I’m as guilty as the next guy about posting doom and gloom, but not without good reason – things are coming to a screeching halt. At least most of the ways of life we’ve taken for granted over the last, well over the last years of our lives. Things will never go back to being “normal”. Normal for me was how I remember the seventies – graduating from high school and striking out to join the Navy. I was able to go see a good bit of the world, enough to understand that people and places might be far apart on a map, but those people and places aren’t all that different. People generally have the same needs and desires everywhere. Big cities, no matter where they sit are huge sewers for the most part as seen through the eyes of a backwoods East Texas country boy. Big cities are where rich people congregate.

Rich people the world over are typically a bunch of disgruntled, spoiled wastrels who typically inherited their wealth (although there are many who stole it themselves) and would like to make everyone else as miserable as they are, quibbling over whatever pennies might get into the hands of needy folks while at the same time trashing out businesses, buying luxury items they don’t even need trying fruitlessly to elevate their cheerless moods. There was an old Porter Wagoner song eons ago about rich people not ever having a satisfied mind, and it’s so obvious, but then I don’t think I’d be living a very happy life knowing what’s going to befall me (as do those guys) when this life’s over, but hey – it’s their choice. Meanwhile, they construct data centers, invent bionic robot people, engage in lifelong, hopeless efforts to find or invent something that can make them live forever so as to circumvent what’s gonna happen to them when they join Sheldon Adelson and Jacob Rothschild roasting with the demons of hell, all the while doing their utmost to make decent people as miserable as they are.

At the behest of their father Satan, they are compelled to attempt to take control of all the peoples of the world and it’s pre-scripted and prophesied that they will do so over the vast majority, but the part that irks them to no end is that there are still many of us commoners who are Christians and our allegiance is to the real God. There’s nothing, not squat, they can do to upend the believer, up to and including ending our lives. There they are in a catch 22, if they figure out a way to implement their Noahide law project, and they are making considerable progress, then they will be able to summarily execute believers in Christ, which has the net effect of sending us to Paradise to be with our beloved Savior earlier than would have otherwise occurred, so aside from the physical act of ending earthly lives of believers, the damage they will have done is less than minimal. Martyrdom for Christ is after all, the absolute, surest way to guarantee the victim receives an eternal reward of Heaven, so the enemy ironically by his action sends believers on to where they want to go anyway, just faster and with far greater surety. And the rich guy who developed this genius plan in service to Satan will just stand there, I guess, knee-deep in blood and gore trying to figure out whether or not he just punished or rewarded someone, and whatever new malice he can achieve, while the souls of his victims at last go into Paradise, never to worry or regret or experience pain or fear ever again. The believer will go to a place of indescribable joy and peace, so the enemy is effectively just left chasing his tail.

Maybe the wealthy servants of Satan can have some solace in the fact that there will still be great numbers of commoners who have chosen not to follow Christ, so they will still be available to torment and scare with silly things like “total surveillance” and social credit or whatever other nonsense Satan can contrive. Perhaps that will be some consolation, but without ever achieving the most desired satisfaction of robbing believers of their salvation. It cannot happen – not to true followers of Christ. [John 28.29]: “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 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.“

So cheer up, even in these worst of times here on this old world that is growing more hellish by the day we have something much greater to which we can look forward. The planet is simply beginning to feel the results of abandoning God. There are heat waves and fires consuming some of the worst offenders of the ways of God. These maladies are not unexpected, John was shown they were coming: [Revelation 16:9]: “And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.” The very water of the earth is drying up in all the places where it is needed most, while vicious flooding is drowning people elsewhere.

While the wealthy people of the world are still jet-setting to some secretive palace where they can still find their perverse enjoyment, buying pleasure islands and what not, they are sure to still find time to bring catastrophe upon the decent people of the nations. Data centers, flock cameras, mass surveillance, any and everything they can contrive to, as mentioned earlier, but probably not enough, make regular folks as miserable as they are. Fear not, if you choose to be a believer and follow Christ, even though you probably don’t enjoy watching them selling their souls, knowing what’s in store for them, but you do not have to follow their paths. Do not envy the rich, he is in for a horrible eternity – he knows it and that’s why he can never be satisfied, no matter how much earthly gain he accrues, but nevertheless he keeps collecting wealth in the hopes that somehow the power that comes with great wealth will against all odds bring him some perverse satisfaction. They can – and regularly do – buy law enforcement, politicians, even militaries, to enact their heinous agendas which ultimately come down from Satan. We cannot defeat them with violence, our weapon is simple, but immensely more potent – the love of God. When we have the love of God, we have everything, though we have no earthly riches at all. Remember that – we have access to something of greater potency that all the riches of all the wealthy men – the mighty men – in the world, something they can never attain to – eternal life in Jesus Christ.

Times are pretty rough right now and they are going to get much worse before they get better, but trust me, trust the Word of God, they will get better for us who choose to follow Jesus Christ. If you haven’t made the decision to let Jesus guide your life, do it now, lest you find yourself on the same wayward side of things as the evil rich people of whom this post speaks. Do not wait until it’s too late, we common folks are what Jesus refers to as the salt of the earth and He loves us immensely. He is willing, no matter what kind of background we come from, to forgive us for our past mistakes and make His abode with us in our very hearts.

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

MK

I’m sure that by now anyone venturing into the ramblings of Folkpotpourri is probably convinced that the writer of these posts is certifiably insane, and they may be correct, but be that as it may, some of the content deserves a second look. The subjects addressed here are of importance due to their spiritual merit and the observations of the writer are taken from a Spiritual perspective regarding the rapid transformation of society and our (believers) expectations going forward. And by all means, go forward, never looking back or giving the enemy time to alter your take on things spiritual. He is crafty and if we are not continuously on our guard, he hopes to find a way to drive a wedge between us and our Father. Right now, his whole plan for mankind hinges on the probability that most people will just ignore what is going on. It has worked well thus far. The Spirit within us is able to keep us on our toes, but only if we completely trust Jesus Christ and follow Him where He leads.

Considering the aspect of insanity with which this post was introduced, it has been addressed on this site, and to the casual observer it does seem kinda crazy to think that the data centers being installed around this country are in fact demonic fortresses, or as I believe, temples to false gods. It seems that others are picking up on this fact as well. Folkpotpourri has posted on other public associations with evil entities as well. A while back, the CERN abomination was called out, as well as the satanic ritual performed at the opening of the Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland. Folks, this Satan worshipping stuff is now out there in the open and is not to be ignored by Christians. There is great evil afoot, right out in the open for all to see. Ignore it at your peril.

Even with all the in-your-face evil in public today, it’s still too easy to look the other way in the hopes that all this evil coming upon the world will just go away – and lots of folks seem to just want to ride it out, but that’s not how the devil works! Normal people just looking the other way is how the entire upper (financial and political) tier of society came to be populated by the evilest of all humans. For crying out loud, the president of the United States is likely to be convicted of being one of the chief perpetrators of a world-wide child trafficking ring and has unrepentantly participated in some of the most despicable behavior imaginable. The pitiful, pathetic Republicans in congress are too terrified of what might befall their precious careers to go against this abomination of an administration and hold him accountable, so thanks to their cowardice, even the most insidious behavior contrived by the human mind goes unaddressed. Satan is indeed in total control and no more proof is needed than having as president a pathetic excuse for a human being who can utter nothing but lies (the language of Satan, remember what Jesus said) [John 8:44]: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. Plainly stated, Donald Trump is the most prolific liar that has ever publicly spoken, every statement that issues from his mouth is a bald-faced lie, or some erroneous statement predicated on a previous lie. He is of a reprobate mind and is simply incapable of truth! And this same murderous abomination is he whom the wealthy decided to install into the presidency. The same wealthy who are installing their demonic temples that they are calling “data centers”! Same people! How could anything they do be anything but evil in service to Satan who gave (only loaned, but they don’t know it yet) them their (earthly) fortunes?

What are the social justifications for data centers? There are none, Zilch. What public good comes from them? None. Are there any redeeming qualities that will be advanced from these abominations? NO! The ONLY thing that improves from the installation of a data center is the bank account of the proprietor – it’s part of his agreement for trading his soul. When the authorities determine to resort to eminent domain to take some innocent person’s property for whatever might be needed to build a data center, they formerly were required to show what greater good will result for the public by taking private property, but they cannot show justification in that regard. Whatever city council members, mayors, governors, etc., that are approving these water-guzzling atrocities and the theft taking place to facilitate them are getting their palms greased, of that you can be sure. This is the sales of their souls, and they think they are getting away with it. You can trust that God does not forget such things and when a person or people of authority agree to steal an innocent person’s property in service to demonic temple installation, that person gets bumped forward in the queue line for his share of God’s wrath.

Are you a city council member who has just walked out of a meeting with a rep of some multi-billion-dollar tech corporation who has offered you a shiny dime for your vote to put in a data center? Have you determined that whatever lucrative benefit you can derive for such a bargain is worth more than your soul burning in hell for all eternity, not least because you acted treasonously against your fellow townspeople for your own monetary gain? Are you so spiritually deluded as to think the Almighty will withhold His cup of wrath from you when He metes out justice? Do you really believe He will forget, or overlook your treachery? There are obviously many who do. Do you not know that by their very nature these things are evil? If they were not so, then why are the very most evil servants of Satan the ones who are installing them. For crying out loud, folks, connect the dots!!

It’s time to stand up and be counted, for our posterity, for our fellow travelers, but mostly to show our Creator that we will not support such evil in our midst. Attend the council meetings; join the protests; do whatever you can whenever you can to make your voice heard, and do not allow the operators of the media drown you out. Remember, the same demon-possessed wealthy entities own the public media are the ones installing the temples to Satan at which you will one day be required to worship. The sacrifices are already happening – right now millions of gallons of precious fresh water are being siphoned out of US reservoirs and rivers as offerings to them, so everyone is already involved. Do you really think everyone would be required to offer such sacrifices so law enforcement can have your license plate number? This thing is much bigger than what they want you to believe – at least what they want you to believe for now. Later, as this thing gets established and entrenched, they won’t try to hide their real intentions any longer – they won’t need to, the threat of getting shut down will be over if no one has stepped up to stop them by then. We must do it in numbers too big for them and their ICE army to prevail.

As I type this, I’m reminded that simply by using the internet to publish a post like this I’m using the weapon of the enemy. The internet has many uses, but I’m afraid that as time progresses, most of the benign uses will be gone and only the evil will remain. We’ve already reached a point where almost everyone carries a cell phone, with powers we cannot fathom looking at everything we do and say. You see, Satan does not have access, as does God, to our innermost thoughts and feelings. He needs cameras and microphones and memory chips in computers to spy on us – and to store what he finds. Nor does he have the omniscient mind to retain everything that happens to us, every transaction, every conversation, every trip to Walmart. Satan must have some means of recording, and storing, everything we do. Considering that after we repent and are forgiven for our many mistakes God will forget our offenses, but Satan needs a data record of our wrongdoings to use against us when the time comes that he needs such information. When the record of your sin goes into a data center, even if God has forgiven the trespass, Satan keeps a copy to use against you – it’s one of his many ways to try and subvert God’s methods.

If you are a servant of Jesus Christ, you cannot support the installation of the abominations they’re (innocently) calling data centers. We must raise our voices as never before, if we are to show our servitude to Jesus Christ. There are just too many associations of this new dark technology with evil entities, and we have to take a stand – we have to let people know what’s going on even if they do think we’re crazy. It would be a great advancement for the betterment of mankind if for once we common folk could come together and take a stand against these abominations and rid our nation of them (and the people who want them). Some day we could look back and pat ourselves on the back for having done the right thing and taking out our pitchforks and torches to get something worthwhile done. Unfortunately, Satan doesn’t give up that easily and there are too many people in the world who are lovers of wealth and the devil knows who they are and how to buy them. Things won’t get better until Jesus comes back – but when He does, you best believe they’ll get better very quickly!

Until that glorious Day when we all stand on the other side of the river – in His Paradise, we can only do whatever we can to show our Lord that we choose to follow Him. Speaking out against evil seems dangerous – at least for anyone who believes that what’s going on here on earth is the real deal, but I’m here to tell y’all it’s not. Neither is the danger. Our real life starts the minute we step through that door – incredibly the threshold so many of us fear. The real danger is succumbing to this evil and not getting the opportunity to step through that door! This thing we erroneously consider to be our life is but a trial and if we get caught up in worry and fear of what the enemies of mankind might do to us, we’re falling right into Satan’s trap. Don’t get too excited about the happenings on this side. Resist evil with all your strength, but do not fear the evil one. Jesus gives us access to the greatest power in all creation – His love. Perfect love casts out fear [1 John 4:18]: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. The absence of fear disarms the enemy. Don’t allow the enemy to take that love away from you.

May the blessings of the Almighty find and keep us.

MK

Patience – it looks like an ordinary two syllable word in the English language which supposedly denotes an attribute that most folks seem to strive for, but when one takes a second, more profound look at it, when we compare the word, or at least our individual definition of it, to what wise men of the Scriptures – including Jesus Christ – intended for it to mean, we might be surprised. Sometimes it even seems to have different connotations, each of which take a form of patience to try and discern what the writer, or speaker intends to convey.

There are instances in our lives in which we often find ourselves anxious for results in the ongoing drama(s) of the world we inhabit. There are political ongoings, wars, impending climate disasters, and too many other things to mention that some of us try hard to follow, and in almost each case, we have expectations, many of which we don’t necessarily want to see, but nevertheless for the most part we are anxious to know how things will play out. It’s important to note that different people have different expectations, or hopes of their preferred outcomes, and by and large, most folks – even many unbelievers – want satisfactory outcomes, but darker minds exhibit hopes of less than optimum outcomes – especially for their adversaries. When darker outcomes are in play, the unbeliever typically exhibits less patience, primarily because the unbeliever follows Satan, which means he knows his time here is short.

The Bible lists patience (longsuffering) as one of the fruits of the Spirit [Galatians 5:22-23]: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law., so wishing for ill to come upon our fellow travelers would definitely not be a satisfactory expectation for the believer. It cannot be the type of patience of which the apostle speaks when he lists the different gifts of the Spirit because the Spirit of God would never bestow a gift to His people which would allow them to wish bad things to come upon others. The patience Paul mentions is the quiet patience in which the believer abides in his/her faith awaiting the great reward of an eternal home in Paradise. This same patience is for the believer who works incessantly with fellow travelers, especially those who are unbelievers to show them the way to Christ – we speak the Gospel to them and patiently allow the Spirit to take them where they need to go. Another example of the patience of the Spirit is that instead of whining and feeling sorry for ourselves when we are under the weather, we pray to our Father for healing and patiently await His blessed touch to heal us.

When we are faced with scorn and mocking for our faith, instead of getting our hackles up and returning wrath for wrath, we turn the other cheek; we patiently pray for those who do not know better, pray that God will show them the same path we have been shown. That is what our Gospel has taught us. That is what our patience demands.

When a crazy old man sends out a post to try and encourage his readers in their Spiritual pursuits, he must patiently await some views (and comments) that indicate at least some of his effort is being rewarded. Most often this is not the case, but patience must nevertheless prevail. Since he has been convinced of the imperative of helping with the harvest, he patiently continues, and he strives to convince that in these end times more help is needed. The Lord has spoken: [Matthew 9:37,38]: “Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Be patient, beloved friends. The wars being waged, both in this world and in the unseen realm, will end in God’s time. What our patience must consider above all else is that when we stand before the Judgement throne, we must at all costs be able to stand before our Judge with confidence that we tried our best to work according to His will. We must at all costs patiently wait to hear those words which will carry more impact, more value than any utterance that ever will have been heard by humankind, “Well done, My 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”.

Impatience is one of the hallmarks of the human condition – and God understands that, but we still must wait for Him for all things. Even during the opening of the seals at the end times, the souls of the martyrs are anxious to see the avengement of their blood but are admonished to be patient a little longer: Revelation [6:9-11]:  “When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. ¹⁰ And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” ¹¹ Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.” It sounds fearsome from this side of the river, but the Paradise they (we) have coming will make that patience more than worth the wait, and the martyrdom as nothing to fear at all, but that will be realized once we see it from the other side.

Back here on this side, even though we are to be patient, the time is nevertheless growing short, and we have to grab our sickles and take to the fields.

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

MK

I remember reading somewhere about the comparison between seeing something terrible coming and watching a slow-motion train wreck and it caught on and now it’s popularly applied to almost everything, because it seems like everything happening these days is indeed something terrible. There’s a lot of unnecessary worry and fretting about events over which we have little to no control. Unnecessary because while we can’t control the events, we do – or should – have control over the worrying itself. If you are a regular reader here, you already know this author writes often about what the dark clouds portend; the impending drought and AI-induced water shortages, the increasing persecutions of not only Christians, but against any and all decent human endeavors, the enemy is laser-focused on retribution for those of us who dare to recognize and obey God by publicly devoting our energy towards the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

One doesn’t need to search very hard to discern the strategies of Satan in today’s world. I’ve said before and I’ll say it again – that the data centers being installed around the country and the world are nothing more than demonic temples built in an attempt to glorify the evils of the world. These idolatrous abominations already require extreme sacrifices to be made – our precious water, this irreplaceable resource that God put here for the use of all human beings, but the demons to whom Satan has bestowed their immense wealth consider all things – water included – to be theirs simply as a foreordained consequence of their wealth, gained by their service to evil. We will reach a point – and already have in a growing number of areas of the world, where the waste of AI data centers will compete with the need for drinking water. Think about it, it’s not hard to connect the dots from a dwindling supply of clean fresh water in Southern California and Arizona to the increasing demand for more and more water-guzzling data centers, and guess which of these choices all the government institutions, local, state, and national, deem to prioritize? Plainly stated: there is a finite amount of water available for human usage, and we are at a critical inflection point where we must – each and every one of us – make our own decision as to which institutions or entities will be allowed to survive – YES SURVIVE!

By ignoring such warnings and alarms right now while there might be time to make the needed course corrections, you are making your decision. By waiting for someone to appear and magically resolve these irreconcilable issues, you are making your decision – to do (or say) nothing. If you live in the desert southwest and stand silently by and watch billionaires lay wasteful claim to whatever precious water your children need to survive, you are making your decision and it’s hard to imagine how you can go to bed tonight and sleep knowing without any doubt what lies ahead for you and your families, your pets, your very lives. Folkpotpourri has published posts here and here and here on this impending disaster of the highest magnitude, but it’s like screaming into a padded cell. No one will do or say anything of consequence until they find themselves in a desert summer heatwave with no air conditioning and their house stinking of backed-up sewage without even enough gas in their car to even try to get away from it. One thing’s for sure though, when you end up in that or some similar situation, you’ll be wishing you had joined with others and stepped up back when something could have been done – like back when right now!

Think about it – the time isn’t far off when you might just end up in a tens, or hundreds, of miles long traffic jam on interstate ten trying to get several hundreds of miles further east where there might be water – even hot water that has been lying in a discarded plastic bottle in the desert sun would be as welcome right about now as a cool drought from the shady mists of Tahquamenon Falls. In such a horrible dilemma, you might remember reading in your Bible [Isaiah 41:17]: “The poor and needy seek water, but there is none, Their tongues fail for thirst. I, the Lord, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.” God can make water appear – remember Moses and the rock. But by that time, you will realize that you might have waited too long to call on the Lord. Remember Him now, don’t wait until it’s too late. Jesus can guide you to wherever you need to be for the end times. It’s going to get bad – really bad: [Matthew 24:21]: “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”

The prophecy is clear that in the last days some truly evil characters will arise and take control of the world. Satan has temporarily given them the financial backing to overcome most folks who will think, even in the worst of times, that somehow money will save them, but it ain’t going to happen. There’ll come a time when a man will be willing to do or give up anything imaginable for a simple drink of water. Believe it! Even in the afterlife water will be precious, but then it will be the rich man who will beg and plead for this exceedingly priceless commodity he once so smugly took from everyone else: [Luke 16:24]: “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented.” The true value of their money will at last be exposed for what it’s really worth in the grand scheme – nothing!

There will be no water forevermore in that horrible place wherein the unrepentant rich man will be sentenced to inhabit the darkness among the demons with the dragon and the false prophet. Hatred will abound there and Satan will no doubt reveal just how vicious his contempt is for all – especially those who followed him in that short life for they will be the only ones present on which he can express his vitriol. Today’s leaders and mighty men of this world will finally understand how little their servitude was worth to the one who shows no gratitude – they enjoyed the evil, horrid fruits of their servitude during a temporary existence of wealth and immorality – now they are resigned to eternity of torment – neither will they will have any possessions there beyond their fear and hatred. Have you ever tried to contemplate what eternity really is? We humans can’t wrap our limited brains around such a notion, but it’s a long, long time. The word time itself doesn’t begin to fit the concept, for even time implies something with an end, but eternity has no end. They can’t even look forward to dying to end it. A whole different can of worms from what we’ve known in this life.

There’s a Kingdom we are offered in a place of joy we cannot imagine. Water will be abundant in the Kingdom, where the river of life flows through the Great City and the joy of paradise permeates the real world at long last – wherein God’s chosen will abide in eternal rapture in the hallowed presence of the Father and the Lamb. Beauty, peace, serenity, wisdom, and virtue beyond the capacity of our minds to contemplate, and it’s yours for the asking. Jesus Christ has tickets to this Paradise and He gives them to mankind freely. It’s actually spelled out on a white stone with a new name on it: [Revelation 2:17]: ““He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” – our personal invitation. All He asks is that we admit we made mistakes, repent from our faithless lifestyle and follow Him. We must trust Him completely because only He is completely capable of getting us where we need to go. There will be some rough bumps in the road, but that’s how He refines us, it’s how He teaches those of us who are willing to learn. He tests us to determine – not for Him to determine, He already knows – but for us to determine if we’re capable of total loyalty to Him. Somewhere on that long, bumpy road, through His blessed testing, we’ll find out that we can make the grade, and when that realization hits you, it’s a whole nuther life – literally! [2 Peter 1:19]: “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;” Be patient and wait for that Morning Star to rise in your heart – it’ll be worth it!

Meanwhile, do whatever you can (within Christian limitations) to inhibit, prohibit, prevent the installation of the horrid data centers which will require such grave sacrifices to the demons who rule this world. There have been no sensible or rational reasons given for why humanity needs them – except to increase some rich man’s wealth, and that doesn’t even begin to qualify for the sacrifices being imposed on us commoners. Keep the faith, folks, it won’t be much longer.

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

MK

Many of us find ourselves in situations at times in which we do not have detailed instructions on how to approach an issue we feel the need to resolve or at least address. This dilemma is particularly important to the Christian who would like to stay on the right side of his/her spiritual pursuit while facing an issue in which they are involved, but are unable to find specific scriptural guidance. This happens to us often, and when we get into a situation where we have to make the right decision, take the right action, or support the right policy we must sometimes infer from our Spiritual foundation and knowledge what we should do absent the specific situation being addressed in the Bible.

For instance, say you find a wallet on the sidewalk with some money in it. We live in a “finders keepers” world, so for most people, the wallet is fair game, but to the Christian who wants to do the right thing there’s much underlying information we have to draw on. The bible doesn’t specifically address finding a wallet, so the finder has to infer from “Love thy neighbor as thyself” and “Thou shalt not steal” in order to determine the right course of action, which of course would be to try and determine whose wallet it is and get it back to the owner with his money still in it. I knew one particularly generous man to whom this happened and in his quest to find information that would lead him to the rightful owner he saw family photos in the wallet that indicated the owner had children and there was sadly very little money in it, so in addition to taking the effort to find the owner, he slipped some bills of his own into it before giving it back to the man.

That event was a little walk into the woods, but the point is that we sometimes encounter situations in which we have to depend on whatever spiritual resources to which we have access in order to take the right action, action which demonstrates our desire to please God and thereby live up to His expectations. In our society our people have a tendency to conflate nationalism or patriotism with Godliness, so on issues like immigration, some of us equate immigration laws with a righteous need to support abominations like this ICE army which takes people from their families and incarcerates them in horrid conditions. The ICE agents have unnecessarily killed US citizens and for all practical purposes have the complete support of a large segment of American society. In situations such as these, if one were to stand back and look at the entirety of the operation, there can be nothing remotely resembling Christianity in what the ICE goons are doing. Again we can infer from our instruction to love our neighbor that this persecution of human beings is not right. Laws against aliens for simply being aliens are not of God.

This ICE travesty just happens to be the extreme end of racist laws of men, but in the case of “illegal” aliens, the Bible spells this one out, alleviating the requirement to infer how we should treat foreigners in our country:

[Malachi 3:5]:

“And I will come near you for judgment;
I will be a swift witness
Against sorcerers,
Against adulterers,
Against perjurers,
Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans,
And against those who turn away an alien—
Because they do not fear Me,”
Says the Lord of hosts.

In this passage the Scripture clearly states that we should not round up those who are strangers in our land and persecute them. If a person is sufficiently racist to go against the Holy Scriptures in order to satisfy his/her racist inclinations, they should at least be aware that is precisely what they are doing. A lot of Americans make the mistake of trying to infer from the laws of man how to deal with a policy that God explicitly addresses. Please do not “infer” from what this post is trying to say that this writer does not recognize the complicated problems of immigration, just that we are not using our God-given judgement and are allowing racist inclinations to dictate how we approach it.

We have a tendency to lay claim here on the earth to things that belong to God. [Psalm 24:1]: “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. A careful reading of this scripture reveals that everything, including the people of the earth, belong to God. The land of the nation that is America does not belong to any race or tribe of people, as the land of all nations, it belongs to God and we who (temporarily) possess land or other things here are simply serving as stewards of God’s property – nothing more. As responsible stewards we need to be careful to obey the requirements that God lays on us, such as sharing the parts of earth we possess with others of God’s people.

It is extremely important to be responsible to heed the commandments of our Lord instead of allowing our preconceived prejudices to influence how we set about following our spirituality. There is a tendency to try and infer from laws of man what God intends for us to think and do. We have no right to do so, it is reckless and irresponsible to presume that just because there are (presently and temporarily) some (usually racist) man-made rules that govern who are allowed into – or turned away from – this land, that somehow there is Godly support for persecuting them. God says in the above verse that turning away an alien is an indication that those who do so do not fear Him, and if that is so, someone is in for a rude awakening.

We live in an age in which politicians are elected precisely because of their positions on these kinds of issues and it speaks volumes about the public who elects them as to the effort they make to obey God. People actually vote for politicians who promise to turn away the alien – a direct violation of God’s commandment, so they have no excuse. Jesus even warned the Pharisees about substituting commandments of men for God’s commandments: [Matthew 15:9]: “And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”

There are instances in our lives where an issue isn’t specifically spelled out and in those we must rely on our spiritual guidance, our spiritual bearing, so to speak in order to infer from what we do know from the scripture and base our course of action on such knowledge. I feel comfortable in saying that we all know there are times when we have to consult with that law God has written on our hearts, or even with a preacher for spiritual guidance for those times. We must, however, abstain from the tendency to attempt to infer God’s will from the laws of men. As this age winds down, we find that more and more the laws of men are at odds with God’s commandments and we must trust the Spirit of God to guide us, but when the scriptures plainly state what we should or should not do as in the above Malachi verse we see a situation where man’s law and God’s law conflict – in such cases, if one chooses to follow and support man’s law, then he finds himself at odds with God’s, and this threatens to put Christians in a precarious situation as it relates to our faith. It has happened before and is certain to happen again. Someday there will be a law (of man) that will require us to take a mark and worship a man who will claim to be God – and it might not be that far away…

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

MK

It’s a warm and very humid morning here in this part of the Ozarks and I’m finally feeling well enough to try and catch up on my garden. Due to a nagging ailment for the past couple of weeks, I’ve not really felt like getting out there and with all the rain we’ve had lately it has grown into a jungle, but I’m slowly coming back around and have decided to tackle it. Even though it takes a lot of work, I’m nevertheless grateful that God has given me a garden, but moreso because He has given me an interest in such mundane things as raising vegetables and flowers. I’m working on some projects right now in which I find old rotting stumps out in the woods and if they have hollowed-out cores, they make really neat planters.

I realize they probably won’t last very long, but instead of allowing that to dissuade me from using rotten stumps, I sort of rationalize it by recognition of everything else in this world that is so temporary – nothing lasts forever on this old earth so if you can find and enjoy something for just a little while, why not just do it? I’m an old man now and looking at those old decaying chunks of wood and moss, I’m reminded of how little time we have here, so by planting some pretty flowers in them, maybe I can serve to liven up and beautify something a little bit before it completely goes away.

Now as you’ve probably already guessed, this metaphor of something old and rotting getting a sort of makeover could be the basis for a post, and if you have, then treat yourself to a banana, because it does have a lot to do with this story.

The FFA kids at the local high school sell flowers in the spring every year before summer recess, and I usually buy some garden plants and flowers, but this year I decided to try something different with the flowers, hence the rotten tree planters. Some of the projects are actually hollowed-out chunks of what would have been split into firewood, but some of them were a bit punky in the centers, so even though these pieces are not actually rotting, I just took the chain saw and made some cavities for soil and plants. Like these:

Coleus and pink impatiens in hollows of a real rotten stump with a pitchfork embedded in it. I’m kind of a neophyte with flowers and can’t remember the name of the light purple flower in the lower part – if you recognize what it is, please tell me in a comment.

I’ve raised vegetables for many years and as I mentioned earlier, I’m always thankful to God for His grace in giving me an interest in such things. I’d be dishonest if I didn’t also recognize His grace in allowing me to post articles of encouragement to Christian believers and to urge those who might be considering becoming a member of the Kingdom. This is God’s way of allowing me to work in His garden and I’m humbled to the core to be allowed to do so. I personally don’t feel like I deserve the honor, but I am nevertheless enthusiastic about it, because He didn’t make any distinctions about who He invited to help out, Jesus just said the harvest is ripe and the laborers are few [Matthew 9:37]: “Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” So this old geezer is joining in the harvest to help any way I can – so the consummation of this particular metaphor is to say that no matter how old and decrepit something – or in this case, someone – is, something beautiful can be implanted to make it nice before the end – especially something to make it pleasing to the Lord’s eye, and that implanted beauty is Jesus Christ in the heart! All you old-timers – hang in there! And it’s never too early to start for y’all young’uns too. Learn about Jesus while you still have time! It’s looking like this old world’s not going to last a lot longer.

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

MK

When we are long gone will there be folks around who remember us? What kinds of things will our families and friends reminisce and speak about us after we’re gone? Will they remember at least some of the good aspects of our time here, or will they rather ignore and forget their time with us? In my own experience, I’m quite sure there are many whose lives I’ve impacted who will remember a lot of negative things and even though I wish there was some way I could go back knowing what I know now and avoid those conflicts, those errors of judgement, and prevent behaviors that have scarred my years here, but alas, that’s not possible. I must hope in the forgiveness of those who I have wronged, or at least the forgetfulness.

We’d like to think there are also positive interactions that some folks will remember about us, for we typically believe there are some who we have helped along the way down this road we consider to be our lives, but only the Lord will be able to judge whether or not those actions merit His providential approval. I also understand enough about God’s plan of salvation to know those good deeds are not sufficient in themselves to provide for access to His kingdom, but they are nevertheless expected of any who would like to get there.

I’ve long held the notion that unless a person is of notable celebrity, the typical endurance of his/her personal legacy is somewhere around two generations. That is to say that when survivors visit the grave of a departed relative, only those who personally knew that person will be able to reflect on what kind of person they were. Maybe kids and grandkids, or if the departed was of sufficient notoriety, a cousin perhaps, or a neighbor, but in general, when a distant relative or descendant stands there reading the engraved information on the stone, the only thing they will want to know about the person underground will be some information for a genealogy project. Kids and grandkids – two generations, and the world forgets and moves on. Visitors to the resting place will have no way of knowing whether or not the long-deceased person enjoyed bluegrass music or if she was a great cook, or any other mundane characteristic of the dead person of which their close family/friends would hold cherished memories. As cruel as it may sound, we simply become a name on a granite block and an entry into a county record – both which will be eventually destroyed and forgotten somewhere down the road. After a while – typically two generations – people will stop visiting the grave – at least to pay respects – entirely.

This applies to famous people too, but in a very different way. Historians have a tendency to reflect whatever things about a president or other leader they deem to support whatever character they would like to present. If a historian who is writing on a former politician of a political party opposite to his own, they tend to emphasize the negatives about their subject, and vice versa. If a writer is doing a biography of a leader of a nation who conducted a war against his own, of course he will only write of the “atrocities” committed by that person. They will be remembered for political stances and famous (or infamous) acts they committed while in office, but the human vagaries of the person himself/herself will be forgotten in two generations. Only the most dedicated biographer would be punctual enough to research whether or not the deceased celebrity enjoyed oak trees, and even those kinds of details would eventually fade away into in the mists of time. Elvis was a famous singer, but did he know anything of wildlife or building construction? No matter their notoriety, we only know superficial things about even the most famous of persons. Nowadays, maybe some would like to send their friends a selfie standing beside the Kennedy eternal flame, but so few remember much about him, and not far down the road, no one will.

Where does that leave us as far as how we’d like to be remembered, seeing that it won’t be too many years after we’re gone that we’ll be entirely forgotten by our fellow human beings? Well, this post is being composed to inform the reader that there is a permanent record of our lives; it’s being recorded as you read. Every detail of your past behavior is indelibly etched into what might as well be eternal granite. The good, the bad and the ugly. Nothing will be forgotten, not in two generations or a thousand. We will all have to give account of every act we committed for the entirety of our short lives here, and for many it’s not going to be very comfortable, as we will be facing a glorious but vengeful Almighty God who will have complete control of the courtroom. He will have absolute authority over our eternal future, and it can be a horrible, terrifying, event, or we might have considered this confrontation during our time on earth and decided to prepare for it.

We have a counsellor Who would like to represent us at that great judgement, but we must seek Him and strive to emulate His love, for our fellow human beings and for Him. Jesus Christ has made the offer to come into and be a part – a big part – of our lives. He is willing to be our Light to show us the Way through this darkness, this valley of the shadow of death. Whatever the enemy throws at us, Jesus is willing to help us through it, but we must first seek His help. When we face the judgement at the end, Jesus will be our counsellor – and the best thing of it all is that the Judge is His Father! God has made it abundantly clear in many places of Scripture that He is willing to forgive – and forget – our past egregious behavior. [Isaiah 1:18]: “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

God is willing to forget our past if we allow Jesus Christ into our lives, so that record of malfeasance of which we are all guilty will not be presented at our judgement. It will be gone and long-forgotten as though it never happened – but only if we allow Jesus Christ to take control of our lives. It won’t matter in the least whether or not humans remember our misbehavior – Jesus has taken them on Himself at the cross, every sin we ever committed will be completely expunged from our record and our names will be in the Lamb’s book of Life which will be our permission into God’s magnificent Kingdom where Jesus, by His own words, has a place prepared for each of us.

Our trail through this maze we consider to be life won’t be completely covered up – our good deeds will still stand. They will be considered in the reward phase of our judgement. The greater the accomplishment – and great accomplishments aren’t the same according to Jesus as they are to us humans – the greater the Heavenly reward we will receive. There was a widow who put a very small amount of money into the offering and Jesus said she had given more than the offerings of the wealthy men there because it was all she had. [Mark 12:41-44]: “⁴¹ Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. ⁴² Then one poor widow came and threw in two ^[o]mites, which make a ^[p]quadrans. ⁴³ So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; ⁴⁴ for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood.”

Even though we will be long-forgotten by our fellow humans after we finish this race, there will be a permanent record kept through to the end, it’s our choice whether we’d like the record of good deeds to be remembered with the bad ones still painfully attached, or if we want to stand beside our Counsellor with a clean record going into eternity.

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

MK

It is a weapon few in the flesh are able to wield. In order to wield it, to be able to conquer with it, one must possess a degree of wisdom that is given to few, and even of those rare humans who obtain to the requisite wisdom, still fewer may obtain this fearsome weapon. Wisdom alone is not the absolute constitution for a man to be entrusted with such power; one must be endowed with a rare and abiding degree of faith in the Almighty to be allowed access to – hence possession of – this mighty weapon. Through all of human history only a select few have been allowed to brandish such lethal power.

To be able to appreciate such a formidable threat, one must first understand some conditions and differing types of engagements of the battlefield. There are, as is well known, multitudes of tools in modern military arsenals with which men may be killed, deprived of mortality from the living, the breathing. Humanity has contrived an endless number of devices intended to kill, or at least harm fellow humans. If wielded properly however, the weapon of which I write is intended instead, to disarm an opponent; to take away his very desire to cause harm to his adversary. In fact, this great device when properly used, has the potential to cause a fierce enemy to become a friend and ally, and lay down his own weapon as well as his intent to harm.

This greatest weapon is of course, the Providential love of God. Think of those places in scripture where it says God is love. Thus, if one has Godly love in his heart, he will have at his disposal the very nature of the Almighty Himself. That kind of love must be bestowed upon a man (or woman) by the Lord – it is available nowhere else in all creation. [2 Thessalonians 3:5]: “Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.” Our hearts are directed by Him into His love, the love that God has in His own heart – a special kind of love of a very profound nature. The same love with which we are commanded by Jesus Christ to have for the Father with all our heart, soul, and strength, but still only a hint of the profound love God has for us – but we can embrace no more.

God has fearsome abilities. He is able to create volcanoes and earthquakes. When a star out in space explodes, they call it a nova and some of them can take out half a galaxy. That would make anything mankind has devised to be puny by any measure, even the hydrogen bombs of which everyone is so terrified. God is all-powerful indeed, but we are told God is love. If we have God’s love in our hearts, then we have access to the very essence of this Being of unlimited power. We’ve learned of the powers of the prophets of old, how they could do miraculous things – because of their access to God’s power.

The mighty power of God is available to those of faith who love Him. When a man finds the love of God, he will not be a fearsome warrior out to terrorize a fellow traveler. Love can disarm the mightiest of enemies. Jesus admonishes us to pray for our enemies, and when we pray the right prayer for them, they might just find they no longer have the heart to wreak destruction and death. They might instead find compassion and empathy for those whom they once abused. God’s love is quite capable of such – look at the experience of the apostle Paul who once persecuted the church to the point that he advocated for the death of believers, but once confronted by the love of Christ, he changed and went on to be a great disciple filled with a hitherto inexplicable Spiritual love for his fellow humans.

God’s love is doubtlessly the greatest force in all creation, for God is love. [1 John 4:8]: “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” We all have access to Him through Jesus Christ, thus we all have access to His mighty power. One day God will visit extreme retribution on those who have persecuted his people, and those who are creating the greatest devastation on this earth today are ultimately going to go after Christ’s followers. We are told they will prevail over the saints for a while, but this will be our opportunity to demonstrate our loyalty, our faithfulness to Him by not only enduring the hardships the enemy lays on us, but by showing Him we are willing to even pray for them, to love them – as Jesus did and as He admonished us to do. These actions will not be done out of weakness, but out of the strength of a people who understand that He whom we serve is mightier than the one who leads our enemies; a people who have come to realize the awesome power of which they may avail themselves.

It is always a mistake in warfare to underestimate the strength of the enemy. It is a far greater mistake to underestimate the power of God’s love. Embrace it – it’s the key to victory in the most critical of battles – that for the soul. In this endeavor I struggle also, it’s not an easy pursuit, but we have this task before us. Fortunately, we have His succor for this mighty endeavor. God’s love is a mighty force with which to be armed and certainly worth the effort to wield.

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

MK

We find ourselves occupied as watchmen – turns out, it’s what we do. If we were completely honest, I’m pretty sure none of us, or at least very few of us set out to be watchmen, but as we trudge down this ever-darkening path we call life, there are those of us to whom God has given the grace to be able to see things that maybe other well-meaning folks can’t discern. Think about the old days before electronic communication, before satellites, before all the hi-tech methods of trying to stay on top of an enemy’s movements when watchmen were posted high on the ramparts of an ancient fortress. Most of the folks would be going about their business of stonework and tending the gardens and the watchmen were responsible to call everyone’s attention to whatever the enemy was about to do. By design, they were the ones who would be in a position to determine what the bad guys were doing and what the townsfolk needed to know.

The enemy of mankind is very cunning, and all of us don’t always catch on to what he’s up to, but God has always posted watchmen to help folks to avoid the pitfalls that enemy has set for us. When we find ourselves looking at the trap and see that our fellow travelers are unaware when they come near to taking the bait, we find that there are those of us who bear the responsibility to pick up our horns and get some attention to what’s going on. Since God gave us the ability to discern what the enemy is up to, He expects us to speak up, and we don’t have to be a pastor of a big church – look at guys like John the Baptist who foreknew that Jesus was coming and warned people to turn away from their sins. Now John did apparently eventually amass a following, but for most of his life he was a loner in the wilderness. There are many examples throughout the scriptures of nobodies, fishermen, carpenters, tentmakers, and others who were appointed by Jesus to be His watchmen.

In return for this ability, for this station in life, God has expectations for those to whom He has entrusted with it. There is a huge responsibility accompanying this gift, and He fully intends us to perform our duties. [Ezekiel 33:6]: “But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.” What a lot of us don’t realize is that every follower of Christ has in their own way, been assigned some iteration of a watchman’s duties. When we chose to follow Christ, a few things happened to our life’s obligations as part and parcel of our covenant, and helping our fellow Christians walk by assisting them in times when the enemy is deceiving them and they are unaware, is one of our obligations. We must warn them so that if they continue and fall into the enemy’s trap, we are absolved of their blood. But even more importantly we warn them because we love the Son of God and we love those neighbors who trust us.

I can think of no better example of what happens to us as the enemy sets up a trap for everyone, believers included than the recent episode that has gone totally viral (exactly what Satan intended) in which there is a video of a guy throwing a rock at a monk seal in Hawaii. We were astounded at the cruelty of the act, and rightfully so, because there is absolutely no justification for such an act. This is one of those places in our lives where we have to remember several of Jesus’ admonitions, the first of which is that while it’s okay to hate an evil act by a person, we as Christians, can never hate the person who committed the act. Another equally important aspect of this is that if vengeance is to be meted out, God has told us that’s His job. [Romans 12:19]: “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.” Believe me, Satan is using his media to squeeze every last drop of animosity from his audience because of this event.

There was a follow-up video where someone filmed some fellow who had gotten wind of the act and beat the perpetrator up, and I think this is where the watchmen among us need to speak up loudly. On one level there is the temptation for a great deal of satisfaction in seeing the guy getting wailed on, but that should not be the reaction of a believer! As Christians, any such act of violence should not evoke satisfaction nor sense of justice, because the guy doing the beating is committing a gross sin, every bit as, if not more, egregious to the covenant of Christ than the original act and we have to remember that, no matter how much we might feel that he deserved it. If we allow ourselves to indulge in some sort of smug satisfaction at this violence, then the same enemy who caused the act of throwing the rock at an innocent animal, ends up getting a twofer when those who claim to be followers of Christ fall into the hatred and animosity caused by his trap.

This is a common deception by Satan – he uses varying iterations of it all the time. Creating a situation in which believers become angered and/or repulsed at an action by sinful person/people and allow hatred and bitterness into our hearts toward the perpetrators. Hating the IDF soldiers for their treatment of the Palestinians is playing right into Satan’s hands – it’s just as important to him as the persecutions of the innocent people if not moreso. Look at all the sin this hatred foments. There are Christians who are so full of rage at those IDF soldiers that they want to celebrate when they hear of a Hezbollah drone killing them. While I thoroughly agree that slaughtering and starving those poor people are among the most despicable acts I’ve known of in my lifetime, if I allow hatred (of the perpetrators) into my heart, the same enemy who initiates the evil genocide wins again, but this time over me too. Hearts carrying hatred of other human beings will not be allowed into the Kingdom we seek. While it’s ok – even expected – to hate sinful acts, we can by no means hate other human beings, no matter how much we are tempted to do so. If we stay on the ball therefore, Satan can be denied victories using this trap – maybe because of warnings by Christian watchmen!

Before I finish this post, I’ll confess, this watchman is far from immune to this same temptation. I have to stay on my toes to avoid it too, so don’t take me to be preaching down to anyone. Nevertheless, we must not allow revulsion of the evil we witness to cause us to allow hatred into our hearts – that’s a huge part of Satan’s game – God knows it; He’s repeatedly told this watchman to warn folks of it; and now you know it. This is such a huge threat to our fellow travelers who inadvertently and impulsively allow anger and hatred – even and especially anger fomented by evil acts – to overcome them. Righteous anger at sinful behavior is normal, just don’t allow it to morph into hatred nor a desire for vengeance. We can’t allow ourselves to hate other human beings who were also created in the image of God. It’s happening to a lot of people so please pass this on.

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

MK

Today is Memorial Day and we get caught up in thinking about soldiers and warriors who sacrificed everything for our (freedom, safety, sovereignty, lifestyle, etc.) benefit. We’re all aware of the various conflicts and the human cost of them, and we’d like to think of the sacrifices of the fallen to be for some iteration of our well-being. My neighbor spent a day this past week down at one of the local cemeteries placing flags over the graves of veterans, and his work is duly noted as a reverent act of memorial dedication to our military heroes as is fitting for the occasion. There are festivities in communities all over the country in honor of our soldiers, in fact, as on every Memorial Day, I’m wearing a printed t-shirt with a picture of a distant cousin who died in Japanese captivity after enduring the savage Bataan Death March in the Philippines in WWII.

With all the recognition taking place today, there’s probably not a lot I could offer in the way of testimonials that isn’t already being told, so I would like to dedicate this post to another cadre of fallen warriors who should be recognized. These martyrs are after all, the very people who sacrificed their lives in furtherance of the entire future of mankind. I’m speaking, of course, of the great men of God who made it their mission in this life to impart faith and honor of God to the rest of us. Men like Saint Peter, the great apostle to whom Jesus Christ appointed the maintenance of the whole Christian Covenant. According to Christianity.com and as is believed throughout the world of faith, Peter died as a result of his crucifixion in Rome, but there is no definitive evidence. When Nero was the Roman leader, it is believed that he had Peter crucified. Some have said that Peter asked not to be crucified the same way Christ was because he didn’t think he was worthy, so they crucified him upside down, but again there’s no proof. I think it can be safely presumed that Peter died for his faith in Christ, for at one time during Jesus’ time here, Jesus had told Peter, [John 21:18]: “‘Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’”, and following that, He said, “Follow Me”, believed to be signifying that Peter would be executed by crucifixion.

One of my favorite fallen heroes of battle is John the Baptist. Although mention of John is minimal in the Scriptures, he was nevertheless one of – if not the – greatest supporter of Jesus Christ in all Christendom. John wasn’t afraid to speak up when he saw something going on that needed attention, even to the extent of publicly calling out Herod for marrying his brother’s wife. Since Herod was the tetrarch, or king, of that part of Israel, he eventually had John taken captive and Herod’s wife, apparently stung by John’s accusations, schemed to put him to death, which Herod finally did. John was beheaded, but in his life, he had made it known to his followers (and everyone else) that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and he never backed down from his faith. John was born and raised as a poor pauper who lived on the bare minimum of sustenance and wore clothes made of camel hair. But John the Baptist was a dyed-in-the-wool true servant of God. John was the one who had the supreme honor of baptizing Jesus Christ Himself! Jesus commended John to the disciples by saying that no greater man had ever been born of woman than John the Baptist, so coming from Jesus, you gotta believe John was the real deal. A true martyr of Jesus Christ.

The apostle Paul was a disciplined adherent of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A good portion of the New Testament was written, or transcribed letters of instruction in the faith by Paul, nee Saul and prior to his Christian conversion, a rabid persecutor of Christ’s followers. Paul was on the receiving end of a powerful vision of Jesus which actually left him temporarily blind, but which also got his attention so that he became one of Jesus’ most ardent supporters, and became the apostle assigned to preach to the Gentiles. Again, there’s no proof, but is widely believed to have been beheaded in Rome, probably at the behest of Nero and around the same time as Peter’s execution. Another valiant warrior for Christ worthy of remembrance.

James, the brother of Jesus was reportedly beaten to death or thrown from the pinnacle of the temple. James the brother of John was slain by the sword on orders from Herod Agrippa. In fact, all of the original disciples of Jesus are thought to have died violent deaths, primarily because of their faith in Christ, with the notable exception of Judas Iscariot, who committed suicide, and John, son of Zebedee and brother of James who apparently died of natural causes.

In addition to the disciples and prophets, there have been innumerable heroes of this great battle, guys like St. Francis of Assisi, Deidrich Bonhoeffer, the early prophets, and so many more. Early Christians were slaughtered wholesale at the hands of the Romans – many times for spectator sports. It’s important to note that most of them died at the hands of violent men for their faith in Jesus Christ.

By all means get out today and show your respect and support for our fallen soldiers; they deserve no less. But keep in mind the other warriors who gave their all to ensure you had the opportunity to be saved from this world of war and trouble. And give some thought to exactly what their cause was that was so important to them that they were willing to lay everything on the line for you and me. Your understanding (and acceptance) of what they were willing to die for was worth it to them. Think about it.

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

MK