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

Artificial definitions – imitation; simulated; sham. lacking naturalness or spontaneity; forced; contrived; feigned. It ain’t real!

We’re seeing more and more about AI and how it is developing, and from social media I’m starting to see more and more fear within society of what this information avalanche might be capable. Several events have come to pass which on the surface don’t really appear to be connected, but if you see it all through the Spiritual lens the Lord has provided to each of us, the dots connect perfectly.

AI is no doubt the most potent weapon the enemy has ever developed. Were it not for the Mighty hand of our God, it would definitely become capable of terminating this human experiment, but it’s my job to make sure you understand that no weapon of the enemy is capable of defeating God’s people. All who lose the great battle do so because they choose defeat. This battle is taking on the trappings of man’s created “intelligence” against the profound wisdom of the Almighty God!

The big particle accelerator is another contrived weapon – whether or not it can open a portal to allow demons to come through it is a question for smarter folks than me, but that gizmo has another purpose – the same purpose as AI and all the other hi-tech manifestations have – it has been created to generate fear in human beings. Our enemy can cause harm to us with the sword, arrows, or bullets, but he cannot defeat us with such weapons. He can, however, defeat us with fear. Fear is his biggest threat, but even fear cannot defeat the stalwart Christian who believes in the almighty power of our Savior. We are given the perfect weapon with which to defeat any fear the enemy tries to inflict on us – that is perfect love. If you don’t remember anything else from this post, keep this in mind. [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.” It is with the most potent force in the universe that we can stand against the most powerful weapon the enemy can contrive. God’s Love. Once we learn to love, and he realizes he cannot threaten us with his fear, Satan is disarmed against us.

I don’t know how much the reader understands about the spiritual warfare that is underway but always remember that God’s angels kicked Satan and his angels out of Heaven in what must have been the most epic battle ever fought. This means our God is more powerful than the entity that controls this world, but for now He is allowing things to play out to determine which humans will come to understand our purpose here – to serve Him and no other.

There was a documentary I just watched about the huge number of expensive houses sitting empty in urban Texas. The housing market boomed there for a while a few years back when the big tech companies moved there from Southern California. Satan decided to spread his damage to other places, moving the high-paid tech heads around to new places. As far as those folks knew, they would be set up in expensive homes (and paying enormous mortgages) that would see them through their years, but – and here’s a dot connection that might sound crazy – each and every gigabyte of code they created was a contribution to Satan’s planned takeover of humanity by using AI and when they had served their purpose, Satan moved on to the fruition of his great project and threw them under the bus. A lot of hugely disappointed technology experts were left scratching their heads after being laid off and having large monthly mortgage payments and no job. Once this AI thing is set into operation, the guys who contributed to building it are no longer needed – only the ultra-rich billionaires who paid for it all have any control of it now. And their debt is to Satan and not the employees who created their weapon.

A reasonable evidentiary foreboding of God’s hand in all this is the lack of water to sustain the large-scale AI data centers. God is making it where there in an increasing scarcity of fresh water in many places, but primarily in the very areas of the country from whence this evil cloud of AI arises. Southern California and West Texas for example – geographical locales known for their aridity. But for the Hoover Dam and Lake Mead which it created, there would be no people in So Cal to make software weapons. There’s just not enough water (or electricity) available to supply such behemoth data centers, so that’s a good thing, but I wouldn’t bet on the servants of evil giving up – they’ll try everything – including running America completely bone-dry. And ironically, this is the same God Who created the monstrous flood of Noah’s time which submerged the whole world.

Satan is ultimately trying to recreate humanity into servitude to him only, and guys like me out here screaming at the tops of our lungs trying to spread the knowledge of Jesus Christ are his only threat. But guess what? We may know nothing of the inner workings of AI or CERN, but we do know they have been created as an attempt by Satan to gain as many followers as he can to take to hell with him. He doesn’t care in the least how many humans die as he goes around like a roaring lion, in fact, the more he can have killed, the better. His aim is to have us killing each other, that way our souls become his, and every soul he gains is a loss to our Savior. God doesn’t want to lose any of us, but some – most – are determined to ignore His calls for salvation. Even those techies who lost everything on a useless mansion. People like that should be the easiest to convince of the spiritual battle we are in, and maybe some of them will be, only God knows.

There’s rumor that we are about to be invaded, or infiltrated by aliens from other worlds, and right now that looks to be the next contrived threat. Remember that believers in Jesus are Satan’s predominant enemies, and maybe this new lunacy will draw some believers away. Remember also that by creating the new threat of masterful celestial beings, even some believers will succumb, but true believers won’t walk away from Jesus Christ, no matter how tenuous this faith might be made to appear. We believe in a Masterful Celestial Being already, and it is this faith that will carry us through all these machinations of the enemy.

I’m sure the reader is shaking his head trying to make sense of this post using the internet, part of the weapons system of the enemy, to spread the message of Truth. I’m not sure myself how this all works, but as long as it’s possible to get the Word out, to convince even a few, maybe we have opportunity to use this part of the weapon of the enemy against him. I’m sure this opportunity won’t be here long, but as long as it’s possible, we need to work on it. Above all else, do not allow the enemy to instill his precious fear in your heart – fear of this plague-riven AI (or demons showing up in alien garb) is really all he has.

May the blessings of the Almighty Father fins and keep us – it won’t be long now.

MK

Some really important things are being revealed of late. Much phenomenal wisdom is being divulged to all who choose to listen. I understand that the offer of salvation is available to folks – it always has been – but recently, here in our times, the Lord is extending His hand to us in marvelous ways that He hasn’t done before. He knows, as we should, that the time is growing short for mankind. He’s giving us some special tools nowadays with which to fight these battles.

Every day when we roll out of bed, we automatically assume things will go today just as they have every other day in the past. That’s human nature, but what if today something astounding happens? I’m not necessarily talking about the end of the world, although it could happen, but maybe something seemingly simple and of no apparent consequence to the larger events of the world yet still may have drastic consequences to our experience. Maybe this is the day God has decided to open our eyes and our hearts to something profound that has been hidden from us until now.

Considering the notion that people tend to read words in verses without really digging in to what they’re saying, we have to concentrate on a different level to understand the dynamics involved, but the Bible says we have to initiate our own understanding: [ Deuteronomy 4:29]: “But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” and [Matthew 7:7]: “”Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” There are several iterations of the same concept in other places, but in each one the accomplishment of gaining wisdom starts with the (soon-to-be) believer determining to learn. Knock, seek, ask – the Lord needs to know that we are serious about searching for Him. Each action is also promised to have a desired outcome – can you see it? He assures us that our serious search for Him will be heard and His presence revealed.

If you want wisdom, ask for wisdom; if you would like to know God, seek Him in truth. Jesus said [Matthew 5:8]: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. Pure in heart means we’re not just looking around for information to win an argument or any other motivation that isn’t up front. We actually have to approach God with an earnest desire to learn who He is and how to honor Him. We need to realize that our entire substance never deserves even His acknowledgement, He doesn’t owe us anything. Our reason for desiring His presence in our lives or even desiring to learn about Him has to be honest and sincere and we must show Him we seriously want to know Him. We have to accept that we are sinful creatures unworthy of His time, we cannot love Him as we are told we must, without knowing who He is, and in order to love Him we must above all else, come to Him with a pure heart – a sincere, heartfelt desire to communicate with Him – not because of who we are, but because of who He is. This experience we call life, even though we get caught up in it and distracted to no end, is all about Jesus Christ and not about us – outside the premise that the burden is on us to seek Him – and seek Him diligently. That’s our part, and if we’re serious, we’ll find Him – He promises that.

A big part of seeing God is understanding how to do so, or what it means to “see” Him. If you remember, the Bible says no man can see God and live, and even Moses had to partially hide himself in God’s presence and then he could only see God from behind. So how do we know that even if we are pure at heart, we’ll be able to see Him? Well first of all because Jesus said we would and that in itself is enough, but then there is that death thing…

God has a lot of marvelous methods, supernatural powers that we can experience in ways that we only understand when they overtake us. For instance, we can experience what I call a Spiritual lift – and not understand what just happened except that we liked it. Everyone who has ever meditated on the Lord has probably had those fleeting moments when something wonderful overtakes our senses and leaves us with a fervent desire for more of it, but alas, for our experience here it is but a moment of joy, only a memory. As we search more and more diligently – and always with a pure heart – we seem to enjoy more of these moments and may not realize that these are the times when we are “seeing” God – and without our eyes! I’ve not reached that plateau in my experience (yet) in which this “Spiritual high” is constant, and there may not be any living in the flesh who have done so, but who knows? Maybe Diedrich Bonhoeffer or John the Baptist were there in those last days before their execution – I’d like to think so. Is the sensation we get in our very heart when we see that beautiful wildflower in reality a form of our being allowed to “see” Him? When we are down and heartbroken over losing someone or some beloved pet and suddenly a profound peace of mind takes us and we wonder where that feeling came from, it’s Him telling us He’s there and we can be at peace in the solace of His love.

I’ve been writing a lot about the state of the world lately and it’s seriously getting tough to experience. There’s death and destruction on a scale that our edition of mankind has never seen before. Remember – when fear, sorrow, or worry threaten to subdue us and that sudden peace of mind happens, that’s God letting us know He’s in charge of our fate and we can stop worrying. We, after all, have a choice in the matter of trusting Him. Or we can fret and worry…

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

MK

If my readers have noticed some unusual activity on this site lately, it’s because of some garbage that’s getting through from outside my site, so in order to confuse the procedure, I’ve pretty much deleted the bulk of the site content. The stats reporting have been unexpectedly revealing a complete audit of my site – I do not know by whom nor even why it’s happening, but due to the extreme events in the world these days, my guess is that because this site has become a bastion for a select few Christian believers, even though it is just a small thorn in the side of the enemy, they are looking for ways to either interrupt it, which they have done to an extent, of just shut it down. Meanwhile, I’m still trying to warn people.

Things are going south in the world really fast now; people who pay attention are worried. I try, using whatever information I can post, to encourage folks in their Spiritual preparation for what’s to come, and believe me, Jesus Christ is the only fortress we have to turn to. The western US is running out of water pretty fast. Now I understand that people don’t like to think about it, but it’s happening – Lake Mead will reach what they call deadpool in a short while, and just what are some 40 million people in the desert southwest going to do when a) Their power goes off – permanently, b) No water comes out of the tap? There will be an environmental disaster leading to a devastating migration of thirsty Americans looking for a place to survive! They might be able to last a little while without electricity, but only a few days without water.

When the hydroelectric power shuts down due to there not being enough water to turn the turbines, there won’t be any pumps to pump whatever drops might still be available. There won’t be any power to pump gasoline into cars to try and migrate to more survivable environs. They aren’t thinking ahead and getting out of the desert while they have opportunity – they’re going to wait, hoping against hope that some miracle will happen to save them. When it happens, it will happen all at once. I don’t know about anyone else, but for some reason I don’t think Donald Trump and his clown car of a cabinet are the right people to be in charge of things when we will need extraordinary leadership, and even with such, there’s really nothing folks can do but relocate. But where to?

Florida and Georgia are in a devastating drought at this writing. Wildfires – a thing unheard of in Florida in April – are ravaging the southeastern US, and Florida is running short on fresh water. The Mississippi River is being reported to be running low with no real promise of recovering. Extreme weather phenomena are occurring around the world – Wellington New Zealand just underwent catastrophic flooding. New Zealand – Middle Earth!

I’ve written on Campi Flegrei, the super volcano in Italy, that has been stirring of late, and it’s nearby companion, Vesuvius, is rumbling again. Vesuvius is the one that wiped out Pompeii and Herculaneum back in 70 AD. Naples and the surrounding area could be in serious trouble if either one of those two were to massively erupt. Volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest of the US are showing signs of activity. A super typhoon just devastated the Northern Marianas and Guam. A devastating wildfire just hit on the 19th in Malaysia that burned thousands of shanty homes. Where will those poor people go?

Folks, I’m not trying to be all doom and gloom, but the world is reaching a breaking point. All the leaders can seem to do is conduct war and intentional death, as if natural catastrophes aren’t enough. Foolish wars are not the solution to the ills of the world right now. The western US is headed for disaster, and all the president is worried about is whether his hair looks just right for the TV shots. Or someone giving him some kind of contrived “peace” prize. This is not the man we need as we face imminent disaster here in the US. I’m not sure anyone is capable of leading the country through what’s coming, but this guy certainly isn’t.

There is an answer to our problems, but so few people can see it. Jesus Christ told us of these hard times that would devastate the world in the end days. He knew what was to come, and He assured us that under His guidance, there would be some of us who would be saved. I’m not saying we will finish this on our feet, but there’s a better time ahead for His people in the next life. That’s the one we should be concerned about – this world is finished – it’s too bad more people can’t see it, but most folks don’t want to think about the dark times ahead. Everyone wants to try whatever preparations they can to survive whatever apocalypse might be in the offing, and that’s just not going to work! If people do not have Jesus Christ living in their hearts, they will perish – both in this life and the one – the real one – ahead.

We can trust Jesus and have some peace of mind that no matter what disaster we have to face, we’ll ultimately overcome it all, or we can spend our last days in fear of this darkness that’s spreading everywhere. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m looking to the Lamb of God Who will ultimately rule. You should too – you’ll be eternally glad you did.

There are a few of us who are still shouting from the mountaintops. Folks need to listen and trust the Lord Jesus while they still can. He will accept you – He loves you more than you can even imagine! He even loves you enough to have died so you could be saved from this disastrous world. Things are seriously getting bad, folks, and there’s not a lot of time left to decide. Get right with the Lord asap!

MK