a high born, country clubing, nose in the ionosphere swamp thing either. The man I considered to be the premier choice to be President didn't run in 2016 and probably won't run in 2024 either. In fact, the main reason I did vote for Trump is because I love this nation far to much to vote for the scandal ridden incompetent clown who ran against him.

It's highly unlikely that the left will find someone worthy of the office, of course the last time that happened it was accidental, so I support President Trump because Romans 13. However now he appoints Paula White to his staff, you may know that I believe that Paula White is an antichrist, I explained that at length in a recent blog entry, however she recently came under attack by the left which means that regardless of my misgivings, she was the correct choice... because the left hates her. We call those people The Left for a simple reason: they're never right.

Apostle/Prophet/Profit/Pastor Paula White wants you to listen to God's voice, He's saying "Write a check to Paula White Ministries"

That Pope goes all in for pagan idol worship in the catholic church. (Yes, the pagan idols were placed “without idolatrous intentions.” but they said that about Mary worship too)

The Democratic socialist governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, signed a bill that codifies into state law prohibiting churches and nonprofit organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates. GOOD!!! We're supposed to be talking JESUS, not Joe Biden. (This is a double edge sword paisano, most of your support groups are 501(c)(3) themselves)

Paula White - Satanic Mistress

"Pastor" Paula White
showing off new clerical robes?

17 Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. 18 For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. (Romans 16:17-18)

Let me say this out at the beginning of the article so you are not shocked by the conclusions I raise: in my personal opinion I believe that Paula White is one of the most dangerous agent provocateurs that Satan has inserted into Jesus' church here on earth. 

For those not familiar with that term, be careful when looking up agent provocateur, there is a scanty woman's lingerie line by the same name. We should always be good Bereans and look up everything we are not already familiar with but sometimes there are traps. According to dictionary.com an agent provocateur is "a secret agent hired to incite suspected persons to some illegal action, outbreak, etc., that will make them liable to punishment"

Twice amicably divorced "Pastor" Paula White is now on husband #3, rock keyboardist for the glam band Journey Jonathan Cain who asked "Pastor" Paula to marry him on the same day his third divorce was finalized. If you question why I put the word Pastor in quotations when in conjunction with this woman it is because she doesn't fit the biblical requirements of being a pastor.

6 namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. 7 For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain (Titus 1:6-7)

2 An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. (1 Timothy 3:2-3)

Both of these verses describe the qualifications of the overseer of a congregation, the Pastor. Both of these verses require the overseer to be the husband of one wife. I have heard of more than one godly man who stepped down from the pulpit when his wife died because he no longer fulfilled these qualifications of a pastor. Does "Pastor" White fulfill the biblical qualification of a pastor? If you look carefully at the attached photo, she doesn't look much like a husband, and being the mother of one son, I think am safe in assuming that she truly is a woman, but these days you never know...

It's Not Over

It is with some joy but also with deep sadness that I now no longer feel compelled to wear orange on Sunday. Many of us wear orange to show solidarity with our Christian brothers and sisters in the middle east who were undergoing tribulation at the hands of ISIS. 

My joy is with the news that the head of ISIS Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the most vicious terrorist on the planet, was killed in Syria by his own hand to avoid capture by US forces. Also his second in command, Abu Hassan al-Muhajir, was killed in Aleppo province in a separate attack by U.S. forces. The next in line, Al-Haj Abdullah Qardash AKA "The Professor" and "The Destroyer" is rumored to have been "inhumed" (the opposite if exhumed) by US forces also.

Thus ends ISIS as a global force of terror. Their Iraqi stronghold, Mosul, was recaptured by Iraqi forces to end the ISIS caliphate back in 2007. (This victory was completely ignored by the US press in order not to shine any positive light on the Trump administration.) In the end ISIS was under attack by the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, another terrorist organization, this one based on Sanders style communism rather than Islamic inhumanity. 

I'm Praying for Kanye West

 Recently Kanye West was quoted as saying "Rap is the devils music" by his pastor in an interview with Apologia Studios. First of all, I tend to believe anything out of any group that uses the word Apologetics because of the ones I listen to/read, they tend to have a better grip on the word of God than a stadium full of Osteenites.

Secondly I would completely agree with Kanye on this depending on the mood you catch me in. If by chance you asked me "Doug, is rap the devil's music?" within a week of having to ride in  my millennial stepson's car the answer would be a loud and boisterous "YES!!!!" 

I'd probably be shouting to hear myself over the ringing in my ears.

However if you caught me on a more normal day the answer would be a more astute "any kind of music can be the devil's music" including classical music. Numerous pieces of classical music pay homage to Satan, pieces including Giuseppe Tartini's Devil's Trill Sonata, Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns Danse Macabre, and one known to any long time Disney watcher: Modést Petróvich Músorgskiy's Night at the Bare Mountain (Night on Bald Mountain). These are all inspired by Satan, and you can throw in anything with "Faust" in the title to expand your list of Satanic Classical.

One just needs to peruse Good Fight Ministries' music articles to see the horrors that Satan is inflicting on the world through popular music. Country music has so much gospel intertwined that you get a lot of the good, along with the bad. But as for Rap, I'll admit that I don't listen to much at all, but what I hear is horrible. However 30 years ago, MC Hammer begged his listeners to pray, which is more biblical truth than is contained in hours of Hillsong's noise.

I pray for Kanye, I really do. As breathlessly reported through thousands of outlets this summer, Kanye West has converted to Christianity, and I believe it's a true conversion. I was unconvinced until I read that he was feeling “the weight of sin” from “chasing all the things of this world" and converted to Christianity. To me that's a real conversion where one asks "I have sinned, please help me" and not "I'm OK, but what can JC do for me?"

Maybe Beto Has a Good Idea

For a long time I've been warning the Christian community that Satan via the Left is out to destroy us. I'm sure that many Christians agree, but they don't realize how quickly it's coming. Daniel 9:26 tells us "And its end will come with a flood" Daniel is not talking about the situation we find ourselves currently in, but the imagery is the same.

Floods are inexorable, sometimes they start with a roar, but quite often they start with a trickle. That trickle gradually gains in force growing larger and larger until the waters become unstoppable. The same way the that the waters increase in volume before the flood starts to rage, the attacks on the church increase as the Christians are lulled into complicity. Many components of the visible church have moved so far away from the purity of God's word, that they no longer resemble Christianity, they're weekly self-help seminars with a rock band playing God flavored anthems. This leaves us wide open to Satan's attacks.

To my point along comes Texas democrat and Roman Catholic Robert Francis O'Rourke whose nickname "Beto" was engineered to make him appeal to Hispanic voters, but some folks also call him "Skater Bob" because of his odd attraction to skate boards. Mr. O'Rourke is currently floundering in the polls, so to make himself more appealing to the socialist far left he is attacking conservative values. Barack Hussein Obama once accused the conservative Right of clinging to our guns and bibles, and we have to because Beto is demanding to rip both away. I'll cover his anti firearm hysteria in another blog, as for religion - his plan is to bludgeon the visible church into submission. His grand plan: he would revoke tax-exempt status from religious organizations that oppose same-sex marriage.

The Church of Sweden - need I say more?

Announcement! Jesus of Nazareth has now appointed
one of his successors, Greta Thunberg

The Church of Sweden has become a bit daffy as of lately. "Daffy" is a little used theological term (it's my theological term) which means "confused due to its own false teaching". Back in 2017 the Church of Sweden decided not to address God in His normal honorific "Lord" and that His pronoun can no longer be "He" because - gender 'n stuff. The now inclusive church is headed by Archbishop Antje Jackelén, a woman, who has referred to the Holy Spirit as a  "she" who apparently does not rate a capitalized pronoun. This is the church that consecrated an openly gay woman, Eva Brunne, as a bishop. Eva is the person that decided that the church of Sweden should take down their crosses so not to offend muslims. I can find no report that the muslims have turned down the volume of their minaret bull horns so not to offend slumbering Swedes with their sunrise call to prayer. And let's not forget TacoJesus. Needless to say, people are leaving this church in droves, 85,848 Swedes left the Church in 2016, followed by 93,093 members in 2017.

So what besides a capitol F Feminism and a little g god does the Church of Sweden worship? They've decided that the Holy Spirit is a female even though Jesus Christ called the Holy Spirit "He", and that God is an androgynous being even though Jesus called God "Father" many, many times. So maybe Jesus is the one who is wrong for not listening to Aunty Antje? As to what the Church of Sweden worships, the answer is clear, the Church of Sweden worships Mother Gaia. 

Gaia is a revival of Paganism that rejects Christianity, considers Christianity its biggest enemy, and views the Christian faith as its only obstacle to a global religion centered on Gaia worship and the uniting of all life forms around the goddess of "Mother Earth".  A cunning mixture of science, paganism, eastern mysticism, and feminism have made this pagan cult a growing threat to the Christian Church.  Gaia worship is at the very heart of today's environmental policy.  source

We've Been Doing Communion Wrong?

Communion - The Lord's Supper, this is something that sets Christians apart from all other religions. We gather and share the bread and wine for one joyful reason:

"This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me" (Luke 22:19)

There's no magic or miracles involved, just a command - do this and remember Me. That's what Christianity is all about; Jesus. Even false religions celebrate Communion; Mormons do it, however they're not following the bible, their ceremony comes from the oddly inspired pen of Joseph Smith, so take that for what it's worth. Followers of prosperity pimp Kenneth Copeland take communion too, for their own gain, not to glorify Jesus. And the Catholics - I'll let Jesse cover that. 

As for the rest of us, I bet you we do it wrong, our little church of bereans sure was. Pastor Paratus pointed this out today in his message. How many times have you been to communion, your pastor steps away from the lectern to conduct the ceremony with those words we all know:

and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24)

This is WRONG. 

Rick Joyner is Preparing for War

Not satisfied with a life of false prophesy and honoring himself with false titles, the Clown Prince of Prediction appears to be looking for a new title to adorn himself; self appointed NAR Super Apostle Generalissimo Joyner. Maybe his coveted 2016 False Teacher Of The Year award went to his head and he's aspiring to higher acclaim? Maybe he's looking for a second Golden Goat for his I Love Me wall?

All year long Rick Joyner has been itching for a fight, he opened 2019 with his "vision" - a call to war. In his vision Joyner claims that we didn't win the Revolutionary War because slavery still existed after the Revolutionary War. He really said that. This angel honestly played on Joyner's historical ignorance. Slavery was not an issue in the Revolutionary War, in fact the three proponents of the Revolutionary War (first Civil War if you're a Tory loyalist) England, France, and the Colonies all agreed that slavery was legal. The angel then told Rick that the Civil war didn't end successfully because if it had there would have been no need for a civil rights movement. The Civil War ended more successfully than most wars, the winner knew they won, the loser knew they lost, and both sides agreed that the war was over. What was not successful was the peace. The Democrats, the party of Jim Crowe, did everything they could to insure that a civil rights battle was going to happen. If it wasn't for JFK and the republican congress there would have been no Civil Rights act. 

Is Rick Joyner as clueless about American History as he is about the Holy Spirit? We haven't heard of it for a while, maybe it's faded away, maybe it's gone underground, but about 20 years ago there were congregations whose worship included "holy laughter" and mimicking of animals. I remember reading a "heavenly tourism" book about 10 years back where the choruses of angels laughed, not sang. I can't remember what the name of the book was, and it was fairly engaging to that part. Here's what Rick Joyner has to say about congregations laughing and making animal noises:

"One of the disconcerting aspects of this movement has been the animal sounds and mimics that some have felt compelled to make.  There are 'signs and wonders,, and almost everyone is wondering about this sign.  Some of it is demonic.  Some of it is mere human foolishness.  Some of it is really inspired by the Holy Spirit.  There will always be tares in the wheat, but this is something that the Holy Spirit is doing, and it is important. ((The Morning Star, Prophetic Bulletin, January 1995, p. 8.)

Did he just say that the Holy Spirit is mimicking satanic actions? He sure did. So now let's look at "Professor" Joyner's mad history skillz. While discussing his call to arms Rick drops this intellectual dud: 

Fear of Man Destroyed by Trust in God

Fear of Man Destroyed by Trust in God

Posted on September 19, 2019 by Mike Ratliff

by Mike Ratliff

25 The fear of man brings a snare,
But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted. Proverbs 29:25 (NASB) 

Our enemy is pretty smart. He has been around long enough that he believes he knows us. He knows that lost people are enslaved to him via their sin nature. He knows that the little flock, our Lord’s sheep, may be new creations via the washing of regeneration, but they still have their flesh and a deep, overwhelming need to be fulfilled. Their salvation has changed them so they now have the ability to be fulfilled in God the more they take on Christ’s character. Our enemy, on the other hand, does all he can to neutralize those sheep by attacking them in innumerable ways so that they walk according their flesh instead of according to the Spirit.

Satan has always wanted to be God. He caused a war in Heaven by attempting to usurp God’s throne for himself. Ever since, he has been hard at work attempting to fool people into believing that he is God or at least driving a wedge between people and the Living God by enticing them to be gods unto themselves through their self-will.

Random Bits

This time with footnotes!*
(*They're not really footnotes, nor are they end notes, I think they're actually parenthetical subnotes)

“I don’t want pie in the sky by and by. I want some ham where I am.” - the List of TV Evangelist Greatest Hits
(By "Greatest Hits" I mean "The utterances that make a mockery of our Savior's love and sacrifice")

Televangelist Ernst Angley had to ground his 747 because they can't afford the maintenance
(I know a fellow who will do the work cheap)

Is Pop-Christianity fading fad?
(Satan doesn't fade, he acquires a new target and fires all guns)

In 2006, 13 year old Carra Crouch was drugged and raped by a 30-year-old employee of Trinity Christian Center. She sued her Grandmother,
(and from reading the transcript, I would have sued her grandmother too)

Enemies within the church - Is the Reformed Christian Movement Splitting over the “Woke” Theology? 
(editors note: There's a huge difference between being Wide Awake and being Woke)

Quick Question from Bible Study - Was I Off Base?

How do you biblically say "Sorry dude, but..."?

Last night as we were discussing Acts 1 a question came up regarding the selection of a replacement for Judas. In Acts 1:15-26 about 120 disciples gathered and prayed for their "lost" messiah and then considered what to do with the open position in their ranks. In the end they selected Mattias to fill in for Judas.

The question put to us in our study was: How did you see God at work in this proceeding? 

The discussion went around our group and the consensus was that God guided the disciples in this selection. I'm not one to miss an opportunity to lob a grenade in the room so when the discussion settled and just as we were ready to move on, I said 

"I didn't see God in there anywhere"

Here's my reasoning; Yes, they prayerfully considered their position and Peter did quote scripture, although I'm not sure how contextual the the quotes were, but I didn't see God's hand in there. This was a group that was in complete shock. In a period of a few days they saw one of their own sell out their rabbi, their friend, the Son of God to the authorities. They saw Him led away by Roman soldiers, convicted with no evidence, horrifically tortured, and publicly executed in the most horrific, humiliating way. Then His body disappeared and He appeared to them in some amazing ways: He walked with them and didn't make his identity known for hours, He gave them fishing advice and made them breakfast, He appeared in their midst in a closed room. For 40 days he taught them even more, then He was gone.

WWUTT Wednesday - WWUTT is the Meaning Of Life?

This is the question that has been perplexing man since man began. Other iterations of this question are not limited to but include "Why are we here?", "What is life all about?", or "What is the purpose of existence?"

People can spend their entire life trying to determine the meaning of life and in the end they may only come up with a silly answer, if they come up with one at all. In that case their meaning of life boils down to inventing a logical sounding rationale for the silly answer they originally came up with.

Shintoism has a pretty unique take on the meaning of life - the meaning of life is not to die. 

Most normal people rarely worry about the meaning of life, they worry about their loved ones and how they are going to feed, clothe and raise their little loved ones. Those little loved ones generally are the meaning of life to their parents.

Author Douglas Adams came up with the most interesting answer to the meaning of Life! the Universe! and Everything! The answer is 42. You just have to rephrase the question properly.

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

This world is not my home I'm just a'passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

Nearly five years ago President Obama blamed the Crusades and Jim Crowe on Christians doing evil in Christ's name. He said this at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2015:

“Lest we get on our high horse and think this is unique to some other place, remember that during the Crusades and the Inquisition, people committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ. In our home country, slavery and Jim Crow all too often was justified in the name of Christ.”  

The air is clear now (as it was back then) that the sins of Jim Crowe fall squarely on the desk of the Democrat Party, but the crusades? I wrote on it in the past, and I'll write on it in the future, but this time I'll let the Wintery Knight write about it. I'll concentrate on the Inquisition a bit later.

---

WWPD - What Would Paul Do?

A representative of the Satanic Temple claims that more than 50% of their membership is LGBTQXYZ... no shocked surprise here, I'm just sayin'

This is probably why the LGBTQXYZ wants to destroy Christianity

Christian Pastor Rhyan Glezman, the brother-in-law of Democrat 2020 hopeful Pete Buttigieg is purposely “misinterpreting” the Bible in an attempt to push his absurd pro-abortion agenda.

Darn those pesky airplanes! (BTW The article that originally appeared in the New York Times (a former newspaper) no longer exists)

Don't Wait

Eighteen years ago 2,977 people were lost to us and the death toll keeps rising. Dr. Michael Caine, medical director of the World Trade Center Health Program at Mount Sinai reported last year that close to 10,000 first responders and others who were at the World Trade Center, have been diagnosed with cancer due to inhalation of the toxic dust from the tower collapses, and more than 2,000 have so far died from 9/11 related illnesses.

These people went to work expecting to come home at the end of their shifts and airplane voyages, and in a blink of an eye it all changed.

Don't wait, give your self to Jesus, get into His word, prepare yourself for His mercy at the throne of judgement. Any moment can be our last, so wrap yourself in the word of God. And if the catastrophic does not occur, you'll find that with God's help the little daily catastrophes go easier too.

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

This world is not my home I'm just a'passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

I have another blog that is supposed to be more secular in nature, It goes by the same name as this blog, but it's on the WordPress platform. If that's confusing I apologize, but it's not confusing to me so I don't apologize too repentantly. I intend to use it to discuss my secular interests such as hobbies, railroads, medical issues, railroads, history, railroad history, and politics.

This past Sunday, Pastor Paratus launched into a sermon on a subject that I think needs to be shouted from every pulpit; political Idolatry. I'm studying Spurgeon's self identification as a Political Dissenter which is starting to look appealing to me, but on my other blog I launched in to Political Idolatry on a different tack than Pastor Paratus used. I spoke about the target of political worship: the gut retching evil and stupidity of sinful men in power. Then after publishing it I took another look and realized it should have been here in my theological blog too - because Political Idolatry is a sin, and even if our target of idolatry is a good clean man or woman of God, it's still just a man or woman.

Facebook has suppressed the Pro-Life group Live Action based on false news from an alleged third party "fact checker"

Disgusting - how could someone live with this? It takes a truly cold hearted satanic minion 

St. Pauls's in Minot ND, (right next to the big St. Joes Hospital parking ramp on East Burdict Expy) has divided Christians into teams; Team Able and Team Cain, I kind of agree with him in parts, but he forgets the thief that was crucified with Christ.

No, Benny Hinn has not changed his tune, he has NOT repented...

...and here are the bible verses people like Benny Hinn, T.D. Jakes, and Kenneth Copeland DO NOT WANT YOU TO READ

Praying to Hurricane Dorian instead of praying to God, a group of professing believers told the weather what to do just like Jesus did.

Spurgeon Thursday - A Political Dissenter

Political engagement by Christians has been on my heart recently, I wrote a long blog post on political idolatry on my other blog and I went researching for a Spurgeon Thursday post and this came up. There are no coincidences, when you're researching for a topic to expound upon, and the same topic keeps popping up, it's probably a good idea to write on that topic, God is not sending, He's shooting hints at you. 

The highlights here are mine, they're just quotes that I like. As for the content of the article - I believe that the Prince Of The Run-On Sentence is telling us that as Christians our job in politics is to suck it up and Trust God.

---

[The following is excerpted from an excerpt, C.H.  Spurgeon, The Sword and Trowel: 1873 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1873), 45-48.]

Among the charges hurled at us is one which our accusers evidently regard as a very serious one. They call us “a Political Dissenter,” and seem as if they had delivered themselves of a terrible epithet, whose very sound would annihilate us. It is a curious fact that neither the sound nor the sense of those awful words has impressed us with fear, or moved us to repentance.

Politics, if they are honest, are by no means sinful, or the office of a legislator would be fatal to the soul, and Dissenters, if they dissent from error, are commendable individuals: as, therefore, neither the “political” nor the “dissenter” is necessarily bad, the mixture of two good or indifferent things can scarcely be intolerably evil.

One would imagine from the mouthing which our opponents give to the words, that a political Dissenter must be a peculiarly ferocious kind of tiger, a specially venomous viper, or perhaps a griffin, dragon, or “monster dire, of shape most horrible;” but as far as we can make out the meaning of the words, he is only a Dissenter who demands his natural civil rights, a Nonconformist who longs for that religious equality before the law which impartial justice should award to every citizen.

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

This world is not my home I'm just a'passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

When I first started doing this Random Bits article it was a little hard to find stories that stood out, fascinating bits that would enlighten, entertain, edify, and occasionally point out the sin of twisting scripture. Now it's hard to decide what not to include, it's almost all Christian persecution and apostasy run wild

When tribulation reaches these shores it's not going to be like the tribulation our brothers and sisters endure in the middle east (warfare, slaughter, forced conversion) or in Africa (which is also warfare, slaughter, forced conversion). It's going to be more like our brothers and sisters are trying to endure in places like China and North Korea where our lord and savior is outlawed by their governments. And why? Partially because of the antics of the Roman Catholic priests who were raping their alter boys and other children, and now we see sexual misconduct in the protestants. Even though this is going on wholesale in the secular world, this is God's people sinning and this sticks in the public mind. Pastors being removed for financial or sexual misconduct and being returned to the pulpit with little or no repentance. And then there are the antics of the NAR and the 'Seeker Sensitive' Emergent churches; we see unbiblical celebrations of lunacy, the public thinks we're all lunatics, and as the apostasy grows, so does atheism, and freedom of religion suddenly becomes freedom from religion. I truly believe this, while many of us cling to our bibles and follow His word, the former president of the United States mocks us for that, and while Jim Bakker returns to his shenanigans and Todd Bentley shows how far the NAR will go to keep the money rolling in. Satan will use these and many more horror stories to drive us from the face of the earth (into Jesus' loving arms)

Iwannabuyahonda Iwannabuyahonda Iwannabuyahonda Iwannabuyahonda Iwannabuyahonda

When Hillsong replaces the gospel with a ‘circus performance’ – this is not satire.

Even though apostasy is terrible, God uses it to accomplish good

Please help us find the Harrisburg PA Pastor that Todd White healed. He shouldn't be hard to find, his leg was over 3 inches too short due to polio

And now Todd Bentley. I'm not going any further than that other to mention that he's NAR. Read at your own risk

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Go To Bible Study

I have no idea why I get the junk email that comes pouring into my inbox... no check that, I know EXACTLY why I get the junk email that comes pouring into my inbox and I wish it would stop. There's an underground economy out there based on trading and selling you. Your data (phone number, address, email address) is worth money to people and there's a lively trade going on. I found that one used car dealerships put me on a ton of junk lists, I wonder how much money they got for selling my data.

Ok let's restart: Dear Lord in heaven, what did I do to get put on a Life Way mailing list? 

This latest piece of ejunk particularly rankled me, it's an advertisement for a bible study for the book of Ephesians named "Defined" but it starts out splashing the movie Overcomer across the top of the page. Since the Overcomer is mentioned in the ad picture this in your mind using any movie trailer Voice Of Doom guy's voice:

From the people that brought you The War Room - In a world gone mad, where sins becomes virtue and false teaching becomes fast cash comes a new kind of superhero - The Overcomer

I have no idea why the movie the Overcomer is tied to this bible study other than the name Priscilla Shirer is featured in both. I don't go out of my way to see a lot of movies, and when I do go I've researched the movie before I plunk down $14 for lemonade and a small popcorn. Which is why I've seen very few "Christian" movies. An inordinate amount of "Christian" movies are only "Christian" in the loosest terms of the word, and many are barely "movies" at all. One of my tests is to look for the names Kevin Sorbo and Priscilla Shirer in the credits. I have very few qualms with Kevin Sorbo so I'll see his movies. Priscilla (and her dad) are a different story, and a reason for me to not see this film.

But the question remains - why is the Overcomer tied to 'Defined' which is a study of the book of Ephesians? At the bottom of the ad is the clue:

OVERCOMER is in theaters August 23. Buy tickets here. To see books, Bible studies, and other items based on the movie, visit LifeWay.com/Overcomer. 

I'm Not Moving! My Blog

I had an idea yesterday to move this blog over to WordPress, I've cross posted a few times over there but it was a task that I tended to forget to do and in the end I ended up with the same post in two locations, so I dropped doing that all together. 

There are a whole lot of things I do want to blog about that do not fit in here neatly. Like when a few weeks ago I was fiddling around on my Tecsun PL-660 in the 40 meter band when a station came up "blowing my doors off" on USB and when I looked up his call sign I found that his QTH was in Florida, and here I'm in Colorado getting him 5/9 on a 3 meter sloper! I found out that it wasn't propagation, he had a 2KW amp and an antenna array that covered acres.

That kind of post doesn't fit well into a blog that's been 100% theology, and after a day of playing around I found that WordPress does some things very well, but to do other things will cost a lot of money that I don't have. Such as RefTagger which is a little gadget designed to identify a bible verses in your blog. When it sees that the reference, such as Romans 3:1-2 it will set up the link to Biblia but also give you that little popup that shows a bit of the verse. Here on blogger it's free to add to your blog if you have the skills to set it up. On WordPress you need a business account to set up widgets like that, and a business account is $300 a year. On WordPress it's easy to subscribe to a blog, on blogger it's a serious pain to set that function up (I'm still trying to figure it out). 

WordPress vs Blogger is like Spaghetti vs Lasagna, they both do the same thing, but they do it in different styles. 

So I decided on leaving this blog as it is, to continue my posts here, posts like "What's A Cogic?" while over on my WordPress blog I put my personal updates and other interests, like railfanning, or a movie review, or Joe Biden's latest act of plagiarism. Or AOC's latest brain dump. Or Elisabeth Warren's latest racial identity. Or my granddaughter's latest goldfish. I consider my WordPress blog my garage, all kinds of interesting things will be stored there, things with no rhyme or reason, and no room for a car.

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

This world is not my home I'm just a'passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

You all remember Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib's botched trip to Israel. "I just wanted to see my Grandmother!" Rashida sobbed. The lame stream media made this sound like a congressional junket but suddenly Israel put restrictions on Tlaib only allowing her to see her grandmother. Talib balked at those restrictions and cancelled the trip.

Some of the more humorous bits was that it wasn't a congressional junket, it was just Ilhan and Rashida, and it wasn't Israel who put the restrictions on Rashida, it was Rashida who told Israel in a letter that she was just going to see her grandmother. Israel then made it public that Rashida was only going to see her grandmother, whereby Rashida got angry and said something to the effect of 'if I can only see my grandmother, I'm not going.' However the unfunniest part comes when you realize that the entire trip was sponsored by the terrorist sympathizing organization Miftah, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue & Democracy Now Miss Tlaib is comparing Israel with Nazi Germany, maybe I should risk upsetting Mrs. Tlaib and let her in on the truth: her anger is misdirected

Has the art of self worship reached it's zenith? Or is this just a stepping stone to a Mormonesque "I Am A God!" theater of damnation?

Why was it necessary for God to die for our sins? I'm sure many readers here know, but here is a well thought out outline

Iceland murders babies but worships a block of ice

Top 10 False Teachers that you will find in Evangelical churches

The Battle Against Heterodoxy

heterodoxy
/ˈhed(ə)rəˌdäksē/
noun
deviation from accepted or orthodox standards or beliefs.
"his work was marked by elements of theological heterodoxy"

The definition of heterodoxy is pretty straight up, and we as Christians need to try to avoid heterodoxy at all costs. Heterodoxy is the work of Satan, it's one of his greatest weapons in his battle against God. Satan knows that he cannot win against God so he will try to take as many of us with him as he can.

This creature to the left here is Haresis Dias. She's a 16th Century, satirical depiction of a goddess heresy or heterodoxy, and she contradicts the teachings of Christian Church. This is a pretty good illustration of heterodoxy, she looks kind of nice from a distance but when you look closer you start to see the evil creatures that wrap themselves around her, and I think that's a body of a demon she's clutching, she's got the ears of a donkey, her neck is made of brick, and she has cloven hooves. To battle Heterodoxy, the false teaching itself, our best weapon is Apologetics 

apologetics
/əˌpäləˈjediks/
 noun
reasoned arguments or writings in justification of something, typically a theory or religious doctrine.

Apologetics is useful against the false teaching itself, when we see a friend getting swallowed up in false teaching we intervene with the truth from the Gospel and use quotes from the great masters. Masters such as Charles Spurgeon:

Who, think you, are the most honest men - those who tell you plainly what the scriptures say concerning this wrath of God, or those who smooth in over or deny it all together?

Random Bits

"I walk through this sinful world as a 

pilgrim in a foreign country" - CH Spurgeon

This world is not my home I'm just a'passing through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

Broadcast radio is dead to me. I suppose that my cable system spoiled me with Video On Demand and digital recording. Mrs. WideAwakeChristian and I record all our favorite programs so we can zap commercials (it's easy if you know how to program your remote to leap ahead in 30 second jumps) and I can watch what I want to watch, when I want to watch it.

As I've mentioned in the past, Christian radio in this area is almost all charismatic chatter. I would love a station that played All MacArthur All The Time but no such luck, we might get a 1 minute Mac Bite occasionally but that's it. I love Red Eye Radio an 11 PM to 4 AM radio show, but I'm not up at those hours. But I can get the podcast and listen to it in my idea of morning and not have to listen to Glen Beck

There are a couple of MacArthur podcasts but my new favorite Christian podcast is: The Good Fight Radio Show. It's available on the android Double Pod app so it is probably available on iTunes. (I can't be sure, I don't do iTunes, iTunes is for toys) Try this episode on their website, they're discussing our favorite, most dapper inventor of narcissigesis Steven Furtick who claims he is now the gate, a job once reserved for Jesus Christ. Comment on this post on your favorite Christian podcasts and I'll devote an article to Christian podcasting 

The LGBTQXYZ community has a very high rate of suicide and has always has. Seriously. Always. The California legislature has decided to fix this situation by blaming you the Christian.

What Criteria do historians use to get to the minimal facts about the historical Jesus?

Department of Redundancy Dept: Hillsong song writer renounces his faith  (Isn't joining Hillsong a renunciation of faith?)

A Christian from South Korea arrested in Nepal on charges of “attempting to convert” and misuse of visa

The ChiComs have now banned Christian summer camps

And meanwhile Southern Baptists put Lifeway profits ahead of beleaguered Chinese Christians

WWUTT Wednesday - Coexist

I saw this logo a couple of years ago and got the t-shirt. In military jargon "I got the t-shirt" once meant that you did something difficult, but this time I mean literally, I got the t-shirt. I wear my Repent! t-shirt mostly in contrast to those that proclaim their self awarded superior tolerance by decorating their Audies and Mercedes parked in gated covenant controlled communities with the Coexist bumper sticker.

Here in Colorado the Coexist bumper sticker kind of = "I Live In Boulder" which, at the risk of being redundant, is populated primarily by white newagers and leftists. Lately "Coexist" has been replaced by the left's new form of love and tolerance "Trump Is A Racist". Coexist is still out there, bumper stickers are like sins, they're hard to get rid of. (That is a simile, and as you know a Simile is like a Metaphor...☺)

(By the way - what to know how to tell if a white conservative is a racist? Ask them if they'd rather spend the afternoon with 10 black conservatives or with 10 white leftists)

Preachers N' Sneakers

John Gray
He's leading the pack with his ultra rare Red October Air Yeezy Duce

This post is not intended to be satire, it's just sad: two Instagram accounts named “PreachersNSneakers” and "PhrophetsNWatches", both serve to show our "shepherds" leading by example, if there were a biblical example for conspicuous consumerism and self worship.

At these Instagram accounts you can see Steven Furtick in a $300 pair of Jordan 6 Chinese New Year, Steven Furtick in a $600 pair of Air Presto's, and Brian Houston in a $650 pair of Gucci deck shoes. And it's not just sneakers, you can see Steven Furtick in a $400 Gucci ball cap that features a picture of a snake, and Troy Gramling in a $1550 Louis Vuitton t-shirt. Meanwhile over at ProphetsNWatches there is Steven Furtick in that ugly snake hat and a $1,120 Gucci 40mm dive watch with the same ugly snake that's on his ugly hat, Steven Furtick in a $5,090 Paneri, and Carl Lentz stylin' a $37,995 solid gold Rolex Datona.

The Empty Pickle Jar

I love pickles, including the brand shown here, but here in Colorado we get a local brand that is incredible. I will only reveal the names of both pickle brands if the manufacturers donate generously to the WACIRF*. Regardless, I love pickles and if you do too, you can play along at home. Otherwise you're going to have to come up with your own metaphor.

What do you do with your pickle jar when the pickles are gone? if you're like most modern Americans you either toss the jar away or you dump the "pickle juice" out and recycle the jar. Either way you do it, you're wasting a Valuable Culinary Resource. 

When the pickles are gone you have a half of a jar of "Pickle Juice". Think of the things in that liquid: kosher salt, vinegar, dill, garlic, onion, pepper... all potent flavorful ingredients, it's a sin to waste them. My mom was a child of the depression, she and my aunts and uncles were raised by my widower grandfather to believe one important truth: "do not throw good away". Mom always had a jar of pickle juice in the fridge and would get upset if you threw that away. To me a tuna salad sandwich is not worth eating if there wasn't a splash of pickle juice in the mixture. A great salad dressing is simply mayo or Miracle Whip thinned out with pickle juice. And on french fries it's incredible! (not those whimpy fast food fries,steak fries or the big crinkle cut things) 

Feeling adventurous? Slice up a cucumber and put it in the left over pickle juice, and put the jar in the back of the fridge for a few weeks. Surprise - you just made pickles.

On to metaphorical territory**: This jar of pickles is the Bible, it contains the word of God. As you eat the pickles; study the bible, learn the lesson in church, you are enjoying his word. Each bite delicious and refreshing and satisfying. And when you finish 'eating' you still have that wonderful juice that you can use to flavor what ever you do. Look at Chick-fil-A, they use that left over juice to flavor their interaction with customers; "Yes ma'am", "Yes sir", genuine smiles, polite conversation, fast service, clean appearance. They aren't preaching the gospel with words but with actions.

In my town here on the edge of the Colorado prairie (I think I'll call it West Woebegone) there is a McDonalds, Chick fil-A, Taco Bell, and Arbys all in a row, and any night of the week except Sunday you can drive right up to the drive-thru microphone and order your Big Mac or Chalupa box or Beef n' Cheddar without a wait, but if you want a chicken sandwich and waffle fries, you're going to wait. The lines to get in to Chic-fil-A go around the block every night Monday through Saturday without fail while there are no lines at any other store.