The God Factor

One sunny morning, a pilot sets off across the ocean for a distant land. His fuel tank is just large enough to hold enough fuel for the voyage, and maybe a hundred miles extra. Early into his flight, it comes to his attention that he has erred in his navigation, and is a couple of degrees off course. When do you suppose that pilot will make the necessary correction?

 If he corrects soon enough, he will only have flown a small distance more than planned. However, if he waits until later to correct, he will have to make a major change, and will have wasted much fuel going in the wrong direction. In fact, if he waits too long to correct, he will run out of fuel and meet destiny at the bottom of the ocean!

 America is on the wrong course! As Christians, we are losing our freedoms and rights at an amazing pace! The assault on our liberties was designed to be a blitz attack--so that by the time we figured out what was going on, it would be too late.
 
We had better start using all the freedoms we have!! For too long we have been voluntarily coerced to refrain from speaking, by the doctrine of 'political correctness'. Now, we are facing the likely prospect of 'hate speech' legislation. There seems to be a principle, that what you give up voluntarily, will later be 'set in stone' as law.  People, we can see the storm clouds gathering on the horizon--the time for denial is past!

If you are thinking that, by speaking out and exercising your liberties, it will just draw attention to you and create the persecution you would rather avoid, you may be right--but consider this: we have been quiet, we have been polite, we have been politically correct, yet we have been continually pressured to retreat, to 'cede more ground'. Now we are expected to be silent in the face of all sorts of abominations!
 
The hour is late, but speaking out now is better than speaking out never!  Sure, there is much opposition now--but do you think it will lessen in time?  

 If you find it too hard to speak out now, when it is merely unpopular--how will you have the courage to speak out later, when it is illegal? Don't count on being courageous tomorrow, if you won't act with courage today! Courage is built, gradually, upon past experience in being courageous. Conversely, giving in to fear and intimidation only tend to reinforce your tendency to be fearful and intimidated!
 
And, as Christians, there is one other important factor to consider--the most important one--the God factor!  It pleases God when people act for truth and righteousness, against overwhelming odds, relying on Him for help!!  God can do amazing things! 

 Do you realize, that if enough people in America repent, and plead with God for mercy, He may relent of judging America now?  Be it that He spares America, as an island in the midst of worldwide suffering, or that He postpones the inevitable--it is worth a try people!!  Do not give up hope in the mercy and compassion of our God!!  Have the audacity to trust in Him and ask great things of Him!!


We have failed Him and brought dishonor to His name!  Lets repent and act courageously!  Lets turn things around in America!! Lets wage war on ungodliness!  Lets make abortion illegal!  Lets turn the tide on homosexuality and the indoctrination of our children in the public schools!  Lets push back the unholy tide of Islam and restore Christianity to our schools and our courts!  God is big enough!!  He is the God of David,  not Goliath!  He is with the small and weak, that are courageous enough to try great things for His glory!!  Let us go forth to battle, with faith in Him!

 
Even so, we may die--but better to die honorably, in His service, than to die as cowards and faithless!  Mark my words, the days are coming when you will either deny God (by your words or your actions) or you will be put to death.  Your silence and retreat will not hide you--they will only serve to hasten the arrival of that day.

A 'Sleeper' Doctrine?

What if I was to tell you that, coiled amongst your core Christian beliefs, was a deception powerful enough to cause you to turn your back on God?  A 'sleeper', if you will, awaiting the right time to strike. . .

A lot is said, in the Bible, about the return of Christ.  But nowhere is a 'Rapture' mentioned.  In fact it is a relatively new doctrine, being only a couple of hundred years old, if I remember right.

In fact, if you put aside everything you've ever heard, and read through the New Testament, asking God to teach you and give you understanding, I believe you will come to a very different conclusion than what is currently being taught.

If you are a born again Christian, you do not have to have someone interpret God's word for you.  The Bible says that the Holy Spirit will teach you all things--if you will listen.

Now, I am not saying that so that you will throw aside your teachers, pastor and elders.  I am saying--don't just take ANYONE's word for spiritual matters, but also search the Scriptures yourself and pray for God to lead you in truth.

I am also saying it so that you understand that it is OK for you to do this.  In fact, when the apostle Paul came and taught them, the people of Berea were praised for it!

'Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.'

The passage I paraphrased, about the Holy Spirit teaching you all things, was written by the apostle John to the church at a time when some were teaching false doctrine--so it absolutely applies to this situation.  This was his word to them, to hold onto the truth and abide in God, and the Holy Spirit would keep them grounded in truth and protected from deception. 

Although we have many wonderful pastors and teachers, now more than ever, it is vital that you look to God, not men.  And because of the difficult times ahead, it is critical that your Christian faith is based on what God's Word (the Bible) say to YOU--not what someone tells you God's Word says to you.  Check it out for yourself!  The foundation you lay now will have to support you through the storms that are coming in the days ahead.

Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would remind believers of everything he had taught.  (I believe that also covers the whole Bible, not just the 'red letter' words.)  But how can you be reminded of something you do not know?  God's Word is alive.  Study it, know it and, when you need it, He will remind you of just the right verses that apply to your situation.

I said all that because I want to explain what I believe to be true about 'The Rapture' and the return of Christ. And I want you to understand that I am not trying to recruit disciples to myself.  I want you to find the truth, and not just take my word for it. 

This will probably take up more than one post, so I will have to link them together for you when I finish.  I will conclude this one by giving a couple of my reasons for why I don't believe a 'Rapture' comes before The Tribulation.

1. It never made sense to me that Christians all over the world, for the last 2,000+ years, would endure persecution and yet we (American Christians) would expect God to whisk us away when things got difficult.  What arrogance!  We should expect to suffer MORE than they did, because we were endowed with such tremendous blessings from God and we squandered them!   
2. Also, one of the themes I see, throughout the New Testament, is that suffering is a means of purification.  I really don't like that.  I don't like to suffer, nor do I like to see others suffer (if they are 'innocent'--I've got to be honest).  But God sees things from an eternal perspective and He knows that what we go through here on Earth will build the character that we take with us into eternity. 

These are a couple of the ideas that got me digging deeper to find the truth.  I want to continue on this topic, in a new post, by taking the time to present the verses from God's Word that I believe support my position.



Just Another 'Blue Light Special'?
Deathbed Conversions

Are You Afraid? (forced vaccinations)

I've just spent this cold, dreary day surfing the Web and reading lots of scary things about what is going on now.  What was most terrifying of all I saw today was a video on You Tube, about forced vaccinations. 

I'm not going to link you to that video.  Let me tell you why.  I was not too concerned when I first started watching, and the Lord impressed upon me, simultaneously, two things:

1. The incident that Paul had when bitten by a viper (Acts 28:5-6: 'But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects.  The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.'  Of course he wasn't a god, but this shows how lethal the venom of that viper was).
2. ' And these signs shall accompany them that believe: . . . and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them . . .' (Mark 16:17-18)

But as I watched the video, even with full faith in these things, fear came over me.  I have learned some mighty scary things lately, yet have not been afraid because I've had the 'peace of God which transcends all understanding' which is promised to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  I've even contemplated, quite a bit, the probability of death (eventually) for standing up for what I believe.  But this video made me afraid.

With the video came a spirit of fear.

Now, what is in the video may be true--or not. And I'm  not saying the motive behind it was to engender fear, because I believe that is a strategy and tool of Satan.  But, he is working in concert with things like this.  There is a lot of hysteria developing, and that hysteria will have repercussions.  As Christians, we should be the sanest, calmest people in the room.  We should understand what is happening, and why.

The Lord promises us not 'a spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a sound mind', and  'you did  not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear . . .'  This should reaffirm to you that fear is a bondage, and this type of fear is not from God.

Now, I can understand if you are afraid, but let God take your fear away and replace it with strength and boldness.  He has done it for many of us already.  He will give you the grace to go through whatever comes your way. 

There is one other point I want to make briefly, but cover in greater depth soon: The Rapture. 

Yes, Christ will return after seven years of tribulation on the earth, but there is no 'Rapture' before the Tribulation.  We will not be whisked away just as trouble and persecution reach our shores.  I think in your heart you know this, but you are desperately trying to believe in it anyway, and this is why you struggle with fear. 

When you try to believe in one thing while the Spirit is telling your heart differently, it makes you off balance spiritually and more prone to the attacks of the enemy.  When you understand that it is God's design for Christians to go through the Tribulation, then the things He has been trying to impress upon your heart, to prepare you, will make sense.

Back to the issue of forced vaccinations--I really don't want one, and I don't want a tracking device on me.  But, not because I am afraid of that. For most of my life I feared the things that were to come, but now that they are at the doorstep, the Lord has given me peace and boldness. I am just a hermit-like person who prefers privacy.  I will not take the vaccination, unless I have to.  But if I have to, I will--and it will not harm me. 

That is not my personal 'line in the sand'. However, as a society, I believe we should continue to fight such things, when they are unfounded. But, the thing is, sooner or later, there will be a legitimately good reason for such measures. And, when that time arrives, we would be foolish to stand in the way.

I think it is important that we continue to remain sane and rational, because if hysteria takes hold we will lose all credibility.  Fear becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

We talk about living by faith, but how will you live in faith tomorrow if you can't live by faith today?  Start practicing now!!


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