The meme on TV encouraging all to stay in is WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.
That means I am in this with people who depend on government, depend on science alone, depend on authorities or depend on corrupt governors of states like Illinois.
That's not my boat. I'm in a different boat.
We can't all be in the same boat, but we are all in the same storm.
Some boats will stay afloat, some will sink, some will be driven off course and some will remain adrift aimless. Other boats knowing the destination and being driven by the right winds of the Holy Ghost will arrive safely.
Find your boat, trust the captain.
For me and my house, I will serve the Lord.
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
It's time to Erect an Ebenezer Stone
I keep hearing the President describe what is going on as a war. Certainly there is a battle with an invisible enemy going on.
It's not a war... yet.
Sure some have died, and some have suffered. But a War would be different. My question prophetically is this.. are we as a people, as the body of Christ ready to go to war? Right now governments have us locked down, locked in, hiding in fear. That doesn't sound like warfare. There is a time to attack. That time is NOW.
The enemy is using fear of a disease to accomplish all kinds of things.
Stopping Gathering together
Plunging our economy into chaos
Pitting one against another
Stripping away human rights... when we need PERMISSION to do something we have already forfeited our rights.
I am saying it's time to confront this head on. Carefully. With all the weapons we have. Courage, Faith, Confidence, Prayerfulness, Purity, and Clarity.
Right now we are being told what to do, where to be, who can buy and sell and controlled. This is NOT God's will for you. We must stand up to the enemy. Fear NOT.
Some will die as we take back the land taken from us. It's time to erect an Ebenezer and say, this far and no further. We cannot be bullied as Christians. Some will go to jail. Some will be prosecuted.
We are Sheep of HIS pasture, not of the beast in Government. It is time for war.. now run to the battle... it might mean leaving your house.
It's not a war... yet.
Sure some have died, and some have suffered. But a War would be different. My question prophetically is this.. are we as a people, as the body of Christ ready to go to war? Right now governments have us locked down, locked in, hiding in fear. That doesn't sound like warfare. There is a time to attack. That time is NOW.
The enemy is using fear of a disease to accomplish all kinds of things.
Stopping Gathering together
Plunging our economy into chaos
Pitting one against another
Stripping away human rights... when we need PERMISSION to do something we have already forfeited our rights.
I am saying it's time to confront this head on. Carefully. With all the weapons we have. Courage, Faith, Confidence, Prayerfulness, Purity, and Clarity.
Right now we are being told what to do, where to be, who can buy and sell and controlled. This is NOT God's will for you. We must stand up to the enemy. Fear NOT.
Some will die as we take back the land taken from us. It's time to erect an Ebenezer and say, this far and no further. We cannot be bullied as Christians. Some will go to jail. Some will be prosecuted.
1 Samuel 7:11Then the men of Israel charged out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, striking them down all the way to an area below Beth-car. 12Afterward, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” 13So the Philistines were subdued, and they stopped invading the territory of Israel. And the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.…
We are Sheep of HIS pasture, not of the beast in Government. It is time for war.. now run to the battle... it might mean leaving your house.
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Return to Joy
People are losing Joy during these hard days. They think they have lost what they had... they were living in Peace and Safety. Peace and Safety.
The stock market, the job market, everything was going great.
Then an invisible enemy attacked. Loss, death, pain, pestilence and fear rose up.
The lifeline so many had was severed as Churches closed. They were cut off from what held them together.
Some tried to substitute other distractions to try to find their joy again. The future looks bleak and bleaker. Those distractions were temporary.
This has become a time when we discover the truth about who we thought we were. Not as strong or resilient as we imagined ourselves to be. We despair at our weakness in the flesh.
Thinks were pretty tough when the Law was read to the people of Jerusalem and they came face to face with who they really were. They recognized their difficulty. Nehemiah was placed by God to encourage the People at that time. Here's what he told them:
The Joy of the Lord is STILL your strength. It will be hard.. but God hasn't abandoned you. He hasn't forgotten you. He isn't ignoring you. He is allowing all this to happen while keeping you under his wing.
There is a nest in a small tree in my front yard. A dove sits on it. She has eggs she is protecting. A few days ago we had a snow and rain storm. She didn't leave her clutch. She sad on it with her wings stretched out to cover and keep them from harm.
How much more does your and my father do what he does in covering you. Yes it is hard.. but you are under the shelter of his wings.
The stock market, the job market, everything was going great.
Then an invisible enemy attacked. Loss, death, pain, pestilence and fear rose up.
The lifeline so many had was severed as Churches closed. They were cut off from what held them together.
Some tried to substitute other distractions to try to find their joy again. The future looks bleak and bleaker. Those distractions were temporary.
This has become a time when we discover the truth about who we thought we were. Not as strong or resilient as we imagined ourselves to be. We despair at our weakness in the flesh.
Thinks were pretty tough when the Law was read to the people of Jerusalem and they came face to face with who they really were. They recognized their difficulty. Nehemiah was placed by God to encourage the People at that time. Here's what he told them:
“Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!” Nehemiah 8:10Now as we find things changing yet again, we need to rediscover joy. It's there. It's in the little things. It's in charity. It's in intention. Treat every meal, every time you sit down as if it were communion. When you bless your food.. say Body of Christ, Blood of Christ. This is an ancient tradition in certain parts of the world. It may be that what we think of as communion was in fact a full meal.
The Joy of the Lord is STILL your strength. It will be hard.. but God hasn't abandoned you. He hasn't forgotten you. He isn't ignoring you. He is allowing all this to happen while keeping you under his wing.
There is a nest in a small tree in my front yard. A dove sits on it. She has eggs she is protecting. A few days ago we had a snow and rain storm. She didn't leave her clutch. She sad on it with her wings stretched out to cover and keep them from harm.
How much more does your and my father do what he does in covering you. Yes it is hard.. but you are under the shelter of his wings.
Monday, April 20, 2020
The Change Coming in Church
I am watching Christians turning from western Religion as this test goes on. What used to be OK is no longer.
The words of faith, the words of hope and the words of mercy and compassion are strangely absent. Some are in the arena, but the traditional church is stumbling. Many will not make it.
This is a classic rubber meeting the road.. and traction is lacking.
What this means is trend towards a better ministry model and away from the preaching pulpit centric model. It is important.. but only one of the FIVE essentials. Those who wear the title PASTOR must now fulfill the role of that grace. What is it?
The answer can be found in the ministry of Jesus. The New Testament account reveals that Jesus did five things:
(1) Jesus built His relationship with His Father,
(2) He preached the gospel of the kingdom of God,
(3) He met the needs of people,
(4) He made disciples through the power of the Spirit,
(5) He gave His life as a sacrifice.
These are the keys to true biblical ministry. A return to this model will be essential when "Church" resumes. I do not see that happening for a while yet.
If you are a church leader and you measure yourself.. how are you doing? I'm guessing you already know. Perhaps this was not your calling. Many won't make it. This is God's great washing machine cleaning up the Body of Christ.
The words of faith, the words of hope and the words of mercy and compassion are strangely absent. Some are in the arena, but the traditional church is stumbling. Many will not make it.
This is a classic rubber meeting the road.. and traction is lacking.
What this means is trend towards a better ministry model and away from the preaching pulpit centric model. It is important.. but only one of the FIVE essentials. Those who wear the title PASTOR must now fulfill the role of that grace. What is it?
The answer can be found in the ministry of Jesus. The New Testament account reveals that Jesus did five things:
(1) Jesus built His relationship with His Father,
(2) He preached the gospel of the kingdom of God,
(3) He met the needs of people,
(4) He made disciples through the power of the Spirit,
(5) He gave His life as a sacrifice.
These are the keys to true biblical ministry. A return to this model will be essential when "Church" resumes. I do not see that happening for a while yet.
If you are a church leader and you measure yourself.. how are you doing? I'm guessing you already know. Perhaps this was not your calling. Many won't make it. This is God's great washing machine cleaning up the Body of Christ.
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Good that will come from the Pandemic by 2022
Right now there is a fair amount of Gloom and Doom. Death and a destroyed economy in the near future.
We are going to see if you are a believer in Romans 8:28 as I am, we will see some positive outcomes to all this. Let's flash forward to April 18, 2022. The pandemic is now clearly in the rear view mirror.
Here are a few things I see and you can look forward to:
As a result of the all out war on the virus, we will find ourselves better able to fight, not only this one, but flues, colds and other viruses that come along. I see a vaccine, but better than that a method for shutting it all down. Tamaflu on steroids. Treatments will trump the need for vaccines.
The world of business will have changed. It will be painful. Many unsteady companies will fail. Some of those which were always vapor enterprises (built on nothing) will fade in the light of day. Some that disappear will come back in a new way. On line is going to get stronger, and as a result entry by new small companies which could not get shelf space at Walmart will find the internet the working avenue as new entrants to compete against Amazon (there will be some) will grow and prosper.
The hangover of social distancing will change what we used to do. Crowded theaters, concerts, churches, bars and some restaurants will need to meet the new. Once a venue consistently sells at 75% it will flatten. SPACE will be a premium.
Airplane flights will become enjoyable again. More space. Better ventilation. this change will be essential but tickets will be more expensive.
Inflation will return, aggressively. Food is going to become more expensive and the above mentioned things like airlines and entertainment venues will of nessesity become more expensive.
Theme parks, fairs and festivals will be attended, but with intentional distancing. Total attendance will be affected.
There will be outbreaks and scares. As a result sports will suffer. Stadiums will of necessity need to become wider in spacing and distance. The idea that we can all be crammed in on bleachers every 18" per person will end. This won't have to be imposed, people will space themselves.
The hangover from bad health practices will take time to heal. Many out of shape and compromised people will have died. The lesson will be learned by some.. but not others. Bad health habits are difficult to break.
Trump will still be President. I don't see a majority of the house or senate to hold him up. Despite the foolish behavior of the left they will take back the senate keep the house.
Healthcare in general will be superior to what it was pre-Pandemic. It will also be more expensive.
Bureaucratic and useless governance will fall away. They already are, but more will come. The foolish overreach of mayors and governors in many states will result in changes. When the evil are charge the people groan.
Some flyover states will now be even more attractive to business as the leaders of those states have excelled in good governance. Red states rising.
Families will be stronger. Education will have to go thru a change. College attendance for Fall of 2020 and Spring 2021 will take a hard hit. Vouchers will not become more and more acceptable. The clay feet of the education cabal will have been illustrated. The fact that millions of teachers laid off but paid and yet did nothing... will cost them.
There will still be a radical liberal fringe but they will fewer.
New outbreaks of vigilante groups on the left and right will break out. They will cause divisions even deeper in the body politic. We must not lose this war. It is more viral than any pandemic.
Church as we knew is changed forever. Any pastor or leader who makes the false assumption that he or she can simply take the platform and begin preaching like it was March 1 will find a disappearing following. Each and every member needs to be touched directly by phone or in person to firm up the relationship. Most churches are really really bad at this. Better at preaching and not great as being a pastor. Business as usual will fail.
Internationally, China is a wounded badly, as is Russia. Japan and South Korea are fine. Europe is sick. I don't see an EU in 2023. Many of the countries have shown just how weak and insipid the EU really is. Italy, Spain and France will think hard about following England in a Brexit. Germany is now the only country trying hold this together. They want to OWN europe.. but can't. They dropped the ball.
The global economy will got thru a very hard time. Depression. Then inflation.
Socialism will be shown for what it is. Great until you run out of other peoples money.
Africa and Most of South America (other than Brazil) will stagger. India is going to suffer HUGE death loss from the virus. And then herd immunity will occur and it will come out stronger than before.
I won't say thus saith the Lord.. but I see many of these trends clearly.. and more.
The world will be a better place..but only after a great hurt. May we be strong enough to see that day.
We are going to see if you are a believer in Romans 8:28 as I am, we will see some positive outcomes to all this. Let's flash forward to April 18, 2022. The pandemic is now clearly in the rear view mirror.
Here are a few things I see and you can look forward to:
As a result of the all out war on the virus, we will find ourselves better able to fight, not only this one, but flues, colds and other viruses that come along. I see a vaccine, but better than that a method for shutting it all down. Tamaflu on steroids. Treatments will trump the need for vaccines.
The world of business will have changed. It will be painful. Many unsteady companies will fail. Some of those which were always vapor enterprises (built on nothing) will fade in the light of day. Some that disappear will come back in a new way. On line is going to get stronger, and as a result entry by new small companies which could not get shelf space at Walmart will find the internet the working avenue as new entrants to compete against Amazon (there will be some) will grow and prosper.
The hangover of social distancing will change what we used to do. Crowded theaters, concerts, churches, bars and some restaurants will need to meet the new. Once a venue consistently sells at 75% it will flatten. SPACE will be a premium.
Airplane flights will become enjoyable again. More space. Better ventilation. this change will be essential but tickets will be more expensive.
Inflation will return, aggressively. Food is going to become more expensive and the above mentioned things like airlines and entertainment venues will of nessesity become more expensive.
Theme parks, fairs and festivals will be attended, but with intentional distancing. Total attendance will be affected.
There will be outbreaks and scares. As a result sports will suffer. Stadiums will of necessity need to become wider in spacing and distance. The idea that we can all be crammed in on bleachers every 18" per person will end. This won't have to be imposed, people will space themselves.
The hangover from bad health practices will take time to heal. Many out of shape and compromised people will have died. The lesson will be learned by some.. but not others. Bad health habits are difficult to break.
Trump will still be President. I don't see a majority of the house or senate to hold him up. Despite the foolish behavior of the left they will take back the senate keep the house.
Healthcare in general will be superior to what it was pre-Pandemic. It will also be more expensive.
Bureaucratic and useless governance will fall away. They already are, but more will come. The foolish overreach of mayors and governors in many states will result in changes. When the evil are charge the people groan.
Some flyover states will now be even more attractive to business as the leaders of those states have excelled in good governance. Red states rising.
Families will be stronger. Education will have to go thru a change. College attendance for Fall of 2020 and Spring 2021 will take a hard hit. Vouchers will not become more and more acceptable. The clay feet of the education cabal will have been illustrated. The fact that millions of teachers laid off but paid and yet did nothing... will cost them.
There will still be a radical liberal fringe but they will fewer.
New outbreaks of vigilante groups on the left and right will break out. They will cause divisions even deeper in the body politic. We must not lose this war. It is more viral than any pandemic.
Church as we knew is changed forever. Any pastor or leader who makes the false assumption that he or she can simply take the platform and begin preaching like it was March 1 will find a disappearing following. Each and every member needs to be touched directly by phone or in person to firm up the relationship. Most churches are really really bad at this. Better at preaching and not great as being a pastor. Business as usual will fail.
Internationally, China is a wounded badly, as is Russia. Japan and South Korea are fine. Europe is sick. I don't see an EU in 2023. Many of the countries have shown just how weak and insipid the EU really is. Italy, Spain and France will think hard about following England in a Brexit. Germany is now the only country trying hold this together. They want to OWN europe.. but can't. They dropped the ball.
The global economy will got thru a very hard time. Depression. Then inflation.
Socialism will be shown for what it is. Great until you run out of other peoples money.
Africa and Most of South America (other than Brazil) will stagger. India is going to suffer HUGE death loss from the virus. And then herd immunity will occur and it will come out stronger than before.
I won't say thus saith the Lord.. but I see many of these trends clearly.. and more.
The world will be a better place..but only after a great hurt. May we be strong enough to see that day.
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
Was 40,000 always the number?
As the decline in death counts accelerates and the exponent becomes smaller and smaller, the argument to continue our national nightmare in lock down is less and less tangible.
There will be many people pointing to Prayer, Social Distancing, Stay Home Orders, Drugs, Medical Care, Herd Immunity, Masks and Hand Sanitizers as reasons why this is working.
I won't argue that some of this is true.. yet perhaps the virility of the virus is overstated. Surely those who were compromised already have been lost the most. They may not have made it into 2021 in any case.
Was it worth destroying the American Economic System for this? Was it worth going into national debt at an insane rate in this? 40,000 is not insignificant.. but it could have been manageable without.
Here's what my best educated guess is.. you can take it or leave it.
There will be many people pointing to Prayer, Social Distancing, Stay Home Orders, Drugs, Medical Care, Herd Immunity, Masks and Hand Sanitizers as reasons why this is working.
I won't argue that some of this is true.. yet perhaps the virility of the virus is overstated. Surely those who were compromised already have been lost the most. They may not have made it into 2021 in any case.
Was it worth destroying the American Economic System for this? Was it worth going into national debt at an insane rate in this? 40,000 is not insignificant.. but it could have been manageable without.
Here's what my best educated guess is.. you can take it or leave it.
Year of Jubilee? Not for Everyone
Most people reading this are well aware of the Jewish practice of forgiveness of debt and restructuring that occurred in the nation of Israel every 50 years.
This took place because it helped re-balance the economic systems. Lands restored. Debts forgiven.
Some are wondering if right now we aren't in such a time. That the economic upheaval taking place will cause a de-facto year of Jubilee.
I know this, there are a lot of bankruptcies that will take place in the next 12 months. Many will ripple thru the economy. It will have a domino affect.
It did in Israel. Who in their right mind the year before the Jubilee year would lend money to anyone? Or buy land that would be taken from them.
I know may people think this will be wonderful.. but Jubilee for one is economic disaster for another. Someone is stuck holding a bag of debt now useless.
This long run is a disruption that can't survive.
This took place because it helped re-balance the economic systems. Lands restored. Debts forgiven.
Some are wondering if right now we aren't in such a time. That the economic upheaval taking place will cause a de-facto year of Jubilee.
I know this, there are a lot of bankruptcies that will take place in the next 12 months. Many will ripple thru the economy. It will have a domino affect.
It did in Israel. Who in their right mind the year before the Jubilee year would lend money to anyone? Or buy land that would be taken from them.
I know may people think this will be wonderful.. but Jubilee for one is economic disaster for another. Someone is stuck holding a bag of debt now useless.
This long run is a disruption that can't survive.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)