Wait For Iiiiiiit....

Forgive, please, but this is how my mind works.
Object lesson lands in our laps, we use it.
Above picture is a mosaic of Nan, Chuck and Joe.
If you were to ask them if they believed that President Trump
is guilty of Impeachable offenses, I'm pretty sure that they would
"YUP!".
Okay yah so, let's say that it IS TRUE~that President Donald Trump IS
guilty of whatever he has been accused of.
REALLY Guilty. 
Not just assumed guilty-really, really guilty.
If President Donald Trump sought forgiveness from God, all of his guilt,
all of his offenses would no longer be held against him.
THAT is Grace. That is what God does for those who come to Him
through Jesus Christ.
Even Donald Trump.

Blessing For You

Short and sweet.
Whether you accept it or not,
whether you like it or not
Jesus Christ is still offering
Salvation to those who need it
Which is all of us.
No sin or sinful life is greater
than His ability to save you.

Illegal Aliens Rant

Pretty picture, sun setting on the Grand Marais harbor.
As the title of this post is "Illegal Aliens Rant" you probs assume that you
and your opinion are all set; you don't even have to think about the subject.
But you are wrong.
Not talking about Border Security or Walls or any of that.
The Illegal Aliens I'm talking about are the encroaching horde who attempt to
invade the Kingdom of God.
In the here and now, that means false Christians who
infiltrate churches and pretend that they belong to God.
They are not citizens of Heaven if God has not made them citizens.
Most of the New Testament books warn against false believers, warn Christians to be wary of such pretenders.
Jesus Himself stated that there would be false believers who would be cursed:
²¹“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 
 ²²“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 
²³“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’Matthew 7:21-23.
I see them.
I see false brethren with blatantly blasphemous theology gaining footholds and authority in churches that are not spiritually discerning.
Responsibility falls on the leadership of the churches-if they are not guarding their flock against 'illegal alien false Christians'...they will answer to God.
Not to me, not to any other Christian.
But God will hold them accountable.
Read Colossians. Ephesians. Galatians. 1 & 2 Peter.
Read Ezekiel, chapters 1-12 and see how God dealt with false believers.
Christians, protect your homeland~become spiritually discerning, which means that along with clinging to the GOOD...reject the BAD. 
Honor God by keeping your church free of illegals.
Ask God for discernment, and don't just assume that you have it, have had it for years and don't need Doug barking at you in a post.
Someone stated that "Discernment is seeing all subjects as black and white without any shades of gray."
Be like that. For the sake of your church and for God's Glory.

Skating Away On

Last night when I should have slept, my mind was working on this analogy:
Hockey puck on the ice.
Has no ability to get into the net on it's own.
Just a puck.
We are the hockey puck, and the net is heaven.
God is the hockey player who, with his stick, guides the puck towards the goal.
The stick buffets the puck on the left and right, right and left~the player is
protecting the puck from the other team,
which wants nothing more than to steal the puck away and drive it into hell, the opposing net.
All that the puck knows is that it is being hit-it can't see the whole ice.
But God is a master hockey player and skillfully keeps the puck heading towards the right goal. The other team ALWAYS fails~God lines up His shot...
He SHOOTS! He Scores!

Secularius Terrarimus

You do not have to live in a submarine to be part of a sub-culture.
A societal sub-set of humanity has been quite vocal in their Secularism:
not only do they not believe that God exists but also, (quoting a wiser human)
that 'Man is the measure of all things'.
They are rational people, generally good people, who suffer a HUGE blindspot in their visualization of the cosmic all: they can't make sense of a Creation which HAS a Creator.
So they choose to live in a sort of "Secular Terrarium", an existence barren of any thought of God.
As God (in their thinking) does not exist, MAN must step up and solve all of the problems of the Creation.
But MAN is the CAUSE all of the problems, so it's a Mess of a world.
Here's where they kind of get it right-they believe that the majority of humanity, (at least the smart ones)-agree with their Secularism.
Too true.
In this fallen world (hey! Watch that 'fallen' stuff, Doug!)-the majority does embrace the Secular imperative.
So Christians, those belonging to God ARE the minority, the few, the unfallen.
We are the sub to this culture. Absolutely.
For the road and gate are narrow that lead to Salvation. 
But this Secular world has an expiration date.
But we Christians will one day live eternally with our Creator and guess what?
God is still calling sinners to repentance.
There has never been a Christian taken from the ranks of Angels-we all, without exception, come from the ranks of those who have been dismissive of God, angry with God, trusting on our own righteousness.
Seek Him and leave the world behind.

Count Your Blessings, Pilgrim

A recent post by the Spurgeon Library caught in my head:
"It tends to excite gratitude in our hearts if we remember what the Lord has done for us. It is not wrong for us to think of all that we still need from God, but it would be exceedingly ungrateful if we were to forget what we have already received."
Charles Spurgeon 

Kindnesses and Blessings~may we always remember them and forget their opposites!
Yes, I'm Blessed with a cat, even though Natasha is a cat.
Over a decade ago a friend (Sarah, who is here on Facebook!) knitted a 'cozy' square for me on which to rest my glasses at bedtime. I have used it every night since, and appreciate the gift and the giver.
There's a lifetime of more Blessings, but enough~
I am Blessed, and thankful, even for a cat.

Hurry Up And Get Young

Just a bit of relaxing on a Friday night. Caught a moment of "That 70's Show"
recently and remembered that Mila Kunis famously fibbed that she was older~from her IMDB page:  
"Auditioned for the situation comedy That '70s Show (1998) at age 14. Though actors had to be at least 18 to get the role, she truthfully claimed she would be 18 on her birthday, not specifying which birthday, and won the role."
So what is Ella Mae Morse doing in this post?

"Signed by Jimmy Dorsey at the age of 14 (she lied about her age and said she was 19) and was subsequently fired after discovering the truth about her age."
Both Ella Mae and her Mom swore that she was 19-she went on the road with the band until her school sent Dorsey a note saying that he was responsible for a minor.
Why all this?
After the mad hurryrush, teenagers wanting to be older, we become older and...that is that.
I am very happy to be my age, and to have so much of my journey behind me.
Simply enjoy Life. Whenever you are.

Bad Duncan! Bad!!

I don't news much, but I just came across this item.
Duncan Hunter, Republican Representative from California has made a royale hash of his life.
Public/campaign funds used to maintain a lifestyle which allegedly
included affairs with 5 different women.
Not bad enough? Here's a pull quote from the Yahoo article:
"Hunter and his wife, Margaret, were charged last year with improperly using more than $250,000 in campaign funds for family vacations, their children's private school tuition and other personal expenses. Margaret pleaded guilty to the charges earlier this month, but Hunter, who was reelected to his sixth term in November while under indictment, has refused a plea deal."
When someone does wrong, it is wrong.
A Christian ministry leader years ago decided that HE did not have to pay taxes.
He ended up in prison, and that was well deserved.
Duncan Hunter may end up there.
"But Doug! He's a REPUBLICAN! Circle the wagons! We NEED his VOTE!"
Nope.
Wagon circles are fine if someone is innocent.
But protecting the guilty because of political affiliation only encourages bad behavior.
Bottom line-keep to the straight and narrow, be honest and REMAIN honest, especially if people have invested confidence in you.
Don't be a Duncan.

But Then,Teacher, WHO Is My Brother?

Borrowing from history~~the picture above is of the Hovelson brothers, circa 1910 or thereabouts. Not a real car, though they were truly brothers.
Heard a sermon today about "Falsity In The Family"~the Family, of course, being the Family of God.
Conundrum Corner~if some are false, are they actually, truly IN the Family?
Jesus Christ, Paul, Peter, Jude and others all warned against 'false brethren'.
No where in Scripture can I find it stated that false believers will be with the Family of God in Heaven.
So...we pray that that God's Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Would you consider it God's Will on earth that we welcome false brethren and teachers into the Lord's Church?
Or, as is stated throughout Scripture, are we to be wary of such false believers?
Even, perhaps...confronting them, and NOT fellow shipping with them?
Paul stated to the Galatian church: 
"⁶I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 
⁷which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 
⁸But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 
⁹As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!"
Here's the thing-there are dead churches full of unsaved false believers which have oodles of theology promoting a different Gospel. 
Paul doesn't say, "Y'know, there are some true Christians in those churches, so we should fellowship with them even though they have a wrong Gospel."
Some may say, "You can't play God, Doug! You don't know who is or isn't saved!"
No, but it's not about me. I follow the God who said,
" ²¹“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 
 ²²“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 
²³“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.' "

Nana's Daughter

Oh what fun! Memr'ies! Thank you, parcel shipping company!
Watching television tonight: a shipping company commercial promoting their new Robotic Delivery of Parcels service with a song: "He Needs Me" by Harry Nilsson.
Sung by Olive Oyl (Shelley Duvall) regarding Popeye (Robin Williams) in the best movie musical based on a comic strip that Bob Altman ever did.
Don't know if this will work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ji0RvwjntA
I mentioned 'Memr'ies' above~~
1961/62. One of my earliest memories is of my parents convincing me to eat my spinach because Popeye loved the stuff.
"Well, if HE likes it, I'll eat it."
Fast forward 18 years~I'm a sailor...in port in Chicago when the "Popeye" movie
premieres.
I loved it then, and though I haven't seen it for a few years, I love it now.
BTY~the cute little bundle of joy in Olive's arms in the picture above is Robert Altman's grandson; 'Swee'pea' turned 40 this year.  Probably loves Spinach.

Nicodemai All Over The Place

Once again, my wordage needs explanosity:
"Nicodemai" would be the plural of "Nicodemus" the teacher of Israel whom Jesus took to school in John chapter 3.
The smart religious fella who thought that his ticket to Heaven was paid.
The one confused when Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
Recently had a conversation-just kidding~we were talking past each other instead of conversing-regarding the Big Q: "WHO is Born again?"
One of us suggested that there are some Born again Christians in every denom including the Catholic one.
T'other say 'Nay', that those whom God has chosen to be Born again will leave dead, heretical churches.
God will lead them to churches where the majority of faithful ARE born again.
This non-Conversation sent me on a journey where I found that:
A: Catholics believe they are Born again because they have the Mass and each time they Mass they repent of their sins, ask forgiveness and since they have already been baptized, they can yell Bingo! with a filled card.
B: A Lutheran denom admitted that they were the Born again ones, not like those OTHER Lutherans who co-habitate with Methodists and Catholics and Mormons. No Sir!~they are THE Good Born Again Lutherans.
I think that Christ was very clear in John chapter 3.
^"5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 
⁶“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
No church can declare a person Born Again.
God calls All to Repentance, but only those whom God has chosen will respond to that Call.
No Call?
No repent?
Not Born again.

Future Turns Into The Past

Believe or Don't (makes no nevermind over here) but this isn't a post bashing Democrats. I was struck by the juxta of these two pictures today.
When paying for a house or vehicle, you take the long view, knowing that it might be years before the 'transact' is a finished 'tion'.
 Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has most of her life ahead of her. She lives the long view.
Bernie Sanders. Seventy eight years old.  As the old joke goes, he doesn't buy eggs a dozen at a time.
Love Bernie all you like, but the 'long view' won't feature Bernie Sanders.
And that is all right-the future belongs to the young, those who will be relevant 30 years from now.
I just checked- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was born in 1989; she will be 78, Bernie Sanders present age, in 2067.
The future belongs to the young.

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday- notes on the sermon 4-14-19… Luke 19:28-40

The people expected Messiah to come and reign as King, breaking the yoke of the Roman Empire.

How did the people know to expect Messiah on that particular day? Was it foretold?

Some believe so-this is from a blog, “Kevin’s Blog” but I have heard the same number elsewhere:

“So, from Daniel 9:25, we are told it will be 69×7 years until the Messiah comes as Prince.   For the Jews and Babylonians, the year was 360 days long.   So, this gives us 69x7x360=173,880 days.   The start of the prophecy is the command to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, which we are told about in Nehemiah 2:1-8.   This occurred in most likely 444 BC, in the month of Nisan.   The 1 of Nisan in 444 BC corresponds to March 5th, 444 BC. 173880 / 365.24219879 = 476.067662981 = 476 years, 25 days.  This would put with date for the end of Daniel’s prophecy when the Messiah would present himself as King as March 30, 33 AD.   Passover in 33 AD was on April 3rd.”

Humanly speaking, it is easy to set a number of days-just backtrack from the date and find a number that works for you.

But God is precise, and we needn’t argue about equations, as we take on Faith that Jesus is the Messiah and whatever He did was done perfectly, right on time.

The point was made that the owners (Lords of the donkey) in either Bethphage or Bethany were willing to give their donkey once they knew that “The Lord has need of it.” 

This willingness was worship and honor for/of the Lord who was Messiah.

Note that the devil had bedeviled the plans of God all through History, to no avail. Whether killing the male Hebrew slave babies in Egypt or wiping out a generation of male babies from the time of Christ’s birth, Satan had schemed and done his worst, but his worst was no match for God’s plan of Salvation.

That foal of a donkey was going to be there just where God wanted it to be. And those Lords of the donkey would and did honor Messiah just as God had planned.

Those people who honored Christ as He entered Jerusalem knew their Bible-seeing Him riding the foal of a donkey, they would have remembered Zechariah 9:9

 “⁹    Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!     Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!     Behold, your king is coming to you;     He is just and endowed with salvation,     Humble, and mounted on a donkey,     Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

They may even have realized that their very shouting of “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord;     Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” was, in fact,  on their lips as a fulfillment of prophesy. Luke 19:38

Instead of seeing Messiah take Herod’s Throne and defeat the Roman empire, they saw Jesus arrested and found guilty of blasphemy by the Sanhedrin: “⁶⁶When it was day, the Council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led Him away to their council chamber, saying, 
⁶⁷“If You are the Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe; 
⁶⁸and if I ask a question, you will not answer. 
⁶⁹“But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 
⁷⁰And they all said, “Are You the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “Yes, I am.” 
⁷¹Then they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.” Luke 22:66-71

How bitter it must have been for the peoples who had so hoped in Jesus as the Christ, to see Him denounced by their leaders and punished by the very Roman legions they had expected Him to conquer.

Their abuse of Christ found in Luke 23:18-25 may have been from the heart, from their very being. He had raised their hopes and expectations to the point of joyous celebration, but now they felt betrayed, fooled by someone who, in their eyes, turned out to be just a man.  

They may have thought, “What Messiah allows Himself to be arrested, tortured and crucified?”

We have the answer in His Word, and His Spirit testifies to the truth that:

“6 He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant     To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel;     I will also make You a light of the nations     So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6

²⁰He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
²¹The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. Revelation 22:20-21

Bag It Yourself

 

  

I'm getting old.

This site, 'bag it duluth' was shared on my FB page by a friend. 

I'm as pro-earthy as the next; obvi recycle and do my part by NOT littering, keeping my human footprint to a minimum, being a good steward.

I read through the materials and as I said-I'm getting old. Something seemed off, something didn't strike the ear right, and I couldn't pick it out. The group 'bag it duluth' presented both problem and solution succinctly.

But the inner-libertarian in me whispered, "Why, if they don't like plastic bags, why haven't they spoken to the businesses which use them, asking them to stop?" 

I assume that they did speak to the businesses, but didn't like the answer they received.  So now they are appealing to the public, looking to force the businesses to obey through political force. 

THAT bothers me. The idea that, if you don't like a business, for whatever reason, that you can force that business to bend the knee to you through political clout.

My inner-libertarian shouted, "If I don't like plastic bags, I will NOT use plastic bags. But I would NEVER force my opinion on anyone else."

I drilled down through the 'bag it duluth' website and found that this isn't merely a corporate pollution issue...

it is actually a RACIAL ISSUE and how do you feel now, Mr. Racist?

                              Environmental and Climate Justice

• Of the many factors contributing to the environmental inequities is the proximity of many low-income and communities of color to industrial facilities producing and disposing plastics resulting in respiratory diseases such as asthma, cardiovascular disease, neurological damage, developmental and reproductive disorders, numerous cancers, diabetes, and other health conditions.
• Communities of color have higher exposure rates to air pollution than their white, non-Hispanic counterparts.
• Landfills, hazardous waste sites, and other industrial facilities are most often located in communities of color. 
• Climate change disproportionately affects low-income communities and communities of color.                                              End of page from their site.
• 
  
•  I thought climate change affected everyone, but if that were so, then everyone would be a victim rather than 'low income communities' and 'communities of color'. 
• You MUST have A specific victim to champion! 
• Of course, the assumption made is that these victims, poor dears, must have a white (!) knight in shining noble armor defend them because obvi, being communities of color, they are helpless to defend themselves. 
• That thought is more offensive to my humanity than plastic bags. 
• Every grocery store I visit has a bin for recycling plastic bags, which I assume is good. No Store or business has attempted to guilt me into following their political agenda. I'm bagging 'bag it duluth'.

Show Your Open-Mindedness, Pals!

Much has been made of being tolerant, of respecting the opinions of others.
Sounds GREAT to me!
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He made it possible for fallen sinners to be redeemed, restored to a right relationship with God.
Thank you for your tolerance so far!
I believe that the Bible is not only the very Word of God, but that, as God's Word, it is the arbiter of morality and truth. Meaning that what God declares to be good is GOOD, and what He calls sin is SIN.
Isn't open-mindedness wonderful?
For example, when God states in Leviticus 18:22~
"You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination."
That is right, moral and true.
You may disagree with God, but what He says is what He means.
There may be a whole plenitude of peoples who disagree with God.
Doesn't matter one iota. God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
My opinion, which you, as a tolerant open-minded individual have graciously chosen to respect, is that the people who need God the most are those furthest away from Him.  Farthest? you know what I mean.
Ah~the picture above. Taken early morning on a lake, you can see only morning mist. But a few minutes later, a beautiful scene.
Right now you may not be able to see God clearly, but He is. Those of us who have been brought into His family through Jesus Christ know that God's way is the only right Way. His Word the only right Word. Living for Him the only right Life.
Those who have read all the way down to here, thank you for tolerating me.

 

Grace Opportunity

I'm not one for Celebrity lifestuff, but both of these stories hit today and
I see this as a great Grace Opportunity.
Both actresses acknowledged their guilt.
Huffman was trying to game the system on behalf of her family.
Mack was indoctrinated into a cult and did terrible things, but
I would argue that someone who has been brainwashed by a sociopathic
cult leader isn't in her right mind.
I think that both actresses should pay a penalty of some kind, but this is an
opportunity for Grace.
Let Huffman pay a fine, and Mack should receive counseling to restore her emotional/mental health.
That would be Grace. That would be Mercy.  That would be right.

ATTENTION MUSLIMS!!!

Hi there! Good News!
As Representative Ilhan Omar seems to be the 'face' of present day Islam in this country, I chose her image above to represent all Muslims.
As I said, Good News!
Jesus Christ makes it possible for sinners to be forgiven by God!
Many feel that there is no hope for them, that their sin is too great~
but there is HOPE in Jesus Christ!
You may have been taught differently, but I can tell you, as one whom God saved 30 years ago~~Salvation is real, Jesus Christ is real, and YOU can be saved from your sins, just as I was back in 1979.  I have been at Peace with God since that day.
How can you know the truth?
Ask the God of the Christians and Jews to prove Himself to you.
Seek Him. Ask Him.
“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."

Lessons from John 6

04-07-2019 Notes on sermon

Scripture: John chapter 6

Feeding of the five thousand.

⁴Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. 
⁵Therefore, when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him, He asked Philip, “Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?” 
⁶ He asked this to test him, for He Himself knew what He was going to do. John 6:4-6

Commentators have noted that the Passover being near would have accounted for many more travelers heading towards Jerusalem. Some of these crowds may have heard that Jesus was nearby, which might explain in part the large crowd of 5000 men plus women and children being in the area.

Jesus often tested His disciples, and they often failed to understand what He was teaching them.

Mark records more details and another test in this same event:

³⁵And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 
³⁶Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 
³⁷But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.”

And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 
³⁸And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” Mark 6:35-38

Jesus said, “You give them something to eat.” These same apostles had been among the 72 sent out, healing the sick as recorded in Luke chapter 10. They had come back rejoicing: “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”  His answer: “²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

So Jesus could have expected that His disciples who had already seen God working through them to heal the sick and make demons subject to their demands would have recognized this opportunity for a miraculous solution. But faced with a natural predicament, how to feed five thousand men plus women and children their answer was “Feed all of these people? Impossible!”

Sometimes lessons repeated are an opportunity to get the right answer. Later on Jesus fed four thousand, recorded in Matthew 15 and Mark 8.

After that miracle Jesus was arguing with the Pharisees who demanded to see a sign.

An interesting exchange/admonishment from Christ is recorded in Mark:

¹⁴Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 
¹⁵And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
¹⁶And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 
¹⁷And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 
¹⁸Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 
¹⁹When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 
²⁰“And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 
²¹And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” Mark 8:14-21

Yes, they were lacking in faith. They were trusting in what they could see, taste, feel. Christ was teaching them to trust Him, not circumstance.

We suffer from the same lack of faith when we are confronted with issues, problems in this life which seem insurmountable. So perhaps we shouldn’t be too hard on the disciples. We have 2000 years of hindsight, and have known their stories all of our lives.