Storms are Howling

Storms are howling, folks not bowing,

Headstrong in their plans a plenty,

Trust in God they ain’t got any,

They not friend, they are the en’my.

Tricks and trappings, fingers snapping,

Sins a plenty they are adding,

Those who love God, they attacking,

Wickedness, it is not napping.

They are showing their true colors,

They not showing love to others,

For they follow other lovers

When they’re underneath their covers.

Round about it in their circles,

Singing, flinging, in their hurtles,

Acting out in their rehearsals,

Blurting out so many verbals.

Dancing, prancing, and romancing,

Eyes that lust, they are so glancing,

Evil men they are advancing,

Many people they entrancing.

Lies enormous, they deceiving,

Many people them believing,

God almighty they are grieving,

Human hearts they are now seizing.

Oh, what heartache, lies so many,

Not on God’s side, they not friendly,

For their god, it is their belly,

And their hearts are full of envy.

God is calling to repentance,

Those who in their sins do advance,

Those who live their lives just for chance,

and who’re living life in a trance.

An Original Work / October 23, 2022

The Wicked Plots Against the Righteous

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

    fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

    over the man who carries out evil devices!

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

    Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

For the evildoers shall be cut off,

    but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

“In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;

    though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.

But the meek shall inherit the land

    and delight themselves in abundant peace.

The wicked plots against the righteous

    and gnashes his teeth at him,

but the Lord laughs at the wicked,

    for he sees that his day is coming.” (Psalms 37:7-13 ESV)

If we who are followers of Jesus Christ are going to be wise and discerning people, we need to not be naïve and gullible people who just believe whatever we hear from the government, or a particular political party, or a particular media source, or a specific preacher and teacher of the Scriptures. Wolves in sheep’s clothing exist everywhere you look these days. Lies and liars and manipulations of truth are all over the place. And if we are not careful and prayerful with regard to who we believe, we may believe the lies.

Twenty-two years ago, at the age of 52, I went back to college to take business classes. I will never forget what my marketing teacher told us then. He told us that our government has technology at least 20 years ahead of where we are which they have not released to the public because they feel as though we could not handle the truth. Since then I have come more to the thinking that they are not letting us see where they are because they don’t want us to know what they are up to in their secret projects.

Twenty years ago, at the age of 54, the Lord Jesus began opening my eyes to some of the things which our government has kept hidden from the American people. And the Lord had me (a slow reader) begin reading science articles and history articles and all kinds of articles which were available on the internet at that time, which filled me in on all sorts of information that I was completely ignorant about, and which I would not have ever even looked at if it was not the Lord who was leading me in that direction.

Simply put, what I came to realize is that my government is not who they claim to be. I realized that political right and left do not really exist, but they are two sides of the same whole working for the same people, a group of elites who are the de facto government of the USA who are the ones leading the entire world into a one world order (the order of the Beast). Our government is not fighting terrorists in order to save us, but they are the world’s worst terrorists, the harlot who rides the beast, in essence.

So, when strange things begin happening in our world, and in the USA (for those of us who live in the USA), we need to begin asking questions, and we need to pray and ask the Lord to guide us to the truth, and to keep us from believing the lies. And if someone tells us to believe only them and to ignore all other (outside) sources of information, we should take that as a red flag that something is not right and they don’t want us to know what that is, and so they want to convince us that they are the only source of truth.

Now, on a Spiritual level, the Word of God is truth that we can trust, but even there the translations come from varied sources, so we need to pray and seek the Lord regarding what translation is best, if we have a choice at all (not everyone does). And then we need to study the Scriptures in their appropriate context and not interpret them out of context, which is what many people are doing today in order to deceive and to lead people to what is false and away from what is truth. And this is happening everywhere.

What I am saying is that deception is everywhere, and the goal of deception, whether coming from the government and politicians, or from the news media, or from Big Pharma, or “the church,” in general, etc., is to lead us away from the truth to follow after the lies. So the point of what I am saying here is that we should not put on blinders and just believe someone because he is someone respected or a particular preacher or politician or newscaster or whatever. We need to pray the Lord would show us truth vs lies.

So, I am not asking that you believe me just because I said it, but that you should believe the Bible, and the Bible warns us much against lies and liars and deceivers and false teachers and shepherds and doctrines, etc. The Bible directs us that we should test everything we read or hear or see (or think we see) in prayer, and against the Scriptures, and via being led of the Holy Spirit in what to read and to believe, and in what to reject, which cannot be something that is against what the Scriptures teach us.

And we need to face the reality of the times in which we live, and so we must realize what the Scriptures teach with regard to these last days before the return of Christ. And they warn much against liars and deceivers and manipulators of truth who are out to deceive the people. So, especially if someone is telling you to believe them and to reject what anyone else says, then please check out what they are saying in prayer and please ask the Lord to guide you into all truth so that you don’t fall prey to deception.

But as our eyes begin to be opened to the truth, and as we begin to see that those we once trusted are not to be trusted, and those we once thought were on our side are really our enemies out to destroy us, and we realize that we had believed so many lies, and so our foundation we were brought up under is suddenly shaken, we are not to let that undo us. We are not to fret over it, and we are not to get angry and to want to get even. But we are to trust the Lord and just continue to obey him in everything.

For our God is completely sovereign over all that he has made. He knows the end from the beginning, and he allowed everything to happen as it is or it could not happen. And all of this was prophesied in the Old and New Testaments thousands of years ago. A beast is forming his kingdom, and his rule will be allowed by God for a period of time, as God’s judgment, not only on the “unsaved”, but also on those giving lip service to the Lord but who have not died to sin and who are not obeying his commands, in practice.

And the book of Revelation does talk about people coming to faith in Jesus Christ during that time of tribulation, and many of those will be those who now profess faith in Jesus Christ but whose commitment to God is lip service only. And so this ultimately is for our good, for the salvation of human lives from eternity in hell who would not follow the Lord if they had not been put under the fire, so to speak. And one day Jesus will return, and his faithful ones will go to be with him for eternity, and all suffering will be over. Amen!

Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-39; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-17; Jn 15:18-21; Jn 17:14; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

https://vimeo.com/379406352

Backing Up What I Say

“I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:29-32 ESV)

Matthew 7:15-16 ESV: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits.”

Matthew 10:16 ESV: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

This is why I do what I do each day. This is why God called me to this ministry 20 years ago, because we are being inundated with wolves in sheep’s clothing, and not just within the gatherings of the church (or what is falsely being called church), but in the government, and in the news media, and in the media in general, and coming from other places. And this is not just my opinion. The evidence is everywhere you look, pretty much. We just need eyes to see and ears to hear what is really happening in our world.

And the gospel of our salvation is being diluted, and not many people anymore are teaching the whole counsel of God, but they are teaching an altered gospel message intended to tickle itching ears and to lead people astray from the truth of the gospel. And this also is not just my opinion. The Scriptures warn of us of such a time as this when these wolves in sheep’s clothing will come in and teach what is twisted in order to draw disciples away after themselves. And the Scriptures themselves tell us some of the kinds of things that these false teachers will teach, too.

False Teachers:

[Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 24:11-14; John 10:1-15; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 6:3-10; 1 John 4:1-6; Jude 1:3-23]

And the evidence is there in the things that these false teachers are teaching. All we have to do is listen to what they are saying and then examine their words against the Scriptures (taught in CONTEXT). For this is what we should all be doing, testing everything we hear and read against the Scriptures (in context) to make certain that what we are hearing and reading is indeed the truth. And no one, including me, is exempt from such an examination, either. I don’t care who they are or who they know.

So, I received a critical response to the video talk on “Hating the Light; Loving the Darkness” (posted on February 5, 2023). The responder accused me of this:

“You didn't tell others not to believe you but that they should pray they should seek study this and find it for them selfs. Its HIS Truth right?  If its nots HIS then you will never tell people not to believe you but find it in His word. Sorry some things you posted goes against the word of God taken out of context. Things not written to Christians. Things that will not be told to Christians. Some things you said are true.”

I did review back over the video, and I did give several Scripture references in things that I stated, and I did point people to the Scriptures multiple times, but I did not give Scripture references for everything I said, which is harder to do when doing a short video talk than it is to do when I am writing devotions, for I am just sharing as led by the Spirit like I was sitting across the room from you in my living room. Nothing scripted much at all in the video talks other than the beginning passage of Scripture. 

Since I don’t know what I am going to be saying ahead of time, I don’t have all those Scripture references ready at hand. But anytime you have a question or a concern about something I said, and you want to know where to find that in the Scriptures, then please quote what I said specifically and I will be glad to supply the Scriptures. For it is very difficult for me to respond to general complaints like the one mentioned above. But yes, test everyone, including me. And if you want Scripture references, just ask for them.

Now, in the video I am going to share observations about things that I have witnessed personally with regards to the present condition of today’s church. But the Scriptures warn us of this time and what we can expect, and all I am doing is sharing the reality and the fulfillment of those predictive Scriptures from what is apparent for anyone whose spiritual eyes and ears are alert and paying attention to what is really going on. And so I am making you aware, which is what Paul did, too, if you are not already, so that you can watch for these things prayerfully, and so that you are not led astray.

So, yes, please do test what you hear me say, and if you feel I am in error, please bring it to my attention. But please give me a specific quote of what I said so that I can respond to your specific concern. I can do nothing with generalized comments which tell me nothing. And please be students of the Scriptures who read them in their context and then who are applying them to your daily lives. And then please be those who are spreading the truth of the gospel to others so that they can come to know Jesus Christ, too.

The Gospel Truth:

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Backing Up What I Say

Video Talk

February 5, 2023

https://youtu.be/d1VLnKCIVyM

Caution: This link may contain Ads

Come and See  

An Original Work / May 20, 2013

Based off John 1:35-51

John, the Baptist, called of God to

Make straight the way for the Lord,

Told his disciples about Jesus,

So two of them followed Him.

One of them who followed Jesus

Told his brother, Simon Peter,

Who then he brought to the Savior,

Who had told them, “Come and see.”

Jesus Christ, our Lord, Messiah,

On his way to Galilee found a man, Philip,

So he told him, “I want you to follow Me.”

Philip then found his friend, 

And he told him, “We have found the one 

The prophets spoke of – He is Jesus!”

Philip then said, “Come and see.”

Jesus saw the man, Nathanael,

While he sat beneath a fig tree,

Even before Philip called him,

So Nathanael did believe.

Nonetheless the Lord said,

“You believe because of what I told you.

You will see much greater things than these

If you will Come and see.”

Jesus’ calling to each one of us. 

He tells us to believe in Him

As our Lord and Messiah,

And to follow where He leads.

He says we must turn from our sins,

Die to sin and self each day,

And put on our new lives in Jesus;

Bow before Him; humbly pray.

https://vimeo.com/117022624

What's Your Purpose?

What’s Your Purpose? Why you be?

Are you trapped? Or are you free?

In and out is where you are?

Sometimes nearer? Sometimes far?

Broken record played each time?

Nothing changes, not in time?

Worn out efforts do not work

So you angry? So you irk?

What’s the purpose, shrink from all?

You no courage? You no gall?

Run away is your escape?

You’re just playing same old tape.

This goes nowhere, never has,

Broken record, same old jazz. 

Time is passing, passing by,

One day you are gonna die.

Make decision, make it now,

To stop passing, passing ball.

Face the music, face it well,

So you don’t end up in hell.

An Original Work / February 28, 2024

Hating the Light; Loving the Darkness

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:16-21 ESV)

Many people have built an entire doctrine of salvation just from a surface read of John 3:16 absent of its context and absent of understanding what it means to be believing in Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of their lives. For this is not about a one-time belief in Jesus that secures you forgiveness of sins and heaven as your eternal destiny, regardless of how you live your life on this earth. The verb tense is rendered “believing,” which is continuous and ongoing, and if it is not, then it is not God-given belief which saves.

Also the word “believing” (or faith) is authored and perfected by Jesus Christ, and so it comes from God (Hebrews 12:1-2), and it is gifted to us by God, and it is not of our own doing (Ephesians 2:8-10). And we can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless God the Father draws us to Christ (John 6:44). And the word “faith” means to be persuaded. And since the faith comes from God, he is the one persuading us. And what is he persuading us? He is persuading us as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to repent of our sins and to obey our Lord.

So, we can’t just say we believe in Jesus, that he died on that cross to save us from our sins, and that he rose from the dead. But by faith in him we must be crucified with Christ in death to sin and be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, not like our old lives, but now in walks of holiness and righteousness, in obedience to our Lord, for this is what Jesus taught, and it is what his New Testament apostles taught. For if we don’t, but we keep on in making sin our practice, then we will not have eternal life.

And yes, when Jesus came to the earth the first time, it was to save us from our sins, not to condemn us. That will take place at his second coming, when he returns to judge all of us on the earth according to our works and he takes his faithful ones to be with him for eternity. But this does not mean he did not speak words of judgment. He did. For he said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father in heaven (Matthew 7:21-23).

And then when we read this section about whoever believes is not condemned but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in Jesus. Again, we must look at what that word “believe” means, both in context, as defined by God and Scripture, and as defined by verb tense, because this is an ongoing faith that must still be present and active when our Lord returns, and this faith involves dying daily with Christ to sin and walking daily in obedience to his commands (Luke 9:23-26).

And then this whole next section gives us a clear picture of those of genuine faith and those not of genuine faith which saves. For if you are still holding on to your sin and you love the darkness and you don’t want to come into the light, then your faith is not saving faith, but fleshly. But if your faith is genuine, then you love the light (truth, righteousness, godliness), and you no longer love the darkness, and so you want to obey the Lord, and so you desire to live a godly and holy life to the praise and glory of God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

Hating the Light; Loving the Darkness

Video Talk

February 5, 2023

https://youtu.be/JCgrRBvbWfU

Caution: This link may contain ads

He Lifted Our Burdens 

An Original Work / February 15, 2014

Based off Isaiah 9:2-7

People walk in darkness.

They abide in their sin.

It has power o’er them.

True belief escapes them.

Jesus Christ came to save them.

He gave His life up for them;

Crucified; died for our sin,

So we might be forgiven,

And have life up in heaven.

Many come to know Him.

God’s love now o’erflows them. 

They rejoice in vict’ry.

Their sin is but hist’ry.

We were once bound in slav’ry.

Jesus lifted our burdens;

Set us now free from Satan,

So we now walk in freedom.

Sin has no more dominion. 

Praise be to our Savior!

He showed us His favor.

He took all our burdens;

Cast them all upon Him.

He is our mediator;

The Light which shines in darkness.

Counselor in our troubles;

He gives peace now in our hearts;

Joy which is everlasting. 

https://vimeo.com/86854416 

Tried and True

Tried and true, our Lord is King.

He is Lord over everything.

Pure and righteous, ne’er a fault,

In Him there’s no reason to doubt.

Sovereign over all our lives,

He never puts on a disguise.

Faithful in all that He does,

We can rely on His pure love.

Thinks He of our ev’ry need,

On His word we can surely feed.

Wisdom He gives, do not doubt,

Do not fear, and please do not pout.

He is faithful to His word.

He’ll do all that He said, I’ve heard.

Put your trust in Him today,

Believe in Him without delay.

An Original Work / June 27, 2022

Let Your Heart Take Courage

“Teach me your way, O Lord,

    and lead me on a level path

    because of my enemies.

Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;

    for false witnesses have risen against me,

    and they breathe out violence.

“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord

    in the land of the living!

Wait for the Lord;

    be strong, and let your heart take courage;

    wait for the Lord!” (Psalms 27:11-14 ESV)

This seems to be a running theme in many of the Psalms. But it is a running theme in the New Testament books, too. Jesus faced this. And his NT apostles endured this, too. And the new believers in Christ were persecuted for their walks of faith and obedience to the Lord. All throughout biblical history those whose lives were dedicated to following God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – were persecuted for their walks of faith.

And Jesus warned us that if we surrender our lives to him, and if we follow him in obedience, that we will be hated and persecuted as he was hated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake. And who were Jesus’ primary enemies? They were not those who professed no faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They were his fellow Jews, and his half-brothers, and the rulers in the temple of God and in the synagogues.

For us today, this would be like having pastors and elders of “church” congregations opposing and persecuting us and wanting us disappeared from sight. It would be like having our family members, even those professing faith in the Lord Jesus, coming against us and opposing us or just plain ignoring us and what we are saying about the Lord and his teachings. And it would be like having other “Christians” rejecting and casting us aside.

And, honestly, if you are serious about your walk of faith in the Lord Jesus, in following him in the ways that the Scriptures teach that we are to follow him, and so you are proclaiming the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light, be prepared to have “the church” reject you. And if you are exposing the fruitless deeds of darkness, get ready to be strongly opposed and persecuted and treated as though you are the enemy.

For if everyone loves and accepts and embraces you and your words, then there is something wrong with that picture. For we live in a day and time when the gospel of our salvation and the character of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and of his church, have been altered and diluted to appease human flesh. So if honestly you are teaching the truth of the Scriptures, and if you are exposing the lies of the enemy, you should not be well liked.

But we are not to fear what other people think about us or say about us or do to us. We should not change course just because we face much rejection and persecution. In fact, this should strengthen and encourage us to be ever more diligent in getting out the truth of the gospel to the people, and to exposing the lies of the enemy, so that many will find truth and be saved. The salvation of human souls, next to obedience to God, should be our top priority. We should be willing to sacrifice ourselves to save others.

And this persecution should push us even closer to the Lord in our walks of faith and obedience to him. And it should give us an even stronger desire to be taught by the Lord in his ways and to be led on a level (righteous) path. And no matter how hard it gets, and it is going to get harder, we should call on the Lord to be our strength and our counsel in how to respond to those who strongly oppose us. And we should trust the Lord with the results.

So, no matter what you are going through, no matter what trials you are presently being called upon to endure for the sake of the name of Jesus, and for the sake of the truth of the gospel, remain strong in your faith. Keep persevering. Keep your eyes focused on the goal. And then wait for the Lord. Be strong in his strength. Trust in his counsel. Let him lead you in the way he would have you to go, and then trust him with the results.

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; Jn 17:14; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13]

All Through the Night  

An Original Work / December 7, 2013

Based off Various Scriptures

Blessed are you when you’re persecuted

Because of your faith in Jesus Christ.

Blessed are you when people insult you,

And falsely say what leads folks to doubt.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is

Great in the heavens. You’re not alone.

When you are persecuted in one place,

Flee to another. God will be there.

You will be hated by all the nations

Because you testify of God’s grace.

Many will seize you and persecute you,

And put to death the foll’wers of Christ.

Yet do not fear what humans may do to you,

For I’m with you all through the night.

I tell you, love your enemies with my love,

And forgive as I forgave you.

Pray for those who do evil against you.

Rest in my love and grace from above. 

https://vimeo.com/379481617