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.

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
Oh lord you know I have no friend like you
If heaven's not my home then lord what will I do
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

When will I tire of posting Beth Moore's nonsense? I tired of that weeks ago, but she won't let up, it's almost like every time she opens her mouth she's telling us WatchBloggers "Here! I dare you to show the world that I'm daffy." What is with that girl?

A dance video making the round on social media celebrating homosexual orgasm shows two scantily clad men performing a homoerotic dance in the magnificent sanctuary of Saint Peter Apostle Church in Montreal

Not Satire:* While relentlessly promoting Blood Moon prophecies, Charisma Mag tells witches not to rely on lunar events

The sugar-daddy of woke evangelicalism might be in trouble with federal prosecutors for corruption and the unauthorized diversion of campaign dollars

The leaders of an evangelical ministry based in Montana have resigned following allegations of abuse and misappropriation of funds earmarked to help feed impoverished children.

"If you choose not to tithe, God says you live under a financial curse. He shuts prosperity off as an option for you. I did not say that the Bible says that." - John Hagee (my favorite moon man)

Man says he smokes THC to prepare for Jesus’ return

Spurgeon Thursday - The Importance of Baptism

Sinner, believe on Jesus Christ; hear the whole gospel preached to thee. It is written in God’s Word, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” Hear me translate it: He that believeth and is immersed shall be saved. Believe thou, trust thyself on the Savior, make a profession of thy faith in baptism, and then thou mayest rejoice in Jesus, that he hath saved thee. But remember not to make a profession till thou hast believed; remember, baptism is nothing until thou hast faith. Remember, it is a farce and a falsehood until thou hast first believed; and afterward it is nothing but the profession of thy faith. Oh, believe that; cast thyself upon Christ, and thou art saved for ever! The Lord add his blessing, for the Saviour's sake. Amen.

More Moore Means Much More Less

On the same day I published my post on Beth Moore, Pulpit and Pen published their post on Beth Moore. Beth Moore is the living embodiment of Spurgeon's great definition of the word 'discernment';

“Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”

It's that almost part that can get you. That D-Con mouse and rat poison you may set out for unwelcomed rodents is 99.9975% harmless, and 0.0025% deadly, yet that 0.0025% does it's deadly job. I suppose one could draw a parallel between leaven in dough meant for unleaven bread that Paul uses when talking about sin in 1 Corinthians 5:6-8 and introducing exegetical errors and extra-biblical revelations into what is supposed to be biblical teaching. 

Here is a story of a pastors wife who sat down and reviewed what Beth Moore had to say and realized she had to part ways with God's Blond Bullhorn

A Pastor’s Wife Breaks Free of Beth Moore: 

A Testimony

BY SETH DUNN · PUBLISHED MAY 31, 2017 · UPDATED NOVEMBER 21, 2018

The following testimony was submitted to Pulpit & Pen for publication:

My name is Lauran.  I am a Southern Baptist from Tennessee.  I walked the aisle to accept Jesus at age 5 but I believe I was truly saved 12 years ago at the age of 21.  I am currently the women’s Bible study leader at our church as well as the pastor’s wife.  I have broken free of Beth Moore.

I grew up attending Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee.  It was and is one of the most vibrant churches in the convention; its former (Adrian Rogers) and current (Steve Gaines) pastors have been the President of the Southern Baptist Convention and both served on the Baptist Faith and Message Committee.  At this faithful church, the Bible was proclaimed as God’s inerrant word.  Growing up in a church like that, I was often involved in Bible study.  One of my favorite Bible study authors was Beth Moore.  I was heavily involved in her studies for years.  I have seen her speak live multiple times, done countless numbers of her studies and own tons of her books.  I’ll never forget the day five years ago when my husband informed me that Beth Moore may not be a sound teacher.

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
Oh lord you know I have no friend like you
If heaven's not my home then lord what will I do
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door
And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

Years ago Snopes used to be a good site to run to if you really needed to know if that cat on Youtube is really playing the piano, or if Prince Charles really did hire a hit man to "kack" Princess Di. But in recent years Snopes has become a left wing apologist bent on erasing history and re-writing it to DNC standards. This is  how far they have sunk into the left-wing morass - now Snopes is fact-checking the Christian satire website the Babylon Bee. Let me repeat that: Snopes is fact-checking a Christian satire website. They're not just saying that "this is satire" (which is what a responsible, adult staffed agency would do) they're knowingly taking the hilarious satirical Babylon Bee stories and actually wasting time and energy to "fact-check" them like they were serious reporting. The previous sentence that you just read is not satire, the alt-left tunnel vision bound Snopes who couldn't find a left damning fact if Faux-cahontas (Fact check that fact Snopes) handed them one is brazenly attacking the Babylon Bee for their right (meaning both conservative AND correct) stance and Christian origins. In response to Snopes inept stammering, the Babylon Bee has lawyered up. Go Bee!

How Mary supplanted Jesus as the Roman Catholic savior. Ok, I know some folks are going to complain about this. Bring it.

Jesus' second advent occurred in Kenya this month.

Spurgeon Thursday - 4 Reasons Spurgeon Died Poor

4 Reasons Spurgeon Died Poor

From: spurgeon.org

Charles Spurgeon could have been one of the richest millionaires in London.

Instead, he died poor.

Unlike his contemporary pastors in London, Spurgeon did not leave millions of pounds to his family after his death. Susannah told a Baptist newspaper her husband only left £2,000 (Nottingham Evening Post, March 31, 1892).

This number is staggering compared to how much money Spurgeon actually earned. In fact, one of the most overlooked aspects of Spurgeon’s ministry is his personal finances.

Let’s see where Spurgeon’s wallet takes us.

The numbers below have been converted from Great Britain Pound (GBP) in Spurgeon’s day to U.S. Dollar (USD) today. Inflation has been accounted for using a standardized consumer price index. As a general reference, one British pound (£) was worth the equivalent of $117.78 today.

25,000 sermons per week = $13,767,693.33

A small sampling of books sold up to 1885:

The Treasury of David = $5,225,472

Morning by Morning = $2,116,800

Evening by Evening = $1,481,760

Lectures to My Students, Vol. 1 = $453,600

Lectures to My Students, Vol. 2 = $226,800

Commenting on Commentaries = $151,200

John Ploughman’s Talk = $2,056,320

John Ploughman’s Pictures = $665,280

Total sales of books and sermons = $26,144,925.33

Remember, this is only a small slice of Spurgeon’s lifetime earnings. He wrote nearly 150 books, published a monthly magazine, and earned significant revenue from speaking engagements in the earlier, more mobile part of his ministry.

Have you ever wondered how much Spurgeon earned for his annual salary?

As a teenage pastor of Waterbeach Chapel, Spurgeon was paid meagerly, the equivalent of $5,443 per year, though $3,773 went to rent (69.3% of his salary):

“They gave me a salary of £45 a year, but as I had to pay 12 [shillings] a week for my two rooms which I occupied, my income was not sufficient to support me; but the people, though they had not money, had produce, and I do not think there was a pig being killed by any one of the congregation without my having some portion of it” (Autobiography 1:253).

After Spurgeon accepted the pastorate of New Park Street Chapel in 1854, his salary increased dramatically due to the money earned from seat rentals (a practice long since abandoned in evangelical churches).

Three months after moving to London, Spurgeon earned enough money to personally pay for his chapel’s maintenance and lighting (Autobiography 2:123). Shortly thereafter, he never again took a salary.

So where did all of Spurgeon’s money go? What were his attitudes towards finances?