Post 55-Heaven-The First 1000 years

Mon, Sep 11, 2017 at 8:10 AM

Hey Dana

            Will the change in the hurricane's path affect you?

            Here is my next idea. We went to the funeral of a very close friend on Saturday. The first of our group to go Home. Lot's of tears, mine included. If you have time, I'd like to look at heaven next week. We could call it "The First 1000 Years."

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Mon, Sep 11, 2017 at 12:43 PM

John

     Missed SS (Sunday School) yesterday, as we have been harvesting every day in lieu of heavy rains spinning off Irma hitting today.  Nothing destructive expected, except for grapes.  Went in at 8:30 yesterday AM and left at 10:30 PM.  Today is my 11th anniversary at being at this winery.  The day I first came 9/11/2006, we brought in our first white grapes.  As of today everything of ours is in house except one variety.  And even though the rain was a factor, yet the grapes were ripe and ready to pick.  They maybe could have hung on a few more days, but it wasn't worth the risk.

     Jesus  told His disciples that He wouldn't drink wine again until He drinks it in the kingdom--probably at the wedding feast.  I'm hoping I'm not drafted for work in the winery for eternity....

     Send me your Heaven writings and I'll get back to you.

Dana

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John answered on Tue, Sep 12, 2017 at 7:31 AM

Dear Friend

            Dana, a very good friend of ours went Home to be with the Lord a week or so ago. Her name was Carol “Jeanie” Broomell Nye. Jeanie was the first of our formerly close group to die. She had fought cancer for a number of months, and even as the end neared, she was not willing to accept the doctor’s opinion that nothing could be done. Her personal faith and belief that God would heal her kept her going, even to the point of wanting a second opinion...after she got out of the hospital. But she went to the home of a close friend, and then died shortly thereafter.

            I joke with my wife and others (but actually half seriously) that if I’m in their presence and I keel over with a heart attack, they are to wait 15 minutes before calling 911 so I die before the medical help gets there and interrupts my trip to heaven.

 

Rev 22 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, ² in the middle of its street..... ³ There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it... ⁴ they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.

 

            There were many testimonies and remembrances of Jeanie’s constant giving and loving. One woman, for whom Jeanie was an au pair for many years, told how Jeanie had given her a Bible as a young girl and she still had and it was her favorite Bible. The pastor told of her broad involvement in ministry in the church. He said, “She was in every ministry but the men’s ministry.”

            After the service another old friend reminded me of how Jeanie had even cooked for the men’s ministries’ breakfasts.

            I shared with those assembled to remember and honor her how Jeanie made the decorations for our wedding almost 26 years ago. Our theme was “Yours for the Harvest” (see Luke 10:2 and John 4:34-35).

 

Rev 21  ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, ⁴ and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

 

Rev 15 Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels who had seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.

   ² And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God. ³ And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

 

       Then, at the end of the service, the piano player, Dir. of Music at University of Valley Forge, William DeDanto (Billy as I have known him for the past 25 plus years—can it really be that long?) was softly playing hymns as background music on the piano. Although I was mingling with people still in the sanctuary, the sound of the worshipful hymns was gently filled the place. I must confess I was more tuned into the hymns than to some of the conversations. I kept trying to picture heaven.

Behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth; And the former things [of life] will not be remembered or come to mind.  Isa 65:17 AMP

 

¹⁵ Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. ¹⁶ ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. ¹⁷ For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’” Rev 7:15-17 NIV

 

⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

⁶ He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. ⁷ Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. ⁸ But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”  Rev 21:5-8 NIV

 

            In a Q & A written by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association on June 1, 2004, when asked what heaven will be like, I quote

 

Mr. Graham has written: “Heaven will be a place in which its inhabitants will be freed from the fears and insecurities that plague and haunt us in the present life. No energy crisis there … Free from the economic and financial pressures that burden us down here. Free from the fear of personal and physical harm … No fear of personal failure … Our relationship with Him will be intimate and direct. I’m looking forward to that glorious day of going to heaven.

 

“Heaven will be what we have always longed for. It will be the new social order that men dream of. All the things that have made earth unlovely and tragic will be absent in heaven. There will be no night, no death, no disease, no sorrow, no tears, no ignorance, no disappointment, no war. It will be filled with happiness, worship, love, and perfection.

 

          Filled with peace and thinking about how Jeanie was now revealing in all that heaven can offer, I went up to the piano. I gently laid my hand on Billy’s shoulder and although overcome with tears, began to pray in the Spirit and then with understanding for him.

          Then, still overcome, through my sobs, I told Billy what I wanted to do for the first 1000 years I’m in heaven. I want to find the room where he’ll be playing and listen to him play.

          That’s what I want to do for the first 1000 years after I get to heaven, then I’ll probably listen for 1000 more.

          Thank God, Dana, that heaven won’t be like it is here.

Your long time friend

John

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Dana replied on Thu, Sep 14, 2017 at 10:23 AM

Hi John,

     First, please accept my condolences concerning the “going home” of your friend.  We know that we do not grieve as the heathen who has no hope in this life or the next, still we grieve nonetheless.  It is hard to say fare thee well.  Thankfully, for Christians, we do not have to say good bye.

     Yet, even in our hope and confidence, death is hard for us.  It is a conundrum.  On one hand we should be rejoicing—happy even that our loved one or friend has gone home to be with the Lord.  No more pain or sorrow or sin—how wonderful!  We echo Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:54b-55

 

      “Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death, where is your victory?  O death where is your sting?” (ESV)

 

     Yet there seems to be a sting for we, the living that remain in the wake of a death.  Perhaps it’s the one who dies for whom that verse is reserved, and who feels no sting. In Psalm 116:15 the Psalmist, via the Holy Spirit, says of God,

 

     “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” (ESV)

 

     Is that transition from this life to the next, or that transition from Earth to Heaven so tremendous—such an incredible and indescribable blessing, that it delights God to bestow that on His beloved child?  Or other than salvation is there no better experience a child of God can experience?  How opposite from our thinking!

      When you consider all the turmoil and strife associated with life on this planet, is dying and going to Heaven the workplace equivalent of finally being promoted to senior partner and moving out of the cubicle to that corner office on the top floor with the unbelievable view?

      Are we too tied to this earth?  The words of Hebrews 11 keep coming back to me as something that should be as dynamic a part of my life as my theology:

 

     ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

 

     And….

 

     ¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴ For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

 

      We all have fantasies of how we would like our retirement to play out.  In our wildest imaginations, we see ourselves on a golden beach, in a tropical climate, eating fresh pineapple and coconut, while watching the blazing sun set over the water.  Or perhaps it’s having morning coffee on a secluded cabin deck looking at the snowcapped peaks of a distant, majestic mountain range.

      That’s fun to engage in once in a while, but no matter what our fantasy may be, it simply cannot compare to that real retirement city of which the writer of Hebrews spoke.  We will all spend eternity in the prettiest of places with the most optimum of conditions.  We are staggered by the beauty of this world as God created it, even though it has been tarnished by man’s sin, so imagine what the new Heaven and Earth—the new Eden, will be like in terms of beauty with no corrupting influence whatsoever!

      We really cannot imagine what God has in store for us.  When Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus, was He crying over sadness at the death of his friend? Or, was Jesus weeping because He knew where His friend really was, and to call him back to this life would be an incredible step down?  Lazarus was being called to trade in his shiny twenty dollar gold piece for a tarnished penny.  While Mary and Martha probably thanked Jesus for raising their brother from the dead, I wonder if Lazarus did?

      The real jackpot in death, in my opinion, is found in Revelation 22: 4a, “They will see His face….”  The one thing man could not do in this life (without special exception) was to see God’s face and live.  In death we will not only get to experience all the glories of Heaven, but we will get to see His face…and live…forever!

     That alone should take the sting out of it.

Your friend,

Dana

 

 

 

     

 

     

 

 

Post 54-Ezekiel’s Temple Vision

On Tue, Sep 5, 2017 at 6:57 AM, John asked

Hey Dana,

            I just finished the book of Ezekiel. Why did God spend so much time on the vision of the second temple, and all that accompanies it? As you know, I’m not big on prophecy, and I’ll admit I read through those chapters fairly quickly. But there’s got to be a good reason

            Are you still working killer hours?  I know it’s the harvest, but if you have any time, can you try to clue me in?

John

PS  Sorry about the temple photo—my feeble attempt at envisioning the temple God gave to Ezekiel.

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From Dana on Tue, Sep 5, 2017 at 9:24 AM

John

Let me get back to you on that.  Long days.  14 hrs yesterday.  More today.  But I will get back. 

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Dana replied on Fri, Sep 8, 2017 at 8:43 AM

Hi John

     The vision of the Temple that Ezekiel had in the last chapters of his book was not regarding what we’ve come to know as the 2nd Temple, or Herod’s Temple, or the Temple standing when Jesus was on earth, or the Temple that was destroyed in 70 AD. Neither is it any futuristic “millennial” Temple.  It is way bigger than all of those.

     The first thing we must keep in mind that it was a vision—something mystical that Ezekiel was being “shown.”  Visions are seldom literal.  They are more conceptual in nature.  Now to say something is not literal doesn’t mean that it is not real—it just means that there is no one to one or word for word pairing up of the ideas.  To read the Ezekiel Temple passages literally only will lead to a dismal swamp of senselessness.  But to read them non-literally doesn’t diminish the “reality” of them in the least.  It’s just an alternative reality that’s being presented.  But real nonetheless.

      There are many problems with trying to compare Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple with any brick and mortar “building” either in Israel’s history or allegedly in the future.  Importantly, most height dimensions are lacking. Only a couple of height dimensions are given at all, one for the altar and another for a wall or something.  It’s almost like a floor plan instead of actual building dimensions. In other words, you couldn’t take Ezekiel’s dimensions and build a building from it.

      Also, quite importantly, many items of priestly ritual furniture present in both the 1st and (the actual) 2nd Temples are missing.

      Very importantly, this “structure” vision includes no provision for a roof. Also important rooms are smaller in dimension than lesser important rooms.  It’s all messed up; a construction nightmare.

      Finally, there is no instruction given to Ezekiel to build this structure, or command to instruct others present or future to build it.

      Something else is going on. To begin to get a glimpse of what Ezekiel is pointing towards, we need to look at some New Testament Temple talk. 

     Note: almost all of this I got from Dr. Michael Heiser’s podcast lectures on Ezekiel.  It’s really amazing stuff.

All Scripture References are English Standard Version

 

John 2:18-22

¹⁸ So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” ¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰ The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” ²¹ But he was speaking about the temple of his body. ²² When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

 

     Here we see Jesus directly referring to His body as being the temple—a concept that His detractors clearly didn’t get, but His disciples did eventually remember.  This is important!

 

1 Peter 2:1-8

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. ² Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— ³ if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

[Now get this—this is important]

⁴ As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ⁵ you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For it stands in Scripture:

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,  a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

⁷ So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

⁸ and“A stone of stumbling,    and a rock of offense.”

 

     Did you catch that?  We, the Church, are also part of that Temple—we are the priests who are offering the sacrifices in that Temple, as well as being the “living” stones from which it is built, with Christ as the Cornerstone.

And…

 

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

“Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.”

 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰ for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

 

      With Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit, we no longer need to have or go to a literal building to experience the glory and presence of God.  Since Jesus sacrifice negated all other sacrifices, what purpose does a Temple hold?  The book of Hebrews and these passages pretty much drives the nails in the coffin lid of physical, literal Temple relevance.

 

2 Corinthians 5: 1-5

For we know that if the tent [Tabernacle—the place to meet God which later became the Temple] that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, ³ if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

 

     Keep reading…

 

Corinthians 6:14-18

¹⁴ Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? ¹⁵ What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
    and I will be their God,
    and they shall be my people.
¹⁷ Therefore go out from their midst,
    and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
    then I will welcome you,
¹⁸ and I will be a father to you,
    and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”

 

Ephesians 2:18-22

¹⁸ For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, ²¹ in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. ²² In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

 

     And finally, John says regarding the new heavens and earth, and the new Jerusalem, in

 

Revelation 21:22

²² And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.

 

        So long story short, Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple is not about some physical literal building commemorating ancient Jewish religion or tradition.  Ezekiel’s vision is pointing forward to Jesus, the real Temple of God.  Jesus said His body was the Temple, and who makes up the body of Christ?  We do…the Church.  He and we make up the Temple.  That’s what Ezekiel saw.

       The “Temple” chapters of Ezekiel are rich in all kinds of theological symbolism.  I’ve only scratched the surface of all that is there.  But the message of the Temple vision is more important than its description details.  To read it literally will lead to confusion, and the raising of questions that have to be fudged to be answered.

      I am aware that many who hold to a literal 1000 year “millennium” (which I do not) also envision a rebuilt temple occurring in last days scenarios?  There are actually people (Christians and Jews) who are waiting, with baited breath, for something catastrophic to happen to the Dome of the Rock Mosque which sits on the Temple mount, so a new Temple can be built.

      To that, I have to ask:  If, let’s just say for argument sake, Jesus returns and reigns on the earth in a literal 1000 year millennial kingdom, why would a temple be necessary?  Davidic kings didn’t live in the Temple, so it wouldn’t be where Jesus would live.  If one wanted to be in the presence of Jesus physically, a temple wouldn’t be needed since Jesus (the Temple) would be here.  And since Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection provide the complete and final atonement for sin, and the book of Hebrews clearly and forcefully says that, then there won’t be a need for sacrifices any longer, so what purpose would a brick and mortar temple serve?

     I’ll go with the bigger picture.  Still praying for Carol (and you too)

Dana    

53-Confederate Monuments, Joshua and Stones

On Tue, Aug 29, 2017 at 2:12 PM

Hey John

            The Joshua idea sounds good.  Send me what you can as soon as you can, and I'll get busy on it.  We've got rain here, so not too much vineyard activity the rest of the week, so maybe I can get some thoughts down on paper.  We picked three varieties yesterday A-L-L  D-A-Y L-O-N-G...and night, but at least we got them in before the rain hit, so that's a plus, but today I'm like the walking dead. 

Dana

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John answered at 4:13 PM on Tue, Aug 29, 2017

Hey Dana

            I am continuing to read Martyn Lloyd-Jones  book Revival. He uses scripture with each new chapter, as an introduction for what is to follow.  In Chapter 10, the scripture is:

 

²¹ And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?

²² Then ye shall let your children know, saying, Israel came over this Jordan on dry land.

²³ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of Jordan from before you, until ye were passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red sea, which he dried up from before us, until we were gone over:

24 That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever.   Joshua 4:21-24 (KJV)

 

            This reminded me of what’s been going on in cities and towns around the nation for the past several weeks. As you know, I am a Southerner by proxy. While I admit I settled in Northern Virginia, none-the-less, I lived below the Mason-Dixon Line for about seven years.  I went to school (elementary, junior and senior high schools) in the era when state and national history was taught in almost every grade up until graduation. How could I know what it meant to be an American, if I didn’t know about America and Americans?

            In the on-line publication Townhall, on 10/22/11, Daniel Doherty wrote about the disturbing decline of the teaching of American history in the American school system in his article titled “The Decline of American History in Public Schools”:

 

The notion that American history -- a once a valued subject -- is no longer a priority in public schools is profoundly disconcerting. The denigration of history, in my view, will have dire ramifications as children grow up ignorant and unaware of the essential beliefs which have guided our nation for nearly three centuries.

 

            The below is from a news blog published in the Rocky Mountain Collegian written on 4/10/15  by Hallie Gardner, titled “Is American History Even Taught in Schools?”:

 

Before writing this blog, I did a little follow-up on the decline of American history being taught in schools. An article on Townhall.com writes, “A new report shows that students anywhere from high school to fourth grade are solely lacking in their knowledge of American History. Results from the 2010 gold standard of testing, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 13% of the nation’s high school seniors showed proficiency in their knowledge of American history, and only 18% of eighth graders and 22% of fourth graders scoring as well.” 

 

            I have been greatly disturbed by the PC police, the Liberal Left, and ignorant and cowardly politicians who have succumbed to (at the very least) misguided pressures to erase America’s past, or worse yet, who try to re-write it. Just as we have today, the good, the bad, and the ugly who make up America, that is who we were and where we came from.

While I don’t condone riots, we can’t remove our past, because that’s who we were and or are. While the mayor of Baltimore says her under-the-cover-of-darkness removal of the statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson was to “The mayor has the right to protect her city,” she said. “For me, the statues represented pain....” As President Trump recently said (paraphrasing), “Where will it stop?”

            As you have said in the past Dana, this is not a political platform, so let me move on, and get back to our scripture. Lloyd-Jones feels that a failure to remember what God has done in the past is one of the reasons the Church in America is not seeing revival today. I don’t remember who gave it, but I have a previous message on my mind. It was titled “Your God Is Too Small.” I think these few verses in Joshua point to this. We serve the Almighty and Creator God. The Lord of Lords and King of Kings. And yet due to our humanity it is too easy to forget what God did for me yesterday, let alone about 3000 years ago. 

More Later

John

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Dana’s Reply on 8/30/17

 Hi John,

      After the events in Charlottesville, (which I believe were staged events, as more and more eye witnesses are saying that things weren’t necessarily as the mainstream media reported them) I was wondering something.  I grew up in the late 1950’s and 1960’s.  One of the most vivid memories I have is of the struggles of the Civil Rights movement and Dr. Martin Luther King.  His speeches are now a part of the American lexicon.  Something I do not remember however, is any emphasis on, or criticism of the Confederate flag or Confederate monuments spoken of by Dr. King or any of his followers, including Rev. Jesse Jackson.  In effect they were non-entities in the struggle.  One would think if said flag and monuments were, in actuality, symbols of white bigotry and hate, they might have figured into the objectives of the Civil Rights movement. 

      Dr. Walter E. Williams, noted economist and educator, and also a black man, once spoke of the Civil War.  He was quick to point out that America had never experienced a civil war in its history, and that event we refer to as the “Civil War” was anything but. Civil wars are wars fought between two competing entities, both vying for the same objective.  The Southern states in the 1860’s were never trying to take control of the government of the United States; they simply wanted out of the Union and to be self-governing.  When the South seceded, it was the North that went to war to prevent it.

      Only a tiny fraction of Southerners were slave owners, as the South was largely agrarian, and most of the people were too poor to own slaves.  President Abraham Lincoln didn’t issue the Emancipation Proclamation, the executive order that freed the slaves until January 1, 1863, well into the war, which would better termed the War Between the States, instead of the Civil War.  Ulysses S. Grant, the Union general credited for defeating the South (and later President of the US) was a slave owner himself.  So the inflammatory rhetoric condemning the South of fighting the war over slavery is historically incorrect.

      The aforementioned Dr. Williams in his talk about the War Between the States also told about the first black soldier who was commissioned as a military officer was done so in the Confederate army, not the Union army.

      Pol Pot, the brutal Communist dictator of Cambodia christened his takeover of the country by declaring time was to begin over again for that country starting at Year Zero.  That is the same mindset among the new Communist left trying to erase our own history.  Erase a people’s history and culture, and then they’re easier to control. 

      As Hitler shored up his own power base by creating a “boogey man” for people to demonize and hate in the Jews living in Germany at that time, the same tactic is being employed in our own country.  Now it’s the white, (and predominantly) Southern, Christian who is the bad guy.

       I’ve said it before, and I stick to it, the Obama administration’s championing of gay marriage had little to do with the rights or well-being of the homosexual community.  Instead it was a shot fired across the bow of the Christian Church.  If you go back to the news of that time, the next day the rainbow colors were off the White House, but that’s when the lawsuits began against Christian businesses opting not to serve homosexuals.

      There’s a highly orchestrated move afoot that, as far as I can see, cares nothing for the rights or welfare of Black Americans, Hispanics, homosexuals, transgenders, or Muslim immigrants. Those people exist simply as a tool in the cloven hoofs of the “orchestrators” to cause division and strife, with the end game of assaulting the Church—the real enemy.

     Once the flags and the monuments are gone, are we so naïve to really think that that will signal the end to protests and hostilities in this country?  Watch, the crosses on the top of church steeples will be the next symbols of hatred and intolerance that will have to go.

      OK, some you might be tempted to think that as I write this, that I’m sitting in my well-armed, well-stocked bunker, comfortably adorned up on top of my head with a shiny tin-foil fedora, daily communing with Elvis, and waiting for the end.  Think me insane; you won’t be the first so to do, but speaking of “boogey men,” the real “boogey man” for Christians isn’t the liberals, or the PC crowd, or the Bilderberg Group, or the New World Order, or space aliens, or Black Lives Matter, or LBGTQ, it is antichrist.  I won’t go as far as saying it is THE ANTICHRIST of the end times—I don’t profess to know.  But the Apostle John wrote in his first epistle:

     “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.” (1John 2:18 ESV)

      It appears that “the last hour” has indeed been a long one, and is still with us.  If a day is as a thousand years to the Lord, then should we be surprised by long hours as well?  The forces causing all the trouble in our land and world are not political or social in nature—they are evil!  They oppose Christ and anyone who follows Him.  They will stir up and exploit anyone and everyone to apply pressure to the Church, if not outright destroy it.  There are (thankfully) a few obstacles standing in their way, but it is coming.

      There is a man with whom I am quite unfamiliar.  His name is Sadhu Sundar Selvaraj, supposedly a converted Hindu, who is now preaching for Christ.  I cannot vouch for or denounce the man or his “ministry,” as I just haven’t had the time to investigate to see if he is the genuine article or a wolf in sheep’s clothing.  But in an article I was reading, he was quoted as saying:

     “The Lord spoke to me about this nation [America], ‘What you need is not a revival. What you need is to put your house in order.’”  

     And, on that point, he nailed it.

     We have discussed the absence of revival in our nation before on the blog. Devout and sincere people still pray for it. I don’t believe they are wrong to do so, but I’m inclined to agree with Mr. Selvaraj’s statement. I don’t know if God spoke to him or not—I wasn’t there, and I tend to be on the skeptical side of things when someone says “God spoke to me.” That phrase has been used a lot to justify all manner of things that may or may not line up with the Bible.  I do not doubt that God communicates with His people, but outside of special or particular guidance in difficult or perplexing situations, the answers we seek as believers are all right there in the Scriptures...if we take the time to look. 

      It would behoove Christians to be still a minute and reflect on just why, when so many sincere believers have prayed and prayed for revival, just why God hasn’t sent it. Perhaps God is indeed trying to prepare us for something that’s coming, rather than give us revival, which for many who seek it would be nothing more than Christian entertainment.  He provides our needs, not necessarily our wants. Jesus warned His disciples to get out of Jerusalem prior to 70 AD; is another warning coming our way, but one we cannot, or worse, will not listen to?

      If that is the case, we need to heed said warning, and become “Spiritual Preppers.”  Now don’t misconstrue my meaning; I’m not saying that Christians need to get off the grid, and stockpile firearms and canned food—not at all!  We neither fight with carnal weapons, nor do we live by bread alone. 

      Instead we need to prepare for that which appears to be coming upon the Church by getting real familiar with our Bibles—our only offensive weapon according to Paul in Ephesians 6, and, we also need to get our spiritual lives and “houses” in order.  Fasting and prayer might prove much more valuable tools in our Christian toolbox than an AR15 and freeze dried meals.

Talk soon,

Dana

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John answered on 8/30/17

Hey Dana

            Keeping the thought going of remembering what God has done, I’m going to do that. (A minister once suggested to his congregation that they actually go outside and pick up a number of small stones to which they could attach memories of God’s goodness and provision. I had seven or eight stones on my bookcase for several years.)

            I’d like to thank God that He save and delivered me from drunkenness.

            I’d like to thank God for when, before Carol and I were married, I prayed for her over the phone and He heal her of lumps in her breast.

            I’d like to thank God for bring us together as husband and wife.

            I’d like to thank God for the few real friends that I have who have stuck with me through the years.

            I’d like to thank Him for all His provisions through the years.

            I’d like to thank Him for providing safe shelter even when I was homeless for a time.

            I’d like to thank Him for the several times, when we’ve had a falt tire or a car problem, we’ve broken down in a safe place.         

            I’d like to thank Him for our church and pastor and his solid teaching.

            I’d like to thank Him that over the past several years, in spite of the severe losses we have sustained, He has been there throughout it and and has continued to bless us.

            Thank you Lord for protecting Carol when she fell recently. That could have been very bad.

            Dana, I hope this is an encouragement to our readers to begin to remember God’s goodnesses and thank Him for them and His provision.

Grateful for your friendship

John

PS The home going of a good friend.

Dana

I don’t think you knew Jeanie Nye. She was a bit younger than me and attended Trinity A/G for years. She sang with a Gospel group when she was younger and continued to sing for the Lord her entire life. She was always doing something good for someone. When Carol and I were married 25 years ago, she did the flowers for our wedding. One of the decorations was a bundle of wheat to represent our place a a couple in the harvest field. She loved people and loved God. This morning after an off again on again bout with cancer, God took her home, peacefully. No more sorrows. No more tears. No more death. Just the land of eternal Son. I’m sure she’s singing His praises and enjoying every minute in the land where time will be no more....We’ll look for you when we get there Jeanie. You can show us around....