There have been many times I have felt all alone in the world while doing ministry. I felt this way particularly when I was the treasurer of my church. There seemed to be too many nights where I was working by myself, and I needed help to get the job done. You see, we had a system of accountability where I had to get another deacon to sign checks for me. This system was put into place so that a treasurer could not write checks to himself or to benefit himself. It was a cumbersome system, but I liked it. The problem I had was that my fellow deacons would be frequently unavailable when I needed them to sign checks for me. The situation annoyed me so much that I made some angry sarcastic comments at board meetings and directly to my fellow deacons. They took exception and complained to the pastor about me. I ended up appologising to them and accomidating them by carting the unsigned checks to their homes to get their signatures.

I believe that God put me through this on purpose to teach me a basic truth about ministry. Ministry is between you and God, and God alone. You may be helping people, teaching people or serving people, but the working relationship should be between you and God, and no one else.

From 1 Kings 18:22 – “Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.”

God’s answer came later in 1 Kings 19:18: “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel–all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

The problem Elijah had was, these people were not around when he thought he needed them.

Fact is, all we need is God, but since God is invisible and speaks with a still small voice, we often ignore the fact that he is there with us when we are performing ministry, and is all we need. God wants us to get used to the idea that ministry is about Him and you and no one else. If you think you need other people, then you are probably not ready for ministry. Ministry is about going to the next level with God, and the next level does not involve anyone else. If you think about it, when ever you go to the next level in anything, you are frequently alone in it. There may be other people around, but you experience being alone while in the middle of going to the next level.

Being alone was also Jesus’ last test. During the crucifixion, he noticed that he had been abandoned by all, including God from Mark 15:34 – “And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).” In being alone in ministry, we have fellowship with Jesus, and we know a little bit how he felt on those last minutes of his life.

We desire the fellowship of believers for good reason, we need the encouragement we get from just being around our fellow believers. God invented the church for this very reason. It is good to seek out our fellow Christians and be with them. We need to remember, however, that we may not always have these people available, and need to get used to being ALONE with God, and experience fellowship with Him.

 

 

I confess that I indulge in confirmation bias when looking at things. I do this because I have FAITH. I know that no matter what I look at, no matter how bad something looks for my faith, in the end, it will come to nothing. My confirmation bias does not mean that I don’t ignore inconvenient facts, it just means that in the back of my mind, I know that in the end, God will still be real.

This is not to say that my search for truth started with confirmation bias. It did not! I did not want to be a Christian! I started out being agnostic. Even then, I knew that being an atheist was intellectually dishonest. I knew this because of my Christian background. Almost every American started with a Christian background. When you start this way, you simply cannot ignore the fact that what they tell you in church has a ring of credibility. Whether you believe it to be true or not, the credibility of everything that is going on simply cannot be ignored. From Isaiah 55:11 – “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (NIV)

So while my search for truth started out with a rejection of Christianity, the basic credibility of it stayed in the back of my mind. I suppose that this is the reason why some people simply cannot dismiss Jesus totally. They will say he was a good teacher, or a prophet, while rejecting him being the son of God. Islam teaches that Jesus was a prophet, while rejecting his divinity. This is why C.S. Lewis came up with his “trilemma” to combat this view.

In the end, I accepted Christianity BY FAITH because I did not have all the answers I sought, BUT I did realize that its credibility was real, and I NEEDED the forgiveness that Jesus gives us freely. Thank GOD!

I just watched a video by Stefan Molyneux about George Washington, where his general assessment of him was that he was almost a complete failure but managed to be successful despite his losses. I am not disputing Stefan’s facts, but he is missing the point. I watched another video of Stefan’s where he talked about our failures in the middle east, and against the Islamic radicals, but I think he again misses the point. In this video he points out that ISIS can cause America to spend billions just by spending a few thousand with a terrorist attack. He argues that their goal is to disrupt our economy, and they have been successful. He also points out that we typically start with these people being our friends, but later, after we have armed them and enabled them, they turn against us. Again, this is all true, but he is still missing the point.

What is the point? The point is, to win the war! Winning battles does not necessarily mean you will win the war. No where in is history is this more apparent than during WW2. This is why you will not hear much criticism from me for Franklin Roosevelt. What he did, was allow the Japanese win victory after victory for the first 2 years of the conflict. We did win a few battles in the beginning, but generally, we lost. I am sure some at the time questioned our involvement (probably privately) because it looked like we were losing until 1944 rolled around. Then, we started to win. Not only did we win, but we won BIG. The cost of losing in the beginning was a lot of lives and material, but later the costs were much lower. As it turned out, losing over and over in the beginning over-extended the Japanese to the point where their supply lines became vulnerable to our submarines, and the small numbers of troops left on the islands were more easily overcome. WW2 became a war of attrition for both the Japanese and the Germans.

I believe the same was true for the Revolutionary war. The British army was  vastly superior to ours, and in general, we could NOT beat them all things being equal. Washington’s job, was not to beat a superior force, but to make every victory to be a costly one. He did that, while having massive problems with his own army. They deserted, the government wouldn’t pay them, he had a shortage of experienced officers, he had supply problems, and every time he lost, he had to deal with the political ramifications. He did not succeed because he was lucky, but because he persisted despite all odds. Yes, some of the other generals won some critical victories, but they were easy ones. Washington won the war.

Another example was the Viet Nam war. We lost that war right? Well, the war wasn’t really against the North Vietnamese, it was REALLY against the expansion of communism! Yes, we lost, but communism also lost, because after the war ended, communism lost its momentum, and 20 years later, we won the war with the fall of the Berlin wall.

In a way, the fight with Muslim radicals is the same as the fight against communism. We win just by standing up to them. Yes, we have lost some battles, but every time we lose, Muslim radicals lose support. The reality is, they kill more of their fellow Muslims than they kill Americans and Europeans. Their terror attacks are more successful and more inexplicable against other Muslims than they are against us. This is why people in Iraq and Afghanistan may still hate us, but they really don’t want to support the radicals any more, because they know as soon as the radicals stop, we will go away. This is why we need to continue the war on terror even though there are no clear victories and the people there still hate us. If we don’t, we may end up fighting WW3 against a Caliphate instead of fighting a bunch of terrorists.

WW2 is also a case study into why you should always resist aggressive counties right away. In the case of Germany and Japan, we did not resist them at all. If England and France had sent troops to the Rhineland in 1936 and if America had sent troops to Manchuria we probably would not have had to fight WW2 at all. WW2 destroyed Germany and Japan, unleashed the atomic bomb, and killed 70 million human beings. It was horrible! Regional conflicts are costly, but are nothing compared with world war.

Free counties NEED to resist aggressive countries EVERY time. Putin may still have the Crimea, but has paid a huge economic price and he is anxious to get them lifted. This is one of the good things that Obama did while he was president.

This rule also applies to the situation that president Trump is in right now. He wants to “drain the swamp”, but needs to endure the alligators too. We all remember that famous quote, “It is difficult to remember that your goal is to drain the swamp when you are up to your ass is alligators!” Trump needs to remember his goal. He may lose some battles, but the goal is to drain the swamp and win the war.

Mostly, this principal applies to us as well. We sin, get depressed, and suffer due to our own actions, and sometimes forget, that the Christian goal is to win the war and go to heaven and be with Jesus for eternity and realize that we will not to win every battle with our flesh. We need to not give up, confess our sins, and remain till the end. We need to be that “virgin” who has oil for her lamp when the bridegroom comes for us!

The issue of Sharia Law brings out the REALITY that America is really a Christian Nation whether people like it or not. Most people think that Sharia is not compatible with American Law, but they probably don’t realize its because of the Christian values that were injected into American culture in the beginning. For example, not discriminating against a minority is a Christian value. Sharia, on the other hand, creates minorities as a matter of course. In Sharia countries, Christians are a defined minority, and are by fiat, second class citizens.

The Bible says in First Timothy 5:21: “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.” Therefore, it is a sin to be discriminatory in Christianity (and in Judaism). This is a Christian value, and when non Christians claim it as their own, they are wrong to do so, because before Israel existed, discrimination was normal and accepted.

This is just one example. People who say that the west was not founded on Christian principals are just plain wrong.

Speaking of Judaism, it is also not compatible with American Law either, because like Sharia, Judaism has a law. You cannot implement this law in America either, simply because it has a requirement to be in Israel. Jews should take this a proof positive that they need to become Christians. Can you imagine the expense of having to go to Jerusalem every time you sin? I would have to live in the Temple! The wonderful thing about Jesus, is that we no longer have to go to Jerusalem to sacrifice a sheep every time we sin!

In the end, if you are a Muslim, and feel the need to practice Sharia, you unfortunately must move somewhere where Sharia is the Law of the land, and it is not incompatible with existing law. The same goes for Jews. When you live in America, you can practice your religion because of the first amendment, but, you cannot impose your religion on others. Christianity is one of the few religions that allows for this, and is also one of the few that is compatible with the first amendment.

Ironically, a new religion has emerged and is now challenging the first amendment. It is the religion of socialism or liberalism/progressivism. Like Islam, it imposes its own law on the general population by disguising itself as NOT a religion. Doing this, allows it to bypass the establishment clause of the first amendment. This is evil, and should not be tolerated. Unfortunately, most Americans do not see this trick.

In conclusion, we may have to accept the fact that freedom of religion does not work with all religions, specifically Islam with Sharia Law and socialism. The founding fathers did not see this otherwise they would defined freedom of religion differently. I think that we SHOULD establish a religion, and that religion should be loosely defined as Christianity defined by the bible, but without requiring adherence. This would solve our religious issues, but I suspect that left leaning people would not be happy!

 

I was watching a commercial on YouTube yesterday, when I noticed that they mentioned that computer automation was going to be the next revolution just like the industrial revolution that started in the late 19th century. I agree with the notion that computer automation will be the next revolution.

There were 2 previous revolutions that mankind experienced. The first revolution was going from hunter gatherer system to an agriculture system. This revolution allowed mankind to go from food that had to be found to food that could be cultivated. This revolution caused hunter gatherer tribes to be pushed off good agricultural land into more arid lands. This caused the deaths of millions of tribesmen to die of war and starvation. Many people blame European immigrants for the deaths of millions of native Americans because they were pushed off good farmland into the arid regions of the United States. Those that blame Europeans for this are being hypocritical because this war on hunter gatherer tribes has happened all over the world. In Northern Africa, it was between the Egyptians and the Bantu people. In Southern Africa, it was between the Bantu people and the Pigmies. In India, it was between the Moghuls and the Tamils. In Japan, it was between the Chinese and the Ainu. In England, it was between the Germans and the Welsh. I could go on and on, but the displacement of hunter gatherer tribes has been going on all over the world, not just in the Americas. The advantage of the agricultural system was that you could feed far more people on less land and you could feed them consistently.

The next revolution was the industrial revolution. This revolution displaced millions of people who had to leave overcrowded farms to near by cities for work. What would happen is, a man would have several sons to inherit his land for their own, but the land was not enough to support the large number of people that would need to eat. Some of the sons had no choice but to leave the farm to find food elsewhere. Before the industrial revolution, these men would have to form raiding parties to steal food from other farms. The Vikings were a classic example of this. Mankind started looking for new ways to farm to increase the yield of their fields. This fueled the industrial revolution. The factories produced iron plows, tractors, liquid and powdered fertilizer and harvesting machines. So, the end result was actually very good for mankind, because extra sons did not need to steal food any more, they just went to the city for work, and bought the food they needed. These jobs, however were dirty, dangerous and tedious.

Enter the computer automation revolution. To free mankind of the large number of dirty, dangerous and tedious jobs, mankind started to develop ways of automating these jobs. The first example was the cotton gin. It freed up men from having to pick cotton fibers out of the plant. Some may wondered what happened to these freed men, they ended up harvesting more cotton! No one lost any jobs. Recently however, people have been losing jobs as the types of jobs eliminated by automation increased though the use of computers. Another reason people are losing their jobs is being able to work remotely, also via computers. No longer do you have to go to a place of work, you can now connect to your office and do “paper work” from anywhere in the world. When people who live in foreign countries can work for far less money than where the work place is located, they get these “paper work” jobs and the people who live near the workplace, lose their jobs.

What people are concerned about, are large quantities of people who will not be able to find jobs. We are already seeing this happen in the USA. In previous revolutions, the displacement of people was handled by the revolution itself. In the present revolution, there is no clear way that the loss of jobs or support will be handled. While computer automation does create a lot of new jobs, it has the potential of not creating enough. So, what will all these displaced people do?

In my opinion, several things could happen. First, people will move to part time jobs, and use “homesteading” to make up the difference. There are many people leveraging their suburban properties to grow vegetables and raise chickens. Second, growth into space and the oceans will create new jobs. Nether of these areas have been fully explored for their ability to support mankind. Third, the “third world” will have increasing numbers of local jobs as their cultures transition to “first world” living standards. This will increase their standard of living and decrease their attractiveness in the world job market, and the people who lost their jobs in “first world” countries will get them back. Fourth, due to data analytics, new jobs will be created to take advantage of opportunities discovered as a result of the data analysis. Fifth, many nations will go to a socialist system where all citizens will receive an income from the state, whether they work or not.

The last solution is the most dangerous to Christians.

From the book of Daniel (12:5) it says: “But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.” This is the prophesy of the world we now live in. This increase in knowledge will result in government control of buying and selling. From the book of Revelation: (13:17) in says “and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark…” This is how this control will work. It is the missing ingredient of socialism, the ability to stop black markets and to punish people who do not obey the rules. Socialism has not really worked for mankind yet, but people still seem hell bent to keep trying it. With the ability to control buying and selling, a government exercises ultimate control over a population, enabling them to overcome the major problems of socialism, getting around the controls via a black market or not working due to the lack of incentive. Add to this, the implementation of income without having to work, proponents of socialism now have the ability to be successful.

Christians will not be able to take the mark, because the Bible makes it quite clear to do so is a sin. From the book of Revelation: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, ¹⁰ he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed ^[c]in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and ^[d]brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.” We will not be able to work (since the government will control who works), not able to buy food even if we have money, and not able to sell anything to make money. We will need to trust that God will provide for us in those times, just like the ancient Israelites had to trust God for water and food (manna) in the desert.

May we have the faith of a mustard seed. Thank you Lord Jesus!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am taking some new medication for the last 3 months. I wasn’t sure it was going to work or not, but I wasn’t going to declare feeling better until I had given the drug some time. This is God’s providence because the drug had just been approved in 2015. When I got sick 3 years ago, this drug had not been approved yet. So for me, this drug came in the nick of time. I am not “healed” in the strictest sense, but I can now operate like a normal person. So, back to work!

My prayer is that I can get back into a ministry of some kind, but I need God to move sovereignly for that to happen. As much as I would like to, I cannot jump back in due to other issues I am not free to discuss. In the mean time, I am fixing up an old truck, doing renovations on my house, and looking for a part time job.

I need to be patient with God and wait on him for his will for my life. This is difficult because we all have a tendency to be control freaks. We want to take action, because we are impatient, and think we are going to miss an opportunity. But if we don’t do things Gods way, it will not work out.

From Psalm 27:14 – Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.

From 1 Corinthians 4:5: Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.

I seemed to have neglected this blog for a long time, and its not like I haven’t learned anything from God recently. I’ve been watching too many U-tube videos instead of doing important things. Time to repent!

In the book of Romans chapter 7:19: “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.”

I often wondered about this, because I find that while I know things in my head, like how to think about things, and what is sin in my life, my flesh seems to get in the way. Paul again in Romans chapter 7: expresses his own frustration: “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”

I find that in my current trials, with health, anger and frustration, I KNOW that it is not God’s fault, and he is good, but I still wrestle with anger toward Him. Why would he bring to this place, just to tie me down with health problems, family issues, and the inability to do anything?

Fact is, God doesn’t need me. He really doesn’t, and his point is to get me into heaven and his plan has that as a central focus. So I could learn all these cool things, and then die before getting them out, and God would still be glorified. Since He put a love of his ministry of reconciliation in my heart, and a love of His Church, I desire very much to work in these areas for him. My heart is for the much maligned Church and its ministry to the world. I want to do all these things, but instead, I am in my bedroom unable to breath well enough to even go to church. In my head, I know that it doesn’t matter if I die soon, but the rest of me is very frustrated. I finally have time to do stuff, and I can’t.

From Luke 19:40 it says “But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!”. In other words, he really doesn’t need us. Its sort of like a guy who owns a small business and wants to hire his children to help him run the place. Maybe one of his kids can’t work. Does that mean he loves that kid any less? Does he need that kid to be working for him? He can easily hire another kid to come in and do the work. Its is the same with us, he wants us working for him, but if we can’t, its ok and he can get someone else.

My problem is that I want to work, but I can’t, and I have to live with that. What is important is my faith in God and my salvation! AND, oh yea, I can still write!

Forgive me Lord Jesus!

 

 

I would say that Isaiah 53 is one of my favorite passages in the bible. It contains a description of Jesus that is not found anywhere else:

For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
³ He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

For me, the description “A man of sorrows” has taken on new meaning. I never really understood why Jesus was described this way, until just recently. In the last couple of years I have experienced more loss than in all the rest of my life put together. First, I lost my dog Benny. He was the first dog I ever owned and I watched him grow old, and experience a lot of adversity. He went bind, was attacked by maggots, and died of a breathing disorder. The whole thing made me sad, and was a prediction of things to come. Around the same time, I witnessed my mother in law die of cancer. Then, my dad got Alzheimer’s. I watched him lose his mind and not really understand what was happening to him. I also witnessed him suffer, a lot. It was an agonizing experience for all of us. After my dad died, my father in law died next, of stomach cancer. Add to this watching my own government turn against me and put my freedom at risk, all because I am a Christian. After all these deaths of people close to me, I recently lost my job. My job was very valuable to me. It gave me prestige, because it was a very good high paying job. Around the same time as I was losing my job, I was also losing my health. Like my dog Benny, I am having difficulty breathing. I find that I do not want to work because of this, and am not looking for another job. Fortunately, I was well compensated by my company, and have enough money to live on. Lastly, I have lost a most valuable thing, something that I cannot talk about yet. This latest loss has been particularly hurtful. All this loss has helped me experience fellowship with God. From Philippians 3:10:

that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death

I believe all this loss has taught me an aspect of God that most people don’t really think about very much, how much God is hurt by our idolatry and sin. In fact, the many passages in the “prophets” section of the bible pertain particularly to God’s hurt and frustration with us. As I experienced loss, over and over, I remembered these passages from scripture where God is talking about his own hurt and loss from dealing with us. Here is a typical passage from Jerimiah 2:27-28

²⁷ Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’
For they have turned their back to Me,
And not their face;
But in the time of their trouble they will say,
‘Arise and save us.’
²⁸ “But where are your gods
Which you made for yourself?
Let them arise, if they can save you
In the time of your trouble;
For according to the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah

You can hear the hurt and frustration God expresses here when we turn toward idols and away from God when things go well. I have felt the same hurt and frustrations myself as I faced loss after loss in my life. While not anywhere near the same level of loss (but not defeat!) God has suffered (especially on the cross) I did experience some fellowship with him. This has given me a new perspective on my relationship to him. As I was in prayer (because I was hurting) I heard the still small voice of God saying to me: “You think you have it bad? Imagine what I experience with billions of people turning against Me!” He, of course is right, I do not suffer anywhere near as much as he did and is, for us. Praise God! I think God has put me through this time of loss to help me see things from his perspective, and I thank him for it.

If Jesus of Nazareth was not the Son of God, he still would not be an ordinary man. Consider:

1. He has over 2 BILLON followers currently.
2. His book, the bible, a book written about Him, has been the number 1 best seller, every year,  for over 600 years.
3. His book was the first book ever printed.
4. All top Universities that have around for more than 250 years, were originally dedicated to the study of Him and his book.
5. The organization, that He founded, has been in existence for over 2000 years. There is no other organization on the face of the earth that can claim that.
6. He is the most famous man that ever lived.
7. No one is supposed to be forced to be a disciple of his.
8. Christianity exists in about 99% of the world.
9. The bible has been translated into every major language, and hundreds of minor ones.
10. The Catholic Church dominated Europe for 1000 years, and ended the Roman Empire not the Germanic barbarians. The Germanic barbarians all ended up becoming Christians.
11. The organization that Jesus started, invented Universities, Hospitals, Modern Libraries, and the Non Prop charity.
12. Many quotations from Jesus are well known, and quoted by people who may not know that Jesus was their source.

During this Christmas season, we need remember what a great gift to the world that Jesus is, and He is the “reason for the season”, and the “true meaning of Christmas”.

You may have read my commentary under “Gay Issues”. I am pleased to inform you that the Breakpoint organization agrees with me!

See http://www.breakpoint.org/2016/12/no-we-cant-agree-to-disagree-on-marriage-rebroadcast/

John Stonestreet points out that we really cannot “agree to disagree” on this issue. He points out, that gay marriage is one of those issues that need to be dealt with by the Christian community as a whole, just like when biblical cannon was identified, and the concept of the trinity upheld by the council of Nicaea. I agree. Gay Marriage is a joke, a redefinition of a long (6000 years?) held view of marriage and an illogical argument. Christians who uphold the concept of gay marriage are just caving into pop culture. It is time to call out these people and inform them that friendship with the world is enmity with Christ.