The Falling Away

Paul warns Timothy that a time will come when "they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." (2 Timothy 4:3,4). He further taught the Thessalonians that Antichrist would not come "unless the falling away comes first" (2 Thessalonians 2:3). The word translated 'falling away' literally means 'apostasy'. It is referring to those who profess to be Christian but who twist the Word to mean what ever soothes their conscience or they will just deny that it is the Word of God. MSNBC's Lawrence O’Donnel, who is just this sort of person, recently stated -

"The book of Revelation is a work of fiction describing how a truly vicious God would bring about the end of the world. No half-smart religious person actually believes the book of Revelation. They are certain that their God would never turn into a malicious torturer and mass murderer beyond Hitler’s wildest dreams. Glenn Beck, of course, does believe the book of Revelation."

But, he is just a symptom of the times we live in. A time when much of the Christian Church has turned away from the truth of God's declared Word. They have 'itching ears', that means something foreign has gotten into their ears causing an irritation. That 'something foreign' is their own desire to live according to their way and not God's way. After all, many so called theologians have denied the virgin birth of Jesus. They also deny the creation as declared in Genesis. They deny the God-given governmental order of the family and the Church. They ordain women as Pastors when God says that women are denied usurping authority in the Church. They ordain homosexuals as Pastors, when God says homosexuality is an abomination to him. The condone divorce, when God says "I hate divorce". When the Church falls away from God's standards, there is nothing to restrain wickedness from permeating the land. That is what has happened.


Paul taught that this falling away would open the way for the Antichrist to emerge, with all his evil. But, thankfully there are a group of believers that will escape this evil. In the Book of Revelation, the book O'Donnel declares to be fiction, Jesus writes a letter to them. They were the Church of Philadelphia who  only had a little strength and were under much persecution. But, because they "kept My word, and have not denied My name" (Revelation 3:8) He promised to keep them from the hour of trial which would come upon the whole world to test them. Even so, at this time in history, there are those 'Philadelpians' who keep God's words and do not deny the word of Jesus.


I hope you choose to be one.

Be of Good Cheer

My previous two articles, God is Speaking and Statistics of God's Moving chronicled our situation in America and around the world. They we not very comfortable words to contemplate but, Jesus also gives us hope in the midst of trouble and judgment:


"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." - John 16:33


Jesus, who certainly speaks much about the end of the age and the disastrous judgments that will befall the world, also speaks about those who in the midst of it all can be of good cheer! Who are those of good cheer? They are those who know the end of the story - Jesus has overcome the world and He wins in the end! Every knee will bow to Him, both human and demonic, and His kingdom of peace and love is coming - HALLELUJAH!


Jesus spoke much about "being of good cheer": in Matthew 9:2 He said  be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee - in Matthew 14:27 He said  Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid - in Mark 6:50 he said Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid - and in Acts 23:11 the Lord spoke to Paul,  Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. 


We can be of good cheer if our sins are forgiven, for the devil has nothing of which he can accuse us. We can be of good cheer and not be afraid because He said "I will never leave nor forsake you" in every situation, good or bad. We can be of good cheer because we get the privileged of witnessing about Jesus knowing He is with us as we witness.


There is so much written in Scripture about our reasons for not being afraid - "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me" and "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies" and "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." - Psalm 23.


Psalm 91 encourages us that if we dwell in the secret place of the Most High we shall abide under the protecting shadow of the Almighty and "He will deliver us from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence". A "thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you." He promises "No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling for He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways." Now, that's what I call a good insurance policy! Of course, we must abide in the secret place with God. Jesus said "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." - John 15:4. If we follow Jesus and submit to His ways, we will abide in the secret place with God.

Statistics of God's Moving

Jesus told us that there would earthquakes in various places in the end days but, even though we may hear about them in the news, we often fail to put them all together. Here is a list of such happenings in 2010 and 2011:


1/12/10 - magnitude 7.0 earthquake hits Haiti with over 500,000 casualties.
2/27/10 - Chile hit by 8.2 earthquake displacing over 1.5 million people.
4/4/10   - Violence in Mexico results in over 50,000 dead.
4/5/10   - Deadliest mining disaster in US history hits in West Virginia.
4/14/10 - Iceland's Mt. Eyjafjallojokull volcano erupts causing havoc .
4/20/10 - 5 yrs after Katrina, BP oil rig explodes spilling oil into the Gulf.
5/1/10 - Times Square narrowly saved from devastating bomb blast.
5/5/10 - More than 13 inches of rain falls in Nashville causing major flooding.
5/20/10 - In Guatemala's capital, a giant sinkhole swallows many buildings.
7 & 8/10 - Devastating floods hit Pakistan killing 1600.
Nov. through Jan./ 2010 - Australia suffers terrible flooding and loss of life.
12/1/10 - Worst forest fire in Israel's history killing at least 41.
12/31/2010 - Magnetic Pole shifts 40 miles causing air traffic shutdown.


Beginning of 2011 - thousands of birds fall from the sky all over the earth - millions of fish die in divers places - 40,000 crabs was ashore in UK - 10,000 antelope died in Kazakhstan - bees die in record numbers - 1000's of buffalo die in Indonesia - to list just a few of such events.


12/2/2010 - 6.9 earthquake hits New Guinea.
12/17/2010 - 7.2 earthquake on the California/Mexican border.
12/20/2010 - 5.6 earthquake hits El Salvador.
12/21/2010 - 6.2 earthquake hits Sumatra.
12/21/2010 - 7.4 earthquake hits Japan.
12/25/2010 - 7.6 earthquake hits Fiji.
1/2/2011 - 7.1 earthquake hits Chili.


This list could continue right down to the quakes hitting Christ Church New Zealand and Japan, which caused a devastating tsunami, the death toll for which is now over 25,000. This does not consider what might happen from the nuclear meltdowns that may occur.


These events are well documented, and there are more, giving witness to the claim that God is indeed Speaking. If you are a believer in Jesus, I urge you to set your house in order. If you are not, I urge you repent and save yourself while there is yet time - it is short.

God is Speaking

Amidst turmoil in the Mideast the news media is salivating - so many headline stories to cover. Of course their experts always ascribe the problems to natural causes, political unrest because of repressive governments, global warming because of man's greedy use of the environment, Israel's repression of the Arabs, and I have even heard the Christians blamed. Few, if any, ever attribute the problems being the inevitable result of man's rebellion against God.


Jesus said the 'last days' would be as 'the days of Noah', but what were the days of Noah like? Genesis 6 describes them as days filled with violence and every "intent of man's heart was only evil continually". They were filled with demonic manifestations and they celebrated them. They lied to one another, coveted one another's possessions, and delighted in evil. They had a form of religion but no time for God. Jesus described them this way: "For in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away." How do we compare to this?


In America, we are close enough to fitting this description to put the fear of God into all who will look. The courts are overbooked and backlogged with cases about fraud, physical abuse, lying, thievery and murder to name a few. The jails are full and we are having to build bigger ones or invent new ways to handle criminals, such as early release. The entertainment media is filled with violence and an increasing number of movies involve the occult and demonic themes. In most towns there are more bars than grocery stores and divorce and remarriage are destroying our families. And America is one of the few countries left in the world that still has at least a show of Christian morality. In our political parties, Democrat, Republican, and Libertarian, true Christianity is a dirty word. By true Christianity I mean those who believe the Bible and try to practice it. It is now against the law to publicly display the 10 Commandments or talk about Jesus in our public schools. As a nation, we are not far away from the 'days of Noah' condition.

Jesus said, "Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near." (Matt. 24:32). We have already witnessed the return of Israel as a nation, as was prophesied, and we are seeing the 'fig tree' blossom, as Jesus predicted. Other signs of His soon return are also happening. As Joel Rosenberg recently wrote -


"The Lord Jesus Christ said that in the last days, "there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven….There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken." (Luke 21:11,25,26) Why? To get our attention. The Apostle Paul wrote, "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." (Romans 8:22, KJV) This will intensify towards the end."


Our news has been filled with these very events of late. God is trying to get out attention with warnings on every level of our senses. "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts" (Heb. 3:7) as the rebellious Israelites did in the desert with Moses - and they perished. The war described in Ezekiel 38 and 39 is not far off, in which radical Islam will be destroyed. It will soon be followed by the rise of Antichrist.


Isaiah warns, "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." (Isa. 55:6,7). The Holy Spirit is also warning through King David, "For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him." (Ps. 32:6). Don't be fooled into thinking you'll get right with God later, you may not have the opportunity. As Scripture says, "Today is the day of salvation".

This week we were once again reminded of the awesome power of God but, most will just attribute it to nature and not to God. Our concept of God is some benign force 'out there' who is content to let go our own way. But, history is filled with accounts of God's intervention in the affairs of men. Most homes have at least one Bible, usually sitting on some shelf gathering dust but, if we would bother to read what it actually says, we would find all kinds of events where God was personally interacting with mankind, sometimes to bless, sometimes to judge. And sometimes His blessings came out of what we would call judgments.

We are preparing to celebrate Passover and it represents the greatest blessing ever experienced by man - the cleansing of all our sins and making a way for us to enter the presence of God by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. But often forgotten is the fact that it came in the midst of great disasters on Egypt: 1) The water turning to blood thus causing the fish to die. Water is a mainstay of life, especially in Egypt and the fish as well. 2) The frogs covering the land, houses, and even their kneading bowls. Imagine your second mainstay of life, bread, being polluted with frogs. 3) Next lice (gnats) covered the land discomforting man and beast. If you have never seen cattle being driven mad by gnats, you cannot fathom the seriousness of this disaster. 4) Flies covered the people and their houses polluting and bringing disease. 5) Another mainstay of life was struck next, their cattle, horses, donkeys, camels, and oxen, on which their entire economy depended. 6) Boils on man and beast came next. All the Egyptian's false gods and magic could not reverse the maddening sickness that infected them. 7) If all this were not enough, hail mingled with fire came next killing any who were left uncovered, both men and beast. 8) Next came the locusts which destroyed every green thing in the land. 9) Then came darkness covering the land. Most do not appreciate the light of the sun until it is gone. Light is the engine of life. 10) Finally, all the firstborn of the Egyptians died. This represents not only the grief of untold numbers of families but also the very existence of the culture. Demographers tell us that if the birthrate of any nation falls below 1.9, it cannot sustain itself. All these disasters came because of an unwillingness to repent and give God glory.

Christ Church Cathedral

Today any one of these events would be called a 'natural' disaster, but, God was behind every one of them. It is important to understand that God can turn any disaster to our good if we meet His conditions, which are summed up in one word - repentance.

Many don't know that Christ Church New Zealand was hit with two earthquakes just before the Japan event. After the first, a city wide Thanksgiving to God rally was set up, city permits and sound equipment were gathered. Then just before the sponsored event, city church leaders opposed it, shutting it down. They wanted a rock band concert instead, which took over the park set aside for the Thanksgiving rally and the sound equipment gathered for it. The man who had received the idea for the Thanksgiving rally, he says from God, was then told by God to leave New Zealand - and he did. Shortly after, another quake hit Christ Church, even bigger than the first. Every church that had opposed the Thanksgiving rally was severely damaged along with a good portion of the city.

We are entering a time of history which will see God once again actively interacting with mankind; earthquakes, birds dropping from the skies, dead fish washing up on the shores, beast dying mysteriously, tsunamis and volcanoes erupting. All of them are warnings to repent and meet God on His terms - not ours. Israel is back in her land, as God said. The Fig Tree of Jesus' teaching is once again blooming. The Islamic sword led by Gog predicted in Ezekiel 38 is about to fall on Israel. There is not a lot of time. As the writer of Hebrews warns "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." Pharaoh of Egypt made that mistake and he lost the argument with God - so will you.

Who Controls Public Schools?

I am a retired school teacher of 33 years, so I have some experience. Eight of my children are school teachers, from grade school to college levels and they are good teachers. However, they cannot stem the headlong rush to mediocrity that seems to be going on in Public Schools. As I look at the statistics I am appalled. The average Wisconsin graduating student only reads at the 8th grade level; their knowledge of core American history and our Founding Fathers beliefs, which led to our Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and Constitution; and our moral foundations, such as truthfulness and family values are all sadly lacking. And Wisconsin is far ahead of many states!

Who is responsible for this sad state of affairs? Is it the teachers? Yes and no. As I watched the recent demonstrations in Madison, WI over the Governors Budget Repair Bill it became clear to me that teachers who do not practice truthfulness cannot teach it to their pupils. Am I talking about the politics of the issues? No! I'm talking about teachers who deserted their teaching posts, even causing some schools to close for the day and then took sick leave days to cover their absence. There were even doctors available who would issue "sick slips" to those who requested them - and many did. How will they explain to their pupils that cheating is wrong when their actions are displayed on national TV? I'm talking about teachers who carried very visible signs calling Governor Walker "Hitler", or "Nazi" and many other untrue slanders. How will they teach their pupils the value of civil discourse to solve your issues? No, they are teaching instead the rule of the mob as I saw one Republican Representative get surrounded by an angry mob having to be rescued by another Democrat Representative, or as a Fox News reporter was pushed and punched for merely reporting what he was seeing. How will these teachers ever teach the rule of law and proper order to their pupils? They are obviously not teaching our Republican form of government which led to our great nation but the Democracy form which led to the French Revolution.

I asked the question, are the teachers responsible? I answered yes and no because teachers have restrictions placed on them by society that also contribute to this breakdown of society. When you are restricted from saying the homosexual lifestyle is wrong or that divorce is destructive how can the value of strong families be taught. The truth is often half a class room of pupils come from 'broken' or single parent homes and some of the others come from dysfunctional homes as well. They do not have the support of a mother and father so, the teacher has to try and make up for this deficiency even though they really cannot. Drug and alcohol misuse and addiction, gangs and sexual fornication are all family problems that should be handled by the father and mother. Taxpayers pay exorbitant amounts for administrators and counselors who are supposed to help but they often do not, leaving the teacher with a problem they cannot control and us with added tax burden. Then there is the added pressure of government which says the teachings of Christ Jesus must never be heard in the school. The Ten Commandments are banned from public view even though they are the foundation of all our laws. Prayer in school is worse than cursing even though prayer to Almighty God is the only salve that can heal the wounds of Public Education. As President Washington declared in his first inaugural address -

"... it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, "

Another source of blame is the American church which has allowed itself to be pushed out of the public arena, even though if one were read sermons from the time of our founding, they would quickly see that the Church was conspicuous in its involvement in political discourse. They do not teach the morality of the family because half their congregation are divorced and they might be offended. Few ever hear sermons preached against sin such as Charles Finney or Jonathan Edwards preached. They alone control the weapon of prayer that might be used to change the Public School situation but do not wield it.


What is the likely outcome of these problems for Public Education? We have allowed the foundational principles which could help to be outlawed from the schools and those few parents who see the problem and want to change it for their children are left with the alternative to home school because their correct understanding of the role religion and morality play in education will not be allowed in the Public School, even though they are forced to pay their taxes to support it. A failed system that has the power of government behind it will always gain support through force. The only hope left to families that care for their children will be to home school them and so pass on to them the values they know work to, " consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes".

Starting Again

It has been a while since I last posted because of several reasons: 1) I have been involved in beginning a fellowship based on the Biblical principles used by the first church – 1 Cor. 14:26, 2) I have also been learning Facebook and several other programs, and at 74 my learning curve has slowed down, and 3) the political and spiritual conditions of the United States and other countries in the world have increasingly occupied my attention.

Our Fellowship is called Pleasant Valley Christian Fellowship and we meet in a beautiful barn that has been totally rebuilt into a retreat center. There are about 40 of us (men, women, and children). Our goal is to become a functioning church. By that I mean a fellowship that is founded upon the Word of God (that means we try to be faithful to all of it). We do not encourage spectators in the fellowship, although that naturally happens as members learn their gifting's and callings in the Lord. Young people ( about half of the fellowship) actively participate in music, prayer, and Bible reading. In some meetings we have more teaching, in some we have more prayer and sharing, however the Holy Spirit leads. Leaders are becoming recognized.  Personal needs are shared and prayed for, dreams and visions are shared and prayed about. We generally take communion each meeting. After the fellowship we share a common meal together in which every one contributes – and enjoys!

We are not striving to become a big church. Rather we are striving to be a body where the Holy Spirit can increase each member in strength and life in Jesus. That usually happens best in smaller groups. We do expect as we grow and share this life in Jesus, we will grow. Then we will have to seek the Lord about what to do next but, I know He already has the answer and He will give it to us when we need it.