Author Archives: Mike K

Turned 66 in August of 2019, a little over a year into retirement. Now live on my farm in southern Missouri Ozarks. At this point I have 4 daughters and 8 grandchildren and 3 dogs.

I Think This Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

The picture on my homepage isn’t AI. I don’t like AI – one bit. My daughter went out one day after a particularly heavy rain spell and took a bunch of pictures of the aftermath and that one caught my eye. The colors seemed perfect, at least to me, and as she always asks me what I want for Christmas and I can never think of anything – seems like it’s a thing to try and explain I don’t want anything that costs any money, but one always needs to consider other folks’ desire to give something, so I asked her if she’d get that picture blown up and mounted in a lighted frame so I could hang it in my old farmhouse, and lo and behold she did, it turned out really nice. My brother came over and commented on how much he likes the pic and ordered one just like it for his house, so I guess it’s pretty to others besides myself. The notion of giving gifts on Christmas has been – and is still being – debated as to whether or not it’s appropriate within the bounds of the New Covenant of Christ. Some point to the passages in the story of Jesus’ birth when the magi came bearing gifts for the newborn Savior as the origin of Christmas giving, and that’s plenty good enough for me as far as being an example of why folks like to give gifts in remembrance of that event, but on the other hand, Christmas has inarguably gotten out of hand in the context of commercialization with rich folks making money off people’s desire to give.

That landscape picture my daughter ordered up for me, and later for my brother, probably didn’t cost much in our valuation of money, so not a lot of cash changed hands, but a great deal of satisfaction was derived both from the giver and the recipient(s). I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m pretty sure that’s the reason, the spirit, if you will, of Christmas giving. There should be love on both ends of the transaction if the gift is to comport with the substance of the act, it has to be loving thy neighbor in it’s purest form. That said, I must go back to what I mentioned about the cost, because even though 30 bucks (or whatever it cost) might not seem like much to folks in our society, it is a fortune to people in some places and that’s a sad statement of the condition of our world. Even though here in our neck of the woods in the Ozarks, most of us don’t have a lot of money, even we lowly hillbillies live like royalty compared to a lot of places in the world. There are even places in this nation of abundance where many people don’t even have a roof over their head. In some of our biggest cities where rivers of wealth flow through skyscrapers, people down on the streets live in tents – the lucky ones have tents, others sleep on cardboard or in dumpsters.

In countries like India, Pakistan, and many Asian countries, people live in great slums, they don’t know of any other lifestyle. Children are raised sifting through garbage trying to find a little food. In the Philippines, night people prowl through the garbage bins for leftover scraps from fast food cafes. In some places there, they recook fried chicken scraps to make what they call pag pag, a cuisine of the truly destitute, but accepted as a source of sustenance by those who have nothing else. Whole families can be found in the refuse dumps at night prowling through garbage for some small bits of something, anything edible. Alongside most of these slums, across the tracks or whatever divides the universes of wealth and poverty, shiny skyscrapers stand brimming with champaign-guzzling rich people who haven’t spent one day of their lives worrying about the price of a bill of groceries. They’ve never experienced the struggle to pay an electric bill or had to watch a child endure a fight through some easily cured illness because they couldn’t afford to go to the doctor. Way too many people in our world have to leave this life entirely because of the exorbitant cost of medical care. Rich people have no concept of the spirit of Christmas, nor will they ever.

Famine and disease have become a way of life in way too many places in the world. There are way too many stories out there, way too many pictures of little emaciated African children with bellies swollen from starvation, so many flies on their tiny faces they have long stopped trying to swat them away. I’m not trying to say there is any easy solution to these woes of humanity, but how many people are even trying to help? There are some cash-strapped organizations, totally dependent on the generosity of Godly donors and organizations out there trying to help, but as always, the attention of the majority of the world that might otherwise be made aware and able to help is drawn to things and events of lesser importance – international soccer matches, unnecessary wars, stupid undertakings like the “Line” in Saudi Arabia, etc. How many starving kids in the world could have been fed for the price of that farce? Or how much sustenance could be made available for the price of an aircraft carrier? How many homeless people here in the US could be put in affordable housing for the wasted treasure expended on these damnable temples to demons they call data centers?

The US allocates over a trillion dollars a year on “defense”, i.e. the greatest scam of human history in which the stockholders of organizations like Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, McDonell Douglas etc. have grown unfathomably rich in the business of promulgating humans murdering each other. Wars are started precisely to enrich these soulless entities in which countless innocent people are murdered every day somewhere in the world. The US has privatized institutions like prisons so as to further enrich more of the already wealthy as more and more activities of the public are criminalized so as to increase the number of incarcerated. Wealthy men can rape and traffic minor children and get completely away with it – indeed, become president – but poor people risk being incarcerated in these private prisons for stealing food.

The real war going on in our world is not between immigrants and residents. It is not between blacks and whites. It’s not even between communists and capitalists. The real war, as everyone will someday understand, is between the rich and the not rich of the world and it always has been. But that’s just on this side of the great divide. This life. Satan has armed his servants with the wealth of the world and between those who have the wealth and those who desire to have it, Satan has near complete control of humankind. Men who desire wealth do not need to actually have it in order for Satan to capture and control them, the desire for it is plenty enough to get his work done. Things will be far different on the other side, for over there Satan doesn’t have any say in what goes on.

There’s just so much actual evil happening in the world right now that it should be obvious to even the folks who have made it their life’s mission to preach against giving gifts on Christmas that there are more important things to worry about than celebrating what a lot of folks think of as Jesus’ birthday with their own versions of frankincense and myrrh.

A lot of the thoughts in this article go through my head when I look at that beautiful picture my daughter gifted me for Christmas. It’s a complicated world, but Jesus has a great way of simplifying it. The only way to emerge from this existence victorious is to get right with Jesus Christ and if you haven’t done so, I implore you to – today, we don’t have much time left here, and the rich folks are going to crash and burn along with their master, so don’t look to them for help, they have no desire to see you on the winning side of this great battle.

May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us.

MK

Serene Wonders of the Ozark Autumn

(If you’re a long-time reader here at Folkpotpourri.com, at this time of year you undoubtedly expect this, so without further ado…)

From somewhere down the one path come voices scarce to discern at first, then growing to clamor; from the other naught but silence, mist, and enveloping dark. Choose I must, but having only this moment arrived and come to understand this sudden and seminal path now demanding a choice at it’s bifurcation, each into destinations at odds with the other, I am confronted with invitations to follow one. Do I opt for a roiling avenue toward some familiar end whence I’m bidden to follow a tumultuous riot of temptation and merriment amid throngs of fellow travelers, or the serene, shady lane of nature’s offerings whence cool autumn peace and misty colors wind into a silent yet eerily boding woodland alone. A serene invitation of evening darkness and a bracing north wind make the choice for me. Yea, and the moss-covered hickory with gilded foliage of indescribable resplendence makes the choice for me.

As I proceed beyond the moment of my option, I’m at once greeted by a blush of deep-scarlet sumac abruptly thrust from the dark autumn mist offering its own feast of visual delight upon this table of an autumnal banquet. Ere I’m able to partake of a morsel comes to view a palette of green and heavy moss upon a weathered escarpment of limestone, impeccably strewn with ornate burgundy gum and pumpkin-colored sassafras discards. My eyes deliberately and eagerly trace a vine of crimson woodland ivy high into a stalwart red oak whose slowly changing hue of verdant summer proudly displays his early fall decor.

Far from regret at this choice of roads, and thus further from the din of a crowded city of men, I’m left in amaze of an autumn world of which few partake, a world of wild songbirds eagerly gleaning seeds from generous ocher grasses who sway in desiccated undulation as the northern breeze wafts first down wooded hillside then into an amber ocean of this silently awaiting evening dark, a world of hastily-gathered drops of yesterday’s rain gently meandering through burgeoning turves of earthen form. This choice of roads lead among exuberant tumbles of maple and black gum whose autumnal gowns beckon great envy of other woodland members who choose to await the onset of colder winds to alter their attire, which will of certainty be no less extravagant once they determine to do so. Indeed, where such beauty and magnificence abound, there is no time nor inclination to regret this path.

Among the browning jungles of the fen with her ripe throughout tule, rush, and cattail, jewelweed blossoms fall to bespeckle tiny sunsets among the briars – summer frogs have grown silent, the only noise to be heard here are the thumps of ripe walnuts escaping from lemon-yellow branches who race one another to shed plump burdens. Gently seeping clear waters from the spring ply this peaceful mire, slowly disappearing beneath discarded foliage of waning summer. Indeed, autumn seems in haste to conceal every vestige of summer – it is her season now and she harbors no inclination to share attention of her magnificence, her color, her silent arrest of nature.

Gold is in abundance here and is not to be confused with the lesser gold of value to men. Crimson also abides in increase as the trail progresses through the somber, wooded hills. Ebony flocks of complaining crows now flit listless and great columns of white geese sail aloft in rare open patches of a melancholy blue firmament, seen but by the keenest of eyes, but irascible honking of their clan heard plainly by all. Winding brakes of clearest cold streams carry golden leaf-drops away to drift on the sea or to rest alongside some lonely fallen sentinel of the forest as it floats to an unknown edifice. Soon, tendrils of winter cold will send ice to immobilize all who dwell on this exquisite water.

Until those grim and stolid warriors without leaf upon steeds ever alight on winter wind approach to take it all away, take the road less traveled – get out and enjoy the fall!

May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us.

MK

Surviving in a Turbulent and Insane World

I’m sorry that I haven’t posted in several days, but the accident I mentioned in my last post turned out to be somewhat more serious than I thought and I had to break down and take a trip to the emergency room where a scan revealed a couple of broken ribs. There was considerable soft tissue damage as well and I’ve been laid up taking pain medication and not in any shape to be writing, but as always, God has brought me through what I hope to be the worst of it and though I still have a way to go, I finally feel good enough to make a post.

When we are overwhelmed with our problems, we should consider what He went through for us

It seems that every new day brings about its own challenges and the worst of humanity (in the service of the enemy of God and man) keeps resurfacing to create doubt and instability to this world in which we find ourselves trying to survive. There are, as prophesied, wars and rumors of wars taking place with new plagues and earthquakes happening at an astounding pace, leaving us little time to gravitate to those places where we may find peace and solace, but find the time we must. These are the very days for which we are admonished to watch as well as pray as Jesus Christ’s return draws nigh.

Although I’m adamantly against this confounded AI and the opprobrium it threatens to bring into our lives, I nevertheless attempt to use this weapon of the enemy against him and write articles on the internet in my own feeble ways and speech (I never use AI generated narratives, but sometimes find images online that may be AI generated due to the likelihood of unavailability of whatever image I need) in my own effort to get the Word of God out there. There are many others, especially videos made by influencers, who are doing similar work in the name of Jesus, but we have to be careful of whatever articles or videos we watch or allow ourselves to be guided by. Always weigh everything against the Scriptures and you’ll never go wrong. Satan certainly realizes the potential of the internet for growing his own following, in fact the whole thing is a creation of satanic billionaires attempting to turn away the faithful and that in itself is a pretty expansive project. In choosing to use the weapon of the enemy, I’m reminded of Matthew 10:16, where Jesus admonishes His disciples, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

If people, organizations, societies, and even some churches are not deemed by the enemy to be a threat, i.e. promoting the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they are generally left alone and even if they started out to try and do the right thing, many of them typically decay into some iteration of sinful, lustful immorality that becomes more and more accepted as time passes. Satan knew this would happen hence he takes no action against them. However, when you see some pastor who appears to be stumbling or otherwise threatened you might want to take a second look at his ministry because Satan might well be at work trying to destroy him and his church. Most of the real ones are usually hanging on by a thread, but that’s the kind of people Jesus is after. Those who, despite the odds of being defeated, still hang on with all they have to live in the light. They are the ones Satan is after, too. His whole schtick is to try and take those who have chosen to follow the truth away from the Lord, but what did Jesus say of His people? [ John 10:27-30]: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.” There is no greater Scriptural example of Jesus’ protection of his “sheep”, so if your heart is in the right place, you are safe in His mighty hands, but that doesn’t mean Satan won’t try, that he won’t do everything in his power to turn us away from the faith, so always be prepared for his attacks – sometimes they are frightening, sometimes seemingly overwhelming, but we have One who is more powerful to protect us as long as we hang on.

Do not let the dark clouds of plagues, wars and rumors of wars dissuade you from God’s calling in your life. He promises that we will emerge from this tumultuous existence into a place of unimaginable joy and peace. I can share an experience I had many years ago in which I had a dream where I was falling from a great height, presumably to my demise, but during that long fall as I tumbled through the air, I experienced an indescribable peace that I could actually feel. I was about to say I have no idea where the unimaginable peace came from, but I really do. Although the sensation only lasted for the moment of the dream, it has been with me for my entire adult life and if I should live a hundred lives, I could never forget it, such was its impact on me. It was the most awesome experience I’ve ever had the blessing of going through. That peace, the peace of God, awaits us in His kingdom. I wish everyone could experience that feeling – there’d be many more followers of Christ if that were so, but alas, it is a seminal experience only for me to try and describe with fumbling words, but it is nevertheless true and that peace is there in the presence of the Almighty in His Kingdom waiting for us to enter into!

For all readers of this article, always remember this definition of success, for it is the only true success and it is not measured by the number of zeroes in some bank account (which will all burn). Success is standing before Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and hearing these words, [Matthew 25:21]: “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord. The one thing of importance that can result from this life – everything else is a waste of your time. He patiently awaits to speak those very words to you and yours. Get to know Him if you have not yet done so and prepare to experience His unimaginable joy and peace.

May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us.

MK

What Can Happen When Friends Get Mistaken for Enemies

Back when I used to find such things as movies to be entertaining, I saw a Tom Sellick movie about a sniper who ended up in Australia who had been hired for his shooting skills but he didn’t realize he was being hired to shoot the pesky black Aborigines for a character who was a big cattle rancher – the title was Quigley Down Under. As mentioned, Quigley did not realize he had been hired to murder innocent people until he arrived and as the good guy in the movie, of course he refused to kill them and ended up at odds with the whole ranch of bad guys. The antagonist rancher role was played by one of my favorite actors, the memorable British Alan Rickman (RIP) and he did an exceptional job of portraying the bad guy in this movie. At this point in this essay, I think it would be appropriate to mention that much of the racism which this post is really about actually is quite fundamentally portrayed in this particular movie and I didn’t even realize it until I started this paragraph, so the movie might just be recalled as demonstrating such abhorrent behavior in other ideations herein. In fact, I don’t think there is a better example to use.

No photo description available.

The movie part that I chose to point out was the line where the rancher, Marston (played by Rickman) said he’d been born in the wrong century, and after reading a particularly racist article on the internet – with many equally racist comments – that thought came to my mind – that I’d been born in the wrong time frame to be able to comprehend the dark hatred some folks harbor towards their fellow human beings of different skin tones. Maybe it has always been there and at some level I suspect it has, it’s just that by not sharing those sentiments of racial indignation by the commenters I had read, I was reaching for some reason why I couldn’t relate to such prejudice. I should have recognized it right away though, having come from a small mostly white town down in Texas, but it’s been a while… After giving it some thought however, it’s clear that racial prejudice has always been part of the human dynamic. It shouldn’t be, but there it is.

There are arguments afoot these days, and probably have been for longer than I realize, that Jesus Christ was a black man, or an Arab, or of whatever race happens to be someone’s particular need for Him to be. To those who make such speculations, it is apparent from His teachings that, if the color of Jesus Christ’s skin is important to your opinion of Him and His ministry, then you don’t know who He is at all. It should not make one whit of difference to us of what race or ethnic group Jesus belonged – He is the Savior of all humanity – the Son of God in whatever iteration of the human flesh God chose for Him to be clothed in.

Hatred is a particularly difficult emotion for us to comprehend and to deal with. There are instances of behavior that evoke such passionate emotions that we must take extreme care not to allow to become hatred in our hearts. These are real and present battles for even the most faithful believers – to keep our emotions in check for the enemy is ever aware of our thoughts as revealed by our behavior and he seeks every opportunity to trip us up and hatred of the “other” – it is his default trap. On the other hand, there is an innate racial rejection that can be present without our even being aware of it until we find ourselves agreeing with people like the commenters mentioned above. That kind of hatred can sneak into our hearts if we ignore the sources of it. If we don’t put up a fight, we might find ourselves pulling for the sniper who opts to shoot those pesky Aborigines – or Palestinians. Or black folks on a march for equal rights. I’m not necessarily writing here only about racial bias or hatred, but that hatred that sneaks in to our hearts when we become incensed at the racism of other people – it’s a clever trap of the enemy, he wins when people hate each other whether it be racism or abhorrence of those who are racist without being so oneself. It’s hatred either way, and although Heaven will undoubtedly be an expansive place, there won’t be any room in God’s Kingdom for a heart that has hatred inside.

For those of us who claim to be believers but also hold that our race is the one that God chooses over all the others, to those I say Jesus Christ died for every one of every race of human beings. The Bible says that God is not a respecter of persons, meaning He doesn’t prefer one human being over another due to any human status such as wealth or race. Furthermore, the biggest reason our country is plagued with Donald Trump right now is that part of his con was to appeal to the racial hatred of certain genres of neanderthal voters. These people are now paying the fiddler for allowing their racist attitudes to determine their vote and now they can’t afford groceries or to take their kids to the doctor. The Almighty always requires us to pay for our departure from His ways so people can’t get away with allowing their racism to guide their selection of leaders without answering for it somewhere down the road.

There is indeed a division in our country that matters, but it isn’t the one between blacks and whites or Hispanics or differing religions. We’ve never faced a time, at least in my life, in which all of us common folks needed each other more than we do now. The division, hence, the war, we should be fighting is between the rich and the poor, but the wealthy elites have the controls and are able to produce whatever propaganda it takes to keep us peons at each other’s throats. Just take note of all the “news” stories of late about white cops mistreating black people or black guys beating up old white people – it comes around like clockwork every time us proles start looking at the real source of our problems – be it Vietnam, or in this case, the elites. Can’t have a bunch of folks that can’t pay their electric bills threatening the Zuckerbergs and Thiels and Adelsons of the world, got to keep them to fighting amongst themselves and appealing to their racial hatred always works, so go for it! There’s nothing that could strike fear into the hearts of the wealthy and the politicians they own like a street filled with thousands of black, white, Mexican, Asian, Arabic, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Anglo European people that can no longer be turned against each other or otherwise deterred from an honorable goal of reforming our political and economic system toward fairness for all.

They (politicians and the wealthy who own them) are so afraid of any eventuality that might bring the common citizens of all races and religions together for common purpose that they have flock cameras and data centers all for the purpose of surveilling the citizenry so as to keep an eye on us and prevent our agglomeration into a fearless and determined army of multiracial, multireligious citizens demanding a new order. Old white men like me arm in arm with young black and/or Hispanic men and women, veterans who’ve had enough of creatures like Pete Hegseth, Trump and Rubio – marching on Washington with real change in mind. Demanding real change. I do not advocate violence but it might be hard to get some of the folks to refrain from it, especially some of those who’ve had relatives and loved ones kidnapped and tortured by “federal agents” of ICE and shipped off to some African country or other place where they don’t belong. Again, lest we forget or become persuaded to lose focus on the real enemies of humankind – it’s the rich men who’ve all sold their souls to Satan and therefore murder innocent (always innocent until proven guilty) Venezuelan men on boats and innocent little girls in schools. Whether they’re bombing hospitals in Gaza or making people take “vaccines” that end up killing them – it’s the rich men who profit from making clot shots and bombs and missiles with which they can slaughter innocent people, which is all done in pursuit of their service to Satan.

We were given our example of how we need to behave and how we need to believe from a man named Jesus Christ a couple of thousand years ago. Our (and God’s) greatest enemy, Satan, has had all of that time to come up with ways to deceive us, to persecute those of us who dare to believe there is a better way than what we are seeing in the world. Just as he did two thousand years ago with Jesus Christ, Satan has taken a select few men up on that mountain and promised them the world if only they agree to serve him, and unlike Jesus, a lot of them have taken him up on it. These are all the ones who have become the very wealthy, the same men who are building data centers, which I am convinced are nothing more than temples to demons requiring the sacrifice of our water and power – and who knows what may be required as sacrifices to them later on. The tech zillionaires actually expect the public to be willing to pay homage to their demons, they don’t give us any good reasons for the public benefit to build the demonic temples, they just expect the public to go along with them if for no other good reason than the fact that they are billionaires and they want data centers, therefore so should we. Same for those servants of Satan who frequent the Moloch rituals in the Bohemian Grove. Those guys are bound for hell – they’ve signed the deal and have all their wealth, they will die sooner or later (Googler Sheldon Adelson, Dick Cheney and Jacob Rothschild) it’s just a matter of time until they go down in the flames of hell fire – I promise you they will – and there’s no reason for good people to go with them because of envy of their wealth. Unfortunately, this same tactic is used on celebrities and sports heroes too and some of them even admit it, now most of those types don’t openly declare war on the poor, but selling one’s soul has the same results for the one doing it – you traded something precious for a few years of fame and wealth and now you belong to Satan and face eternal damnation. There’s serious consequences for backing out on the deal – Google Charlie Kirk.

We must stand with Jesus and with each other – there’s absolutely no hope any other way. Don’t allow the mockers of God to convince you to hate on your black brother – or your Latino brother. Conversely, even though there have been some major bumps in the road to how we got where we are, black fellows cannot win the battle without the majority of white folks – who are in the same boat – almost everyone who is not rich is in the same boat, no matter the color of the skin, and we MUST get past this stupid racism they use against us every time we threaten to join hands. Our enemies are not each other; they are the people who own the banks, the big corporations, insurance companies and with few exceptions, big rich law firms. Most of us don’t even want to know about the rich guys and their money – personally, I’d rather hear from the people out on the accursed reservations and the poor folks in the country, rural areas and to know they are doing okay or how we might be able to help them if they’re not. It’s simply shaping up to be a class war, but we can’t win it without each other. They pay good money to keep common people fighting each other – see ICE and recruiting bonuses. We cannot win it without Jesus Christ in our midst. If we could pull such a movement together, always keeping the underprivileged in mind and always keeping Jesus Christ out front as our real leader, we could be a formidable army indeed. In fact, that is exactly what is going to happen when Jesus leads His mighty army into the great battle The one thing we have to keep in mind is that such an organization can only win the war – if folks could just focus on Jesus and helping each other, I guarantee we could never be defeated by the minions of Satan, but for what it’s worth, we’ve ALL got to get past racism and hatred – as long as we insist on hanging on to sinful racist attitudes, we can never win this battle – guaranteed!

We’ve all become the Aborigines now and don’t forget it; don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. If you have any doubt, look at Gaza – and that’s just the beginning.

Someone was/is trying to prevent me from publishing this post. I just finished with that last line above when I took a break from writing and it’s a long story but I ended up with my 73-year-old self out in the woods on a motorcycle, against the better judgement of my daughter who had told me how hard that thing was to control on that road, and which I’ve never tried before. As soon as I got on the really rough section of the road with lots of limestone blocks the size of footballs, sure enough I lost it, and got flung off the thing and into a tree with my back. I hit just left of my spine or I have no doubt my back would be broken – I hit that thing with some terrific force! Literally, I’m beginning to believe the enemy has identified me – probably from my posts encouraging Godliness here. I think he sent something from somewhere else to snatch me off that bike and slam me into the tree – the bike had come to a complete stop and just laid over yet I practically flew backward, and I’ve never felt the like of pain I have going on. Even so, all I have to say is that if he wants me to stop speaking out for Jesus, he’s gonna have to shut me up for good, I’m not threatened by having to wobble around with a sore back for a few days, and I’m certainly not afraid to leave this abominable world to be with Jesus. Maybe it’s just my imagination and I’m giving myself too much credit for being a thorn in the enemy’s side, but I’m going to keep trying to be so as long as possible.

Me and my daughter prayed over it, and today I might talk myself into going to the clinic and get something for pain, but I’ve no doubt He heard our prayer and I’m getting better really fast. Anyways folks, welcome to what it’s like when you decide to follow Jesus – be prepared for anything – we have to be willing to give it our all. I’ve felt His presence like never before since this “accident” happened. If y’all feel the urge, I encourage your prayers, and not just for me, but for your own blessings as we face these end times.

May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us.

MK

Critters, Experiences, and Ozark Farm Life Potpourri

Finally! We’re getting some cooler weather here in this part of the Ozarks! Been in the high nineties, even got over a hundred for a few days over the last five or six weeks and nary a bit of rain during that time either. Several trees died in the heat and drought, but I guess that’s the way nature works. Since the onset of the cooler air, we’ve actually gotten a few inches of precious rain, and you could almost hear the big old oaks sighing with relief around here. I think all of us living creatures get a little giddy when autumn comes around. I also think the heat might be the reason we haven’t had a very bad tick problem around the woods this year, but I also have guineas patrolling and those birds eat a lot of ticks, I read somewhere that an adult guinea fowl can eat a few thousand ticks every day!

We’ve had a fox around the farm and some mysterious AWOL guinea fowls. Piles of feathers here and there attest to the fox scoring dinner once in a while. Guineas select really well-hidden spots to lay their eggs and several hens will lay in the same nest until some magic alarm bell goes off that only a select guinea hen can hear and she suddenly starts setting on the whole clutch. There may be as many as twenty-five eggs and the old girl really has to spread herself out to cover all of them, but I’ve never witnessed a more dedicated animal than the mother guinea when it comes time to hatch and raise her young. We only know someone has started setting when we round them up at night to coop them for bed and one of them fails to show up. This also can mean the fox has scored, so it’s kind of tricky to determine which has happened – has the fox eaten one, or has one of the hens decided to set? Most times the setting hen will show up at the run in the mornings to join her friends for breakfast during a short break in the setting duties. Otherwise, it would take a four-wheel-drive truck to pull her away from that nest – or a dedicated raccoon or fox that finds her on the nest, but that’s pretty unusual – they find good hiding places for the nest. Sometimes it takes us humans a long time to find a nest, but we try not to disturb it when we do, or not to give her away to any predators who might be in sight. In the last couple of years we have lost two setting girls and their eggs, but as often as not, they make it to the hatch and then it’s a battle with Mama to catch all the babies and relocate them to a safe coop where they can survive until they get big enough to elude the four-legged critters, and that is surprisingly fast. Guinea babies – called keets – find their legs (and wings) in short order and are even hard to catch right out of the eggs. Right now we have a family of guinea babies that are about five weeks old and already can fly like quails.

When I say it’s a battle with Mama to collect the babies, I’m not kidding! Those gals are serious when it comes to protecting those little ones and will very gleefully leave nasty bruises and scratches anywhere on your body they can access if you grab one of the babies. They can beat you mercilessly with those wings too. She flies sorties at you while you’re trying to catch the little ones without hurting them, and she regularly lands punches and barbs – especially when you’re looking away at the baby. I remember on one occasion a couple of years ago when my daughter and I had fought the mother and had caught all the little ones and when I had the last one in my hand, she was standing facing me just a few feet from me. She had this totally rabid angry look on her face as she glared at me and it was like she was saying, “Okay, you got my babies, but now I’m gonna get you!” And she flew up straight into my face with her talons hitting first – I was able to turn aside somewhat, but she got my neck and left a couple of bloody canyons across it. What a maniac! She went for my face on purpose! I’m just thankful they don’t carry hellfire missiles! But that’s how mama guineas are, so if you ever have occasion to collect her keets, watch out! If they aren’t surprised and ambushed, I’m pretty sure they are quite capable of repelling a raccoon, and maybe even a fox too if he’s not starving and desperate.

We’ve been living here on this farm in the Ozarks for eight years now and we’ve only encountered a few copperheads but no other poisonous snakes. I’m sure there are some of those big old timber rattlers around, but so far, we’ve not ran across any. Someone smashed one on the road about a mile from here, so I know they’re around. We had a guinea hen get bitten by what I’m sure was one of those copperheads – we never saw the snake, but the guinea died with bite marks on her neck. From what I know about guineas, the crazy bird was probably pecking at the snake, that’s how they are. But I’ve only seen a couple or three copperheads around here. If the snake is near the house, I’ve been known to go to great lengths to catch it and take it off into the woods, but otherwise I usually dispose of it, if it’s in the woods, I leave it alone.

I had an encounter a couple of years back with a fairly big old black bear, right outside my back yard! The dogs were raising cane, and I went out to see what their problem was, and lo and behold, there was this black bear – standing on his hind legs looking at me like he expected me to bring him an order of chicken nuggets or a taco. He went to all fours and started traipsing off, not in a hurry whatsoever. I hustled into the house to grab my phone to try and get a pic, but with my typical 72-year-old fumbling and fidgeting to pull up the camera function and aim and shoot, he was so far out into the woods all I got was a big dark blob in the foliage, but what a rush! I have game cameras out in our woods and occasionally get a random black bear on video, but not all that often.

We have mountain lions in this neck of the woods, but I don’t think they stay here. When someone sees one it’s just passing through. I’ve read where those cats range for hundreds of miles, so when one is spotted, it’s probably a young male just passing through or maybe he’s looking for a suitable area to hang out in. I was deer hunting one cold November morning and I heard one of them, probably a quarter to a half mile away from me, but it was a real treat to hear a big cat in the wild! The sound was halfway between a growl and a scream – it didn’t sound like it was really excited or angry, maybe it was calling for another cat. That said, it could have been a bobcat, but I’ve heard both of them, and I’m almost sure it was a cougar.

The first few years we were here, there were pretty regular coyote parties down the holler on a section of our farm we call the south 40. A neighbor fellow raised beef cattle, and he often had problems with them taking his newborn calves. He had a really good cattle dog – maybe she was mostly border collie, but she came dragging home one night and was so mangled from being attacked by coyotes that he had to put her down. It was a really sad occasion because she was a remarkably smart and loyal dog – I liked her almost as much as my own dogs; she was just a great, friendly girl, and she died trying to protect her cattle. Probably badly outnumbered. Realizing what those coyotes are capable of, I keep my two dogs penned up in my backyard unless I’m out with them – it would break my heart to lose either one of my girls. September 30 it will be exactly one year ago that I had to say goodbye to my old Dusty girl – my best friend and sidekick for fourteen years – I’m not over losing her and probably never will be; I was really attached to her. The two girls I have now were her gifts to me and I treasure them like I did her.

Soon there will be great flocks of snow geese high up in an azure sea of northern air honking away to let the world down here know we need to check our water pipes and if we haven’t already done so, to get some firewood cut and split. I’m way ahead on that account – I’ve actually been working in the terrible heat to get ahead of that north wind, but then I’m one of those old hillbillies that simply can’t stay out of the woods with a chainsaw. Early this summer I was walking down the wet-weather creek that runs down the east side of our property and lo and behold – there was a beautiful red oak that had fallen (green) straight across the creek from bank to bank. The creek was a good twenty-five feet wide, and the tree was a good two feet in diameter, so there was enough wood to last the whole winter! Where the tree was located, it looked to be on a neighbor’s property, and as I’d never met him but knew where he lives, I took the occasion to go and meet him and see if he’d mind me harvesting the log. Turns out, he’s one of the nicest guys I ever met, and he was more than willing to let me have the firewood. Made me sorry I’d not gone to meet him sooner, but such is life! Now the wood is cut and split and waiting for some serious north wind so I can get the wood stove going.

Summer is winding down and we’re headed into autumn and the world is getting crazier every day. I fear for a lot of folks who might end up on the short end of heating fuel with all the nonsense going on in the Mideast. I guess we have a lot to be thankful for out here where survival is achievable if not always easy. Folks in the big cities might wind up having to cut corners where it hurts and my prayers are with them – the Lord always waits to hear from us and not just when we have problems, and I’m serious as a heart attack when I say we all need to get – and stay – in touch with the Lord. I personally believe from the intensity of the problems in the whole world that we are living in the last days of this human experiment, and I also believe the end is not going to be pretty nor very enjoyable for a lot of us. Learn about Jesus Christ. Learn about the Almighty Father Who makes the beautiful autumn colorful and tends the hearts of those who are willing to listen to His wisdom. He’s the One who grew that big old tree that’s going to keep my house warm this winter. He’s the One in the heart of the wonderful neighbor who cheerfully allowed me access to the wood. He’s the One taking care of old Dusty for a wonderful reunion someday – just as an example of His incomparable love.

When things wind down in this old world and if you happen to be a survivor who makes it to that glorious day when Jesus returns, make sure you are one of those who will be filled with indescribable joy and not one whose heart will quail from terror of His wrath upon all who rejected Him, who chose to live in this life without Him. We who love Him will have much to look forward to and if you are still reading this, be aware that God is speaking to you as you read – do not wait until it is too late to come to Jesus. I’m serious – time is so short now that I may not have time to burn up that firewood before the end. I would not be surprised if that turns out to be the case – seriously.

Enjoy the autumn wood if you live where you can. If not, stay in touch with this site and check back in -I’ll try to get some of those beautiful fall pictures posted now and then. Meanwhile get out that old Bible and start learning what’s in it. It’ll keep you warm inside your heart when it’s cold outside and you don’t have anything better to do, but don’t let that be the only reason you decide to learn about Jesus. He’ll be your best friend – He even loves you enough to have died for you. Get to know Him so you can love Him back.

May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us.

All fall images in this post are from earlier autumns – will soon have new ones

MK

When an Undefeatable Army is Needed

We here in the US currently have the misfortune for our military to be under the collective “leadership” of some of the most dubious creatures ever to be allowed to operate under the guise of an established government. The secretary of deceit in charge of the military apparatus seems to be convinced that those serving under his leadership must be white, masculine he-men who should be allowed to operate with no constraints such as “rules of engagement” which might prevent such horrific events as sending a tomahawk missile into a young girls’ school. This did happen in the Iranian town of Minab, and some 160 children were massacred, sacrificed on the altar of service to the genocidal government of Israel. The secretary of deceit seemed to be pleased with the mass murder of children, he has shown no remorse, in fact at first he went so far as to try and blame other entities for it until someone found a capture showing the missile to be an American Tomahawk. Signed, sealed, and delivered by Trump, Hegseth, and the abominable liar Bradley Cooper. I blame Hegseth the most though, because of his dismissal attitude about rules of war. In his mind this was a necessary act which if anything, he thinks shows his power and bravery, his warrior attitude and in no way should be reviewed, much less condemned.

I served in the US Navy and am totally ashamed it is the same Navy in which incompetent, dishonest, fawning maggots like Bradley Cooper currently find themselves in leadership roles. Hegseth can only retain misfits like Cooper who will forever be listed in the annals of US Naval history as one of the most dismal, incompetent, abominable villains ever to serve under the US flag. I believe at some point Hegseth – and probably Cooper too when the girls’ school incident gets properly investigated – will finally be disposed of as Trump is wont to do with everyone who no longer benefits him politically. Trump keeps incompetent boobs like Hegseth and Cooper around for just that purpose – to throw under the bus at such time as it is convenient to divert the blame for his own incompetence. Admiral Holsey of the Southern Command knew this and left when it became obvious that to stay under Hegseth would be to commit war crimes and thereby blemish his distinguished career, but Cooper just simply ain’t that bright so he stays around to bomb schools and hospitals and generally do what he thinks is making points with Trump, but in reality he’s just presenting himself as a sacrificial scapegoat for a time of Trump’s choosing. What a pathetic failure of a Human being, much less a Navy flag officer. History and us Navy vets will remember him for the war criminal failure he is, too. He’s a total disgrace and humiliation to the US Navy. And like Trump, he’s so engrossed with himself he’s totally unaware of how everyone else plainly sees him.

The incompetence of Hegseth is amply demonstrated in his seemingly sexual attraction to he-men which he even would like to inject with hormones to increase their “manliness”, which he prioritizes like he’s secretly some kind of wanton nymphomaniac. In his arrogant stupidity, he would like for the public to see him as some kind of mindless (and fully racist) warrior, all tattooed and ready for his Samurai sword instead of pursuing what should be the more proper diplomatic and reserved role of a cabinet secretary who might otherwise be occupied with the rather mundane tasks of ensuring qualified personnel are in the necessary roles such as logistics to get food and ammunition out to soldiers and sailors who are engaged in his and Trump’s foolish (and completely unnecessary) wars. He should resign from the pentagon and join another national embarrassment, RFK Jr. (and Kid Rock) making their gay porn videos – that would doubtless be something to which he appears better suited.

Now that I’ve exposed my own vitriol at our military leadership in such a way that I will no doubt need to repent, I’ll get to the more pertinent issue of this post – that of how to build – or become a member of – a real army, one which will always emerge victorious. God knows how – He has known how to amass a superior army from the beginning. The first thing required for a truly winning army is a qualified heart. In fact, this is such a priority that it surpasses every other qualification – all of them. Given the right heart for battle, the frail little old lady who cannot even stand without a walker can be – and is – one of the most fearsome warriors the enemy can encounter, for the heart is where Jesus Christ lives, and He is the most powerful Being ever to occupy human flesh. But in the hearts of man (and woman) He is an awesome Spirit, one Who can never be defeated by any army – no matter how powerful – physical or spiritual. His very breath will defeat the greatest army of men which will have ever been assembled.

[Revelation 17:14]: These (The beast and the enemy kings) will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”

Those who are with Him are those in His army. The “called and chosen” are His invitation and acceptance to those of us who would be believers, but the “faithful” part is entirely on us. That’s the part that can make the most decrepit, physically helpless individuals like the disabled little old lady into a wholly fearsome warrior – these are the people Christ chooses for his army – testosterone be damned – He knows how to amass those with heart for spiritual warfare, and that’s the only war that counts in all of human history. He calls and He chooses – we become the faithful, and that fealty is to Him and Him only. No oath of allegiance to a human organization, a flag, or any other device of man, just true faithfulness to Jesus Christ and we can become members of the mightiest army ever assembled.

Unbelievers and blasphemous hypocrites like Trump and Pete Hegseth can amass a military – typically a group of people who have no viable choice due to the financial constraints the government has placed upon them – but such a grouping can but lack cohesion, especially once the group realizes they are serving a lawless and criminal organization, they see no moral imperative to serve with loyalty, with faithfulness. That kind of service comes from being led by example, being led by the heart. Those currently in power do not possess the necessary attraction nor qualifications to gain the required respect and obedience for a disciplined army – but Jesus does and has for hundreds of years and His army will emerge victorious over this agglomeration of witless beasts who call themselves “leaders”.

May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us – make us able to fight the good fight for Him.

MK

An Autumn of Hope – for Color and Competent Leadership

Today is September 20 and in two more days if the Lord is willing, we will cross the autumnal equinox, a seminal time of the year that most of us here in the Ozarks anticipate with unrelenting anxiety. This year in particular has been exceptionally hot and miserable – it actually still is, the high temperature for today is forecast to be in the upper 90s as it has been for almost a month now and it has been bone dry! Water is rapidly becoming a scarce commodity all over the country and in many other places throughout the world. The fall colors are dependent on how much rain the forest gets as fall approaches, if there’s little rainfall and we enter autumn in drought conditions, the foliage just turns brown and withers absent the spectacular waxy colors some of us wait all year for.

With all the evil taking place in the country I don’t suppose we deserve the pleasurable experience of a beautiful fall, nor should we expect any other kind of blessings from the Almighty what with this malfeasance taking place. Somehow, we find ourselves being “led” by some of the most corrupt and evil creatures imaginable. Unfortunately, significant sums of money found their way into political campaigns so that we now have the worst possible choices of people in our highest government positions. This is the work of Satan and it is as plain as the nose on your face. If there are people who still doubt this, you need to pray for wisdom, so you are able to discern good from evil. We have as our president a man who has no appreciation for the truth, in fact I’d go so far as to say he is so far gone down the path of fabrications that he no longer is able to discern truth from whatever lies he has floating around in his head. He just flat doesn’t know the truth from a lie! The incredible part of this is that he still fully expects everyone to believe anything he says, yet fewer people believe him every day.

The Iranians won’t even negotiate with this administration due to Trump’s inability to even recognize the truth. To say he’s lost his credibility with the whole world would be to put it mildly. This is America, folks, and we’ve collectively been reduced from a great country to a sick joke. Putin knows how to play Trump. So does Xi. Most world and organizational leaders also know, from a sports leadership figure making up “peace” awards to the folks in his cabinet slavishly fawning over him, everyone knows how to play him and due to his fragile ego, he’s the only one who doesn’t realize they’re not for real. Somehow this pathetic creature actually imagines himself to be some kind of heroic leader who is loved by the whole world and he thinks everyone in the US despises Canada’s Carney for standing up to him.

This is not going to end well. Other leaders in the US shouldn’t be catering to some lunatic who has no business with access to the nuclear codes. Someone like a sitting president who takes every slight as a personal affront and is willing to create international havoc and destroy every relationship the US has with all countries – including formerly staunch allies – to get even with them for anything he perceives as a dig at him. Congressional Republicans are to blame for the situation we are in; I’m not saying this as a Democrat – I detest both parties equally, it’s just that the Repubs in Congress are the only ones who would be able at this time to stop this maniac from destroying our country but they’re too scared of his opprobrium to do anything that might upset him – even up to and including the destruction of the US. Now that we can see what they’re actually made of, we should take the opportunity of the midterms to get rid of the whole lot of them – Democrats who’ve sold out to PACs and special interests, too. These are all people who have sold their souls. Except a precious few like Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna and a few others who’ve been willing to risk their livelihoods to stand up and be counted – for America! I’m waiting for Massie to start a presidential campaign bid and see the country go all out to get him elected, but he would need some tight security because of his tendency to upset the apple cart.

This fall has the potential to be a spectacular event in many ways and with a little rainfall and a lot of determined voters, we might just have an autumn to remember – one that might just lift our spirits in a way to which we’ve not been accustomed of late. We might actually get some spectacular autumn colors and enough of the right folks elected into the Congress and Senate to reign in this out-of-control administration, maybe even impeach and get rid of this noisome stain on American government – and his corrupt cabinet. We can wish, can’t we? What we really need is some people in our leadership who are willing to practice what Jesus taught.

Pray for some rain in our dry places. Pray for that pretty fall we all would like to see. Pray for a new day in this nation. Pray that the Almighty is willing to forgive our lapse of judgement by allowing this mindless reign of evil into control of our government. Pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit for our leaders to turn our destruction around and begin a new process of eliminating institutional evil everywhere it exists – like the evil ICE army of criminal misfits pillaging and destroying everyone’s confidence in equitable government. Other countries see this travesty of justice and want nothing to do with our system. You can’t blame them – it’s evil to the core! This ain’t the America I grew up in, folks – we took a wrong turn somewhere and electing a blithering, demon-possessed maniac to run the country might not be where it started, but it could well be where it ends!

Happy fall and may the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us.

MK

When You Have Criminal and Unaccountable Leadership

It’s hot outside here in the Ozarks! September the 15th and we’re staring down the barrel of a 100 degree Fahrenheit afternoon. It hasn’t rained but twice in at least two months, once we got .06″ and the other time it was .01″, so things are terribly dry and the danger of wildfire has increased tremendously. I found myself wondering where God is in all of this, especially as I’ve been praying a lot for rain lately.

My thoughts go to the time when the Apostle Paul prayed for God to fix a problem he was suffering with and instead of answering Paul’s prayer to alleviate his suffering, God told him that His grace was sufficient for Paul. He would have to deal with whatever problem he was facing, but God’s grace abounded in his life to the extent that the problem was relegated to something Paul could manage with. There are times when we look at a problem we have and are sure of what the solution should be, but in almost every case, God has His own solution in mind, and more often than not, it won’t be the remedy we requested.

I’m an old man now and I can’t think of a time in my life when there were so many things going awry with our world, awful things we see happening and we’re often sure that if only God would do this or that, many or all of those issues could be solved. If God would strike this person or that one with death or serious illness, the issues he or she has created would somehow disappear, but they seem to carry on even though we’d think normal people would be disabled or worse. The fact is that God will deal with those people in His own time and in His own way. God already knew the solution to every problem before it arose to our attention, He also knew what we would think to be the correct way to deal with it, but God has His own ways – thank God!

We are currently at war with a country that has not attacked another nation in our lifetimes. This country, Iran, was at war with Iraq some years ago, but it was a war fomented by the United States. Our government armed both sides in that conflict in which several hundreds of thousands of people were slaughtered. It boggles the mind to consider how evil the government of the US has been over the years. Even though Iran called the US “The Great Satan” for a long time, they never offered to attack us, and our whole nation should be ashamed of our government attacking them. Early in the conflict a girl’s school at a place called Minab was hit with a Tomahawk missile and scores of young girls were killed. Centcom, led by one of the most heinous liars in the world today, one Bradley Cooper, claimed it was a targeting error, but when an organization like Centcom which has turned it’s moral compass over to Satan, these kinds of “accidents” become commonplace. It was no accident, it was an act of fealty to Cooper’s overlords, Hegseth, Trump, and Satan in that order.

Hegseth and Trump are the same murderers who have been wantonly slaughtering Venezuelan men in boats off the coast of Venezuela. These murders are crimes, pure and simple – it does not matter what they say to try and justify them. If given the opportunity, every murderer who has ever murdered anybody would attempt to justify their acts, even Ted Bundy, it’s just that in most cases, murderers are subject to some form of law and do not have the luxury of a thoroughly corrupted legal system to hide behind. No law enforcement here on earth is of a powerful enough latitude to hold Trump and Hegseth to account, but that will not always be the case – you can trust that. For now, the whole nation of the US, and the rest of the world can see and understand this criminal behavior for what it is, and a time will come when they will be held accountable to the highest judicial Entity and the very one that no one wants to stand before – especially with blood on their hands. Especially with the blood of innocent schoolgirls on their hands. For all these cretins know, those guys on the Venezuela boats could be fishermen, and with no evidence to the contrary, they might as well have been and legally must be considered so. They were murdered. If there is a saving grace of any iteration to the Venezuelan murders, it’s that the honorable Admiral Holsey resigned his post of leader of Southern Command rather than commit murder on the high seas. Kudos to him and God bless him for understanding that no amount of attaboys from a crooked, evil creature would ever be worth having to live out his life as a war criminal and murderer.

There are a lot of malevolent undertakings in the US government right now, and I just would like to go on record as saying that for what it’s worth, there’s an old hillbilly in the Ozarks of southern Missouri who does not agree with: a) picking a fight, and starting a trade war with our much-beloved northern neighbor, Canada, a nation that has never given the US anything but support and whose friendship most of us value highly. b) Someone, a someone who has never served in the armed forces, a someone who is the least possible deserving of having his horrid name inscribed beside that of our former assassinated president John Kennedy, who was a beloved war hero. c) Instigating and pursuing an illegal war against Iran – a nation that has never threatened any other nation, especially any nation in our hemisphere. d) Having a purported president who cannot find the capacity within his evil constitution to speak the truth about anything. e) the efforts being undertaken as I write this article to undermine our democracy by attempting to interfere with the voting process. It is perfectly obvious that if the vote overturns the majorities in Congress, someone will be subjected to accountability for his high crimes and misdemeanors. This noisome creature is a liar by his very nature and cannot discern even a grain of truth from whatever surreality might exist in his decrepit imagination. As I’ve written elsewhere, every word that comes from this creature’s mouth is either a lie or a statement predicated on an earlier lie.

I’m assuming I’m only one of millions of Americans who hold these positions and since there are readers of this website in many other countries of the world, it behooves me to make sure foreign readers are aware this creature with his finger on the button does not represent any more than around a strongly deluded thirty percent of Americans, and most of their brains are pickled by cable news and they have no idea what’s going on outside whatever county they live in. Everything this man has ever touched, contacted or associated with in any way, has become putrid, bankrupted, or destroyed simply by having been associated with him. It behooves me to go on record for the Almighty to see at least one simple person who is unwilling to allow the reputation of the whole nation to be besmirched by loathsome, evil entities who only occupy their positions for the wealth they are able to steal for their own coffers. If we are to secure the blessings of Providence, we must declare our opposition to the “leadership” we find ourselves facing.

Congress has the tool kit necessary to rid the nation of this evil, horrid entity in the White House that is in the process of destroying everything in our country – including the White House itself! Call, text, and write Senators and Congress critters. Rep Greene has impeachment papers drawn up right now. This might be the avenue God has put before us to correct this abrogation of responsible leadership. Meanwhile, we must get ourselves realigned with our merciful God in order to get our country moving in the right direction again. Without His guidance, all efforts to right our ship will be in vain. Trust in Jesus Christ and pray for His blessings on our land.

May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us.

MK

Remembering a Terrible Day

It’s a quiet, rainy morning outside in the Ozark woods. The kind of serenity that makes for nostalgic reflection. Unusually peaceful without even the whine of a chainsaw that drones when people like me are taking advantage of the coolness to begin the arduous work of cutting and splitting firewood for what bodes to be a long and cold winter. I say bodes because just like every year, folks are talking about things shaping up to be a really bad winter, sometimes they hit it and we get a really cold winter, but there are the other times when it doesn’t pan out to be all that bad.

The nostalgia part of my mood this morning is of course, that today is September 11, exactly 25 years since the events in Manhattan and the Pentagon and the plane crash in Pennsylvania – what a tragic series of events! Since that awful day, lots of people have suspected there was more to the story than we’ve been told, and like the Kennedy assassination, we won’t find out for sure until all the suspected actors are dead and gone. Others believe the official narrative about some terrorists with utility knives having pulled off the deed. I’m on the side of the folks who think something underhanded happened involving people in the US government and likely some from an unnamed foreign country.

Last night I was speaking on the phone with one of my readers who calls me from time to time and we got into a discussion about 9/11 and he’s of the same mind I am about it being an inside job, or at least a malevolent performance by the CIA and Mossad. Without concrete proof, it’s hard to convince most folks that it was a dirty deed by spooks, but if one chooses to look at the available evidence and listen to the accidental giveaways by some prominent people, such as Larry Silverstein’s famous “we’re going to pull it” statement about a building (building 7) that could not possibly have come down (or gotten “pulled”) the way it did without having been pre detonated, and he said it before it came down, it would be hard not to believe it was pre-ordained by some powerful people.

I didn’t set out to do this post to try and convince anyone about the true events of that day 25 years ago, but simply to remember with solemn reverence and genuflect on the losses of all the lives. To experience once again the emptiness one experiences at the sudden departure of so many souls from our world. The folks who were killed in that tragedy were normal citizens going about their daily business, never for a moment aware of what they were about to experience. Well, the ones who were killed didn’t know beforehand, but there is ample evidence that some people knew. The ones who ate breakfast every morning in one of the towers – every morning that is except the morning of 9/11. There are so many stories about foreknowledge of the events of 9/11 that becomes redundant to mention all of them, but they all seem to rotate around a certain group of people – including the ones who made substantial money from the tragedy. And then there are the ones who no longer needed to account for large sums of money that had come up missing, but here I go again.

The light rain we are getting this morning is only the second few drops we’ve had in a month or more and it’s been extremely hot and dry! It’s just not supposed to be that hot here in the Ozarks. The little wild birds are singing and fluttering around in the mist, and you can tell they’re enjoying the break in the heat. Sometimes I wonder if people like Donald Trump have ever taken the opportunity to go for a walk in the woods and listen to the birds and watch squirrels and such. Something tells me he doesn’t have any idea that world even exists. He grew up as a spoiled rich brat born with a silver spoon in his mouth and never watched deer grazing next to the woods as daylight broke with thrushes grumbling. He missed a lot and he doesn’t even know it. He’s never knelt by a stream and thanked God for all of the beauty and solitude he beheld. He has truly missed the real world, the one we were put here to enjoy.

Rich men know nothing of decent stewardship of the earth and responsible behavior towards our fellow creatures. The buildings that were wantonly destroyed on 9/11 sent tons of airborne asbestos into the air around New York and people are dying to this day from lung diseases caused by breathing the dust. The men who perpetrated the tragedy don’t care about trivial things like thousands of innocent people being killed or the great swathes of people in Manhattan being exposed to deadly carcinogens – things that do not make for profit. None of them have ever allowed their consciences to become exposed to anything that doesn’t affect their bank accounts, especially natural things that God put here for the enjoyment of normal, decent people.

I hope readers get a chance to see this post while it’s still 9/11. Maybe reading it on the anniversary will give it more impact to initiate genuine reflection. Take a moment to thank God for His presence in the lives of those who survived and in the hearts of those who lost loved ones as they lived through their grief. It was truly a horrible day in New York, DC, and Shanksville, PA. Those who perpetrated the act will surely answer to the Highest Authority before all is said and done.

May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us.

MK

Demons – They Wait in the Darkness for the Unwary

I rationalized, as almost all of us do, that a couple of beers are harmless enough, and that might be true for most folks, but for me it was a rationalization that just didn’t work. Anyone who has been caught up in the abnormal need for booze can understand this, it’s how we deceive ourselves into opening the door for evil entities. When we take that first slug of anything with alcohol in it, if we are among those who do not have the capacity to stop at a reasonable juncture, we unlock the door – from then on, it’s just a matter of time until we totally surrender our conscious mind to the evil ones. When we become inebriated, our benign selves are no longer in control of our faculties, anyone who has even a modicum of understanding of alcoholism or other addictions knows this without having to read a post, but this particular post is meant to reveal something about the darker natures, the demons that await any crack in our sane, reasonable minds to enter into us and take control of our thoughts and actions.

Image result for free pics of half empty booze bottle

It took me a long time and countless episodes of drunken misbehavior to actually realize the absurdity of continuing that lifestyle. We are admonished to confess our sins to God and to one another, and I guess this could be read as such, but it is also a warning to all who are able to fool themselves into believing they can stay in control of their faculties and emotions while physically and psychologically impaired under the influence of their substance of choice. There are many, many demons out there and they are just waiting for any opportunity to take control and with intoxicating substances, we give it to them. Once they move in and take over, we find ourselves thinking it’s ok to do things we wouldn’t have in our right mind. It happens every time! We prove that old adage about the definition of insanity being to repeat the same behavior and expect different results. This time I can handle it – unlike the last time and the time before, ad infinitum.

Intoxication is but one of many ways demons take possession of us – we get high or drunk, the enemy comes in, wreaks whatever havoc it can while we’re impaired, and for the most part, it leaves when we’re sober. I say for the most part, because these things hang around longer and longer as we progress into the addiction, meaning that even when we’re sober, we don’t really act normal and this gets worse. I think they call it being a dry drunk, where one becomes irrational and sometimes violent if they’re away from the booze for a while. This is because the demon becomes angry with the person being sober even for a short while. I had NCOs in the Navy who became so arrogant and nasty tempered when we were at sea that no one wanted to be around them. When we got to shore and hit the bar, they could be some of the most fun guys to party with. That is, when the demon (of alcoholism) regained control.

There are other, more insidious ways demons can possess us, and normal folks can see it, but I don’t think most of us understand what’s going on. I’m just going to say it and let the chips fall, but whenever we see “successful” people, those who have hit the big time and become wealthy and/or famous, I believe that, with very few exceptions they are those who have sold their souls; invited the demon into their beings in order to be wealthy. Look at the lines of “work” they are in – entertainment, sports, art – all are different forms of idolatry, and all are variations of “successful” lifestyles that are precipitated by being willing to serve the demons in control of fame. Some celebrities even willingly admit to their possession by evil entities. I’ll leave it there.

Banking and finance people are probably the most notorious of wealthy types, because at some point in their progression, they realize that service to the one(s) who have made them wealthy includes mistreating and causing financial ruin of others – I once happened to be in a loan officer’s office once when someone called, apparently trying to get a break on loan payment in arrears. This loan company guy was a ranking member of the local First Baptist Church, supposedly a devout Christian and the things I heard him saying to the person on the other end of the line were things that I couldn’t imagine a human being saying to another -what with all of Jesus’ admonitions to help the poor. I never heard this individual speak to anyone else in that tone of voice – the demon in him came to the surface when an opportunity arose in which he could demean and castigate someone who obviously didn’t have the means to pay their bank note on time. Persecution of the poor is a big no-no in Christian theology – a horrid, evil practice Jesus Christ Himself warned us not to do, but the demon who possesses these types of people cannot resist it. That demon was in control of this paragon of the First Baptist Church.

There are throngs of other wealthy people who use their ill-gotten gains to cause problems, destruction, and destitution for their fellow human beings in any way they can, for instance, it’s only the demon-possessed wealthy who are promoting and building those demonic data centers that use up all the water of the country. AI data centers are without a doubt and in every way a travesty to free humans’ way of life, depriving us of water, peaceful neighborhoods, they store information gained by spying on people, and I’m convinced they are also homes for demons to which the wealthy proprietors are paying dues for their souls. If you really look into AI and the “unexpected” things that some people catch AI saying and doing, there’s little room for doubt that it is controlled by demons, if for no other reason than the people who build them are without doubt people who have sold their souls. Check out the wealthy men in control of “technology” (another word for sorcery). No one in their right mind could consider any of these characters to be normal humans. These are the ones who are possessed full-time by demons and being evil is their way of life. If the truth was known, these fellows know what lies ahead for them – they have devoted their lives to Satan and know they are going down with him, and their primary motive is to take as many people to hell with them as they can. They have no wisdom, only fake (artificial) knowledge. If they’d had an ounce of wisdom, they would know that, like Sheldon Adelson and Jacob Rothschild, they will expire one day and then face the wrath of the Almighty God, finally being held to account for the evil they orchestrated in the world for their scant few years of wealth and power.

There are indeed many demonic entities loose in the world, be they the ones who are members of, or control, Demonic institutions like the Bohemian Grove, the Skull and Bones or the Mentmore galas, but those are just a few of the ones who occupy the extremely wealthy and can safely operate more and more in the public eye. There are many more that normal folks cannot identify. They occupy the hearts of cruel people all over the world, especially those who mock and persecute the unfortunate poor peoples. God will settle with them one day and it’s not going to be pretty. Demons and their master are destined for the lake of fire so be wary of them and their practices. Don’t get involved in any Satanic rituals, even down to such malevolent things as ouija boards – stay away from evil. Do not lust after money – even a poor man can lose his soul for lusting after wealth even if he has none – remember it’s the LOVE of money that’s the root of all sorts of evil. Keep yourself away from worldly lusts of all kinds, that’s where the demons capture you. If you haven’t given your life over to Jesus Christ, do so today before those demons get a chance to capture you – they have many ways of doing so, they’ve had thousands of years to practice their techniques. Do not allow anyone to convince you that all this technology is harmless – it definitely is not! I’m convinced this AI business will be one of if not the most successful techniques of Satan to capture many who do not believe Jesus is the Son of God. Those types are easy prey for Satan. Don’t be among them

By the way, I’m closing in on 24 years without alcohol – all thanks to the merciful God and Jesus Christ Who took up residence in my heart years ago! No way I could have done it without His help.

May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us.

MK