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I will introduce briefly another concept which I may have mentioned in passing. That is; if we were invaded by another nation it still may not be the end; and it is possible should the Lord tarry longer than we seem to think at present that it could lead to a true revival or change of heart. Our nation's lazy work ethic has led to legions of evil because of all the free time we have accrued. Those who would survive a war would no doubt be in some sort of forced servitude; but perhaps that would help them appreciate a meal more; and any kindness. The true church would eventually arise; even from the tattered remains. Such is the case no doubt in myriad nations today as the Gospel can never be totally snuffed out.
Sadly; with the number of gun owners in this nation most people probably would die just in one on one combat. Whatever comes to pass; and as cruel as it sounds God does use calamities to SOME extent to rid the world of certain evil people. This is just as true as the fact that a disaster such as the tower at Siloam that fell didn't mean the sinners were any worse or better than anyone else; as we ALL have the same fate apart from Christ's mercy (see Luke 13:1-3). Overall; if we look at Babylon as an example God did spare some of His people and judged others with the invasion. We could have a similar fate. Nonetheless I see it as entirely plausible that we ARE Babylon; at least the economic version of it and likely could be destroyed in a day as Revelation 17 and 18 and many scriptures in Jeremiah reflect on in detail.
As a note for the present; even if the border were closed tomorrow or if it is next January this real invasion still gives us witnessing opportunities. There are innocent children and others mixed in who we should have the heart to help out; although wisdom is needed not knowing who we are dealing with. We need to stand against child sex slavery and illegal sweat shops NOW for His sake
Luke 22:36 states: Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.
Luke 9:54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
I am not going to take this posting to decide to support one viewpoint over the other as to having a weapon of protection or relying just on prayer. I will simply state that different circumstances may merit different approaches. I also will add that in the case of the passage in Luke; we are looking at defending ourselves along paths where dangerous criminals tend to hang out so that long term travel after the Lord went to heaven would necessitate this wisdom at times according to Christ. When it comes to the government; we don't see any evidence in scripture in the New Testament of active resistance but just one or two occasions when Paul appealed his beatings as a Roman citizen; which probably was primarily to continue to allow others in the same position as himself to continue to preach the Gospel for a time.
We also see that in the church age the Lord works differently then in other times. When Elijah comes as one of the two end time prophets he and the other prophet WILL indeed cause fire to come down and kill anyone resisting them. We have; therefore the final dispensation that the Lord will use signs and wonders gifts; the complete fulfillment of Joel 2 started at the time of Pentecost. (sorry about that d word it isn't necessarily favored by some but I don't know a better way of describing two such distinct periods of time)
We also see a difference; of course with the Tribulation saints who say "how long" until vengeance is given for their martyrdom ( Rev. 6:10). I am sure that since the death of all saints is precious in His sight ( Psalm 116:15) all martyrs are avenged.
As judgment begins with the church ( 1 Peter 4:17) we need to be cognizant of this fact in order to prevent any further error to spread where the truth still resides. I am convinced that in recent times it is professing Christians who have caused those who are on fire for the Lord to have the most discouragement ( Matt. 24:29). Jesus warns about this immediately prior to His coming.
We need as with anything else to be balanced; He will come and suddenly; but in His timing. We dare not lose our vigilance or get into the date setting camp. We all must watch as Jesus commanded. ( Mark 13:37).
When we look into what is just around the corner we must realize that God has certain set plans that will come to pass in their time; that is specifically one world government; the Antichrist and the Mark of the Beast which must end in the armies of the world fighting Christ to their demise as He returns and kills them with the fire coming from his mouth ( 2 Thess. 2:8 for this progression). In the end time Tribulation period there will be a countless multitude saved who appear in heaven after the 144,000 ( Rev. 7:9). We remember that we will be part of the assembly in heaven who comes down with Christ in the armies from there when He returns.
As we go forward; of course the main focus should always be on the Great Commission. This doesn't absolve us when we have a chance to stand for righteousness in society; but we should pray and seek Him before entangling in any issues that could hamper what our primary labor should be. Like it or not WE are the counterculture now; we are the fringe society (won't use the r right term fully spelled out to avoid getting flagged).
Perhaps our best bet is what seems to have stood the test of time in recent decades; that is having a small group of people who fellowship together; and a small block or two which can be a sort of sanctuary in rough neighborhoods.
In our current stage; we do well to keep a healthy distance from spending a lot of time reading news. The best way to get some idea of the truth is to read alternative as well as mainstream news and try to piece things together. We don't want to react like Job in chapter 3; verse 25 when he said that essentially his worst fears came upon him. Easier said than done; of course.
The mainstream narrative wants us to bring about a "self fulfilling prophecy" by conditioning the masses to react a certain way then have a "solution" to a crisis that itself is worse than the problem. It frequently exacerbates an issue by pitting one side against another; and usually is bias leaning far too much one way or another in international affairs. Alternative news brings a different angle but still can be biased. This helps us usually to hear about what is going on in nations that are of little interest to the West where nonetheless significant things are occurring.
We know; of course that He is with us until the end of the Age; whether that be defined as the end of the church age; or the Second Coming. There are people still coming to faith; no matter how bleak things are. Think of how miraculous that is; with the majority (70 something percent) believing in God about 40 years ago; and now 26 percent (unknown poll my Pastor mentioned Sunday). By and large the churches are turning into the Whore of Babylon; let's face it between the political agenda and the merging of religions we definitely see a sinking ship with churches in general today. We need to keep in mind that the Laodicean church still has a remnant in it. There is still a Philadelphia church; I would argue even if the main period in history for that typology passed a hundred years ago. As Daniel says none of the wicked only the wise understand ( Daniel 12:10) and the righteous will shine like the sun ( Matt. 13:43). Let us remain as "salt and light" ( Matt. 5:13).
To begin; let us squarely face reality as it is. Things are going from bad to worse; generally. There are some areas of the world where things may have actually improved of late; Thailand seems to be one example as to where until the last few years property could be obtained relatively inexpensively and it seems a lot has been done in general for the country to be more liveable; at least from the posting from someone that I have read for a while. Others such as Clayton Morris; who works at Redacted News and lives in Portugal seems to feel the same way; generally up until recently the cost of living is reasonable; and it has been relatively safe. Even an ad for Save The Children has a child admit that things got better for a while before they went into another decline; which I assume relates greatly to the drought cycle causing famine.
It seems that we all are getting used to seeing police cars on the side of the road (at least in the better suburban areas that are still enforcing the law); and many of us are going to have to learn it seems to face a new day after being a block or two away from the latest shooting; or even being slightly injured in some criminal event and going back to work in a day or two; much like living in a war zone where in some areas there is still some business as usual.
As I have stated before; dying to self is usually a process in sanctification until our bodily death; whether by natural or unnatural violence against us. Just how much time is left or how bad things will get before the Rapture and the Tribulation when there are "no holds barred" is the question. As with all declines of societies and with the rise of dictatorships imprisonment and physical assaults come gradually after harassment and intimidation. It seems for now mob rule is the norm; it likely will have to be replaced with severe measures no matter which political party is in control before we have total anarchy.
Thank you for your prayer: All parts are helpful to strengthen us on our journey. However, I was helped whole heartedly
with this part. May God bless you where ever you are_wherever you go_
all the time. Help us to eliminate ALL things of the enemy that are distractions; whether music or entertainment if you show us that it is destructive to our walk with God. Show us all other things we are unaware of; whrough spiritual discernment that are leading us into sin; or blocking the effectiveness of our witness or prayer. May we trust you in lack as Paul did as well as prosperity.
LORD; help us to live in victory! May we continue to believe that for every trial and day of suffering as Psalms says every tear is as a bottle; known and viewed by you.
Thanks___
God bless you Emmanuel
Thank You Heavenly Father, Thank You Jesus Christ and Thank You Holy Spirit.
Do you have books, art, watch TV shows, movies, music that displease God? Do you have dark colors in your house?
I have christian music or a Bible CD on all day.
Blessed be the name of our Lord God Almighty.
We are firm believers in Your Holy Word. We have faith in Your love, mercy and grace.
Thank You Father God, Thank You Jesus Christ and Thank You Holy Spirit. Amen
My mom
Thank you
It sounds like we listen to some of the same music. I have a CD of the Franz Family in my collection. They broke up as a group after the mother passed away. Emmitt Franz plays dobro now with the Petersen's (another great group) as you already know. I also have three CD's of the Petersen's, Homesick for a Country being my favorite. The song "I know who holds tomorrow" is probably my favorite on that album, almost as good as Alison Krauss and the Cox family.
Sorry, I know this is not your main topic, but I got a little excited knowing someone else here listens to the same music as myself.
Lord; many are tired and perhaps like your Disciples at the Garden or all the 10 virgins falling asleep. May we learn how to have our strength renewed and be able to make proper "declarations" based on Your covenant promises; like Jacob did wrestling the Angel of God. May we see prayers that have gone for years finally being answered as well as having confidence that some may not be answered until you call us home or in the Tribulation or even Millennium. Help us love the unlovable; praying for our enemies; and be particularly sensitive to those you have repeatedly made to cross our paths no matter how difficult that it may be. Let us not be discouraged by vile words which cast doubts as to our faith being genuine which the enemy will use others to speak forth; let us realize that our reward is great as you said in the Sermon on the Mount. May it be You that they see and You that we truly find as our life and our hope and strength; and may we acknowledge that we are nothing more than sinners saved by grace. May we ever find time to pray for those on the mission field.
Help us to eliminate ALL things of the enemy that are distractions; whether music or entertainment if you show us that it is destructive to our walk with God. Show us all other things we are unaware of; whrough spiritual discernment that are leading us into sin; or blocking the effectiveness of our witness or prayer. May we trust you in lack as Paul did as well as prosperity.
LORD; help us to live in victory! May we continue to believe that for every trial and day of suffering as Psalms says every tear is as a bottle; known and viewed by you. May we realize our treasure and reward in heaven is growing proportionate to the suffering if it is indeed in You and not due to our own sins. Bring the good fruit in us to maturity; and purge us to produce more in Your timing. In Jesus' Name; Amen.
Goodnight for now.
Rich P
Lord; I ask that your people will learn at least in some churches to use various true spiritual gifts to edify one another; not just for their own worship and praise where it begins. I would ask for extremism to be avoided; so that there isn't manifestations that don't stem directly from you but also that we don't let our hearts become as a stone to seeing spiritual life wherever it comes.
I am particularly grieved for those who are living in sexual immorality. Sin must be exposed; give us wisdom when to rebuke a brother in the Lord and when we need to give time and space for the Lord or the enemy of our souls to work on a man to bring him back to his senses.
IF is is possible; may there be some sort of move of God especially with the youth that is lasting and kept from gross doctrinal or lifestyle error that contradicts the Gospel and ultimately quenches the Spirit. I feel it is far more important at this time to pray that the true believing church will discern error and run from it; and realize that JUDGMENT BEGINS at the house of God.
To be jealous for His Name's sake; may it characterize those who represent the true move of God. May those who are in God honoring marriages be able to be given the respect; and may the world not be able to overcome what your covenant relationships represent. Also; I ask for many miraculous restorations of marriages and to keep many others from having marriages destroyed due to church approval or lack of efforts to deal with these matters.
May we be able to warn as the Psalms say those who are unaware they are heading for destruction; particularly when it comes to the sanctity of human life. When persecution or martyrdom must come; may it be in defense of life and may it finally bring a TRUE ending of abortion or severe scaling back. May we all choose our battles carefully and in prayer so that we don't fight for things that are fading away.
To avoid hypocrisy; and out of necessity for the topic at hand I will put out this prayer:
Lord and Savior and Master Jesus: In a world that is held captive like the passengers on the Titanic; we uphold your promises as believers to be seated currently in heavenly places. We are in the world but not of it. We serve a risen Savior; and learn to suffer as He did and as the Word of God says You live within us; those who truly believe. This is not self pity; but victorious living when we know that the one we serve stands victorious and is seated at the right hand of God awaiting His command to commence with taking His church home and initiating the Tribulation judgments starting at the first seal and continuing until the last bowl of wrath.
We acknowledge that all over the world your saints are going through trials; and that principally they are in the spiritual dimension either direct persecution and suffering; or alternatively temptation to sin through deception. I thank you Lord that there is still a vestige of the blessings in this nation of adequate food and clothing and shelter for many of us; but certainly not all in this country. May we be ready to give that up as the situation requires; and trust You to allow us to be the "head and not the tail" and have resources set aside as He gives us the ability for those who will be suffering lack in the breakdown of the economy and society at least before you take out Your church. YOU and you alone give us the strength to have courage and not fear; even the fear of death. We don't know how many will have to die of unnatural causes in the near future; or even know for sure our nation will make it until the Tribulation; although it would seem some from every country will. Help us all to hold to what is truly of you and teach us what we cannot recognize as remnants of our old man that give us comfort as well as keeping us from knownevil
As to this series of posting upcoming; it isn't something I even want to discuss. I have my own issues at present with unsaved parents and conflict in the home where I may be forced to get them medical care against their wishes. I plan to challenge them in writing when I take a road trip in a couple weeks; as repeated discussions with my mom have led nowhere or to ambivalent response. I have people praying for me so won't belabor the point; but could always use more.
I feel that it is necessary to warn of what is probably fairly obvious coming to our country. I wish I could say that I'm "gung-ho" if the Republican candidate becomes President again but I have my own concerns with him as an individual. Also it will take YEARS of painstaking effort before anything can become better; this business about things instantly being great is pie in the sky I would say; and unless we are readied for a struggle; not only the government but the populus as a whole will stop well short of any real gains. The situation at my church who I won't mention by name involved a lady who used to be Muslim but now is a Christian and what she will have to face after she returns from visiting town to her husband (will even leave the nationality out). I am sure this is commonplace; I only know one other person who was going back to family in Iran briefly in the past who said he would be burned alive if he told them of his conversion.
We are more than conquerors in Christ; and He works all things out for the good for those who love Him; including spiritual rewards. Truth be told; lukewarm "fence walkers" won't stand in this hour.
Great post! We are surely living in a peculiar time. It amazes me how young people see everything today as being normal. But of course, if that's all they know, it becomes the norm. I grew up in the 60's and 70's and things were so much better back then. The way things are going now, it can't be much longer before the Lord returns. At least, that should be our hope and prayer.
With everything going on in the world today, it's hard for us to remain focused on the Lord, but that's what we as believers are called to do, keeping our eyes fixed on Christ. Satan doesn't play fair. Everything in this world is just a distraction to keep our minds occupied and away from the Lord.
I have been enjoying reading your posts. Thank you! Also, the song Wayfaring Stranger is one of my all-time favorites and Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra does an amazing job on that song. Their rendition is by far my favorite. I stumbled on them about three years ago and was curious about what a bluegrass orchestra was all about.
I'm a big fan of bluegrass music and bluegrass gospel. I play guitar, banjo, mandolin, dobro, and a little bit of fiddle. I was not too sure about Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra at first, mainly because an accordion in a bluegrass band is unheard of. I was completely impressed by their music and their lead singer Rebekka Nilsson has an amazing voice. I highly recommend others to listen to Wayfaring Stranger by these folks. Just don't get hooked and listen to it over, and over, and over again like I did. I just couldn't help myself. What a voice!
Blessings to you!
My sister in law from grew up in Tanzania and she said that Sunday was a day of being in church all day long and into the evening with fellowship, prayer, and worship. I wish our churches in our country would begin to practice this opportunity now so that it will be established when the severest of trials come upon us.
Thanks for the update.37 weeks is full term so she has that going for her. Hopefully the fluid on the brain will decrease dramatically from here on. I pray that God will cause her to be able to intake what is provided for her so she can be nourished and grow during this time.
The state of our country is indeed grave. Before beginning to analyze what is likely to happen; as well as new challenges we will face as believers and the state of the church I will once again give a strong admonition to persevere in prayer. In Matthew West's song "Don't stop praying" (assuming that is the right title) he has a line that says let your knees wear out the floor. We need to take heart that Christ has won the war; but the individual battles rage on ever more fierce as the Day of His coming approaches.
It seems clear from a brief scan of today's prayer requests on this site that some at least are quite tired and discouraged. We should all desire to be as the Philadelphia church who had "little strength" but holds on until the end. Perhaps many churches will only start praying when seeing individuals press forth and seek opportunities to get together rather than waiting for a formal time at the church for such a meeting. We need to heed certain foreign churches that basically spend Sunday ALL day in fellowship and in many cases hours in prayer. I am of the firm belief that some prayer should be available DAILY even in a small church and even if it sadly has to be virtual (much preferred live). Pastors need to seek prayer for their sermons; and Deacons and Elders should be transparent as well. Without prayer there can't be very effective evangelism; I know that from my limited experience on the streets and testimonies of others much more committed to that endeavor.
With persecution inevitable in the near future of all forms there is a risk of many shrinking back without preparatory prayer.
This can involve wisdom as well in planning for resources for others in times of need. I would also say that a strong focus needs to be on the Gen Z crowd; according to some poll my Pastor brought up today only 26 percent of them believe in God.
The suicide rate and self destruction of youth is a number 1 killer already
And you're there with me.
This folk group has Wayfaring Stranger and some other at least nominal Christian songs. But those two lines above really bring brings home an accurate picture of where society is; and the deception of the enemy. Perhaps this is even more on my mind today after ending 1 Peter today and warnings of deception from the enemy of our souls that our Pastor preached on; as well as a lady there who is visiting and faces persecution from her family for being a Christian. Just the local news is ever spinning out of control; from a couple dozen shot in Akron; to a double homocide in the Philly area where I live; to a shooting of 9 where I used to live in Penn Hills; PA where there were 2 or 3 fatalities from what I last heard; to massive riots involving hundreds at various beach locals in New Jersey where 12 were arrested.
The encouraging thing is; of course the fact that these brief trials are nothing in comparison of the glory to come. ( 2 Cor. 4:17).
Nonetheless; as Phillipians 1 states which we are doing an in depth Sunday school lesson on; Paul was in chains for years after establishing his first church; who he was able to rejoice in and remain in constant prayer for. Thankfully they were an integral part in growing and giving in his time of need.
Today I also had a long debate with a Christian friend of mine as to how much we should take on resisting all the things going on politically that seem to be stacking up badly for Christians. I brought up the point that the focus has to be on spreading the Gospel first which I would say he agrees with. These certainly are not easy times to live in.
In my next post I am going to take a matter of fact view of exactly where we are and what is almost certain to transpire in the
next 6 months to couple of years should the Lord tarry.
As Derrick Prince said, A visible manifestation of Your Healing Power greatly increases our faith.
Thank You Heavenly Father, Thank You Jesus Christ and Thank You Holy Spirit.