Opus 2025-564: Advent Calendar: Day 9, Stir Well

As Mary moves toward the time when Jesus is going to be born and Elizabeth is looking at the arrival of John, the two women get together.  As they are approaching each other, something happens that is rather unusual in one sense and normal in another.

Luke 1:41 (NASB95) When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.

The middle phrase of this verse doesn’t portray anything unusual.  Babies kick, squirm, punch and other assorted movements while they’re still in the womb.  I can remember before mine were born, putting in my hands on the distended belly of my wife and feeling the movement, and if I was really lucky, even getting my hand knocked away.  There’s nothing unusual in that.

What was unusual was that this led to Elizabeth being aware that she was being filled with the Holy Spirit.  She must have shared this with Mary and when Luke was interviewing Mary later on, she must have related it to him.  This is unusual.  Pregnancy doesn’t usually end up in this kind of thing.

By coincidence this morning I was reading in Psalms and came across this verse,

Psalm 39:3 (NASB95) My heart was hot within me, While I was musing the fire burned; Then I spoke with my tongue:

We need to be aware that God is quite capable of stirring up our inner emotions and our thoughts.  He’s capable of focusing us or refocusing.  One of the reasons that we remember special days is that so we can gather our thoughts, contemplate, and perhaps decide to do things a little bit different in the future.

Mary and Elizabeth were stirred as they got together.  During this holiday season use the times when we gather with friends and family to allow God to make something jump within us, perhaps you can have a renewal of the Holy Spirit in your life this time of year.

Merry Christmas.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-530: You Pick, part 2 of 2

Now, how do we go about change?  There’s a lot of unhappy people out there today and many of them are advocating violence.  We saw this in the murder of Charlie Kirk.  We see it in the riots and destruction caused by Antifa.  It’s considered quite acceptable by certain people to kill and destroy in order to achieve political power.  I personally think that they know they can never really win, at least in the United States, but they can achieve victory by provoking people on the other side to respond in the same manner.  That leads to Civil War, which is a form of revolution that overthrows the power structure by force.  The historic results of this type of approach are dismal.  The solution is usually worse than the cause.  The American revolution was the exception to the rule.  The French revolution was much more typical.

Then you have reform.  This is the gradual process of bringing about change.  Sometimes we see big steps forward.  I think of the battle of William Wilberforce and his allies to end slavery in the English empire.  He fought for 30 years before he saw the first movement.  It is possible to change things.  The problem is that most of the time the change ends up being for the worse.  Think of how we did away with senators being appointed by the state legislature and made it a popular vote.  That has not gone well.  We think of the income tax.  It was going to be a very small amount of money.  How is that treating you now?

And then we have revival.  This of course, has that religious aspect, which is familiar to Bible believing Christians.  I think if we went back in history, you would find that there were times when Israel went through revivals.  I think of King Josiah as he found the book of the law and tried to turn the country back towards God.  I think of the Wesley revival which saved England from a similar fate that France went through from its revolution.  I’m sure there are other examples.  This would be my choice as the direction we should go.  I, as a Christian ,would feel that this would require God’s people to get serious about being God’s people.

Which way will our country go?  The frightening thing to me is that I don’t see what used to be the Christian church standing up and confessing their sins.  I don’t see them being willing to repent.  But then revival often starts under the radar and takes time to develop.

Hind sight tells us how it went last time.  Foresight is an illusion.  All we have is hope.  If you are a believing Christian pray and live in obedience.  If you are not a believer then you better hope that the ones who are have the ear of God.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-529: You Pick, part 1 of 2

I don’t know if you’ve ever been driving through apple country and seen the signs that declare that you can pick your own apples.  It’s rather ingenious because they still charge you as much as the store, maybe more, but they don’t have to do the harvesting.  I guess it’s fun for some people.

But I’m more concerned about picking our future.  If you are paying attention, and I assume you are, you noticed that things tend to be going downhill in our culture and our society.  More and more we see what we could call a peasant class rising to the surface. It’s not a matter of cream rising; it’s a matter of the dregs being stirred up until that’s all we can see.  I am not talking about social or economic classes but a group with atrophied mentalities.  

We are constantly at a crossroads.  That’s part of the human predicament.  At the present I think we are going to have to pick one of three courses we follow.  I would suggest that the three are revolution, reform and revival.  There’s a bit of overlap and all insist that there must be change.  That’s nothing new.  Again it’s the human predicament.

If you look at history, there is no one political system that has survived the test of time.  There is no one economic system that continues to deliver.  What has survived is the basic human character of self-centeredness and shortsightedness.  There is a certain hubris built into the human mind and personality.  We see it in those claiming that real socialism has never been tried and at this time it will be different.  I’m not sure how many of them actually believe that or how many of them are simply convinced that they are more clever than their ancestors and will find a way to put themselves on the top of the heap this time.

There are three general approaches to government.  You have the general category of monarchy.  This is the rule by one strong man.  They embrace different titles.  You can have a king, a dictator, a tyrant, a president for life.  A second type is the rule by the elite or upper class.  I think oligarchy fits into that and the idea of having an aristocracy.  Then the third type is a general form that is often mislabeled democracy.  The word itself is good because it’s a compound word of “people” and “power”.  This has taken two general forms.  The first is a pure democracy.  We have never actually seen this, although some people think we have.  They point to ancient Athens as being a pure democracy.  Not so.  Only a limited number of people were allowed to participate in the process of voting and assuming power.  Still it was an attempt.  Then we have the concept of republic.  This was demonstrated in Rome.  Again, it was not perfect because it did not include everyone.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-485: Click Bait: Sayonara

The headline read “Why I’m leaving Germany…”  I didn’t bother clicking because I could think of enough reasons myself to leave Germany or any other place in Europe for that matter.  The way things are going here I could think of reasons to leave the United States.  The problem is from here there’s no place to go.

Another issue that would come up from this topic is the question of what if you couldn’t leave?  What if you were financially unable to pick up and get out of the country?  What if you didn’t have the passport or security clearance for the government to allow you to leave?  What if you had family that refused to go?  There are so many reasons why you might not be able to leave Germany.  There are also so many reasons why I would not be able to leave the United States.

One of the most important reasons is the one that we often overlook.  If we leave who is going to bring about renewal.  We see people struggling with this in their churches.  What happens when you’re in a church that has gone woke?  I guess an earlier question than that should be, “How did the church go woke if you were paying attention?”  Did it go woke because you were so busy keeping your head down and enjoying the fellowship that no one ever stood up and said, “Wait a minute…”

Rarely are people able to stay behind and recover a lost church.  The people who are concerned about recovering are also people who tend to have ethics and integrity.  They don’t cheat.  They don’t lie.  They don’t change the rules to suit themselves . They work in good faith.  The people they’re trying to recover the church from have none of those limitations.  When you reject the basic truths of the Bible it’s kind of ridiculous to expect you to follow the simple patterns of etiquette and Roberts Rules of Order.

So if you’re concerned about having to leave the United States someday I would suggest that maybe you need to stand up now while you still have a chance and say what needs to be said.   That could start in your Sunday school class as you try to keep your church from going over the falls.  You could start in Starbucks while you’re sitting around shooting the bull with the other bull shooters.  It could start at Thanksgiving dinner when all the family is gathered together, and cousin purple hair is pontificating about Orange Man bad.

Opportunities will vary.  Results will vary.  The time left to take advantage of those opportunities is just getting shorter and shorter.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-148: Donald Is Not God

And to be fair, he has never claimed to be.  All he has said is that he feels that God has protected his life because He has something for him to do.  You might feel the same if a bullet took off the tip of your ear.

If I wanted to be critical, it would be of those who try to make him into something he is not.  I would rejoice if I could totally believe that Donald Trump is on board with my spiritual beliefs.  I think he’s open to them but I have not heard the keywords.  That may be just a problem with jargon and semantics.  It may be something deeper.  I am not, however, going to force him into my version of what the Bible teaches.

Fortunately, I don’t need to. I believe that he is the man God is raised up at this time to be used to try and bring revival and renewal to the United States of America, and through us to the world.  You don’t need to be a 24 karat, KJV believing Christian to qualify for that.  God has used many types of people and leaders over the years.  You have it one in the pharaohs and Nebuchadnezzars and such tyrants and despots.  God used them.  At the other end, you have the Wilberforce’s and the Wesley’s and the apostle Paul’s.  All were raised up by God for a specific purpose, and whether they acknowledge God or not, they have been His tools.

So pray to the real God that the Donald would be open to His leading.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-044: The Day After

Did you go to church on Sunday?  If you did, did anybody ever mention that it was a special day other than being Sunday?  Sunday was Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.  Sometimes it’s called Pro Life Sunday.  Did anybody mention it in Sunday school?  Was it mentioned from the pulpit during any part of the service?

If your church was not aware that this is the Sunday that the champions of life selected to remind us of the tragedy of Roe versus Wade, then that might be one of the marks that tells you whether the church is worth attending or not.  Roe versus Wade was overturned, true.  In reality, the battle goes on.  Thousands of children are being slaughtered every day.  That really adds up over time.

Ignoring abortion is not the only issue that a week church fails on, but it is an indication.  It might be a good litmus test, or it might be that for some reason, your church does everything right except for that.  Only you can be the judge, but I would guess that if you go to a church that ignores the issue of abortion or soft-pedals it or sugarcoat it, you will find other areas that are also falling short of what God wants for them.  It’s amazing how often common threads of thinking and values run together.

We need revival in the nation.  We need to stand up and be counted.  If you are going to a church that is overlooking vital areas of morality, cultural, compromise, doctrinal, deviation, or outright denial of the divinity of Christ then you need to be one of those clanging cymbals that are calling people back to truth.  Keep in mind that it’s not just the public square that needs revival.  The church is where it must start.  And one of the things I’ve been hearing regularly in the past few weeks at my church is that it must start in each one of us.

Pray for revival. Pray that it would start and you and me.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-001: Are You Awake Yet?

I must admit, I whispered that because I don’t know where you are at this point in your life.  I stopped staying up to greet the new year a long time ago, probably when my last child moved out of the house.  I can remember as in my immaturity wanting to stay up all night.  I can remember as a teenager going out and running around with my friends until past midnight at least.  I can remember the challenge.  I have never been one to party hard, drink excessively, and hope I got home alive.  It was enough to stay up as late as I could.

No more.  I go to bed.  I get up.  New Year’s Day is just another day of retirement.

It is also a good day to stop and contemplate the future.  Every culture has these moments.  We know about the Chinese new year with the dancing dragons and the fireworks.  There is a Jewish new year.  The Muslims celebrate a new year.  It goes on everywhere and in addition to the celebration and partying there is often serious reflection on what direction your life should go.

One Bible verse that stands out to us this way is,

Joshua 24:15 (KJV) And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

We don’t have Amorites anymore.  Your fathers may not have served the God of the Bible.  Nevertheless, today is a day of decision.  It could simply be to be a better parent, or to spend less money on Twinkies.  Do you have decisions to make?  Of course you do.  The big decision is what is your motivating force, you’re guiding light, the compass that provides direction.  I would trust that you would make a decision today, to serve the Lord.  I would hope that’s just a repeat of last year.  I would hope it’s just a desire to do better rather than a need to make a radical change.

I pray that you would take advantage of the opportunity you have by taking the day off, spending time with family and time alone.

Happy new year. May God bless you and may you be obedient to him.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-451: Sounding Like an Optimist

What an amazing time of year this is.  We have three of the greatest holidays, right in a row.  It starts with Thanksgiving, moves on to Christmas and then gives us New Year’s.

Thanksgiving is a time for attitude adjustment.  When we take a long road trip in my wife’s late model Lexus it will send her these cute little messages that it is time to take a break.  We usually ignore the car’s advice but that might be a bad idea when the calendar tells us to take a break.  We take the opportunity to stop and meditate on our blessings and think about all of the great things in our lives.  Instead of worrying about the future, we are encouraged to contemplate the past and enjoy the present.  The great thing about it is that it reminds us that God is the supplier of everything that is worthwhile.  The government is simply an agent when it’s doing its job the right way.  It is a hindrance when it thinks it is in charge.

So we start with Thanksgiving.  And one of the great things that we have to be thankful for is the incarnation, Christmas.  It’s the day in which we celebrate the fact that God broke into history and began the process of the Savior moving toward the cross to die for our sins. If you don’t have anything else to be thankful for that’s a good place to start.  If you don’t celebrate Christmas then celebrate the incarnation.  When you do other things become clear.

New Year’s offers us the opportunity to start new.  It is an arbitrary date.  There’s nothing in any eternal document saying that January 1 is significant.  It’s just a handy handle to hang our new expectations on.  Pick another day if it works for you.  We’ve heard a lot of criticism of the idea of resolutions.  The problem is not the resolutions.  The problem is that we don’t really plan on making any changes.  It becomes just a calendar version of a video game.  The resolutions themselves are probably very good, but we don’t act on them.  So maybe we need to look at New Year’s as a time of revival.  When I was a kid, we would have revivals at our church.  It was a time when you would seek the face of God, and listen to what He had to say.  It was a time not only of contemplation, but have repentance and brokenness.

New Year’s can be transforming if we let it.  I challenge you to stop and take a deep look at who you are and what your priorities are and work on making some changes.  I’m sure your family will help.  Families like to give advice.  In my family we have lots of people who have ideas about how I could change.  That’s not what I’m talking about.  I’m talking about looking down inside yourself, listening to the voice of God and calling up on him to make this the best year ever.

Wow. I’m starting to sound like an optimist. Maybe I need to change that.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-448: Liberty via Tyranny

My question of the moment is, “Can we reestablish a nation of liberty without imposing tyranny?”

This is a serious question.  We have watched the forces of the cultural Marxist take over all the instruments of public debate, use them to shut down any opposing opinion and brainwash the debaters.  If you’re paying attention, you know what’s going on in our educational system, the media, weaponized government agencies, and so forth.  Of course, if you were one of the brainwashed masses you think that’s the way it supposed to be.  You live in 1984 and enjoy every moment of it.

For those of us who are still a part of the unwashed masses we want to go back to the days when the Bill of Rights was actually believed in and followed.  We want our liberty back.  The washed masses are not going to give it up easily.  Part of that is because they are so mentally modified that they don’t understand what the issues are.  Another part of that is that they are the party of violence, oppression, and narcissism.  They’ve used illegitimate methods to gain control, and they will fight to the death to keep it.  The days of agreed-upon principles are gone.  All you have to do is look at what the president has been doing with the pardons, the spending allocations, and the use of the justice system to dominate, control and stomp down on those who want to live as a free people.

Can we get the reins back without imposing despotic tyranny?  The easiest way of course is to take over and force our agenda.  Use their techniques.  Brainwash right back.  Riot in the streets.  Use fear and force.  The only problem with that is in the long run, it won’t work.  The French revolution tried it, and it led to Napoleon.

Can it be done?  Yes. but it will require something that I’m not sure we still have.  It will demand that each and every person who still has goodwill and understands the Constitution to stand up and be counted on a daily, minute by minute basis.  It means that we never let anything go by without challenging it.  It means being embarrassed, possibly.  It definitely means being inconvenienced.  In time if enough of us stand up, we will gradually shame other people into adopting an attitude of liberty.

It can’t happen without revival.  Pray that God will instill backbone and righteousness in those who are believers and convict those who are not.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-423: The Depths of Evil

Americans do not understand evil.  At least that is true for the general public who believes in the traditional values of the Jewish and Christian heritage.  Part of the reason we have been able to live with those benevolent attitudes is because in the past much evil was rooted out.  We see that rooting out process going on in the Middle East today as Israel responds to the mayhem of October 7.  Let me try to give you a historical perspective from the Bible.

When Israel was ready to cross over the Jordan River into the Promised Land, God tried to clarify a couple of things.  The first Israel liked and wanted to hear.

(Deu 9:3 KJV)  Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.

God was promising to be with them and bring victory.  Everyone likes that idea.

What we have a hard time with is that they would be driven out and destroyed.  That seems a bit of overkill to us.

God tries to clarify what is going on.  You often find such clarification if you look and are willing to listen.  First He addresses a misconception that Israel might have.  We have the same problem.

(Deu 9:4 KJV)  Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee.

We have this natural tendency to think that God is lucky to have us on His team.  We are like the little boy who “stuck in his thumb and pulled out a plum and said, ‘What a good boy am I.’”  God was having none of that.  It was not that they were so “righteous” but that the people living in the land we so “wicked.”

He reinforces this point,

(Deu 9:5 KJV)  Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Try to wrap your hand around the culture that lived there and seems to live there again today.  The wickedness of Canaan was not that they partied too loud or rioted in the streets.  That may have happened but that is just a mild form of anti-social behavior.  No, we are talking about people who participated in child sacrifice, and it wasn’t a matter of death by lethal injection.  No.  Try to grasp this.  They would take their trusting, smiling, cooing baby and cast them into the red hot metal arms of the statue of Molech.  Who could do this and think it was right?  A perverted, evil people living in a perverted, evil culture.

God is not a silly fool who believes we will be absolutely perfect.  He knows us better than that.  He also knows the evil cultures of the world better than you will ever want to grasp.  Strangely enough that may be our hope.  I have talked a lot about our nation compared to Sodom.  I have written about it.  In the election my concern was that there might not be a figurative ten righteous people to be found in our modern Sodom.  That might be the wrong question.  God may spare us like He spared ancient Israel.  It may not be that we are righteous enough but that the comparison is such a swamp of evil.

Live in such a way that God will go before you and drive the wicked to their destruction.  We may deserve God’s wrath but there are people who deserve it more.  

At least I hope so.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-357: Removing the Dross

As I was meditating on how God purifies people, sanctifies them, matures them, and leads them to be what he wants him to be, I was thinking in terms of sanding off rough edges.  That is not the analogy that God gives us in scripture.  He tends to talk about refining.  He’s thinking in terms of making gold and silver pure.

God talks about the dross being removed.  I am not a metallurgist.  I am not an expert in any way in the process of making pure steel, gold, silver, or any other metal.  All I have is kind of general ideas I picked up here and there, some of them from the Bible.

I have this picture of ore being refined to a certain point, and then in order to really purify it you have to make it even hotter and let it sit over a fire for a long time.  The picture I get is that the dross, impurities, slowly rise to the surface.  As the metal is continually heated and the dross continues to rise, the worker will skim off the impurities from the top and discard them.  He will then continue to refine the metal.

My thoughts at this point went to politics rather than theology.  I was thinking about our hopes that Donald Trump would be elected.  One of the common topics of discussion is that he has to get rid of the people who have been polluting our government for so long.  We know that the top ranks are corrupt beyond imagination.  We know there is a self-centered seeking for power in riches that is destroying the liberties of the masses.  One of the ways to reform is to get rid of the impurities.

I think it’s interesting that there seems to be a parallel between purifying gold and getting the government into the condition it needs to be.  It seems that the pollution, the corruption, the dross rises to the top.  At that point, it must be skimmed off.

I would urge President Trump if elected to skim off the dross.  At this point it has been very consistent in rising.  Skim it off.  Wait a while.  Skim it off again.  And as the dandruff shampoo label tells us, repeat.

There will probably be a steady supply of impurities rising to the top.  Keeps skimming.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-342: Election 2024: A Corner on Hope

In just a few weeks, we will have another national election.  We’ve done this many times before.  We’ve had a lot of anger and hostility before.  We’ve had division before.  I was just reading about the hostility between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, it was very real, very deep and bitter.  The country survived.

You can go down through our history and see many occasions like this.  If you have access to any of the sites that look at the attacks on Abraham Lincoln in the press and in any other way of communication, you could almost substitute Donald Trump and see the same types of things.  All of this is nothing new in American politics.

So what is different this time?

The difference used to be on numerous corners in every town.  It used to be that everywhere you drove you would see church steeples, and those church steeples would represent the attitudes of the people who lived in that area.  The odds were those steeples would represent churches that were full of people that actually believe what the Bible said, and who had their hope resting in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  They were called the salt of the Earth.  They were never a majority but they were a significant segment.

What happens to a country when its salt loses its savor?  I’m sure you are familiar with at least part of this verse,

Matthew 5:13 (KJV) Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

It is perfectly clear to anyone who is serious about serving Jesus that the church has lost its savor, or savour as the KJV would put it.  That doesn’t mean there isn’t any life in the old girl yet but it does mean that it has lost the influence that it had.  That influence is vital in the coming election.  And it’s not just a matter of Christians not voting.  It’s a matter of so many people who call themselves Christians ignoring what they believe when they vote.  They have allow themselves to be brainwashed by the anti-God forces in our culture.  Many of those forces are in charge of the denominations of the churches they attend.  The recent action in the United Methodist Church is a good example of how the so-called churches have abandoned the standards of God.

There is still hope.  And that hope is in you if you acknowledge Jesus Christ is Lord.  Can you see if you acknowledge Jesus as Lord then that means that you are a part of that group of people that are called by His name.  At this point, let me bring forth a verse, which is so often quoted and quoted incorrectly.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV) If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

This is a message of hope.  But you need to understand that hope which is in Almighty God is dependent upon a small group of people, the ones who are “called by My name”.  Now this originally applied to Israel.  It still applies to Israel in specifics, but the principle applies to the church today.

It’s not going to do any good if people who deny God call upon his name.  It won’t do them any good to pray.  God is not listening to the prayers of his enemies.

If the country is to be saved, we need to vote, yes.  We need to pray, yes.  But above all that small group of people who are still faithful need to focus on turning from their wicked ways, and calling upon God.

The country can be pulled out of its nose dive.  It can be pulled out of his nose dive no matter who wins the election.  The key is being salt, and pepper has never been able to replace salt.

So vote. Pray. But above all turn from your wicked ways. The country is counting on you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-264: Election Prayer

Sunday it was announced that at church that November 3, instead of the regular Sunday school class we, would be having a prayer breakfast in regard to the coming election.  The plan is to start with something light to eat and then spend the rest of the time in various expressions of prayer and calling on God for his intervention.

I just thought I would write and share that with you and suggested perhaps you might take that idea to your church and suggest the same thing.  Maybe you are already planning it.  Although elections are important and we believe in the rule of law and the republican form of government, we believe even more in the God of the universe.  It was suggested that it might be a good idea not to wait for the 3rd to start praying.

National renewal depends upon spiritual revival. Join us.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-205: Talking to Jesus

I have at times considered how awesome it must have been to be one of the disciples.  We were told how great it would have been to be able to actually walk and talk with Jesus, to listen to His preaching and teaching in the first person.  I agree with that.  I think it would be awesome but today as I was thinking about that I also realized there was what might be called a downside to that.

We tend to think that when we are talking with Jesus that it will be this wonderful experience, just basking in His glory.  OK.  That’s probably true, but it goes beyond that.  You see Jesus might also have the habit of asking us questions that make us uncomfortable.  He might make statements to us specifically, and personally that make us examine our lives, our thinking, our relationships, and so many other areas of life that we don’t want to touch.  It’s very possible that Jesus would make us uncomfortable, just looking at us.

Another uncomfortable truth here is that Jesus can still do that to us.  This is what can happen to us if we read our Bibles conscientiously.  If we plug our brains in and try to apply what we’re reading to our lives and be sensitive to the leading and teaching of the Holy Spirit, the Bible can speak to us.  Too often it’s things we don’t want to hear.  Or maybe it is more accurate to say too often we don’t hear things that it says.

In the same way that’s one of the reasons why we go to church.  It’s one of the reasons why we have sermons and scripture reading and sing immortal hymns.  It’s one reason why I prefer the music of the church that has endured for centuries, or at least decades, to contemporary worship songs.  I find the old hymns penetrate deeper.

Our world needs revival.  Our country is desperate for the divine salt that we are supposed to be.  We need to understand as important as the coming election is, it is even more important that you and I get in contact with the living God and listen to what he has to say to us.  If we are going to revive the country, the revival has to start with us.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-171: Lessons of Hide and Seek

We had the grandchildren over today and I was drafted for a game of hide and seek.  The four year old didn’t have a clue.  He told me to hide behind the door, counted to three and then came and found me.  We switched roles.  He went and hid behind the door, while I was still watching.  We both screeched when I “found” him.  My granddaughter walked by him in his bright green shirt when he was playing turtle on the floor in front of the couch.  She did not see him.  Needless to say we all had a great time.

It also taught me something about our American population.  Like my grandchildren, they don’t have a clue.  They don’t see things in plain sight.  They never look in corners.  They are as mature as those kids were and they often have just as good a time.  The polls say that a third of Americans still would rather have Biden in the White House with prices that have doubled than to have someone who posted mean tweets which effected them just how?

If you live next door to one of that third, or have one in the family, you need to realize they will never understand what you are talking about.  They believe Joe when he says he as endorsed by the Border Patrol.  They think the devil wears an orange suit.  It is about that simple.

That means that the other two thirds have to step up to the plate.  It means speaking up.  It means taking a stand.  It also means getting right with God and living a life of repentance.  That is actually the hard part.  

November is coming.  We keep saying the current election is vital.  If you don’t believe it is true then just look at the condition of the country compared to four years ago.  It is hard to believe anyone could destroy things so quickly.  They did.  Once again, it is the most important election of our life time.  Maybe they all are.

I hope to be seeing you on the other side.  I pray that the rule of law will be revived.  I know that a lot of people need to go to jail.  I dream that violence will not be necessary.  It was a good life while it lasted.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-140: Africa Takes the Lead

If you are a believer, I assume you’re in prayer for our country and for our so-called leaders.  That goes double for Donald Trump.

I once went to a class on the concept of praying scripture.  The idea was that you would find a verse or a passage that applied to someone and their situation and you use it for a framework of prayer for them.  Might I suggest Psalm 91 as a place to be reading today.  It talks about fear.  It talks about protection.  It talks about the things that God does for those who follow him.

So pray for President Trump.  Pray for his spiritual condition.  Pray for his safety.  Pray that he will be obedient to God‘s will even if he’s not aware of it.  And while you do this pray for your country.  We are in a time of great evil.  The church has abandoned its roll as source of righteousness.  I guess I mean the organized church.  It is up to the real church, the Body Christ, those walking in the spirit and following his leader ship.

God will judge His people.  What is scary about that?  “His people” is not synonymous with America, but with the church in America and the rest of the world.  Pray that we are obedient and faithful stewards.  Political America is on a suicide run.  The only thing that will save it is a revival starting in the studies and pulpits of America.  It would be good if Americans would follow the lead of the Methodist Church in Africa which has just disassociated itself from the United Methodist Church over their vote to embrace the homosexual agenda.

We need a little bit of Africa over here.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-327: Critical Mass: How Do You Know

476 A.D.
732 A.D.

I don’t know if you recognize these dates.  They are turning points in history that were not recognized as such when they happened.  I am sure I could come up with a lot more.  If you had been alive in 476 you would not have been aware that everything had changed.  It is the date of the fall of Rome, except it didn’t.  It is chosen because it was the ascension of the first non-Roman emperor.  The man on the street still paid the same for cabbages and grain.  

It you were at the Battle of Tours in 732 you would have noticed something happened.  You won a battle, or lost, depending on which side you were on.  It made a difference to you but you would not have recognized it as the high water mark of Muslim expansion into Europe.  It was the beginning of a 700 year push by Christian Europe to take back the continent for Christ.  Everything changed when that battle was won.

What date will historians look back on as the demise of the United States of America as a federal republic, ruled by law and embracing the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights?  What is, or was, the turning point?  Our most recent example is the action of the Colorado Courts which decided that Donald Trump could not be listed on the primary election ballot.  It is a classic example of Banana politics that we have seen in so many parts of the world and thought we were immune to.  It follows the long litany of ridiculous collusion by the press and the Democrat hacks who are convinced that when the dust settles they will be the ones on the throne.  

When will the attacks reach critical mass?  Will they ever?  Will there be violence in the streets?  Oh, wait, we have already had that in many major cities thanks to BLM and Antifa and the paid stooges that are their shock troops.  Of course it was mostly peaceful protest while old ladies being waved into the capitol were an insurrection.  Will the people of America finally have enough and bring about something like the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution?  If it happens it will not be pretty and there will be no winners.

My theory is that if the people of God will do enough praying, repenting and obeying, we will see God reach His critical mass and move in ways that will not be pretty.  America needs to be humbled but not destroyed.  The rest of the world needs the leadership we offered when we were more righteous.  How will God bring that about?  His methods will make a second Civil War seem mild.  You might actually prefer that.  Picture a totally divine intervention.  Picture massive solar flares, earthquakes at key locations and the massive volcano in Yosemite erupting.  Add a few tidal waves and hurricanes like the climate alarmists have been hoping for.  Add to that diseases that were not created in labs and let go on purpose along with a new and improved dust bowl.  Are you getting a picture of what could happen?

Imagine the west coast of the United States if a series of solar flares took out all the electric grid and its backups.  Throw in a mild earthquake to cut off the flow of water to Los Angeles and you have massive metropolises erupting into murderous chaos within hours.  None of that requires much imagination and would not bring the God haters to the table.  “Just coincidence,” they would say.

With the destruction of the Left Coast it is possible that the balance of moral fiber in the country would swing enough so that God did not have to apologize to Sodom any more.  While we are not Israel God has blessed us in the past.  It may be to late to expect Him to bless us in the future but we will only find out as we repent and pray as individuals.  One at a time eventually adds up.  I believe God wants to bless people who live in obedience.  I hope there are enough of us.

Critical mass of evil could bring us down but it works both ways.  Critical mass could also bring revival.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-239: Root Causes

As I was praying for the country my mind went to the question of “What do I want to happen?”

Historically there are numerous examples of God getting up close and personal with kings.  He had Nebuchadnezzar out eating grass.  He showed Belshazzar the writing on the wall just before the Persians invaded the city and ended his feast.  David lost a child for his dalliance.  Pharaoh found out it is hard to swim in armor.  In more recent times it is hard to tell when God is dealing with leaders since we don’t have a Biblical account to inform us.

God does move in the halls of power.  We need to keep praying for our “leaders”.

At the same time we need to remember that old caution, “Be careful what you pray for, you might get it.”  I would guess that when God moves against political leaders it is not done gently nor does the general population get off with a night at Chucky Cheese.  It generally results in disruption and chaos in the streets.  

My feeling is that God only takes the extreme measures when He is forced to do so.  He is not forced by someone putting a gun to His head.  He is forced because the people who are called by His name have refused to step up to the plate as salt and light.  Is the country going down hill?  Is the rule of law being perverted into a totalitarian joke?  Are morals in the gutter?  Is the nation in the handbasket and happy about it?  I trust you know rhetorical questions when you see them.

The reason the country is charging toward joining the failures of the past is because it has abandoned its Christian roots.  The degeneration did not start in Washington or any state capital.  It started in the seminaries and pastoral studies across the country.  It started when those who were given the responsibility to be spiritual leaders surrendered to the siren of popular culture and took the wide gate.  Sure enough, it is leading to destruction.

It started in the leadership but it continued in the people sitting in the pews.  They did not call the diluters to account.  They did not take the spiritual routes of prayer, reprove and correction.  They didn’t even vote with their feet.  

If we are going to turn the country around we need to start at the bottom.  That means you and me.  We need to answer the call to repentance so that those in power can be dealt with.  At this point we also need to accept the fact that the correction is going to be painful for everyone involved.

Shoot for the narrow gate.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-197: Headlines: Splits Appearing in the Banana

Is America starting to stand up?  It is always a hope I have.  One bit of positive movement I heard about was the departure of 5,000 congregations from the United Methodist Church.  I saw it a few places and finally read it at Christian Post.

I has happened over the last two years.  Evidently more would leave but some of the conferences are playing hard ball and telling them they can’t take their property with them.  I don’t have much hope for denominations like the United Methodists but if the faithful in their midst will get moving they may have a chance to be part of the solution instead of supporting the problem.

A word on reporters and lack of reporting.  One of the questions that came up was the total number of congregations in the UMC.  The article did not say.  Was 5,000 a significant number or a drop in the bucket?  I did some searching and I think I came up with around 29,000 so the 5,000 that left was a large minority.

Good news.  Maybe John Wesley can stop spinning in his grave.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-005: Something’s Got to Give

Growing up I always assumed that elections were honest and that honest elections are a good thing.  Color me simple.  It never occurred to me that people would cheat in something like that.  That naive attitude about election sanctity stayed with me until 2016.  I was becoming more aware of dishonesty around us.  I knew about some of the classics of the past like Boss Tweed and Mayor Daley.  I assumed that the elections in Communist countries were a joke either because of fraud or only having one candidate.  It just never occurred to me that the Communists would get control of my government.

Am I naive or just stupid?

It brings up a real question:  Is it more important to have honest elections or to win?  

When I was younger I would have thought it was a question that only had one answer.  Not so much any more.  I am also still paying my taxes but having great sympathy for people who manage to live by barter and cash.  Maybe I should say “cheering them on.”

We seriously need revival.  I came across an interesting statement from a book, Bowling Alone, written in the year 2000.

“Many of the most important episodes of social capital formation in American history have been rooted in religious revivals, and we may be on the cusp of another such period.”  p. 77

I have heard people claiming that revival was taking place.  I have not seen it.  Of course you need to understand that I can’t find the mustard in the refrigerator.  The problem with living in history is the story hasn’t been written yet.  What makes this quote stand out is that it is written by someone that so far has expressed no personal faith at all.  It was written 22 years ago but that does not mean that it is not in process.

Let’s hope so.

Putnam, Robert D.  Bowling Alone.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 2000.

homo unius libri