Does the great oak stand silent beside a glade of verdant solitude, still and vigilant, recalling in her solemn boughs a merriment long stilled? Has dwelt here children of sojourners among woodland and meadow creatures at play in swathes of damp clover mindless of care and interested in but gaiety, frolicking through dusky haze as fireflies are wont, yet mindless of gathering darkness, of impending arrival of sightless, senseless creatures brought forth from bitter times and dungeons of riot?
Under those oaken boughs and purchased with song of promise, yet unfulfilled and in great need a host of burdened and humble yet proud villages gaze from their dwellings in misplaced admiration of a nation long regarded to revel in prosperity, yet that hope of plenty dwells no longer upon this glade. Songbirds long taken to wing perch today here but in memory, woodland creatures indeed ceased wandering these environs and nurturing their young to thrive in forests of Provident abundance. A brooding stillness lies unperturbed over noisome fens long polluted by consummate and malevolent greed burning this forest, yet still the distant beggar desires his name, a mailbox here to grace, though it stand forlorn on some sad avenue of depredation where brambles and vines consume all.
From soiled places afar her light, once deemed with glorious with blazing allure, beckoned visitors, sang of virtue and pleasantries to delight the heart, has come feeble, no more than the flicker of a candle struggling for life in an incessant whirlwind of malice. The memorial lady, once who stood bravely with torch held high though long having ceased to burn, sadly gazes over ocean paths no longer plied by ships brimming with expectant hordes of strangers of strange tongues anxious to plow in new fields. Her feet now decay in mire as she feebly tries to warn away the few hopeful travelers who would seek refuge in her bosom.
Her cities, once proud and vibrant testaments to her abundance, are diminished, become dark and malodorous canyons where grotesquely deformed and mindless denizens awkwardly grope at unseen objects – objects only present in caverns which ever reveal infinite strangeness which only those destitute eyes perceive. They wander eternally through their own forests of calamity, seeking nothing, pondering nothing. High above, in sunlit arcades of the forest canopy, dwell lesser creatures, those who harvested the timber and created this bleakness, those who suppose themselves to be guardians.
As a dark wind approaches with the storm that will wash clean this sick, demented forest of empire, by now completely bereft of safe harbor to any, we bid farewell condolence to efforts of greater men who first sowed in her woodland. If trees are to become verdant, however, and boughs once again shall dance upon innocent summer breezes, those who love her memory – her inhabitants – must replant.
A thought went through my mind this morning and aside from revealing that there is some activity happening between these wrinkled old fuzzy ears that don’t work all that well, I decided to write a post about normal life here in the country for a change. Been too much discussion on the problems in the world lately and I have to admit I’ve been caught up in it. If you’ve been seeing my posts lately, I’m sure you’ll agree.
For one thing, the oppressors of this world probably enjoy seeing all of us folks stewing over the problems they create for us, so I doubt they’d enjoy a lighter spirited post that might lift folks’ mood somewhat, but there is life outside the Ukraine and Palestine. That doesn’t mean we should stop praying for those folks though.
Here in the Ozarks, where God has specially blessed our world. Instead of war, droughts, heat waves, volcanoes, landslides, and floods, we’ve been blessed, at least for this year. We’re getting plenty of rain but not too much, and that’s sort of unusual in mid-July. So, let’s talk garden…
Squash plants enjoying a rainy July
My garden has gone ballistic this year, there are tomatoes bigger than softballs, and my peas are going nuts. I grow southern field peas, specifically a variety called brown crowders – my favorite. You can cook up a “mess” of those little guys and throw in a chopped onion and a few pods of sliced okra with about three slices of cut-up bacon and some beef stock, and in a couple of hours you’ll have a bowl of peas that have caused men to propose marriage over. Oh, I have to wait a week or so for my okra to catch up – it’s just now starting to bloom.
First okra blooms are getting started – my daughter says they are her favorite flower
I’ve had friends when I lived south of Dallas who were of Czech descent, and they grew turnip greens, but they only kept the turnips and threw the greens out to the cows. I was aghast when I saw the farmer and his wife throwing perfectly good (and delectable) greens over the fence. I told them those greens were among the most wonderful foods this side of Heaven, and insisted they cook a pot of them up and try them – of course with the turnips included, which only adds to the delightful taste. They cooked some, and to my shock, they didn’t seem to like them as much as just the turnips alone. That set me to wondering what other weirdness had been bred into folks of Eastern European descent, but I guess to each his own.
My turnip greens have matured, and the row needs to be replanted, they grow fast and will make new batches until heavy frost, so I try to keep some in progress. Only problem is that we get kind of burned out on them and let them grow to maturity when they get tough with a bit stronger taste – still delicious, but the new fresh ones are best, we call them tender greens, actually better when they are very young before the turnips start growing. I had a friend when I was in the Navy who said that if God had made anything better than turnip greens, He kept it for Himself, and if that’s true, Heaven’s going to have some primo food!
A lot of folks think I have some kind of green thumb, but I really don’t. I don’t use almanacs – which may or may not help I don’t know, but I do say a prayer for God’s blessing on my garden when I start planting and I usually have a decent crop – just a small backyard garden, but it keeps us in fresh produce through the summer and I even have enough to make several trips a month with cucumbers, tomatoes and squash for the local food bank. I don’t take any brown crowders though. Not because I’m greedy, but it’s just that people this far north don’t grow field peas, although they do good here, so nobody is used to eating them and maybe it’s an acquired taste or something.
Some immature brown crowder peas – green here – they turn brown when they are shelled out and cooked.
As always, I’ve planted way more cucumbers than we need, but there are folks who can use them. This year I planted a strain called munchers, they didn’t come up as fast as I thought they should have, so I replanted the same row with another variety and, you guessed it, the munchers took longer and so came up with the other ones so now I have a crowded cucumber fence, but it’s all good.
Squash are doing their normal thing, but those pesky squash bugs are bad here. I usually get one or two good pickings of zucchini before the bugs get them. The yellow crooked neck squashes seem to last a little longer. There are a few things you can do to battle those bugs, but I just don’t have time.
Baby yellow squash – they grow fast – tomorrow these will be ready for a skillet.
If you haven’t tried growing a garden, I suggest you give it a shot. Of course, most of the folks who read these posts live in cities and aren’t able to enjoy gardening. Maybe y’all can enjoy reading about it anyways. It’s a therapeutic exercise and very enjoyable. Plus, you get the added benefit of fresh produce through the summer. In fact, there are varieties of squash that keep well on into the winter.
God bless all – try and keep a positive outlook in this old world of trouble and watch those radishes grow if you can.
How far removed are you from the pervasive evil of the world? Surely you recognize it, we all do, but how do we know we are not part of it? Do you sleep well at night knowing that the life you live or the livelihood you pursue is far removed from rejection of God’s will? If so, then good, but if there is a nagging doubt that the weapons factory in which you work only makes a profit when there is a war happening, or the pharmaceutical plant where you work is involved in the production of specious “medicines” that kill people, or highly addictive drugs that only pad the accounts of wealthy stockholders. Maybe you work for a banking organization whose usurious practice creates poverty, or maybe you’re in law enforcement, stealing from citizens under the malevolent and criminal “asset forfeiture” arrangement. Maybe you’re a legislator who passes such abominable (and unconstitutional) laws.
It should be incumbent on all of us to examine the part we play in the evil that overwhelms the world in which we live. How many degrees of separation does it take for us to be confident the role we play in the immense sins of the world make us innocent bystanders? Is the money you donate to the megachurch sufficient to absolve you of complicity in the depredations upon the innocent peasants being slaughtered in Gaza? Are you sure the financial support your church is sending to the Palestine occupation isn’t going towards aiding in the work of Satan? Are your hands clean?
courtesy guideposts.org
Regardless of what a lot of people think, if one claims to be a Christian, one must do their best to live according to how Jesus taught us, and that does not mean simply throwing some cash into the offering plate and going on about living a decadent, immoral lifestyle. What’s the difference in depending on your financial support to make nice with God while continuing to live a sinful life, and the practice of indulgences practiced by the Roman Church? If you live an immoral lifestyle, or if you contribute in any way to those who murder children, you are not living a Christian life, no matter your financial “sacrifice”. How hard is that to understand?
As you look up and down the pews, or tiers at all the people surrounding you in the luxurious temples of blasphemy that pass for churches, you undoubtedly see hundreds, perhaps thousands of like-minded people, ostensibly in the service of God, but you are deceiving yourself. Just because there are many folks there like you, it doesn’t mean you are truly serving Jesus Christ and there is no strength in numbers – get real! Jesus Christ will deal with every one of us individually during the judgement. It doesn’t matter if the queue is a thousand, or a million miles long, each of us will have our turn, God has no need to rush, we will be thoroughly scrutinized. Whatever deeds we did in our lives will be examined, and for those who have rejected Jesus, it will be a terrifying experience.
courtesy blogspot.com
Lives will be replayed, and every sinful incident, every theft, every shameful immoral act, every time we hurt another human or even mistreated an animal will be there like some horrible video for all to see. Maybe your advocate will be the likes of Joel Osteen or Judas Hagee, feebly trying to convince God that your contributions to the church are enough to see you into Heaven, but to your eternal consternation, God won’t take your debit card. Those false prophets will receive a much greater damnation too – count on it.
Many of us – those who have rejected the abominable lifestyle and repented – will have an infallible advocate, none other than Jesus Christ. In the court of the Almighty, Jesus will never lose a case. Our misdeeds in this life will mysteriously be gone – there will be no exhibits with which to determine our guilt of transgressing God’s law, because when we accepted Jesus as our Savior and Friend, those sins were washed away by the precious blood of Jesus Christ Himself – the Father will need no further convincing – our sins will be at the bottom of the ocean, never to be found again, and we will be will be accepted into the most marvelous Kingdom imaginable, in fact it is unimaginable, a tranquil, wonderful place where a mansion of indescribable splendor awaits those of us who love the Lord. The overwhelming joy and peace that undoubtedly will be emotionally and physically felt, will be there – forever.
courtesy wallpaperboat.com
The fact of the matter is this; God does not need your money – He has all of the wealth in the universe. If you contribute to the synagogue of Satan, remember, these are avowed enemies of Jesus Christ, who, if you read your own Bible, you will find are not even the people they claim to be. The occupation of Palestine is being carried out by imposters – Jesus said this Himself – so if you think your financial contribution to this evil entity is going to make you any points with God the Father, you are sadly mistaken. You will find yourself among the ones whom Jesus will tell, “Depart from Me, ye workers of iniquity, I NEVER KNEW YOU!” What a horrible thing to hear Jesus Christ saying – especially when it’s you to whom He’s speaking!
Indeed, it will be a shocking thing to hear the Lord cast you away, never to enjoy the abundant glory that will overwhelm us in the presence of God. Being told to depart from Him will absolutely be the most horrible, the most terrifying words a person will ever hear in all of eternity, not least because of the alternative, but to be cast away from His glory is going to be unimaginably horrific, once an unrepentant sinner has seen what it will be like in paradise, afterwards forever to be denied access. The tormented souls will suffer anguish alone in outer darkness where their misery will cause gnashing of teeth – forever – and the sinner won’t even be able to look forward to dying to get out of it, even if we can’t wrap our heads around the concept – forever means forever. The human soul is eternal – it cannot be destroyed, so how does God deal with this paradox? He forgets you ever existed. Let that one sink in – you are suffering in torment in absolute darkness for all of eternity, and no one even remembers you ever existed – but you know, and there you are!
There will be a small (comparatively) group of folks, however who will hear the most comforting, joyous words ever to be heard by man, “Well done, good and faithful servant, you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.“! These people will be the ones who listened when He called, the ones who decided that earthly pleasures and sin cannot be compared to what He offers. Can you imagine the sheer exuberance, the victorious reverie that will come into your heart to hear Jesus Christ say that? To all who think they know what success in this life means – that will be SUCCESS!
courtesy ar.inspiredpencil.com
Take a good look at where you are, and how far removed from the sins of the world you choose to be. There are many places and pursuits that can be justified and/or rationalized but which are snares of Satan. A paycheck does not justify a man compromising his principles, or the principles of God. We all have to understand that – separate ourselves from the malevolent vagaries of the world – far enough so that we don’t have to wonder if we’re far enough or not. A few extra bucks in the offering can be a good thing, but if your support is going to enemies of Jesus – or if you’re trying to buy yourself a ticket to Heaven, you’re wasting your time.
It’s not too late, but it’s looking like it soon will be. Please get to know Jesus – He’s the best Friend you could ever have.
I guess the whole world has to be destroyed. People don’t seem to care about it anymore, and that’s a shame. God created something wonderful here, and people only think of it in terms of how they can profit from it – or destroy it. It looks like Satan’s plan is to completely eradicate everything God made, and by using greedy and immoral people to do his bidding, it looks like he’s getting it done.
I cannot tell whether or not the ongoing demise of things natural are a result of abuse or neglect by mankind, but I suspect it is, at least to some degree; certainly, the shredded forests on the Ukrainian battlefields testify to the extent to which they are able that mankind’s aggressive behavior tends to create havoc for the environment. It’s a sad thing to see, those big old innocent trees with all their leaves and branches blown off and gnarled, sad boughs looking like some kind of perverted chipping machine ripped through them. Did you ever wonder how many birds and squirrels die from bomb and artillery blasts? How about fish and sea creatures when a big underwater explosion happens? I didn’t think so. They call it collateral damage, but it’s sad – and totally avoidable, nevertheless. There are vast swathes of the planet that are polluted with depleted uranium, poisons from defoliants, and radiation. The burning brush land of Galilee is especially heart-wrenching to me because Jesus Himself lived in that part of the world, and now we watch – and He watches – as the countryside of what was once His earthly home is ravaged by fires of war. All these losses are unnecessary, but the human beings that are slaughtered by such malign offenses are the saddest of all.
Fire in Galilee courtesy jta.org
When the hell that is war visits a city, or a nation, everything that transpires until it is over can rightfully be seen as tribute being paid to Satan. He is at the pinnacle of his power when human beings, once created in the image of God, are killing each other in mass numbers. The Bible tells us his time here on earth is short, so he creates as much havoc as he possibly can for the short time in which he has control, and I believe war is one of his primary objectives among men. Of course, his main focus is the destruction of the true Church of Jesus Christ, for when believers come to be without hope, without love, he wins.
courtesy lapcoc.org
For some ridiculously inexplicable reason, there are people, many people, who are able to convince themselves that there is some imaginary limit to the evil that can be perpetrated, but don’t believe that for a second. For instance, when discussing the possible involvement of the government in the 9/11 debacle, some folks argue that our government wouldn’t do something that malevolent – the event was just too evil. A lot of these same people seem to recognize that Satan holds the reins of power of our government, so how evil is too evil for them? Nothing, no sin or evil deed that could be committed or even imagined in all of creation is too evil for Satan. Whether or not the government was involved in 9/11 will one day be determined, but if it turns out that they were not (which I highly doubt), it won’t be because it was too evil of a deed for them. Once leaders of nations have signed on to serve the devil, nothing is too evil for them. It is preposterous to believe otherwise.
WTC on 9/11 courtesy catholic.org
It’s a horrible sin to kill people, especially innocent people, a sin of which many world leaders are guilty, and one aspect of that, the ramifications of which do not seem to occur to a lot of folks is that when someone throws a war, innocent people always die. That happens because wars are designed by Satan, and he always goes after the innocent. In the Nuremburg tribunal at the conclusion of WWII, the concept was established that whenever a country engages in a war of aggression, the leader(s) of that country are guilty of all of the war crimes that are committed in that war, including the deaths of civilians, and to a reasonable person that would seem to be a fair judgement. If God uses that measure, then there are a lot of past and present leaders – especially in the 20th and 21st century west – who will have much for which to answer.
An extremely important aspect of all of this – at least for believers who profess to be Christians, is the involvement and/or the support of the “church” in the malign activities of some world governments. I just read a post that expressed how many “Christian Zionists” are at large in this country, and the number is staggering – in the tens, possibly hundreds of millions. This fact alone proves without question what Jesus said about the gate being wide that leads to destruction. It also proves that very few of these “Christians” read their Bibles. These people are the ones who are making the slaughter of innocent people in Gaza possible. If the mega-churches in the United States were to stop supporting the evil – certainly unChristian – mass-murder of innocent women and children and publicly proclaim that position, it would stop quickly. You see, the politicians in DC support the Zionist regime because of the vast number of voters who support it (not to mention the vast sums of money that come their way). A big chunk of those voters are avowed Zionists who haunt the mega-churches, so the occupation regime gets unlimited support – mostly in the form of weapons and money. In turn, the church leaders get millions of shekels and dollars, so what’s not to like? Incredibly, these folks seem to actually believe there is even such a thing as a Christian Zionist, or Judeo Christian. There ain’t. But then, Judas sold Jesus out too, for 30 pieces of silver which must have been a handsome reward for the greatest treason in human history which, by the adherence of mega-churches to these irresponsible doctrines, is reappearing in spades.
courtesy Ancient Origins
Folks who have read the Bible understand that there have been times past when people turned away from God and the results were always horrible for them. In Noah’s day, the world was flooded and only he and his family were saved. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were utterly turned to ashes. The followers of Moses turned away from God and were abandoned by God to die in the wilderness. We are at another pivotal time in human history in which the vast majority of people have turned away from Him, so what can we expect? People have become evil, vile, greedy, theft and immorality abound in every form. There is no love to be found, with the exception of Christian believers who choose the narrow gate to the Kingdom. What can we expect indeed?
There are passages in the book of Revelation that describe, as well as can be elucidated by a first-century prophet, some awesome things that are about to happen. They speak of the fearsome wrath of an angry God who hears the prayers of His people seeking deliverance from the evil that permeates this world. There is no way this writer could begin to describe the horrific fear and dread that will overcome the hearts of all peoples of the earth who have denied the Son of God. It will be an unimaginable fear that people will feel in their bones, and it will not go away – God will wreak terrible vengeance on all who have shunned and turned away from Him, from His beloved Son who was sacrificed for them. The heavens will tremble, the earth will shake, horrific fire will come down from the sky, and the much-adored leaders of men, mighty men, generals, celebrities, and all those who have been wealthy in this life – will be trying to find holes in the ground to hide from His face, but that won’t happen. When all of this happens, the poor, the peacemakers, and all other true followers of Jesus, His sheep, will not be afraid, they will rejoice to see their beloved King and friend – which side of this do you choose to end up on?
For Pete’s sake, most folks should know by now that you can’t believe anything you hear or read on the mainstream news anymore. That’s a sad fact, but nonetheless, a fact it is. So why are they still operating? My guess is that they are getting a sizeable portion of their revenues from sources other than advertisers, but that’s just my guess.
God has a way of working His will in which He completely subverts attempts by men in the service of the enemy to try and cause us to deviate from following Him, and it’s often done through the most ironic of irony. For instance, if you google Operation Mockingbird, you’ll find that it is an ongoing project to feed disinformation and propaganda from our “intelligence” agencies into the public domain using our news networks. Some of the garbage they produce makes a person who is knowledgeable of this Satanic operation shake his head in incredulity at the level of “intelligence” in it.
First of all, you have to realize that it has become the objective of national “intelligence” to create false narratives, often impossibly false narratives, to John Q Public, with the (usually correct) assumption that he won’t question them. For real, most folks actually bought the 9/11 story. I think at first the purpose of the lies was to obtain public support for (usually outrageous) moves that said intel agencies deemed to be appropriate foreign policy. Even then, intel products only served the interests of the wealthy defense investors who massively profit from the public fear their lies could provoke. What passes for “intelligence” is intended to totally misinform people about issues for which they should be honestly apprised.
Intelligence agencies have grown in number and in the level of unintelligent policies they produce. The only thing at which they have excelled to date has been their unmatched ability to tell lies, and as a result of their proficiency at deceit, they now and perhaps will always have lost any remote ability to either disseminate, or recognize, truth in any form. It has become their number one priority to create and disseminate, false narratives – lies. That’s absolutely the only thing they can do, and until today it has worked out for them, but lately they are losing their touch – their lies have become so obvious (and odious), and so unreasonable, that most folks can see right through them nowadays. As they dutifully spew their detritus, even the most dedicated reporters on TV seem to wonder, and rightfully so, if their stories are being bought. So, the one and only thing they (intel) ever were good at – lying – is failing them. But they’re still fabricating full tilt.
courtesy wallpaperflare.com
I’m sure their father, Satan is becoming very disappointed with them for losing their focus. After all Jesus said Satan is the father of all lies, so it only stands to reason that agencies, persons, or entities whose main goal in life is to deceive people are Satan’s willing servants. The main servants of Satan, the wealthy, see the lies becoming transparent and seem to be getting flustered. Ukraine is demonstrably not defeating Russia, the occupying power in Palestine is not acting in self-defense, and I’m sure the powers that be are wondering when the peasants will get enough and borrow that tool of restitution from the French.
A couple of the points this post is trying to make is that the irony of those involved in intelligence is that instead of intelligence, they are now so beset with ignorance that they have become an unfunny joke. Another is that they have devolved to the point where such issues as foreign policy, military assessment, and other pursuits on which intelligence groups should be working, actually seem to have become trivial and taken the back seat to the construction of false narratives – they lie simply to be lying and, of course to create more wealth for people who are already wealthy. An example of this is creating a lie that, say, a country like Russia is getting ready to invade us so the only possible option is to assign many billions of dollars to Lockheed Martin or Raytheon.
courtesy freerangestock.com
Everybody knows they taught the military boys it was ok to torture “enemy combatants”, and that they came up with that disingenuous designation so it would appear to justify torturing them, but I’m getting into the weeds – we have evolved to a place where intelligence work is about as far from intelligent as you can get – at least in this country, but still, I can’t help but imagine what a great general like Patton would think of allowing our guys to torture enemy POWs. It’s only logical that if the enemy knows that if they give up, they are going to be tortured, they will fight to the death rather than surrender, thus costing unnecessary lives in battle. Any general – or intelligence official – would know better than to torture POWs. But then, intelligence spooks (and politicians) aren’t concerned with such mundane things as the lives of their soldiers.
courtesy vintagenewsdaily.com
Intelligence organizations are all about security of their assets and buildings, but I couldn’t for the life of me, understand why any of our adversaries would want to infiltrate any of our intel agencies – why should they? – such a move might impede their self-destruction. It’s fairly obvious the only people who actually have infiltrated our intelligence agencies are sold to us as allies. Many of the more reliable alternative media sources I watch keep saying that America is headed over a cliff. I think if we go over it, our congress, “think tanks”, but especially our “intelligence” agencies, will be responsible.
Blessedare the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. [Matt 5:9]
This morning, I stepped out with a cup of coffee and strolled through the dew-soaked grass before the sun peeked over the east rim of the holler. It’s cool out there, I think some sort of front came through last night – we could hear rumbles of distant thunder at dusk, and we got a little bit of rain through the night, so maybe that moisture on the grass was more than just dew. We’ll take any rain we can get this time of the year.
You tend to get lost in your thoughts at my age, and especially with all of the things that are happening in the world. I guess most folks don’t spend as much time fretting over the world’s ills as some of us, and that may be a blessing – or it may be a curse, depending on how you look at it, at any rate I think God’s children should be concerned with the moral trajectory of the world.
This summer has been especially lush and green around these parts, at least so far. For that I’m thankful, not far from here in almost any direction, tornadoes have ravaged the country. Some of our not-so-far-away neighbors have endured some nasty floods, but those things are just what has happened nearby. Further around this old ball of dirt, folks are suffering catastrophic heat that is actually killing people. there have been floods and hailstorms, the likes of which I don’t think the world has ever seen, at least in living memory. We have been blessed here in this old holler.
Under vast clouds of smoke and dust in the Ukraine, the Sahel of Africa, and the Middle East, deadly wars and outright massacres, are being conducted, taking innumerable lives – lives cut short by whatever lunacy of the day prevails in those places. As I wade through the cool, wet carpet of summer grass, my heart gets heavy thinking about all of the children in places like Gaza – actually there are no “places like” Gaza – it’s horror of its own, but those little ones, the very epitome of innocence, are being slaughtered and starved in a mausoleum of horror that no person, let alone a toddler, should ever be forced to endure.
Many moons ago before I realized college wasn’t going to be of much value to me, there was a history course I took, and the thing I remember most about it was that the thoughtful professor assigned us to read a book called “Inside the Vicious Heart”. I don’t know if it’s even still in print, but the basic theme was that all people have it in them to inflict unimaginable cruelty on their fellow human beings, and given the right conditions, i. e., making it legal to kill (war works for this), having superiors who encourage brutality, dehumanizing others to the point that one doesn’t regard them as human anymore, all work to remove natural homo sapiens inhibitions and allow that incredibly evil and apathetic trait of humans to surface. Then we get Wounded Knee, Mi Lai, Gaza, Pol Pot, and uncountable other atrocities. People on people violence and slaughter.
There’s something about recognition of this human condition that Satan and his servants in this world do not like to see made public and that’s really odd, but just look at how they twist the atrocities taking place in Palestine to try and make it look like it’s something justified. For crying out loud, look at what they did to Julian Assange for exposing the brutality of the US military. The devil doesn’t like for the evil he imposes on humanity to be exposed. At least not at this point in our history. Wars are always regarded as being over resources or political arguments or land, but the hard and cold fact is wars are conducted because of human susceptibility to the influence of Satan. Wars happen because people can be convinced it’s ok to kill each other, and once they set to it, they do it with vigor.
Another facet of this, although a bit aside from the main topic is that cruelty and brutality are conducted of more than one style and measure, for instance, what is happening in the Ukraine is war, but what is happening in Gaza is merciless slaughter of innocent people. Before anyone gets their feathers ruffled, I know the Ukraine action is called a Special Military Operation instead of a war, but that’s just a bunch of legalese, it’s a war and we all know it’s a war, but my point is, in both cases, the guys with the guns have been convinced of the righteousness of their cause. The inhumanity they perceive in their crosshairs then proceeds to let that horrible human condition dictate they set their conscience aside and pull the trigger. And their fellow humans die.
Courtesy publicdomainpictures.net
As the birds woke up and started to put nature’s soundtrack into my musings, I consider the after-effects of the inhuman behavior Satan evokes on those young men and women who have temporarily become convinced it’s ok to kill. Especially the ones who murder the innocent little kids on purpose. Do they wake up in the middle of the night to the screams of terrified little toddlers whose blood they have spilled? Is that why, out of the presence of those almighty superiors, their consciences become so heavy that they kill themselves as the only way to stop the echoing screams of the ghosts of those children? There is a phenomenal rate of military and ex-military suicides going on, and from what we hear, the most of them fought in places like Gaza, Iraq, and even Vietnam, where the “enemy”, or at least the enemy they killed, was defenseless. When they allowed Satan to remove the constraints of conscience and intentionally killed little children, women, and old people it must have become unbearable on the human soul to continue life with such a burden on their hearts. It’s the ones who have participated in such behavior and do not kill themselves that society needs to worry about, for they have the capacity to become brutal murderers off the “battlefield”.
I wonder about how the pilots of the aircraft, or the drone operators placate their consciences when they see pictures of the death and destruction of innocents in places like Raqqa and Gaza City. Was the removal of their sword strokes sufficient to assuage their mortal culpability for atrocities like that picture I saw of the little girl in the debris of Raqqa with only her beautiful little head to be seen with a plaited ponytail her mother had undoubtedly spent part of the morning fixing up. An American pilot dropped that bomb. Did he see the picture? If so, was there any remorse at all in his heart, or was he able to absolve his culpability? Was he merely playing some morbid video game, and felt no more guilt than a kid with a game controller in his hand?
Will the men and women who were players on Satan’s team endure the cost of guilt for the rest of their lives for killing innocents? I knew guys who had fought in WWII, and some of them were seriously damaged in their souls. WWII soldiers fought in a war that might have been justifiable, and those old boys carried some heavy baggage till they died. Just think about soldiers, or pilots, or drone operators, who have mercilessly taken part in murdering thousands of innocent children – their participation was voluntary, nobody made them kill. When these people stand before God on judgement Day, if they haven’t repented for their participation in these atrocities, they will pay the ultimate price. Satan recruited them, trained them, convinced them it was okay to kill their fellow human beings, and when he was through with them, discarded them into the dark noisome dumpsters of their guilty hearts. That’s his way.
The horror won’t be over until we come to understand and accept that wars have to be over, and I’m afraid that’s not going to happen. From what I’ve seen and read in the Bible, I think our Lord is getting fed up with what mankind has done to His creation, and we don’t have a lot of time left here, the best thing we can do is to get right with Jesus and when He winds it all up, we’ll be able to live in peace at last.
Then about the time the crows started waking up and complaining, I decided to take my heavy musings inside and write this heavy post.
Where is your vision? Where is your confidence? Are you among the multitudes who have been deceived into the notion that it’s still okay to accept the horrible things that are going on in this world and say nothing for fear of attracting the attention of the enemy? I’m not sure how things will evolve from here, but you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to be able to tell that things have gone beyond any point of return to “normalcy”, in fact, if you are a rocket scientist it might be harder for you to see it.
As I’ve mentioned in other posts, it’s abundantly clear that we are living in the last days of our existence as humans on this planet. People are dying by the thousands from the record heat in places around the world. Floods are occurring in places that have till now hardly ever even received much rain. Slaughters and wars are taking the lives of hundreds of thousands. At this writing, the Campi Flegri super volcano in Italy is shaking the ground in what many scientists are saying is a pre-eruptive phase – if this one goes off, there’s going to be a whole new basket of problems with which Europe, maybe the world will have to deal if it’s powerful enough, it might be the last.
We sit on the razor’s edge of nuclear war and the guys with their fingers on the button are itching to get it going, but the Lord is giving people like this old Grandpa time to get the messages out before it all happens to give everyone a last chance to come to grips with the reality of Jesus Christ and what he means to us in these troubled times. There are those who laugh at this notion now, but I’m thoroughly convinced that everyone will stop laughing quite shortly. God sees a world that is behaving as it has in times past, such as in the days of lustful decadence that consumed the world prior to the flood of Noah’s time. God was so angered that He was ready to completely wipe out all of mankind but decided to give us another chance. Another time His anger was on display was during the destruction of that immoral and sick bunch of people in Sodom. Think about what that must have been like, seeing fire raining down from the sky and having nowhere to hide from it. Now imagine it on a scale of the whole planet instead of just one or two perverted towns. The world is just as immoral today as it was in the days of Sodom, and I’m pretty sure He is just as angry as He was back then. It ain’t gonna be pretty folks.
Courtesy googodministry.com
We can all see and feel it coming. It’s just a matter of how long He chooses to wait. When the very last sinner on the earth that will be saved is saved, that’s when He’s going to light the place up and it will be an event of unimaginable terror. Nobody’s going to be thinking about their bank accounts or whatever luxurious properties they have, that big old multi-million-dollar mansion, their stash of gold, or even all that freeze-dried food they stored away. They’ll all be horrified – in total shock at the absolutely awesome power of an angry God, an indescribably irate Creator of the universe, and the ones who will experience the greatest fear will be those who rejected Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Who actually died at the hands of people of the same mindset as is throughout the world today. It will be a fear of such magnitude that you will be able to feel it in your bones. Many will be scrambling into their holes that they’ve carefully carved out of the ground and stocked with non-perishable foods and water and such, as if that would help them in any way from the angry God. For crying out loud, He created this world, does anyone not think He knows how to destroy it?!! When that Day comes, they will recognize the futility of all their preparations.
Courtesy freepic.com
Today we look to our scientists for information concerning things like asteroids or Yellowstone erupting, or even what to expect following a nuclear war. Think about this – whenever an “authority figure” tells you what will happen after such an event, he is smart enough to know that if and when a cataclysm of this nature occurs, he might be dead wrong about what the world will be like, or if you took the correct survival strategy, but who cares? After such an event, who’s going to be around to hold him to account for being completely wrong? They can say anything, no matter how preposterous, and it won’t matter one whit after such an event – whether they were correct or whether they were dead wrong! Curiously, the one thing all of them are studiously avoiding is to warn you about being right with God – that’s the answer to all the dilemmas we will face, if we are unfortunate enough to survive the coming apocalypse.
We must learn of Jesus Christ and take that all-important decision to follow Him in order to be safe from that which we fear, but there are other tremendous blessings to be had in taking shelter with Him from the impending storm. For one thing He has a special place in His heart for the poor, so if one happens to be a worker in an African diamond mine, or a rickshaw driver in Mumbai, or (and these are near and dear to Him) a simple fisherman, He is already in a favorable position with Jesus. Don’t get the wrong idea, He is perfectly willing to accept a person with wealth into His Kingdom, but the wealth will have to go first. He spoke with one wealthy young man and told him that he was right with God in every other aspect of his life, but he’d have to give up his wealth in order to follow Him, and the fellow couldn’t bring himself to part with his riches, a choice which prompted the Lord to say, ” [Matthew 19:23] “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Any wonder why the wealthy of the world don’t like for us to tell folks about Jesus?
Courtesy fineartamerica.com
It is beyond the purpose of this post to engage in any kind of argument over religion or sectarian dogma – in all honesty, we don’t have time for that sort of thing. It is my purpose to tell all of y’all (ok, I’m from the south) about the Lord Jesus and just how much you mean to Him. Y’all seriously need to know about Jesus Christ and if I’m getting cross-threaded with you because of your current religion or religious practice, I ask you to at least look into the possibility of serving Him – He’s the only One who can promise us eternal life in joy and peace. For now though, we don’t have much time left, He’s gathering His people right now. The Bible says in Revelation, “Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come [j]for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
Courtesy ids.org
Folkpotpourri been blessed to have readers from many nations with whom I can share, and if I’m speaking to those who do in fact practice other faiths, I implore you to check out the Kingdom of Christ – you’ll find there is no other way to serve our God, who as mentioned will be extremely upset with all who rejected His Son because they rejected His Son. Jesus is the Centerpiece of salvation, the Key to our becoming a servant of the Almighty. Believe in Him now, and when we get to Heaven we will have all of eternity to argue the merits of any faith (other than the faith in Jesus Christ) you will need to leave behind – if you still so choose to argue them.
We face catastrophic times and events and we all know it. There is little we can do to avoid them because the power of the evil one is greater than our power. We have an opportunity to become a part of that great harvest, but we must come to Him who wields the sickle, repent of our sins, get baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. For all who are hesitant to believe because of there being Three, trust me, they are all one – I don’t know how, no one else does either, regardless of what they say (unless they are a prophet), because there are a lot of things about the spirit world that God did not give us the ability to understand, however we will know one day. God can take as many forms or identities as He chooses. He’s still God.
Courtesy renewalchristiancenter.org
How wonderful it will be to stand tall in the face of the coming catastrophes, fully aware that we have absolutely nothing to fear because we are safely in the care of the Son of God! Yea, though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we need fear no evil, for He is with us – that means everything, friends! Let those who walked without faith be the ones to fear and tremble at His wrath and His astonishing glory when He comes back – instead of fear, we who trust Jesus shall be filled with unimaginably joyful exuberance. So, learn of Him, know Him, love Him.
As I begin this post, I wonder how many of my countrymen read what happened last night as another of the many indications of how far this mighty country has fallen. Are there people who witnessed that debacle as saddened as me?
Let me just begin by saying that among the biggest if not the biggest, of the travesties of the “debate” probably went unnoticed by most, but it struck me like an axe handle upside the head – we have become so inured to the lunacy by which we are constantly inundated that everyone climbed into their lazy boys and popped open a beer and actually believed they were about to watch a presidential debate. The biggest travesty of the debate is that so many gullible Americans actually thought it was a debate.
There were two “moderators” who would attempt, and probably succeed at convincing their audience that their offering for the night would be a genuine face-off between two people who, with the purported mandate of the voting public would make a case for why each of them deserved to occupy the purported highest office in the land, and that the choices before them were somehow the most qualified to inherit said office. There are around three hundred million people in this nation and these two men are the runners for the office of president. This ain’t right, folks.
Jake Tapper and Dana Bash might well be two of the highest paid and well-known actors in the country pretending that what they were moderating was an actual contest and that their audience, the voters of the U.S., somehow actually believed (many of them did) this farce was the real deal. It was a clown show of the highest order and Jake and Dana were the ringmasters for the night’s performance. Suffice it to say that even if elected to the office, neither of the two contestants would be in control of anything. The real contest is between the puppet masters who would be in control of whichever of these men might win the election, and that really isn’t much of a contest either, because the same puppet masters would control whichever of them wins anyway, but for the bread-and-circus aspect of the show, the audience needs to believe, or at least pretend to believe there might be a difference in how they would run things if elected.
I’m doing my best to stay away from the substance of the “debate”, mainly because there was none, and not to demean or attack either of the contestants, because as we all know both of them would be and are, easy prey. I’m trying to drive home the point that this was not a substantive debate on issues of import to the voting public, it was reality TV at its worst. The discussions today are about how demented someone is, or how narcissistic one of them might be instead of where they stand on given issues or what the difference might be in their positions on items of concern, and rightfully so – these men have no business even being considered for the office of President of the US, but here we are. We are listening to pundits talking about whether or not President Biden would “last” through another term, but the poor old codger is not lasting through this one – he can’t. Who are we trying to fool? Enough on Biden – I’m trying not to go there.
The truth of the matter is, and everyone knows it but afraid to bring it up, the people surrounding the president are directing him, and would be if Trump wins. Exactly the same. There are the real string pullers who will instruct the nominee who to select and put into his cabinet, then as now, the real puppet masters will make all the decisions, especially those concerning foreign policy, and through those cabinet members, will relay their edicts through whoever the Blinken or the Sullivan of the next administration turns out to be, and the very same people who will be running the show that are running the show in this administration.
Nothing will change as a result of this “election” regardless of which one of the contestants win. This “debate” is simply bread and circus for the masses, as it will continue until late into the night of the election with drowsy-eyed rednecks reeking of stale beer glued to the TV as the California results are counted and cursing the TV as Trump vote counts come up short in precincts around LA as they knew would happen anyways.
This was not a debate. Neither of these men will make any difference on anything important to American voters. Sure, they might toss a bone out to the masses on some variation of their position on abortion – the string-pullers couldn’t care less either way on abortion so a pretend president would be allowed to make a show out of his stance, but I guarantee neither of them could make a decision on starting or not starting a war or discontinuing foreign financial aid to certain countries. Neither of them could open a new investigation into the events of 9/11. There are many issues over which the president would be expected, and should be able to make calls, but with the stranglehold that oligarchs have over our entire government, the president of the US is simply a marionette of the wealthy.
I don’t understand why He has put it on my heart to say the things I have to say, but I do honestly feel – I KNOW – that our time here is growing very short, and the words He has given me need to be said, and considered, and quickly if the readers of this are to be able to avoid or endure the tribulation ahead. There are those who scoff as unbelievers, others who get uncomfortable when they think their world is threatened, but this post is not a threat to our existence, it’s an admonition, a recognition that our existence is indeed threatened, but not by this writer. It is witness of a Way through these troubled times we must endure here at the end.
Who is He? How could a person begin to say, within the confines of a website post or the limits of mortal language? I’m speaking of Jesus Christ and am thankful and amazed that He gives a mere human being the authority and the confidence to speak of Him – with such words as we have. He is Jesus Christ and He is very much alive and aware of our hopes, our needs, our fears.
He is the only begotten Son of God, born of a virgin woman and He’s the inheritor of everything in all of creation. He is in the night sky filled with stars, in each raindrop that falls to grace the earth, in the hearts of men, and His love is what holds all of creation together. He can be found in silent, peaceful places in the woods or in crowded bus stops, and in the hearts of people who share their money with strangers. His precious Spirit guides us through difficult times in our lives and shares our joy in times of peace and happiness, such as those wonderful moments when He allows a glimpse of His wonder into our souls. He shares our sorrow when we grieve as only the Man of sorrows could. He knows sorrow and grief as few of us ever will.
His Father is our Father, and He spent those precious few years while He was on the earth telling us just that, and that if we would like to come to the Father, we must go through the Son. He fulfilled a Covenant under which His earthly ancestors had lived for hundreds of years, and established a new one that will last until the very end. After we successfully emerge from the cocoon that is this existence, He will bestow kingship upon His faithful, those who follow Him will have overcome the world.
Courtesy annamariestrawhand.com
He taught those who would listen that our lives on this earth are short, and we need to spend our time in preparation for the next one, which He promises us will be magnificent and joyful beyond our imaginations if we but follow Him. He is a Friend in need, and the most gracious and loving Friend we could ever have. He is our Rock of Ages, our Shelter in the storm. He is at our side in good times, and in front of us during troubled times. He is our Banner, our Victory over this world!
If we are to attain to that victory, we must first realize that there is indeed a battle occurring and understand that there are no non-participant onlookers – we are all in this thing, so we have to pick a side. The question is, do we choose the side (on which we wish to be) based on the promise of a new boat, a private jet, or pickup truck or lots of money for this short time, or do we choose an unseen promise? Are we willing to allow this life to bloom and fade with only a few earthly possessions which will someday be left behind, but with a heart that overflows with joyful love for Him and for our fellow man which we will be able to take with us? Only Jesus can bestow that kind of heart to us, and He will give us what we need to achieve it.
Courtesy mungfali.com
I’m an old man now and I’ve seen many lives bloom and fade. I’ve experienced misbegotten admiration for those famous musicians, actors, businessmen, and others who appeared to be “successful” in this life, then I’ve watched as their flowers faded. Each and every one of us will fade. Unless you’re famous, in two generations, no one on earth will even know you existed. If the world lasts that long, your great-grandchildren will look upon your grave marker and not have even the remotest idea of who you were. Jesus, however, will know exactly who you were, and at the judgement, which is coming, He will require an account of how you spent your time here. Those famous rock stars and actors we all admired will be there, most of them in great fear of what is to come, but none of us considered this eventuality while they were performing in the glitz, nor did they. All lives fade away, and at the end, what is important isn’t how much money we made, it’s how we spent our time.
Freedom Cemetery
Jesus Christ is our King, and we need to recognize that and serve Him as good and loyal subjects. Our reward will be great if we do. Still, there are many who will spend their lives in pursuit of wealth and power, only to part with it at the end and become worm food, with a horrific future ahead for their souls. Then there are those who understand the need to drop whatever few mites we have into the alms collection, bend a knee once in a while and thank Him for His love and His grace, knowing we have a tremendous reward awaiting. We have to get it in gear, folks, our time is growing short to do so.
There’s a bridge down the road from here, they call it a high-water crossing- it’s a big concrete culvert shaped to allow the water in the creek it crosses to flow up and over it when there’s a lot of rain. When the creek is at or below normal levels, there are some big tubes or culverts that go right through the concrete for the water to run through. The little creek is especially pretty in normal times with the clearest Ozark water gently running through the greenery of the summer woods, or my favorite, the pastels of autumn.
Looking up the gentle little creek – picture taken from the crossing
The road running over it is just a two-lane blacktop – back where we came from in a previous life in East Texas, we called these “Farm to Market Roads”, just a low-traffic paved road through the country. Most of the back roads around here though, are not paved at all. These are dirt, or gravel roads, and they can get kind of rough, especially in the dry days of summer when they grow a series of ridges that form perpendicular to the direction of travel and are evenly spaced about a foot apart. They cause your vehicle to rattle and at the right speed, you can lose traction and actually skid on them as you navigate through a silent forest of dusty goldenrods or brilliant trees of autumn.
Maple and hickory on Timberline Road
My favorite arteries through the backcountry are the many foot trails that wind in the woods out here. No roads at all, you just hoof it through the woods and listen to the birds and insects and feed the ticks. When the weather’s bad though, you are relegated to travel by automobile, and if the rain is really crazy, the high-water crossings become inundated and you either find another way to where you’re going or just stay home. Here in the hills, the drainage through the hollers is such that a lot of water can collect in the many creeks and rivers, and I guess the county budgets don’t have enough funds to build real bridges on all of the back roads. The crossings can be dangerous to attempt when the water’s up though.
Same creek as top picture on a less benevolent day
When you come to one of those crossings when the water’s high, it gives you pause to think about situations we come upon in life where things get difficult for us. Like the ravaging flood waters, we often find ourselves in situations in which we have to consider our options, which during times of high water, are limited.
I suppose the first thing to consider is whether or not we really need to get across, how important is our destination? Do we need to get there badly enough to risk the peril of getting washed down the creek if we were to try to cross? Can our destination wait – usually a few hours – until the water goes back down? Is the trip worth going, often several miles, back and around a different route? Difficulties like this we encounter on a road trip bear a similarity to hazards we get into on our life’s journey.
Where are we going, and what kinds of risks are we prepared to take to get there? Seriously, if we’re on life’s road and we are required to make a decision in difficult circumstances, can we do so with a degree of confidence that we might get through, or on the other hand, might our choice lead us to a catastrophe? Is the threat of going through our obstacle at what might turn out to be a high cost worth the threat of not getting where we are going? If we’re trying to get to a fishing hole, maybe it would be prudent to turn around and try again later or maybe not at all. But if we have a family member down that road in dire need of help and whose life is depending on us getting to them, it might be more incumbent to try to get through.
As this old grandpa sees it, we are all on an important mission traveling down this road we call life. It is of the utmost importance that we understand what’s at stake at the end of this road – which for mankind is everything – we must get there with our spirit intact! But in this journey of which I speak, there is only one Route we can take, and unfortunately there will inevitably be some serious hazards. Those hazards will be placed before us by that wily old Devil himself. To mention a few, i.e., the promise of wealth can get in front of us (in so many ways), an inopportune high water of immorality that appears before us, and that one is particularly insidious, given our human nature, or any other of a myriad of earthly distractions. Whatever your flooded high-water crossing, on this trip you have no choice – you absolutely must get beyond the hazard, but how? How do you face that raging torrent of fear, anger, lust, pride – all of which are set before you to hinder your journey?
The answer is already in your heart, and all you have to do is listen to it. He said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock…” – He’s already there. He will face that obstacle with you and take your hand and lead you through it. There’s no doubt He can do it – He was observed by eyewitnesses shutting down a major storm at sea! There’s no need to fear even the most intimidating dark cloud of discouragement when the Son of God is with you. There’s a lot of chaos and evil in the world today and it’s getting worse by the hour, but there is no threat He is unable to overcome – He’s the best Friend you can have and the only One you need.
Please don’t go trying to drive through a flooded crossing – this whole story is obviously a metaphor for problems we encounter on our life’s journey, and the answer is Jesus Christ – the answer to all distractions and dilemmas that might hinder our progress. At this point in our world, we could be annihilated to vapor in any given instant of time, or worse, we might find ourselves having survived a cataclysmic occurrence looking forward to a horrible future, but nevertheless, we have to get and stay right with Jesus and I’m serious as a heart attack, if we want to come out on the other side of this – to our destination – as we must. I can promise you’ll never for an instant be sorry you did.
