Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
My heart, sympathies, and prayers go out to the family of Charlie Kirk, I ask that the Lord give his wife and children solace in their time to grief and loss.
I’m not going to write much about the man Charlie Kirk, he accomplished much good for the faith, for this country, and ideas and life had positively influenced millions, directly and indirectly.
Not having met the man personally, I did on occasion listen to him online. I was impressed with his passion and strengths, but like all humans he had his shortcomings. One of the primary reasons I didn’t concern myself with his work was his unwavering support for political zionism.
I’m not anti-jewish nor anti-religious zionist, Our Creator was the very first official Zionist as expressed in Psalms 2
6. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 7. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 8. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
There are dozens of verses referencing Zion as Holy as well as being the habitation and throne of the Messiah, the Son of GOD. So anyone who wants to throw out a senseless label 🏷, go away dumb dumb.
I didn’t and still do not agree with the modern iteration of political zionism. I think it’s taken the nation of Israel in the wrong direction. It’s attempts at manipulation of foreign sovereign nations through blackmail and other means to me is sickening.
The wholesale genocide and atrocities being committed against others is at some point, going to draw down the wrath of the Almighty.
The jewish faith and people of Hebrew descent do have a place in the coming of the Messianic Age but they’re going to go through judgment just like everyone else before that Age arrives. Modern day Israel (which includes people of various faiths and ethnicitiesliving in political Israel) is not above reproach, they are human as well and make mistakes. Their histories as recorded in the Old Testament record their continual screwups.
Across generations the descendants of Jacob continually fell away from their faith, they turned their backs to their God, they were judged, punished, they repented and were forgiven. Israel wasn’t perfect then and it isn’t perfect now.
Israel, like every country, has the inherent right to defend itself, it’s people, and nation against others, but that doesn’t confer the right to commit genocide.
Here I’ll let Charlie Kirk expand on that thought which I agree with him completely here.
Maschil of David; A Prayer when he was in the cave. 1. I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. 2. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. 3. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. 4. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. 5. I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. 6. Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I. 7. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me.
9. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10. The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 12. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them. 14. And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto 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 that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. 16. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. 17. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. 19. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.
From verses 14 through 19 we have two separate reaping’s identified with two doing the reaping, one looked to be the Son of Man or Jesus, this in my opinion is the rapture. With the other being a different angel gathering the grapes or whatever it is to be used for the wrath of GOD.
In the prior verses 9 through 11 we read and see the end result of those who worship the beast or antichrist and it isn’t a pretty picture. Verse 9 identifies their sin, “…If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,…”. These things are mentioned here in verse 9 as identifiers for GOD’S wrath:
1. Worshipping the beast or his image
2. Receiving the mark on or in their right hand or forehead
These people chose to turn away from the love of the Father as expressed through the Son Jesus the Christ, instead choosing a false Messiah.
In these verses we see almost the final separation of humanity into believer and unbelievers. Here we may well have an identifier for the potential timing of the so-called rapture, this among other examples are why I lean towards the prewrath interpretation of the rapture and dismiss the common dispensationalist view of a pretribulational eschatology.
1. And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, 2. And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? 3. And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: 4. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? 5. And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? 6. But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. 7. And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. 8. And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
When religious leaders are more concerned about public opinion than what’s right, they’re no longer leaders as they’ve become follower’s, fearful of what people will think of them.
8. And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them. 9. But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? 10. For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy. 11. But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. 12. And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? 13. And they cried out again, Crucify him. 14. Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.
This is what’s considered antisemitic by the Frankists pretending to be Jews.
“…8. Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: 9. On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: 10. But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. 11. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. 12. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. 13. But he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth...”
Sometimes in our life with GOD, as with Job during his trials of faith, it seems that the Father is nowhere to be seen. Yet we can read here that in whatever trials people of faith have to endure He is always there, allowing us to learn, trying our faith to make us stronger. If we persevere and come through faithfully then when it’s all said and done we shall come forth as gold, pure and untarnished.
It’s recorded that our Savior said in Luke 6:22. “Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.” In several passages we can read where our standing is in this sinful and wicked world, yet if we remain faithful we know where this leads and how it ends.
In Ephesians 2 18 through 22 we read thus: 18. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. 19. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21. In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22. In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Through Christ we can see our beginning and end, that being part of the household of Father. So if you do not think or feel the Father working in your life, rest assured, if you remain faithful and persevere to the end our destiny is guaranteed.
25. For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 26. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
Job is believed to be one of the oldest books in the Bible, here in his misery Job knows that he will see GOD with his own flesh, his redeemed body he receives at the resurrection. So even in the oldest books of Scripture the fathers of our faith knew of and believed in a future resurrection, one where they would see their redeemer.
Starting off this day at 0500 with some prayer and thoughts, I thought I’d comment on a few things I’ve been keeping up on in the news. Primarily the Israeli Palestinian war.
Through the years, I’ve always tried to stay abreast of events in the Middle East, if for nothing more than a morbid curiosity of prophecy as it may relate to current events.
Yes, I grew up with a dispensationalist/pretribulational perspective of Scripture and eschatology. I’m not going to say after 43 yrs of accepting Christ as my Savior that I agree with either perspective in its entirety, although I do utilize those views and others when I interpret Scriptures and its relationship and understandings in my daily walk with my Savior.
Concerning the current events unfolding in both the Middle East and here at home I believe that Believers need to be putting their proverbial “house” in order because I do believe these events are leading us into those dark days known as the endtimes or last days.
I know most claiming the mantle of Christianity are drooling at the thought of an endtime scenario thinking they aren’t going to be here but raptured away into safety and that they won’t see any of what’s referred to as the tribulations that will manifest as the endtime events unwind. This view is generally referred to as a pretribulational eschatology, one I do not subscribe to. I lean towards the prewrath view that believers will be raptured out before the last set of judgments begin.
For those drooling over the rapturing of the Church, I think they may be putting the cart before the horse, so to speak. Primarily because they have been lulled into that escapist mindset that they won’t have to endure any hardships associated with the endtimes scenario, also referenced in some circles as the Day of the LORD. In Joel chapter 2, we read this concerning that particular day, 2. A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
Also in Zephaniah 1 we read these words: 14. The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. 15. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, 16. A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. 17. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.
So that Day of the LORD isn’t going to be simply a day of feasting and joyous reunions, it’s going to be a horrible day of judgments and retribution, desolation and wasting away with the deaths of untold millions.
Yes, I do understand those suffering during these times will be unbelievers, but it must also be understood what the Father said in Ezekiel 33:11. Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
GOD is a GOD of not only love but holiness and righteousness, too. These last two attributes give HIM the sole authority to judge and punish wickedness.
Also in Ezekiel 18:23Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
In these two verses alone we can see the Father’s will expressed in that HE doesn’t find any pleasure in the wicked dying but that they should turn away from their wickedness “or in christian vernacularrepent“.
Yes, believers should continually say “Come quickly Lord Jesus” and be looking for and rejoicing when that day occurs, but we also need to understand it’s going to be filled with sorrow because of the loss of life those lost souls going to he’ll.
In Heaven believers are going to have stand before that one man who never sinned, Jesus the Christ, and give an account for not reaching out to others with the message of redemption as stated in 2 Corinthians 5:10. For we must all appear before the judgmentseat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
So while the events in the Middle East have our attention and some believers are desirous of a fulfillment of prophecy there, personally I refrain from wishing that end result of a lost world, although it may be deserving of it.
Please try and reach all of those within your circle of influence with the Good News of forgiveness and redemption through Jesus the Christ, if the Spirit impresses upon your heart if they continually spurn the message of the Cross, then shake their dust off and try to reach others with the message of Christ.
As we read in John 14:6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me
There is no other way to the Father, Jesus himself admitted such. No Mohammed, no Buddha, no witchcraft, no neopaganism, nothing except by Jesus.
Florida’s relatively lax pro-life protections compared with neighboring Republican states could be drawing out-of-state women to travel to Florida for abortions, just as they would to far-left states like California and New York.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a campaign rally at the Cheyenne Saloon on November 7, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images
This article has been updated following publication to provide further clarity regarding the ACHA data.
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (LifeSiteNews) — Despite its reputation as a “right-wing paradise,” Florida recorded a 14-year-high of over 82,000 abortions in 2022, the same year the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a grassroots pro-life group is warning.
The group’s leader is nonetheless hopeful that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ strong popularity among his conservative base and apparent eye on national leadership could provide the crucial opportunity to get strong pro-life laws enacted in 2023.
Tallahassee-based grassroots lobbying group Florida Voice for the Unborn flagged the rising abortion rate in a February 15 press release.
In the statement, the group pointed out that Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (ACHA) reported February 3 that 82,192 abortions were performed in the state the year of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark June 24 reversal of Roe v. Wade.
That’s compared with 79,817 abortions reported in 2021 and 74,868 in 2020.
Earlier reports of declining abortion rates weren’t based on up-to-date data
Florida Voice for the Unborn argued that previous reports suggesting that the state’s abortion numbers had declined by 14.5% had relied on early data that weren’t representative of the Sunshine State’s true abortion numbers.
The ACHA has yet to release its final statistics for 2022, suggesting the final tally for the year could be even higher. On December 2, the agency reported that just 68,217 abortions had been committed in the state last year, suggesting that abortion rates had ticked down. That wasn’t the final report, though. In its February 3 update, the ACHA reported that that number was up to 82,192.
As noted by Florida’s Voice, the ACHA’s “Yearly reports encompassing abortions through the entire year are typically not compiled until well into the next year.” Abortion facilities must submit their monthly reports “within 30 days following the preceding month,” according to the agency’s rules.
For reference, the final ACHA numbers for 2021 weren’t completed until May, 2022. The numbers for 2020 were compiled in March, 2021.
subscribe to our daily headlines US Canada Catholic
Florida’s abortion regulations are looser than those of many neighboring states
In a phone conversation February 17, Florida Voice for the Unborn founder and executive director Andrew Shirvell, J.D. told LifeSiteNews that Florida’s 1989 state Supreme Court decision declaring that Florida women had a “right to abortion” under the state constitution’s privacy amendment has formed the basis for the Sunshine State’s abortion policy to date.
While Gov. DeSantis has helped make the Supreme Court more conservative with his judicial appointments, Shirvell said it has been difficult to get a law before the court to successfully challenge the erroneous 1989 decision.
“A lot of that has to do with, unfortunately, Gov. DeSantis’ lack of leadership, lack of prioritization of defending the unborn in the legislature, and we’ve had very weak legislative leaders on these issues,” he contended. “All that has culminated in the place we’re in today, which is: abortion numbers are rising, even though Roe v. Wade has been overturned, and our state has sadly become, you know, an abortion destination.”
Florida’s rising abortion numbers contrast with the strong pro-life actions taken by many neighboring southern states.
Georgia bans abortion as soon as a baby’s heartbeat can be detected, which is usually about six weeks’ gestation. In nearby Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas, abortion is now a criminal offense throughout pregnancy. South Carolina, meanwhile, allows abortion up to 22 weeks after the reversal of its heartbeat bill, and North Carolina allows abortion on demand up to 20 weeks.
Thus, while tougher than the laws currently on the books in the Carolinas, Florida’s 15-week abortion ban falls far short of the life-saving rigor of many of its Republican neighbors.
That comparative laxity could be drawing abortion-seeking women from out of state to travel to Florida for abortions, just as they would to far-left states like California and New York that openly advertise themselves as abortion sanctuaries.
Over 6,700 out-of-state women obtained abortions in Florida in 2022
According to data from ACHA, 6,708 of the abortions committed in Florida in 2022 were performed on mothers who came from out of state, compared with 4,873 in 2021 and 3,988 in 2020.
“In the year that Roe v. Wade was overturned, it is outrageous that Florida has transformed into an abortion destination state,” Shirvell said in his group’s Wednesday press release. “Even more appalling, however, is that unlike the other states with exceptionally high abortion numbers, such as California and New York, Florida is led by pro-life Governor Ron DeSantis, who has a pro-life supermajority Legislature.”
Shirvell argued that Gov. DeSantis, who many see as a strong contender for the U.S. presidency in 2024 after earning widespread support among conservatives for fighting liberty-crushing COVID-19 measures, backing law enforcement, limiting abortion, and working to uproot radical ideologies from the classroom, has “lacked the political courage to stop the record amount of bloodshed that has repeatedly occurred on his watch here in the ‘Red’ state of Florida.”
While 82,192 abortions is the highest Florida has recorded in recent years and coincides with the elimination of the federal “right to abortion,” it’s not a record for the state.
“We’re talking about hundreds and hundreds of innocent preborn babies being violently ripped apart and disposed of like garbage every single day here in Florida,” Shirvell said. “And, quite frankly, by his stubborn lack of meaningful action since the formal fall of Roe v. Wade last June 24th, Governor DeSantis seems intentionally indifferent to the horrendous plight of unborn children in his so-called ‘Free State of Florida.’”
LifeSiteNews has reached out multiple times to Gov. DeSantis’ office to obtain its reaction to Florida Voice for the Unborn’s report and the recently released abortion numbers. This article will be updated if response is provided.
DeSantis signed a 15-week abortion ban last year and has promised to sign more pro-life legislation
In a previous statement to LifeSiteNews, deputy press secretary Jeremy Redfern backed up DeSantis’ February 1 comments affirming that he would sign a bill banning abortions at six weeks if such a bill were to land on his desk.
The statement also directed LifeSite to the governor’s similar response during a December press conference. Asked about whether he would sign a potential heartbeat bill, the governor said, “I’m willing to sign great [pro]-life legislation. That’s what I’ve always said I would do.”
According to DeSantis’ office, “The Declaration of Independence promises three inalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — and we stand for all of them.”
The success of the state’s current 15-week abortion ban is seen by the DeSantis administration as a crucial hurdle to clear before it can pursue further pro-life action.
Signed into law in April 2022, the measure has been beset by court challenges. In July, the governor’s office told LifeSiteNews that the “pending state legal battle must necessarily be resolved before future legislative action can occur.”
The state Supreme Court agreed to consider a challenge to the constitutionality of the 15-week ban on January 23.
Shirvell argued, however, that the Florida governor and legislature aren’t doing enough.
He told LifeSiteNews on Friday that had DeSantis and the GOP-dominated legislature been “more proactive” and not “dragged its feet” ahead of the rollback of Roe, it could have been positioned to enact tougher pro-life laws upon Roe v. Wade’s fall rather than waiting on the state Supreme Court to rule on its 15-week ban months later, in 2023.
In a post-Roe America, Florida doesn’t need ‘half measures’
In his press release, Shirvell argued that Florida need not settle for “[h]alf measures” like a heartbeat bill. “Unborn children in Florida have waited for justice for far too long.”
“Just as in Texas, every single abortion facility in Florida must be permanently shut-down [sic].” he said.
Shirvell told LifeSiteNews on Friday that his group and other grassroots pro-life organizations within the state are pushing for a “trigger law” during the upcoming special legislative session that would work to ban all abortions within 30 days after the state Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the 15-week ban.
“That’s forward-thinking,” he said, arguing that the governor and legislature have failed to prioritize the pro-life issue in the state. “We’re going to keep pressing until we get full protections [for the unborn], but it’s very frustrating here in Florida.”
Shirvell told LifeSite that his group sees this year as a key time to push the Florida government toward better pro-life laws.
“We are putting the gas at full-throttle because this is the window of opportunity,” he said, pointing to “the super-majority pro-life legislature and a governor who is at the peak … of his power with a 19-point re-election victory and a mandate from the people” as well as apparent “national aspirations.”
“We have to strike while the iron is hot,” he said, vowing to continue fighting on behalf of the preborn.
1. These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2. As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 4. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
Ignorance of the Bible isn’t just a problem in our culture. It’s a problem in the church, and it’s scandalous.
While America’s evangelical Christians are rightly concerned about the secular worldview’s rejection of biblical Christianity, we ought to give some urgent attention to a problem much closer to home—biblical illiteracy in the church. This scandalous problem is our own, and it’s up to us to fix it.
How bad is it? Researchers tell us that it’s worse than most could imagine.
Only half of all Christian adults can name the four gospels. Many Christians cannot identify more than two or three of the twelve disciples. According to data from the Pew Research Center, nearly half don’t even realize that the Golden Rule is not one of the Ten Commandments.
Multiple surveys reveal the problem in stark terms. Most Christians in the United States believe the Bible teaches, “God helps those who help themselves” (and some even believe this quote is a Bible verse). A series of Barna surveys shows that only 19% of “born again Christians” hold to the simplest elements of a basic biblical worldview.
We would not expect secularized Americans to be knowledgeable about the Bible. A Barna poll once indicated that at least 12 percent of adults believe that Joan of Arc might be Noah’s wife. Another survey of graduating high school seniors revealed that over 50 percent thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife. A considerable number of respondents to one poll indicated that Billy Graham preached the Sermon on the Mount.
The larger scandal is biblical ignorance among Christians. Choose whichever statistic or survey you like, the general pattern is the same among professing Christians. America’s Christians know less and less about the Bible. It shows.
How can a generation be biblically shaped in its understanding of human sexuality when it believes Sodom and Gomorrah to be a married couple? No wonder our culture has so quickly embraced the normality of same-sex marriage. And it’s little wonder that Christians show a growing tendency to compromise on such issues.
Worse, many who identify themselves as Christians are similarly confused about the gospel itself. An individual who believes that “God helps those who help themselves” will find salvation by grace and justification by faith to be alien concepts.
Christians who lack biblical knowledge are the products of churches that place too little value on biblical knowledge. Paul’s words to Timothy are as valuable today as ever: “Give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13). Bible teaching now often accounts for only a diminishing fraction of the local congregation’s time and attention. And while the increasing emphasis on small group ministry has certainly increased opportunities for fellowship, many of these groups never get beyond superficialBible study.
Youth ministries are asked to fix problems, provide entertainment, and keep kids busy. But how many local church youth programs actually substantially increase their Bible knowledge during the critical junior high and high school years?
Even the pulpit has been sidelined in many congregations. Preaching has taken a back seat to other concerns in corporate worship. The centrality of biblical preaching to the formation of disciples is lost, and Christian ignorance leads to Christian indolence and worse.
Recovery starts at home. Parents are to be the first and most important educators of their own children, diligently teaching them the Word of God (see Deuteronomy 6:4–9). Parents cannot pass their responsibility off to the congregation, no matter how faithful and biblical it may be. Even if they have had little training themselves, it is no excuse. God assigned parents this nonnegotiable responsibility, and children must see their Christian parents as teachers and fellow students of God’s Word. (Spiritual leadership is far more important than second jobs, second cars, and the many other distractions of modern life.)
Churches must recover the centrality and urgency of biblical teaching and preaching, and refuse to sideline the teaching ministry of the preacher. Pastors and churches too busy—or too distracted—to make biblical knowledge a central aim of ministry will produce believers who simply do not know enough to be faithful disciples. (Worse, they will fail to pass down a clear understanding of the gospel to the next generation sitting in the pews.)
We will not believe more than we know, and we will not live higher than our beliefs. The many fronts of Christian compromise in this generation can be directly traced to biblical illiteracy in the pews and the absence of biblical preaching and teaching in our homes and churches.
This generation of Christian parents and pastors must get deadly serious about the problem of biblical illiteracy, or a frighteningly large number of Americans—Christians included—will go on thinking that Sodom and Gomorrah lived happily ever after.
Without a mature knowledge of God’s Word, how can churchgoers expect to make new disciples of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19)?
For years now I’ve been waking before the alarm fires off its annoying sounds. I guess one becomes conditioned through the years, I don’t really know although I consider it a blessing because I do find myself thanking GOD and doing my morning prayers as I begin my day.
Being an early upper allows for more time to begin whatever routines one may have, mines pretty basic, get up, prayer & reflection time, wash off, get dressed, get coffee, drive…. ’bout it. After 31 yrs of sitting behind a windshield and over 3 million miles I’m beginning to think my wandering days are kinda coming due for some closure.
My 31 foot liveaboard sailboat is down in the Carolinas and that sealonging is starting to tighten its grip on my heart and mind.
Getting my affairs in order on land has taken its own sweet time, some of it was due to me, some to work and other external events that had to take their due course to finish. But now that next chapter is about to start, I’m praying the Lord will bless the coming move and use it for His glory.
And to close with Psalm 37 4. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. 6. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. 7. Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. 8. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
5. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. 6. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 7. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. 8. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. 9. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. 10. But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. 11. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 12. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13. Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. 14. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15. To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 16. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage. 17. But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18. How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 19. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. 20. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22. And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23. And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Here we are told to remember the righteous judgment of God and what type of people believers are to look out for. There are those whose sole purpose is to draw your attention away from the Lord, those who distract you with conversations of politics and worldly concerns. We are told to be careful when interacting with them because theirs is the path to hell.
These talkers mock the very God that allows them to breathe, these talkers mock and deride the Son because of their hatred of the Light, loving darkness and sin. These talkers cannot understand even what they are doing because sin has deceived their heart and mind.
So continue in the faith that was delivered to you from Christ as recorded in Scripture, love God, love the Son, and continue in compassion one towards another for today is the day of salvation.
5. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 6. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. 7. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 8. But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12. Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. 13. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
Scripture always says so much with so little effort. Here we have volumes of social sciences, decades of psychological studies and writings, centuries of societal norms of morality and ethics condensed into a simple and understandable lay of scripture.
Also for context, Jesus said in Matthew 15:11. Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. And also in verses 18. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20. These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man. Here is the summation of these Scriptures, our evil comes from within, the state of our soul and life is the result of internally personalized decisions. Yes, there are often external intricacies each of us encounter, but how we deal with those is our personal decision and choice. So as Paul stated in verse 13…let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
6. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 10. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 11. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a campaign rally at the Cheyenne Saloon on November 7, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images
A Laymans Discourse 
You must be logged in to post a comment.