Crowds of Opinion

 There are two types of people in this world, and I am Type II. (That's a diabetic joke) We all have our opinions and beliefs about various things. But does our opinion really matter?

For example, I have an opinion about bologna. I think bologna should come in a square shape instead of a round one. That way it would match up with my slice of bread shape and the shape of my cheese slices. Oh, my world would be perfect then. Every bite would taste the same! But that's just my opinion.

Sadly, bologna doesn't come that way. It only comes in a circular shape so what should I do? I suppose I could start a Facebook group or create a movement, get a 501c3, and start raising money for my cause. But why?

There is actually a deeper question that needs to be answered here. What if it is the bread and cheese manufacturers that are wrong? Should they be forced to conform to the round shape of the bologna manufacturers? Too deep for me. Each business has made a choice. Their decision was based on what was best and most cost effective for them.

What is the point of any opinion if it doesn't have its basis in fact? Or in truth? "Meaningless!" as King Solomon would say. But that's just my opinion. It too is meaningless.

If we cast aside all of the opinions and belief systems out there, there are STILL two types of people remaining. Those who believe in Christ and those who don't. Jesus has said that He is "the truth" (John 14:6). Is He right? He has also said that He is the Son of God (Luke 22:70). Is that correct?

That is a question that each of us must answer for ourselves, which brings me back to my opening statement. There are two types of people in this world - those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God and those who don't.

What do YOU believe?

Did Jesus Really Claim To Be God? - Ravi Zacharias

Free Time

This story isn't about what you think it is. It's not about vacations or holiday time off. This story is about what you choose to do with the rest of your life. And the rest of eternity.

I watched a movie the other day entitled In Time starring Justin Timberlake. The image you see here is from that movie. Have you ever heard the phrase "time is money?" Well, that is REALLY the case in this movie.

Everybody has a readout on their forearm. It tells them how much time they have left before they die. And time literally is money as people have to give up some of their remaining time in order to buy things that they need.

"He required everyone - small and great, rich and poor, free and slave - to be given a mark on the right hand or on the forehead. 17And no one could buy or sell anything without that mark," - Revelation 13:16-17

The movie perfectly represented this Revelation 13 concept of buying and selling using time as money, dispensed via the human arm.

What would we do if we had that feature added to our lives? I bet that we would be much more cautious about spending money if it shortened our very lives to spend it. And if we woke up one morning and, looking at our arm, discovered we only had 12 hours remaining to live. Or five. How would we live it?

The phone companies make a big deal about selling us unlimited minutes. There actually IS a way for us to get unlimited minutes added onto our "life clocks." Repent of our sins, be baptized by the Holy Spirit and believe that Jesus is who He said He was - the Son of the Living God. He was crucified, died and was buried. But then He rose from the dead!

In effect, Jesus freely gave us HIS minutes. Eternal life.

"And this is the way to have eternal life - to know you (God), the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth." - John 17:3

Time . . . is . . . running . . . out.

In Time Trailer

Bad Bananas

 

Today's inspirational story is provided by my wife. Her and some really bad bananas.

My wife is amazing. The things she creates in the kitchen are loved by many, especially at this time of year.

Today she is baking banana bread. But not for herself. As a gift for her co-workers.

Before she left work last week she notice to over-ripe bananas on the counter. "Those are NOT going to make it through the weekend," she thought. So she brought them home and let them get worse on OUR counter.

Yesterday morning she began making banana bread, which apparent requires bananas that have been rejected by many and left to be discarded at work. She is making banana bread out of them so she can take it to work as a delicious treat for them to enjoy.

Think about that for a moment. That act of taking something bad and making it good. Doesn't that sound like what God did for you and me? At one point in our lives we were ALL bad bananas. But God had mercy on us and turned us each into something special.

I watched my wife making her bread. She took a cup of flour out of the flour jar, measuring it just so. A little baking soda, sifted of course. a dash of salt and a stir. Then in went those ugly bananas. Soon to be made perfect in our oven.

What ingredients did God use to make you into the special treat that you are today? Perhaps it was a struggling relationship or an addiction of some kind. Maybe it was a hug from a stranger or a job that kept you away from your family.

God can change ALL that. He can take the bad and sad things in your life, mix them with love, and use them to create amazing things in His children.

My wife's banana bread is amazing! And so are you! Leave that ugly banana peel behind and allow God to mold you into who He wants you to be. You will be delicious!

"I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand." - Jeremiah 18:3-5

The Restrainer

In 2nd Thessalonians 2 the Bible speaks of a "Restrainer". Who is he? What does he do? When is he going to do it? And just what is he restraining?

"Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him," - 2 Thessalonians 2:1

Okay. It's about the Rapture of God's church - "the gathering together" to Him. Let's skip down to verse  three.

"Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness a is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God."

That's the Anti-Christ - the lawless one. Verse seven.

"For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way."

There he is - the restrainer - "the one who now holds it back." Verse seven also says that he will continue to restrain until God tells Him to stop.

Think about that for a moment. Why would the Holy Spirit be removed? He lives in each and every believer on earth! Why would God remove His Holy Spirit from us? Well, it's because we are no longer here. We have been gathered to Him as it said in verse one.

"And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness." - 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

Wow. Verse 10 sounds like what's going on in the world right now. Large numbers of people are being deceived already. They are ripe for a leader of that same lawlessness to lead them. And they will love him and follow him . . . all the way to hell.

Read the beginning of verse three again.

"Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way,"

The world is being deceived right now. And it's not going to change. Not until Jesus returns anyway. He will remove His church. In Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians he said this:

"For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." - 1 Thessalonians 5:9

Until our Lord returns, we need to be doing His work - evangelizing, loving others, and in all ways point to Him. That is who we are. That is what we have been called to do.

Who/What is the Restrainer?

One Voice

I am going to admit something to you right now that very few people know about. It's been a secret for nearly 40 years now and it's time to bring it out in the open. Are you ready? Well, you think you are but you're not. Lol!

My wife and I used to listen to Barry Manilow back in the 80's. There. I said it. We even went to one of his concerts. I remember that night very well because the Brewers were playing the Cardinals in Game 7 of the World Series. And there I was missing the game!

Last week I was on YouTube and I saw an old song of Barry's so I played it to give my wife some laughs. But as it played the lyrics caught my ear and the way the song was put together made me wonder what it might be like to be singing songs of worship in heaven one day.

It will be like a giant Zoom meeting, only everyone will be together!

Just one voice. Singing in the darkness. All it takes is one voice. Shout it out and let it ring

Just one voice. It takes that one voice. And everyone will sing!

"Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”

13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever!”

14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped." - Revelation 5:11-14

One voice! They worshiped and spoke as one. All worshipping Jesus, giving Him honor and glory and power forever and ever. We will all be doing that together one day, worshipping in one voice. Better get practicing in church on Sunday. We'll want to be in our best voice, our "one voice", when He returns.

One Voice - Barry Manilow

For Your Glory

I have an old Corvette jacket. It's been hanging in the living room closet for years. I got it back when I used to have a Corvette. The car's long gone but I can't seem to get rid of the jacket. And I think I know why.

You might ask, "Why would a Christian wear a jacket touting a clearly materialistic and worldly car?" Well, the answer is quite simple. It's a trap. Lol!

Back in the day, when people saw me wearing the jacket, they would invariably ask, "Got a Corvette, huh?" or "So, do you have a Corvette?" These days my answer is different from what it was back then. As Darth Vader would say, "All to easy."

"Yeah, I used to have a Corvette but I got rid of it."

"Why? It's such a cool car! I bet it was fun to drive."

"Yes, it was. Got her up to 125 once at Road America. Cornered like it was on rails. But then I read a book that changed my mind about owning it."

"Really, what was that?"

"The Bible. Two verses really. Matthew 25:40 & 45. Jesus was talking with His disciples and telling them who would be getting into heaven. This particular lesson came down to what we did or didn't do with ourselves while we were on earth."

“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." - Matthew 25:40

“Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ - Matthew 25:45

I thought about those verses for a while and then asked myself, "What am I doing with this car?" I could have taken the money that I spent on it and done something good for someone else rather than myself. So, I sold my Corvette and began using the money for other things, things that would glorify God, not me.

"Don't you miss it?" they usually ask. "Sometimes. But then I think about what Jesus did for me on the cross. There's no comparison."

So, if you see me wearing my Corvette jacket one day. please, ask me about it. I'd love to tell you the story about how Jesus saved MY life and tell you about how He can save yours.

No Longer Hidden

Looking out against a white backdrop of freshly-fallen snow makes it whole lot easier to see the deer walking through our back yard. If it wasn't for the snow, we'd have nothing for contrast. Everything would look the same.

The deer tend to blend in with the rest of their surroundings - the pine needles, the sand and the tree bark. They can be very hard to detect unless you know they are there. God designed them that way.

Unlike the deer, we Christians are NOT supposed to blend in with our surroundings. We are SUPPOSED to stand out. God designed us that way too.

"I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy." - Leviticus 11:44

"Holy" means set apart.

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will." - Romans 12:2

We are not supposed to blend in with "the world". We are supposed to stand out. And just like the deer walking through our backyard, "standing out" makes them targets.

But the deer are smart. It's almost like they know the hunting laws. No discharging firearms within 500 feet of a house. THAT's why they hang out in our yard during hunting season!

The Levitical law from the time of Moses is not really there so we can try to live up to it. That's impossible. The law is there to make our sin stand out. And it SHOULD stand out. Otherwise we'd just keep on sinning; blending in the with world. The law is there so we can see that we have no hope, aside from God's grace and the death of Jesus on the cross and subsequent resurrection.

"I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, d dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

17When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!" - Revelation 1:12-16

Jesus

The Tribulation Survivor's Guide

So, I'm just putting this out there, you know, in case somebody needs it. Someday, somebody will. LOTS of people will. So I am writing this for that time, not for now.

The first thing that everybody's probably wondering is where did all of the people go that suddenly went missing? You can go back and read some of my other blog posts about that but it really doesn't matter anymore. We're gone, so let's move on.

You are going to have to face some hard facts. First and foremost, Jesus was who He said He was and all of the Christians have left the planet. Yep. You missed the boat. Why? Well, it's because you did not believe that Jesus was the Son of God. To have any chance at all during the next seven years you are going to have to change your mind about that. Just sayin'. Here's Roman's road to salvation.

• All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)
• The wages of sin is [eternal] death (Romans 6:23)
• The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23b)
• Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:9)

Of course, when you do come to faith in Christ, things will REALLY get bad for you. You will most likely be killed but that's okay if you truly believe. If that is the case, and you are executed because of your new-found faith, we will see you soon. :)

But, in case you still don't believe, things still will gradually be getting worse for you anyway. The churches will be mostly empty. Oh, there will still be some "worshippers" there. A few pastors too. But they won't be much help. They obviously weren't much help before. They never really understood or preached the Gospel. The TRUE Gospel that is. Sin and repentance?

All the relief organizations will be in disarray. The majority of them will be gone. My advice to you would be to get to a food pantry ASAP. If you thought the toilet paper shortage was bad during the Covid-19 outbreak, you ain't seen nothing yet! Basswood leaves and corncobs work Cloth diapers if you can find water to wash them.

Watch the news. You won't be able to believe much of it (like before we left) but at least you will be able to see a popular man come to world power. He will appear to have all of the answers and solutions to everything. He'll offer peace. It all will sound great! Stay away from that guy! He will be nothing but bad news.

Instead, seek out other believers, if indeed you have come to believe in Christ. They will be a tremendous help to you. They will have access to food, clothing and shelter. They will become your new family.

You will also most likely need a firearm for protection. Yes, it will get THAT bad. The government will not allow them anymore "for your safety" but you'll still need one. Look in the houses of the people who disappeared. Your chances of finding a gun will be better there. Good luck finding the key to the gun safe though. Ha ha! Sorry. Funny, not funny.

Anyway, like I said, things will become steadily worse so prepare for that. Place your faith in Christ. He is your only hope. There IS a life beyond this one. Jesus guards the door to that life. Knock. It will be opened to you.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." - Matthew 7:7

That's about it I guess. Like I said, you've got seven years, max. Consider your choices. Keep in mind that ALL of your best choices thus far have gotten you to where you are right now. Think about that for a moment. You are where you are, right now, because you have trusted in yourself, the government and the media. You should have trusted in Jesus. You STILL can. So do it now! Otherwise, good luck! You'll need it!!

[I usually place an encouraging video here at the end of my story but most likely they have already been removed from YouTube by now. Instead, do you remember that song from Sunday school? Sing it with me now. "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.]

Belong to Him.

Freely Give

We all like a good deal. My wife especially. She's an excellent shopper - always getting the best deals in stores. She came home from grocery shopping on Monday and said she'd saved $42 on food. That's a lot!

One thing I eat a lot of is Cheerios cereal. My wife knows that and when she sees a deal in the stores she pounces on it. This week she came home with six boxes of the stuff. "It was a deal," she explained. They were practically giving them away.

My wife doesn't really like my Cheerios. She'd rather eat her Special K. Still, she knows what I like and what I need and so she provides for me in her shopping.

God knows what we need as well. He too has provided for our every need. Not our "wants" like my Cheerios, but our needs. Our hearts are beating. Our lungs are breathing. Those are REAL needs.

Eventually though our hearts and lungs stop and we are faced with the possibility of death. Even in death though, God has provided for us. He has promised us a life AFTER this one. The only thing we have to do to get God's free gift it is to believe in His Son, Jesus.

The choice seems simple enough yet many people refuse. Why is that? Well, it's because of another free gift from God. Free will. God doesn't force us to believe. We have to come to decisions about our faith on our own. Well, sort of.

God already knows who will believe in His Son and who won't. God calls the believers to Himself. Those who receive that gift of eternal life are asked to spread the good news - The Gospel. AND to love one another.

"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give." - Matthew 10:8

We are to freely give of ourselves to a dying world. Why? In hopes that some might be saved. Our love is a calling card to the world from God Himself. Our prayer then is that those who have not yet placed their faith in Christ will do so, and be saved.

You see, OUR free gift that was given to us by God was NOT free to Him. His Son had to die for our sins in order for us to be able to obtain that free gift. Respect a God that would sacrifice so much we such a group of unfit sinners. THAT is love.

Ain't nothin' free. Someone must pay the price. Jesus paid it. We get the gift. That's why we go to church. To worship the giver of the gift.

Freely Freely - Sanctuary Choir

The Sound of War

"When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, "There is the sound of war in the camp." - Genesis 32:17

Actually, what Joshua was talking about back then was the sound of God's people rebelling against God. I hear that same sound today as people are celebrating an apparent victory for themselves. It is a premature celebration.

The news media has declared Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. The only problem with them doing that is that they have no authority. The 2020 presidential election is headed for the judicial system to decide who won and who lost. It might well be Joe Biden, but the media has jumped the gun.

The interesting thing about that passage of scripture from Genesis was that the people grew tired of waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain so they made their own gods and began to worship them. Bad decision.

Moses ultimately gave his people a choice.

"So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” - Genesis 32:26

Only the Levites came to Moses. The rest were stricken with a plague.

Does any of that sound familiar yet?

A time is coming when God will call the people to Himself. Only those who are in Christ will come. That's the rapture. The people that are left behind will face unbelievable torment on earth. That's known as the Tribulation. It will be worse for them than a man wearing a MAGA hat to an ANTIFA convention.

The time is short. It won't be long before Jesus returns for His church. After all of us Christians have gone home, the Holy Spirit will remove His restraint on the Antichrist and things will go down hill rather quickly for those who remain.

"Do you not remember that I told you these things while I was still with you? 6And you know what is now restraining him (The Antichrist), so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who now restrains it (The Holy Spirit) will continue until he is taken out of the way. 8And then the lawless one (The Antichrist) will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival." - 2 Thessalonians 2:5-8

Stay strong, stay faithful. God's plan is working for our good and His glory. Amen.

Uncertain Times

As of this writing the results of the 2020 election are still uncertain. We live in a world FILLED with uncertainty! No joke!

Uncertainty feeds fear. We begin to hypothesis situations and think about them as if they were real. We become frightened. Fearful.

In this scene from the Joker movie, Joaquin Phoenix gave an excellent portrayal of a man living with a "condition". ALL of us are living with a condition. It's called sin.

What is sin? It is anything that goes against the will of God. Murder is sin, Lying is sin, shedding innocent blood is sin. Adultery is sin. Idolatry is sin.

I recently posted this verse on Facebook. It is as true today as it was when God spoke it through the psalmist.

"There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community." - Proverbs 6:16-19

Satan is just waiting to pounce if this election goes his way - the way of abortion and same-sex marriage, or global warming and The Green New Deal. He can't wait.

Recently Democratic governors across our country shut down business and churches. They issued mask mandates and often exceeded their authority in doing do. They acted contrary to written law and the supreme court in those states had to step in.

I heard this quote recently that I thought was good for what is happening in our country right now.

"When evil gets a chance to do something, it always overplays its hand." - Pastor Jack Hibbs, Calvary Chapel - Chino Hills, CA

That is SO true. If Biden is determined to be the winner of this "election" turned insurrection, we can be certain that things will change. For the worse.

Now is a time for prayer. We should have already been praying. We need to ramp it up because, if we don't, things are about to hit the fan and it's not going to be good.

However, there is always hope where God is concerned. This was from my reading yesterday morning.

"Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty." - Malachi 3:7

Let us fall on our knees and pray for our redemption is drawing near. THAT is certain.

The Bus Scene - Joker

God's Election

Did you stay up late to see who won the U.S. presidential election? Me neither. If you did you would have never slept because, as of this writing, we STILL don't know.

As I was watching state after state go blue and vote for Biden, one verse from scripture kept going through my heard. "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34). Lol!

Does it really matter who is president? Well, yes it does. He is the one that signs bills into law and chooses Supreme Court nominees. But it doesn't matter if the House and Senate are of the opposing party.

For the Christian, election has a different meaning. If you are a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, you are one of The Elect. The following is from GotQuestions.org

The biblical doctrine of election teaches that God chooses to save some, and, by necessity, if He does not choose everyone, then there are some who are passed over. Those whom He has chosen to save are referred to as “the elect.”

Just like we must accept the results of earthly elections, we must also accept who God has chosen as His Elect. Sometimes that means family and friends have NOT been chosen. That can be extremely hard to deal with.

Then why evangelize if God has already chosen who He will save? Good question. But consider this: How do we know whether or not God was going to use us to reach someone on His behalf? We don't. So evangelize!

We still don't know who won the 2020 presidential election in this country. But we do know that God is on His throne and no one comes to power without God's say-so.

'For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will- 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." - Ephesians 1:4-6

You are "in Christ", aren't you? If not, seek God out today! "The election" is almost over.

Did you notice the what the sign says on Biden's podium in the picture above? Take a look. It says, "BATTLE for the SOUL of the NATION." That it is my friends. That is is.

The Doctrine of Election

The Parable of The Chickadee

A cold, cruel world exists just outside the Hall house these days. The bird feeder is always pretty well stocked but our once active birdbath is now quite empty. Much to the chagrin of one forlorn little chickadee who was looking up at me this morning.

"Hey, there's no water in the birdbath! How do you expect me to take a drink? Fly all the way down to the creek?"

I felt kind of sorry for the little guy so I put on my coat and grabbed a bucket out of the garage. I put on my shoes and my coat and ventured outside in the 35mph wind to fill up his precious little watering hole.

When I arrived on the scene with a fresh supply of water there were a few pine needles frozen in the bottom of the bird bath. There was also a frustrated little chickadee sitting right next to me in the lilac bush - supervising the fill.

After I got back inside I looked out and saw my little chickadee friend taking a drink. He took a sip and then looked up at me. Another sip and another look in my direction. That's something this world could use a lot more of. Compassion. And thanks.

"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." - Colossians 3:12

Later that day the bird bath in our yard was filled with birds - all drinking the water and taking baths. My wife and I love to watch our backyard birds so we feed them and give them water. They repay our kindness by simply being who they are.

I watched the following video in the evening as I prepared this story for you. There was a hand-written message offered at its conclusion. How right it is.

A simple act of caring creates an endless ripple - that comes back to you.

Compassion In Action