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

(Another previously posted article being republished – hopefully for Spiritual inspiration for the reader)

Pray, beloved child of God, your prayer in sadness, silence and wonder for He patiently waits in silent and peaceful places where He watches for wholesomeness of heart, even – and especially – on somber mornings of clouded silence.  His gaze is ever upon your humility and compassion, for the blessing he desires to visit upon you is predicated on these.  Keep your own eyes to those fellow travelers endowed flush with righteous purpose and bestowed with wisdom; emulate such as you may be able and as your spirit allows. Surely the Creator will rest His mighty hand on your hope, for shipwrecked ever become ambitions elsewise, although it may seem not so for now.  With purity of heart, keep your sanctuary of solitude in His reach.  For it is but with purity of heart that we may behold Him.

Take shelter there and trust your tears go not unheeded, that your despondent mourn is indeed regarded by the Master, whose abundant presence ever awaits your return to that burning bush in your place of solitude.  Weep then, loudly if at all – fervently cry for mercy and for justice – for assuredly He gives pause to those hopeless, woeful echoes such as fill the heavenly censer.  As surely as the morning star arises from a pale dawn of twilight to beckon your spirit, encouragement such as may be rightfully and fruitfully gained from His compassion and wisdom shall blossom from the very despair you presently endure.  From eternity itself, incomprehensible peace shall indeed reveal to you His presence and the depths of His love.

Go then, to your fortress of solitude, that simple haven chosen by you among strewn leaves beneath oaken boughs where your tears as rivulet testimonials entreat His presence into your spirit to lift, to promise of eternal hope, eternal life, eternal love.  Consider always your burden as a blessing, through all awaiting sorrow and trepidation to which you must return from this sanctuary of tranquility ere you suffer the beastly conflict once more and with such steadfastness as you are gifted. You need not face it alone. Reap and gather courage here, then embrace it as you return to that life of need and poverty.  With passion, regard such destitution as His grace to you, for the wealthy ever deny themselves purity of faith.  Consider the patch on your garment as witness of travail you’ve endured in humble determination to remain faithful in the tempest. The wealthy cannot fathom a need of fortress against those merciless winds blowing covetousness and impurity upon the dark, endless paths they travel.  Such need is never regarded as they dwell within ornate decadence of realms unknown to you, but trust that unfamiliarity is for your benefit. They have no place to pray.  They have no place to weep.

Few souls among the multitudes of the uncompassionate whose hearts are laden with envy and desires of the flesh – sadly so few – shall ever come to know the blessing to be had spending time and tears of despondence in His presence.  Burdened with such pursuits of vanity as they carry, they deny themselves the incredible grace that awaits their presence in those humble silent places where Jesus Christ seeks to meet them!  To mend them. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  Walk upright, holding the hem of His garment through each emerging shadow and understand that misfortune befalls every soul, therefore find that sacred place and avail yourself of an instance to pray.  And as need demands, to spend tears.

If the Almighty awaits our fellowship beneath forest boughs in a misty wood or within a secluded glen among rocks on a mountainside – a meeting place where thoughts and tears are spilled before Him, there go I.  If we must shun the allure of worldly lust and desire so that we may be comforted in such places where it is meet to tearfully implore the mercy and compassion of Jesus Christ, there go I.  If I might find that place where God abides awaiting the piteous cries of the needy and destitute so that there I too may be blessed – blessed indeed to be one with fellow sojourners in poverty and tears in the sanctity of His Holy Spirit – there, in poverty and purity of heart and by any means, go I.

Blessings,

MK

The following post was previously published in April 2024 and is one of a few I salvaged before my recent website overhaul in which I deleted several years worth of earlier work. This one was kinda special for me and I hope y’all enjoy it.

There’s a creek running across the property that comes from up in the woods.  It starts up on the neighbor’s land high up the ridge and empties into the big creek in the bottom of the holler.  The resident old-timer out here says there was an old sawmill up there, somewhere close to where the neighbor’s property and our land meet, but there’s no sign of it today.  There’s an old, galvanized tub in the creek bottom where I suspect the mill might have been, but I don’t have any idea whether that rusty old tub had anything to do with a sawmill, but who knows?  Anyways, whether it did or not, it’s the only sign of anything man-made out there.

I like to walk up there and enjoy the serenity – it’s one of those places where you can chill out and get your thoughts together – and enjoy the company of Jesus.  He’s always there to hang out with me and listen to my problems and accept my thanks for the place, but mostly He’s just simply there.  And that’s more than a mouthful to try and get across to a person who doesn’t know Him.   It’s hard to explain, this faith I have, but it’s real.  If you haven’t experienced His wonderful presence, don’t let any more of your life pass by without getting to know Him.  You will never regret a moment of it.

One day – and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be soon – we’re going to see Him return in all of His glory.  Most of us have a vision of Him as a lowly carpenter, a preacher with no wealth or standing in society, but trust me when He comes back, the world is in for the biggest shock of all time.  Our Savior will be the most glorious, powerful figure you could ever imagine.  Although everyone on earth will be completely awestruck, unimaginable fear will overwhelm the hearts of all who denied Him.   At the moment we see him, we will realize just how puny all of our weapons – in fact, all of the pursuits and accomplishments of mankind through all of history – really are.  The very skies will be opened in a flash of dazzling brilliance as multitudes of angels fill the whole realm of space, time, and thought.  It will be huge!  Incredible lightning, thunderous voices of fearsome angels will resound and echo across the universe, and a Savior come to claim His own and exact vengeance upon all who chose to be servants of the stranger who has wreaked havoc on His people for all the years.  It will be a fearsome thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

As I stroll through the peaceful, silent woods, I think of the contrast on that day when human beings, those who survive the horrors of tribulation, flaming hailstones, pestilence, disease, war, and all of the other horrors that will have been unleashed upon humanity, will literally cry out – some in fear, but some few in sheer delight and relief.  Amid scenes of destruction and horror that the mind cannot fathom, mighty men will scurry into their holes in the earth in piteous and futile attempts to hide from the face of this God who is filled with wrath and indignation.  The righteous, those who have been faithful to Him, will be able to stand and face Him with unimaginable joy in their hearts. What kind of thoughts will His people experience, seeing those fellows who were the “elite” – those whose riches gave them mastery of armies and nations?  I’m pretty sure we’ll pity them at that time.  But do you know what?  Anticipating the horror they will go through at the judgement of God, we should pity them now.

A human soul is worth more than the value of the whole world to the Lord.   As I watch a gentle southern breeze caress the budding trees, I can feel the tenderness with which He nurtures us.  He really doesn’t want any of us to perish and it goes against His design, even for souls of the rich to be lost.  His tender mercy is revealed to us in so many ways, it’s a shame that Satan has deceived so many and that they disregard the opportunity for becoming saved so that they would have opportunity to spend all of eternity in the presence of absolute joy and love.  Jesus said that (human) eyes have not seen, nor ears heard, nor has entered into the mind of man the joy that awaits those who love the Lord.  Let that one sink in.

I know there are many folks who don’t know what it’s like to enjoy a day out in the woods, watching the thrushes flit about, hearing the beautifully insane call of the pileated woodpecker echo through the holler, maybe catching a glimpse of a shy doe strolling through the glen with her curious fawn in tow.  For those folks, I feel pity, because some of the most wonderful experiences of life are being missed.  God is out here in His creation, and although He’s a lot harder to find in some big city with sirens and horns blaring, He’s there too, nevertheless.  I’ve written posts about His fellowship in which I try to share this country experience in spirituality with folks who don’t have opportunity to see it for themselves.  Mostly though, I try to get people to thinking about what lies ahead, after we finish with this stage of existence and enter into the next.

I constantly read people’s opinions on social media chats and such and I pay particular attention to the endless comments of those who claim not to believe in God or the afterlife, they put forth arguments that sound reasonable enough if one insists on ignoring evidence of God’s presence.  I guess it’s easy enough to disregard people like me who keep trying to help them open their eyes, but us guys who are sincerely trying to get them to take a serious look are doing it from our hearts.  The Lord has given us faith – a precious commodity, and indeed, we believers realize just how precious it is, but we can’t go so far as to put our own thoughts – our own faith – into other people’s heads.  Once in a while I have the heart-lifting experience of running across someone who is willing to actually give thought to the possibility of the existence of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and even though they don’t usually immediately become believers, you can tell that God is at work in their heart and if they continue with their honest curiosity, it will only be a matter of time.  “Blessed are the pure at heart, for they shall see God.”  I pray earnestly for these folks.

If only people could hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and understand that He is exactly who He says He is, if all of us could just trust that the Gospel of His life, death, and resurrection is the absolute truth, and that He is the Son of God who came here to the earth to teach us of a better way and to be the ultimate Sacrifice Who would make it possible for us to connect with the Heavenly Father, what a joyous and peaceful life they could enjoy!  There would be no need to succumb to the macabre fear that is darkening the world today.  He promised us that as believers we have nothing to fear – we must focus, and stay focused, on what lies ahead after this life, this world which is no more than a test in which we must decide where we choose to spend eternity.

Ignore the foolish people and so-called evangelists – obscene, wealthy fellows who preach no more than distractions from Christ.  Incredibly, they are some of the principal elements of Satan’s attack on goodness, wholesomeness, righteousness, and many are those who are ensnared by them.  Jesus told us that the gate is wide that leads to destruction.  I get a mental image of a huge herd of sheep all being led through a huge wide gate into what they presume will be a wonderful pasture, but they cannot see in beyond the gate.  In reality, what awaits them is a great, dark abyss for which they are ignorantly, but not innocently, heading.  Then there are a few sheep fighting their way out of the crowd, often enough through some serious obstacles, but they are on their way to a narrow, tiny gate beyond which they, through faith, know an unimaginable paradise lies.  They will not be distracted, they hear and know their Shepherd’s voice, a voice to which the big crowd never listened; those ones don’t know His voice at all, by their own choice, even most of the folks who claim to know Him only listen only the deceiving voices of their false preachers.

In God’s grand scheme, and as we are admonished in the Bible, this life we currently live is a very short moment in time.  In fact, if there was any such thing as a graph depicting eternity, a dot representing all of human existence wouldn’t even be detectable on it.  The time that has passed since Jesus ascended to Heaven is but a brief moment, maybe like you’d think about going to the grocery store and coming home.  The Bible constantly speaks of the fact that we are living in the last days, not as we imagine the last days, but as God sees it.  When we think of “last days”, we think months or weeks, or maybe even a few years, but when the Word mentions the last days, even though there are many references to the end times as we understand them, He is most often talking about the entire period of time after Jesus appeared and left to go to Heaven.  As we watch the dark times that are enveloping the whole world right now, I believe that we are approaching the last days as we humans think of them, in other words, I believe the time is drawing nigh for our encounter with eternity, and that some – maybe even most – of us alive today will see it in our lifetime, possibly very soon.

Imagine the apocalyptic happenings when Heaven and His host is revealed.  Mighty Angels with thunderous voices making great proclamations, intense, never-before witnessed lightnings, earthquakes, the very heavens shaken with the mighty and angry Creator of all things looking down in extreme wrath.  Now imagine that the anger of this awesome Being is directed at you – when you find yourself in the unenviable position of having chosen to be His adversary because you rejected His Son. His beloved Son who had to die an excruciating death in which the very heavens were agonized, on a cross long ago just so you could be saved, but even after He went through all that, you rejected Him.

Even though Jesus was dying, hanging by the cruel nails onto that cross in what had to be excruciating pain, such was His unimaginable love for mankind – even His tormentors – His last thoughts were to pray to the Father for their forgiveness – yes, He loved them (and us) that much!  His unbelievable love is the most potent force in all of creation, God Himself is Love.  When a person becomes a believer in Jesus and makes the decision to follow Him, that person begins the process of immersing himself/herself in that profound universe of God’s infinite love and will forever live in His blessed presence!

We have opportunity while we’re here on earth to experience small glimpses of His love.  We can see it in a dogwood bloom, or hear it on a summer evening whippoorwill song echoing through the holler.  When you see a newborn fawn wobbling up to his mother in a peaceful green meadow, you see God’s handiwork.  This is the world God intended for us to inhabit and enjoy, and though most who read these posts don’t get to see things like this, I’m happy to share the experience as much as my words allow.  I’m happier to share the experience of knowing Jesus though.  Being able to get to know Him is the most important thing in this existence, and I hope and pray the readers will do so.  Get yourself ready so you don’t have to find yourself in fear and dread on that awesome day when He returns.  You’ll be forever glad you did.

Now I have to go out and check on the progress of this year’s dogwood bloom – it looks to be another nice one.

God bless you all.

MK

If you are in a place in your life where everything seems to be upside down, somewhere in a shadow that threatens to destroy you, then you are precisely where the enemy of mankind wants you to be. As this world quite rapidly begins to come unraveled, as we watch wholesale slaughter of human beings by other human beings, as we become aware of pressing droughts and water shortages around the world, erupting volcanoes, and so many other things over which we have little or no control, it seems impossible to have any hope. But more importantly, when you are at the end of your rope and believe that because of your sinful lifestyle that God won’t help you out of your darkness, there’s plenty of reason to hope, because your sinful lifestyle is precisely why Jesus Christ came to our world! I’m not saying that your sin is a good thing – it’s not – but we’ve all made mistakes. Most of us did things that were wrong in the eyes of God, myself being one of the worst, but we are told by the apostle Paul: [Romans 3:23]: “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”

Every human being has screwed up in the eyes of God. All sins are looked down on by the Lord, and if you were to find out the truth, the very worst things you’ve ever done, things of which you are ashamed, are common among people. You haven’t done anything other people have or at least have been tempted to do. done: [1 Corinthians 10:13]: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” So it really doesn’t matter what the error you’ve made, most other people have been tempted to do the same thing, and many have succumbed to the human proclivity to do wrong.

Your sin is not so peculiar after all, so understand that by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the Father is willing to forgive you and furthermore, He will gladly welcome you into His Kingdom. There’s no fee for joining, no paywall, no cost other than admitting (to yourself) that you screwed up, however many times, over however many years. Also, prospective entrants into God’s Kingdom must repent of the life they’ve led without the guidance of the Spirit of Christ. Repentance is very important, because it also involves the intent to avoid the previous behavior. There are times when we become overwhelmed by the temptation to sin and sometimes we lose sight of that Godly protection and fall into that sin again. As long as we know we did wrong, are sorry of it, and commit to trying harder, we can be forgiven.

There was a time when the disciple Peter saw Jesus walking on the water and desired to walk to Him on the water. Peter did okay until fear took him; then he began to sink. He cried out to Jesus for help and Jesus took his hand and saved him. That’s a phenomenal example for us – if we begin to sink into the darkness, we must reach out to Jesus and understand we need His help, it’s that easy. Even though in this human form our human eyes cannot see His hand, it’s there every time we need Him. We may begin to sink into our former lifestyle, but Jesus is always there to pull us out if we but ask. If we just reach out to Him.

There were times in this old hillbilly’s former life when I would find myself too inebriated to drive my vehicle. When that happened, I would let someone else drive if someone else was available. There were other times when I foolishly took the wheel against all sensibility. I use this example to illustrate that we might not realize it, but just like the drunk who cannot drive safely, none of us are capable of living a righteous life. Not on our own – we have to give Jesus the keys and trust Him to get us where we need to go.

The crop is ripe; the harvest is upon us, and we all need to get involved. I know it’s getting late, but Jesus is still willing to save souls; even if people have only been in service to Him for a short time. The reward of eternal life in a far better place awaits all who follow Jesus. [Matthew 20:1-16]: He told a parable about a guy who went to what was the first century equivalent of Home Depot and hired workers early in the morning for a certain wage and throughout the day he went back to the store and hired more. He even hired men at close the end of the day and when it came time to pay them, he gave them all the same wage. Some of the guys who were hired in the morning started carping about the evening hires getting the same wage as the them (the morning hires), but the boss said that he paid all the agreed wage and basically it was his business what he paid as long as it was agreed before beginning the work. This is how the Kingdom of God works. Even though we may not have a lot of time left, the reward will be the same – eternal life in a place of unimaginable joy. What a wonderful experience that will be for mankind – especially those of us who have lived in this world with a crumbling society.

Folkpotpourri normally directs posts at folks who are already believers, but this one is for anyone who might be afraid that their behavior is too shameful for God to forgive or maybe worry that since we are so close to the end that they might not have time to do enough. If He was (is) willing to forgive my behavior, and believe me, it wasn’t pretty and I hesitated for a big part of my life – He will forgive others – everyone who comes to Him with a sincere desire to leave the sinful life in this world and follow Jesus. We don’t have a lot of time left to spend sitting on the fence, so just call on Him. There are Christian Churches all over the world – get baptized and be a part of something marvelous and it doesn’t cost a dime. Do yourself a favor and join in on a magnificent homecoming!

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

MK

They wait. They do not know what they’re waiting for, possibly for someone sane to come along and fix things, but no one dares to step up and suggest ways to do so. The irony of the situation is that everyone can see as plain as day what’s wrong, and thus have ideas as to where to start, but we look at it with the same trepidation as one is asked to lay his neck across a guillotine, the fear of repercussions keeps everyone in line. There are just too many threats to our social status, our financial status, and/or our standing in what passes for civil society for anyone to dare make a move that might flag them as someone who might pose a threat to the almighty system. The glaring fact is that our nation, in fact the entire world, has turned away from our God and things aren’t going to get any better – in fact they are going to get plenty worse – until we seek His favor. When we decide to seek God and come to Jesus Christ, we become a threat to the system – but so be it.

One day a long time ago, there was this itinerant preacher – at least most of the crowds to whom He preached thought He was just a preacher, or rabbi, but He would prove Himself to be much more – who roamed the countryside around Galilee and Capernaum telling people of a new Covenant. He spoke of a kingdom which had come upon the world into which He was inviting everyone to enter. There were, as of His appearance, a new set of rules, a whole new Way of life for men to adopt, that no longer required the religious practices which God had required heretofore, and when the theologians of the day compared what He was teaching to what the prophets of old had prophesied, the serious ones realized this was no common itinerant preacher, but that the very Son of God had come to them.

He taught them that the old laws they had been trying to follow could not avail them of a proper relationship with God the Father and gave specific examples of why this was so. For instance, until His time men had been taught to exact vengeance – an eye for an eye – upon their enemies, but this Jesus taught that a more perfect resolution of dispute would be to forgive someone who wronged them. This new attitude was based on a completely alien approach they had never practiced it was, and is, based on love – the most powerful force in all creation, but hitherto unpracticed as a way to interact with others. Love was, and is, absolutely underrated as to its efficaciousness in human dynamics and in the resolution of human conflict. Other aspects of the old law, He explained practices one by one, which were shown to be not only impractical, but impossible for men to follow to the letter, like a man looking on a woman with lust in his heart being just as bad for him spiritually as actually committing an immoral act with her. In the old Covenant, only the physical act was wrong, and the inner feelings were not considered.

Jesus Christ very succinctly taught His followers that this new Way was much easier to follow due to its simplicity, but now religion must be practiced from the heart and no longer from practice lists and rituals enumerated in ancient texts. His new Covenant is still in effect today – over two thousand years later. This religion is completely derived from – and in obedience to – the presence of God’s Holy Spirit which dwells within the heart, the inner being of the human soul. The prophets of old had foretold that the time would come when God would “write His law on the hearts” [Jeremiah 31:33]:“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” This new covenant was initiated during the gathering of the disciples and followers of Christ described in [Acts 2:1-4]: ” When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all ^[a]with one accord in one place. ² And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ Then there appeared to them ^[b]divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. That meeting was when God gifted the Holy Spirit into the hearts of Jesus’ followers – the beginning phase of the new Covenant.

Later events would go on to demonstrate the availability of the Holy Spirit to all who made the decision to follow Jesus Christ, thus making the promise in Jeremiah that “they shall be my people”. There are ample other scriptures of prophecy that make it abundantly clear that in the new Covenant all – Gentile and Jew – who call on the name of Jesus Christ will become God’s people. God’s chosen people are, and have since the advent of Jesus Christ, all who follow Christ – but no other. [John 14:6]: “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

There’s no distinction – skin color, nationality, previous belief system, if you are a human being and choose to follow Jesus Christ, you are able to become one of God’s chosen people. That’s a good title to carry – so don’t let anyone convince you that you are second-class or that there are any others more preferred by God the Father than you as a believer in Jesus Christ. Get to know about Him. You’ll be eternally glad you did!

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

MK