Tag: Bible

THE TERRIBLE POWER OF DENOMINATIONAL DISTINCTIVES

Those of us who grew up in denominational churches are at a terrible disadvantage. They told us, plainly, that the Bible is the Word of God and the ultimate authority in every situation. Then, often not so subtly, they taught us that all Scripture must be interpreted in a manner consistent with our denomination’s doctrine and beliefs…

“As Baptists, we know that you cannot lose your salvation. With that in mind, what do you think this verse could mean?”

With those words, a professor at a Baptist college once started the discussion on Galatians 5:4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the Law; you have fallen from grace.

As an older student, I had prepared an argument:
“You cannot be severed from that to which you are not attached. You cannot fall from where you are not. You cannot enter Heaven without Christ or apart from grace.”

It was however, obvious from his opening statement that such arguments would not be allowed…

Today, in my own mind, I can imagine a professor at Southern Methodist University opening a discussion on John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.” with the words, “As Methodists, we know that you can lose your salvation. With that in mind, what do you believe this verse might mean?”

Those of us who grew up in denominational churches are at a terrible disadvantage. They told us, plainly, that the Bible is the Word of God and the ultimate authority in every situation. Then, often not so subtly, they taught us that all Scripture must be interpreted in a manner consistent with our denomination’s doctrine and beliefs… Passages that would seem to reenforce those doctrines were exaggerated, repeated, preached on and taught. Scriptures that, even on the surface, might bring those doctrines into question, were ignored, glanced over, or sometimes imaginatively misinterpreted. While the Methodists freely taught on Galatians 5:4, they cleverly (and intentionally) skipped over John 10:28. The Baptists simply reversed that practice.

Midlife, God gave me a great opportunity… forced to leave one denomination and adopt another, I was given the opportunity to honestly search the Scriptures to find the truth when denominational distinctives clashed… I quickly came to the conclusion that the denominational distinctives on both sides were basically garbage being used to convince parishioners to never visit the church down the street…

Please, for God’s sake and your own, read the Scriptures in plain language… Understand that, while it often uses figures of speech, the Bible says what it means and means what it says… If you will do that, you will cry a lot, learn a lot, and come out a different person than you are now…

PRAY-THINK-PRAY

David…

IMMEDIATELY AFTER

An argument against the belief that the rapture occurs before the tribulation, citing Paul, Jesus, and John as witnesses to the contrary. Paul states the dead in Christ rise first, while Jesus specifies the elect are gathered immediately after the tribulation, and John confirms this resurrection follows the tribulation.

You disagree with Paul, Jesus, and John and say that the rapture happens before the tribulation???

In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul writes, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel’s voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will always be with the Lord.”

The dead in Christ MUST rise first.
When do the dead in Christ rise?

In Matthew 24, Jesus tells us,
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days:

The sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not shed its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the celestial powers will be shaken.

30 “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Jesus says that the elect of God will be raised, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days…”

In Revelation 20, after the tribulation, John sees the resurrection of the elect and he writes,
“They (the elect) came to life and reigned with the Messiah for 1,000 years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the 1,000 years were completed. This is the first resurrection.

So Paul says that the Dead in Christ are raised before the rapture. Jesus says that the elect are raised “after the tribulation”. John, after the tribulation, at the return of Jesus, says that he sees the elect raised from the dead. He tells us that “THIS IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION”.

You disagree with Paul, Jesus, and John and say that the rapture happens before the tribulation…

Wow… Who am I to believe?????

PRAY-THINK-PRAY

RESTORING EDEN, WITHOUT GOD!

Eden, without God, is the immediate future…

People in general, and Christians in particular, tend to miss the big picture… If you do not love the truth and if you do not cling to the cross, you will be deceived…

COUNT ON IT!

The Hegelian Dialectic is very real… it works, and some of you have been manipulated and deceived by and through it…

They raised the evil left… they empowered the most ungodly and evil people and organizations in the world, raising them up to incredible heights…

When you were terrified beyond all reason, they brought in a hero to save the day… He himself was evil beyond measure, but you overlooked his malevolence because he promised to help you by fighting your enemies and subduing and controlling those who terrified you…

It worked like a charm…

Those on the left were deceived… they were convinced that they would win… The Devil lied to them. They lost all restraint and put their most evil desires, plans and actions on display… they had no fear…
but the Devil was just using them…
now, they are losing bigtime,
and they are terrified!

Now, Christians are bowing to the Devil himself because the same Devil who raised up the Left is now promising to defend and protect the Right… Millions of people who think themselves Christian have fallen into his hands…

When the Devil puts forth the most evil and corrupt of men and he promises to rescue, defend and protect the church…
Those who love comfort more than Jesus, fall for the game…

We are headed into a Golden Age… Babel is being restored… The old gods are returning…
Men and nations are being united…
One World Government is rising…
The Messiah of Israel, known to Christians as the Antichrist, is rising…
He promises to defend Israel.
At this point, they would openly embrace Satan if he promised to defend their nation.
The same man promises to defend the church,
and Christians worship him.
The same man poses with a Saudi Prince and a crystal ball,
and the Muslims are certain that he is on their side….

Eden, without God, is the immediate future… But in a very short time, it will be destroyed, and millions who always thought themselves Christian, will find themselves dancing in the fire with the man they believed, against Scripture and common sense, would save them…

THE LEFT WING AND THE RIGHT WING ARE ON THE SAME BIRD…
AND THAT BIRD IS IN A KAMIKAZE DIVE TOWARDS HELL!

YOU NEED JESUS, NOT TRUMP!

David…

Saturn’s Day or the Lord’s Day?

I address followers advocating for Saturday worship, asserting that the Pope has no power to change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. I cite biblical references to support Sunday worship, emphasize Christian liberty in choosing worship days, and warn against legalism while encouraging personal conviction and understanding in selecting worship days.

Some of my followers are into the Law… Seventh Day Adventists, Hebrew Roots and the like… They are really into Saturday worship and they keep sending me memes and articles explaining why I should go to church on Saturday and informing me that the Pope changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. I am compelled to answer them.

My answer is threefold:

1. The Pope did not, could not, and has not changed the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday. Perhaps in his own mind and the minds of his slaves, but he has no such power. Saturday is the Sabbath and Sunday is the Lord’s Day. Most Christians choose to meet for worship on the Lord’s Day. Legalists, Adventists, Hebrew Roots and others seek to earn Celestial Brownie Points and a ticket to Heaven by insisting on meeting on Saturn’s Day, better known as Saturday.

2. Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread…
The first church service recorded in the Bible was held “On the first day of the week”, Sunday…
If the church in Acts met on Sunday, I reserve the right to meet and worship with other Christians on Sunday… The Lord’s Day.

3. Romans 14 is the Christian’s Law of Liberty. I have had Hebrew Roots persons argue that Paul was a heretic when I quoted this chapter…
Romans 14:5 One person considers one day to be above another day. Someone else considers every day to be the same. Each one must be fully convinced in his own mind…
I am convinced, in my own mind, that all days, for the Christian, are equal. I choose to meet and worship on Sunday because my brothers and sisters in Christ have chosen to meet on the Lord’s Day and not the Sabbath. I do not believe that Sunday is the Sabbath. If all my friends and family met every Thursday morning at 2 AM, I would have no religious opposition to meeting for worship at 2 AM every Thursday… I might be sleepy and my body might complain, but I would have no Biblical argument against it.

If you want to meet on Saturday… go for it! Just understand that you can loose your salvation by seeking justification through the Law…
Galatians 5:4 You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace.

With that in mind, feel free to meet and worship on any day you choose… Just quit telling me that the Pope changed the Sabbath and that I am a catholicized pagan because I worship on the Lord’s Day and not Saturn’s Day.

PRAY-THINK-PRAY

David…

TIME IS UP

The separation of the goats from the sheep is in full swing…

The separation of the goats from the sheep is in full swing…

Those who love the good life and look to Trump for salvation and peace are standing with their feet in hardened cement… they will neither look at, nor even think about the Truth; their minds are made up and their loyalty is immovable. They love this world and its pleasures… Heaven is something to talk about at funerals.

Those who love the terrible truth that this world is at its end, are looking towards Heaven with a steadfast gaze. They are prepared to endure Hell on earth. As Paul once wrote, “if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead.”

One group is attracted to the cross, wanting to be identified with Jesus in his suffering and death. The other group wants to skip all the pain and know Christ in the power of his resurrection; without the cross…

Not long ago, people were moving freely from one group to the other… The blind were being cured at an incredible rate… Facebook and other social media abounded with the testimonies of those who suddenly saw and embraced the truth… Not anymore.

Today, the groups are tightly closed. The blind remain blind and swell with pride, embracing the lie. No one who sees the truth is backsliding or falling away from the truth.

The goats are in their corral and the sheep in theirs… The gates are fast sliding shut. The Goats are happy to be away from the sheep and the sheep are thrilled to be with their shepherd.

I am pretty sure that the same thing is happening around the world. In America, the wall of partition between those who have embraced America, the good life and Trump, from those who have embraced Jesus, the cross and Heaven, is standing tall and immovable.

Yet perhaps God will give one more chance. When God called Paul, He said, “I will show him those things which he must suffer for my Name’s sake.” If you are willing to trade the good life for suffering, death and a cross, you must ask God, and you must ask him now!

Trump or Jesus… Heaven or Hell… I am not even certain that the option is still open. Still, you should try… Will you be a good citizen and fight for your country or will you choose to wander as a pilgrim and a stranger in a foreign land? The good life or a cross? The peace that comes from blindness and ignorance or the light that exposes the depth of the evil that surrounds you? Heaven or Hell? Those are the questions you must either face or ignore….

Revelation 13:

9 If anyone has an ear, he should listen:

10 If anyone is destined for captivity,
into captivity he goes.
If anyone is to be killed with a sword,
with a sword he will be killed.

This demands the perseverance and faith of the saints.

The end is here, and it is here now…

PRAY-THINK-PRAY

David…

They Will Kill You!

What would you have done?
“They will kill you!!!”

This is a true story…

I was pastoring a Venezuelan church in the State of Delta Amacuro. It was 1993. Tough place, hard life…

The town was called Volcan, not far from Tucupita. It was at the end of the road. If you wanted to go further into the Delta, you would have to take a boat. One of our neighbors had small house about ten minutes down the river… He lived in town and they were nice people. When the German tourists would come in a bus, they would go down the river to his “River House”. He would strip his teenage daughters naked with some native trinkets tied around their waists and in their hair… The tourists would pay about $20 apiece to take pictures with the girls… It was that kind of place.

The first Sunday I preached there, I had a couple of topless native girls sitting in the front pew… Quite a distraction considering that it was my first try at preaching in Spanish!!!!

But it was a going church… nice building. We ran perhaps thirty on a good Sunday. The Gospel was being preached.

One day a man came to my door and asked me to come to his house and pray for a young man who was dying. I said yes, but when I told a couple of men from the church, they panicked. “If you go there and he dies, they will kill you!!!”

The house was a mansion (by local standards) and it belonged to a drug cartel. I was informed that the people who lived there were killers and they were armed to the teeth…

Somehow, I had no fear and I believed that God would have me go. When I got there, they let me in with a somber and heavy mood that was almost contagious.

Every table in the house was covered with guns and ammunition… from pistols to sub machineguns. There were a good number of AK47s on display… a bit unnerving to say the least!

They took me to a back room where a young man, likely in his twenties, lay dying. They had him dressed for his funeral. He made eye contact with me but could not speak. I prayed for him, asked him to give his life to Jesus and suggested what he might say to God at that point.

Long story short, he died and they did not kill me…

But my question is: What would you have done? Would you have gone or would you have stayed in the church and prayed for the rapture?

And yes, you can ask my wife… this is a true story.

PRAY-THINK-PRAY
And understand that Jesus said that they will turn you over to be killed….

David…

CONTEXT AND THE JUDGMENT OF GOD

Extremists love to quote Scripture out of context.
1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath…
The extremists always use the first part of the verse and finish it with three little dots…
Did you never wonder what they are so carefully omitting?????

As born again Christians, we are spared from the wrath and judgment of God as concerns our personal sin. However, as with many issues, Christians, and in particular Western Christians, have taken this truth to a heretical extreme.

And yes, truth pushed to the ridicules extreme becomes heresy.

The wrath from which we are saved is not the tribulation, or the wrath of God on the earth in general, it is the wrath poured out in Hell against sinners who have rejected Jesus.

Extremists love to quote Scripture out of context.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath…

The extremists always use the first part of the verse and finish it with three little dots…

Did you never wonder what they are so carefully omitting?????

The whole verse reads “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” Even reading the verse in its entirety tells you that it is speaking of salvation versus damnation. If you read the entire passage, you cannot ever make that mean the wrath of God poured out on a sinful world in the tribulation. In its proper context, wrath is the opposite of salvation. We are speaking of Heaven and Hell, not the tribulation…

But… Pretribbers needed a proof text and the first half of that verse, removed from context, would work to support their fantasy, and it is such a happy lie!

When God judges nations and peoples, Christians often get hurt. The good news is that God goes through it with them, and when they die, they go to Heaven and not Hell. Many nations have been judged by God and destroyed. When that happened, Christians were hurt and killed. When the river flooded Kerrville, Christians died…

Speaking of the days in which we now live and the days soon to come, Jesus said…

Matthew 24:9 “Then they will hand you over for persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of My name.

John, writing of Christians living through the Tribulation, penned these words:

Revelation 13:9 If anyone has an ear, he should listen:

10 If anyone is destined for captivity,
into captivity he goes.
If anyone is to be killed with a sword,
with a sword he will be killed.

This demands the perseverance and faith of the saints.
————————————————————

This demands the perseverance of who???
You!

THE AMERICAN CHURCH HAS LED THE WORLD IN THE GREAT APOSTASY…

To hear the Gospel from the average American preacher is to understand that Jesus died to make you fat, rich and happy in your mansion overlooking downtown Babylon… As long as you attend church, raise your hands, sing loudly, and throw money in the plate, you will be healed of every disease, protected from all harm, and given riches beyond your wildest imagination… If it doesn’t work out that way, it is your fault, not the preacher’s… you either didn’t have enough faith or more likely, didn’t put enough money in the plate…

Get a handle on reality, it isn’t just Stephen, James, Paul and Peter who suffered and died for Jesus, more than seventy million martyrs have followed them and hundreds of Christians are being given the opportunity to suffer and die for Jesus today… Right now!

If you will follow him, God will have you where He wants you, when He wants you to be there. You will suffer what God wills you to suffer and you will die on the day and at the hour He has determined. If you do not follow him, good luck!

There is another verse that heretics love to rip from context and misinterpret… a verse hanging on the wall in many Christian homes… Only again, just the first part of the verse, ending in those famous three dots that represent the part that your preacher likely never read you.

Philippians 3:10 My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection…

Again… Get a handle on reality! Look at the context!

Philippians 3:10 My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

Context changes everything!!!!!

Is your goal to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, or would you really like to just stop after the first phrase? The truth is that those who do not want to know him in the fellowship of His sufferings or to be conformed to His death, will NEVER know him in the power of his resurrection!

PRAY-THINK-PRAY

David…

Apollo, Old Saturn’s Reign

Written before Jesus was born, this is the ancient vision of Lucifer concerning the times in which we now live…

Written before Jesus was born, this is the ancient vision of Lucifer concerning the times in which we now live…

Eclogue IV

by Virgil

POLLIO

Muses of Sicily, essay we now
A somewhat loftier task! Not all men love
Coppice or lowly tamarisk: sing we woods,
Woods worthy of a Consul let them be.
Now the last age by Cumae’s Sibyl sung
Has come and gone, and the majestic roll
Of circling centuries begins anew:
Justice returns, returns old Saturn’s reign,
With a new breed of men sent down from heaven.
Only do thou, at the boy’s birth in whom
The iron shall cease, the golden race arise,
Befriend him, chaste Lucina; ’tis thine own
Apollo reigns. And in thy consulate,
This glorious age, O Pollio, shall begin,
And the months enter on their mighty march.
Under thy guidance, whatso tracks remain
Of our old wickedness, once done away,
Shall free the earth from never-ceasing fear.
He shall receive the life of gods, and see
Heroes with gods commingling, and himself
Be seen of them, and with his father’s worth
Reign o’er a world at peace. For thee, O boy,
First shall the earth, untilled, pour freely forth
Her childish gifts, the gadding ivy-spray
With foxglove and Egyptian bean-flower mixed,
And laughing-eyed acanthus. Of themselves,
Untended, will the she-goats then bring home
Their udders swollen with milk, while flocks afield
Shall of the monstrous lion have no fear.
Thy very cradle shall pour forth for thee
Caressing flowers. The serpent too shall die,
Die shall the treacherous poison-plant, and far
And wide Assyrian spices spring. But soon
As thou hast skill to read of heroes’ fame,
And of thy father’s deeds, and inly learn
What virtue is, the plain by slow degrees
With waving corn-crops shall to golden grow,
From the wild briar shall hang the blushing grape,
And stubborn oaks sweat honey-dew. Nathless
Yet shall there lurk within of ancient wrong
Some traces, bidding tempt the deep with ships,
Gird towns with walls, with furrows cleave the earth.
Therewith a second Tiphys shall there be,
Her hero-freight a second Argo bear;
New wars too shall arise, and once again
Some great Achilles to some Troy be sent.
Then, when the mellowing years have made thee man,
No more shall mariner sail, nor pine-tree bark
Ply traffic on the sea, but every land
Shall all things bear alike: the glebe no more
Shall feel the harrow’s grip, nor vine the hook;
The sturdy ploughman shall loose yoke from steer,
Nor wool with varying colours learn to lie;
But in the meadows shall the ram himself,
Now with soft flush of purple, now with tint
Of yellow saffron, teach his fleece to shine.
While clothed in natural scarlet graze the lambs.
‘Such still, such ages weave ye, as ye run,’
Sang to their spindles the consenting Fates
By Destiny’s unalterable decree.
Assume thy greatness, for the time draws nigh,
Dear child of gods, great progeny of Jove!
See how it totters- the world’s orbed might,
Earth, and wide ocean, and the vault profound,
All, see, enraptured of the coming time!
Ah! might such length of days to me be given,
And breath suffice me to rehearse thy deeds,
Nor Thracian Orpheus should out-sing me then,
Nor Linus, though his mother this, and that
His sire should aid- Orpheus Calliope,
And Linus fair Apollo. Nay, though Pan,
With Arcady for judge, my claim contest,
With Arcady for judge great Pan himself
Should own him foiled, and from the field retire.
Begin to greet thy mother with a smile,
O baby-boy! ten months of weariness
For thee she bore: O baby-boy, begin!
For him, on whom his parents have not smiled,
Gods deem not worthy of their board or bed.

PRAY-THINK-PRAY

David…

TWO ROADS…

Jesus speaks of a cross, of self-denial, suffering and death…

Trump speaks of Saving America, Peace, Security, and preserving your cushy, comfortable, and easy way of life…

Jesus speaks of a cross, of self-denial, suffering and death…

Trump speaks of Saving America, Peace, Security, and preserving your cushy, comfortable, and easy way of life…

Robert Frost wrote…
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth…

There are two distinctly different paths… Will you deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus, or will you follow Trump and make peace, security, and the salvation of your comfortable lifestyle your passion and your goal?

2 Thessalonians 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The truth spoken of here in 2 Thessalonians, is the truth in the Scripture concerning the end times and the great deception…

They reject the words of Jesus and believe Donald Trump…

They remain willfully ignorant of the biblical descriptions of the Man of Sin and the Beast, preferring to believe the Hollywood version…

They prefer Left Behind to Revelation…

They have never accepted Scripture as absolute truth…

When Donald Trump fulfills every single biblical description of the Man of Sin, speaks flatteries and blasphemies, and repeats the same lies over and over, they prefer his message to the Scripture because he is skilled in telling them what they desperately want to hear…

Heaven, to them, is a vague reality spoken of at funerals, but saving America and their cushy lifestyle is their overwhelming passion…

The whole idea of taking up their cross and dying to themselves is unacceptable and the idea that they might be called on to suffer or die for Christ is repulsive…

They always prefer the happy lie over the difficult and uncomfortable truth of Scripture…

Jesus is great for Sunday but Trump will save America and preserve their life of ease…

So, which path will you follow?

One leads to deception, great disappointment and an eternal Hell…
The other to a cross, suffering, death, and eternal life with the One who died on a cross to save your soul…

This is NOT the “Happy Gospel” of “Five Power Verses, Huge Offerings, and Material Wealth…”

This is the Gospel that cost ten Disciples, Paul the Apostle, and seventy million martyrs since their lives, while millions more were beaten, tortured and imprisoned…

This is the Gospel I preach….

PRAY-THINK-PRAY

David…

THE FIRE THAT BURNS AND THE WIND THAT SCATTERS IS UPON US!

This post discusses themes of purification and reduction through biblical references, emphasizing Jesus’ message about the refining nature of fire and the winnowing of wheat. It highlights Isaiah’s call to preach, suggesting that truthful preaching can be painful but ultimately leads to a holy remnant, symbolized by the stump.

Jesus spoke of the refiner’s fire…
FIRE HURTS
FIRE REDUCES

Jesus spoke of winnowing wheat…
WINNOWING WASTES
WINNOWING REDUCES

In Isaiah chapter six, God calls Isaiah, Isaiah accepts the call and then…

God tells him to preach until everything burns up…
START PREACHING TO A GREEN TREE
PREACH UNTIL NOTHING BUT A STUMP REMAINS
PREACHING TRUTH HURTS
PREACHING TRUTH REDUCES

THE HOLY SEED IS A STUMP…

Isaiah 6:
13 And though a tenth remain in it,
it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains
when it is felled.”
The holy seed is its stump.

The Lord Has Destroyed Without Pity…

Lamentations 2:
14 Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes,
but have seen for you oracles
that are false and misleading.

HOLD ON, THE FIRE THAT BURNS AND THE WIND THAT SCATTERS IS UPON US!

The day Jesus returns will find the church reduced to a stump…
BE OF GOOD CHEER…
THAT STUMP IS THE HOLY SEED!

PRAY-THINK-PRAY

David…