We have a tendency to try and ignore things that either don’t make sense to us or things that take a little cogitation to properly understand. Maybe a psychologist could determine if this is normal human response when things get a bit confusing or uncomfortable to ponder, but whatever the reason, folks tend to shy away rather than confront whatever reality is swinging at them. If such a reality was a gunny sack full of bricks, it would be perfectly understandable, but often enough those issues can be seen as bits of potential experience that might work out better for us if we manned up and confronted them – kind of like that proverbial schoolyard bully – and if we still do not act on such things, at least we can try to make some kind of sense of them.

As this post materializes, and as the reader who is familiar with folkpotpourri articles is no doubt aware, once again the subject tackles how the lack of knowledge and/or awareness of the causes of some of our problems always exacerbates the negative effects of them. Most especially if our ignorance is intentional. Specifically, this post will attempt to address how the ignorance of some issues and their causes allows us to assuage our consciences with unconscionable perceptions of, and therefore positions we take on, “realities” that may not necessarily even exist, but still, we often endure negative results because of the ignorance itself.

Before this gets too far into the weeds, it must be acknowledged that all too often, our perceptions are born and cultivated by less benevolent influences than mere ignorance, such as hatred, prejudice, greed, and other vices and if some of these are the motivation for our positions, then we stay where we are as a result of actual desire to remain ignorant or misinformed. If a person is on the wrong side of an issue for no other reason than because he wants to be, then there’s little chance of him acknowledging, hence acting on, his lack of understanding. If these types happen to be people who claim to be Christians, they would be the ones who can often be found up late at night poring through the scriptures, but instead of trying to better their spiritual knowledge, they’re looking for Bible verses they can snatch out of context, or twist in whatever way they can to support some pre-conceived position they choose in their headlong, ignorant and misguided attempt at appearing (always to other people) to serve God. These folks love to argue, sounding clever like theological lawyers, but always with Pharisaic interpretations of the Bible.

This post is getting into the territory addressed in the first paragraph and is becoming a piece of the mindset mentioned of folks who would prefer to turn away rather than give thought to an issue that makes them uncomfortable. It’s not by accident that we arrived here, because misinformation and deception are running like great unchecked rivers flooding through the nations nowadays, and many studiously ignore those of us who propound truth that can serve to help avoid becoming swept away in the deluge. Some few can see that multitudes of folks today choose whatever rickety bridges they can find on which to try and cross the raging torrent. “Choose” being the operative word here – whatever willful choices they can make that might comfort their confused desire (or lack thereof) for spirituality but invariably be of no real benefit at all. For instance, there are literally hundreds of thousands of people, men and women who consider themselves to be Bible-believing Christians, who pack the pews of deceptive temples of blasphemy and listen to millionaire hucksters who lead them to, among other things, support avowed enemies of Jesus Christ. They go home thinking they are on the right side of the spiritual equation because some charlatan quoted them a few verses out of context, usually some totally incongruous Old Testament event out of which they pulled up and tactfully spun a perverted applicability to their followers, and which invariably teach every Sunday that all non-Jews (except them), and especially Moslems are horrible people deserving of the greatest of condemnation. Some mythical Jesus they say they know, (but true Christians don’t) says it’s okay to hate and kill them all, but the good reverends conclude meanwhile that it’s okay to pause their murderous rampage long enough to kick more money in today’s offering – an act which itself will suffice to get them and their Zionist friends to, and indeed into, the promised land – so they dutifully, publicly, and with highly visible and reverent sincerity throw down a few bucks.

There was a time in my life, back when I erroneously thought that sometimes God made mistakes, I held the notion that God was unfair in that when Jesus was judging people there would be those who would try to convince Him that they had a clear conscience toward Him. He said they would talk about all of the things they did – even casting out demons – but He will tell them to depart from Him, that He never knew them. What!!?? What kind of God would allow people to go through their lives thinking they were doing the right things, just to find out when it is too late that they were doing it wrong?

Once I arrived at the incontrovertible truth, the absolutely immovable Gospel truth that God does not make mistakes, He ALWAYS does the right thing, I was able to figure it out. Those people aren’t innocent at all. They don’t think they’re living right – they don’t even give thought to such uncomfortable notions. They are self-deceived. They do not listen to Jesus Christ, they listen to the John Hagees and Kenneth Copelands and their ilk, pushing their fraudulent messages in this world of deception, they are demonic seekers of wealth who convince their audiences that satisfying worldly desires and prosperity on this earth is of more value than the promises of Christ.

This example has been used in other posts, but it bears repeating. It’s one of those precepts mentioned above about taking the time and effort to think about things – connect the dots yourself – in this case rather than letting some serpent behind the pulpit explain them. The disciple Peter, a humble fisherman turned greatest of Christ’s apostles, was the man on whom Jesus bestowed the incomparable honor and responsibility for receiving leadership of His church. Of all the human beings mentioned in the New Testament with the notable exception of John the Baptist, there can be no doubt Peter was the greatest of them. Now, in your mind, compare Peter to some of the big-name evangelists of today, and keep in mind that these men have arrogated to themselves the positions of shepherds of Jesus’ flock, the role appointed to Peter by Jesus Himself.

Peter and another of the great disciples, John, were going into the temple one day and were stopped by a crippled beggar who asked for alms. It’s immensely important for every Christian to consider this next part – keeping in mind today’s millionaire false preachers. Peter told the beggar, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”, and he did. Here is Peter, to whom Jesus Christ personally bestowed His Church, gave him the very keys to the Kingdom – and he had no money!!! This cannot be stressed enough!! How do the charlatans of today’s temples of decadent splendor possibly claim to be of ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and still justify being millionaires? How do the thousands of parishioners justify their presence at those places where these men (and women) “teach?” Will they all hear “Depart from me, I never knew you”? Wow!

There was another incident that occurred, this one during Jesus’ ministry when He was approached by a wealthy young man and Jesus discussed with him what he needed to do to be saved. Apparently, the fellow had been living according to the commandments and all he lacked was to get rid of his wealth and give it to the poor – but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. As the young rich man dejectedly walked away, Jesus proceeded to give a sermon on how unlikely it would be for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom, which according to what He told them, and for all practical purposes, will indeed be impossible. But each and every Sunday folks shout “Amen!” when millionaires Osteen or Copeland preach their “prosperity gospel”? What people are accomplishing in those “churches” is way worse than just wasting their Sunday mornings.

Maybe for those multitudes of people of the elegant pews – who definitely need to sort things out, this will be one of those things they will studiously avoid thinking about. Ignore it and it’ll surely go away, and it will – for now, but not forever. Y’all need to think about things you might wish to avoid confronting. Maybe a little reconsideration for now can lead to a better eternity later.

If some of y’all are not of the Christian faith and you are reading this, I hope you understand there are a lot of phonies out there that claim to be followers of Christ, you can find multitudes of them in those megachurches – Jesus warned us the gate is wide that leads to destruction. Please don’t judge all Christians by those who mislead and those who choose to be misled. Some of us – the ones who opt to enter by the narrow gate love our fellow human beings – even and especially the poor ones – and would love to share Jesus with all of you.

If you’d like to get to know Jesus, it’s quite simple. Even though the gate that leads to life is narrow, there’s plenty of room to go through it for the pure of heart. If you carry a burden of hate, lust, or pride, you can just leave it outside – the gate is definitely too narrow for those, and such things are not to be found in the Kingdom. Jesus is standing at the door waiting for you to invite Him in, and if you do, hang on, because you’ll be in for the greatest ride of your life, and you’ll never regret a moment of it. Draw near to the Lord and He promises He will draw near to you. Find a faithful preacher and get yourself baptized and assume your place on the path to glory. Jesus is willing to lead us there, but we have to follow Him.

God Bless all,

MK

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?

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.

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.

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!

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.

God bless all,

MK

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

God bless all,

MK

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.

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.

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.

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.

God bless y’all.

MK