Ultimate dystopian nightmare

"I'm telling you, everybody's wrong; technology will be long dead by the time we get to the half-way point of the tribulation," said Orlando preacher Joel Hayes on his podcast (through Fellowship Bible Church). "There's no way there could be a connection between technology today and the mark of the beast.

"Just consider some of these judgments that take place before we even get to the mark of the beast. We're talking multiple global earthquakes, balls of fire thrown out of heaven. You have hail that's literally on fire, mingled with blood. Global hail that's on fire, not to mention all the other hail that's coming our way.

"You have the heaven departing as a scroll in Revelation 6:14: [14] And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

"That has to mean that all those satellites around the earth are going to be obliterated. That would surely destroy them.

"You have the sun turning to black, the moon turns blood red, the stars fall from heaven, all grass burns up, a lot of trees are gone. The water turns to blood and let's not forget the freaky locusts with stingers getting into everything.

"Last but not least, have we not forgotten about the 200 million fiery horses from heaven shooting fire and brimstone out of their mouths? There's no way technology's going to survive all that. Cities are going to be burned to the ground, buildings gone, power grids gone, satellites gone. 

"People ask, 'Okay, Joel, but don't you think that all this technology is at least a conditioning today for people to accept the mark of the beast when it's implemented maybe in the near future?' No way.

"Just think about all the horrors I just listed that all these people are going to be going through. In just the first 14 judgments of God alone, any conditioning to their thinking will be long gone by then.

"Many of these people are going to be a perpetual state of shock, trauma. A lot of these unbelievers are going to be angry at God, doubling down on their rebellion against Him.

"Think about the simple concept that without the mark you can't buy or sell. You don't need a conditioning of your thinking today to understand that concept tomorrow. Millions of people over the years have understood that concept long before any of these wonderful technologies ever existed. 

"So, if technology will be dead by the mid-way point, how will people get the mark? When we first started the podcast three years ago I used to propose, 'Well, how is it that the entire world is going to see the dead bodies of those two witnesses over the course of three days?'

"That's Revelation 11:9: [9] And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

"I thought, 'Oh, the cell phones! Clearly that's how everybody's going to be able to see those two dead bodies.' But after having taught that whole trib series I don't think that way anymore. Why? Because technology is going to be very dead by the time those two witnesses are killed.

"Well, then how is it that people from around the world are going to see the dead bodies of the two witnesses? You remember the tempting in the wilderness and the third temptation? Satan took the Lord up to the top of a high mountain and what did Luke 4:5 say? [5] And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

"They didn't go to the tall mountain and were able to SEE all the kingdoms of the world that existed at that time. He showed the Lord all the kingdoms of the world in a MOMENT of time, and I would argue it was a supernatural spiritual presentation of all the kingdoms, beginning to end.

"Even Satan in the interim, I think, could see a little bit into the future. They knew the kingdoms that were going to be coming. How else can you explain the demons who possessed the soothsayers? The woman in Acts was able to predict the future and with great accuracy because of the spirit of divination she had been given, which was a demonic spirit that had the ability to see some things in the future.

"I think that's what Satan did with the Lord at the top of that mountain. He showed the Lord this big old gigantic supernatural presentation with spiritual special effects and the Lord still rejected that temptation.

"So, by the time we get to the mid-way point of the tribulation, I think everything that happens will be spiritual; demonically empowered. In fact, not technological at all because technology will be dead.

"Well, how is it that people around the world are going to be able to get the mark of the beast in such a short period of time before God begins to carry out His final seven judgments? The answer is the image of the beast.

Revelation 13:[16] And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

"That 'he' in the verse is talking about the false prophet; the context bears that out. He's the one who will have the power to give life unto the image of the beast. He's the one who establishes this global environment to worship the image of the beast; to worship the falsehood of everything he claims to be and now everything Satan, the Antichrist and the false prophet do, they do together as one unit, mimicking the godhead.

"But in verse 16 it's the false prophet who's primarily put in charge of implementing the mark of the beast. Why? Because taking the mark is more of a religious agreement then anything political or economic.

"By accepting that mark, you've entered into a religious commitment to worship the image of the beast; to worship the beast himself and all the falsehoods of everything the beast claims that he is.

"Oh, and you'll also be able to buy and sell, but that's really secondary. What's primary is your commitment to worshipping the beast. The bigger point is that having yourself marked with 666 is just a number of identification.

"By taking that mark of 666 you are consciously identifying yourself with the Antichrist and by extension Satan, which makes you a target of God's wrath and dooms your soul forever.

"Look at Revelation 13: 14-15: [14] And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

[15] And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

"To me this more terrifying than anything you're going to read about the mark of the beast. I mean, this is the ultimate dystopian nightmare. The false prophet tells everyone on Planet Earth to make an image to the beast. An image is merely a representation. A little statue, a picture, a painting, an idol of some kind.

"They will have to make a statue, draw a picture, hang it in your house, whatever. Some kind of representation of the beast that's in your possession.

"And then what does verse 15 tell us? The uncomfortable truth is that the false prophet forces everyone to create idols of the Antichrist and then the idols will come to life. Basically, it's like a demonically empowered version of Alexa in your home.

"Through that idol, now miraculously brought to life through the demonic powers of the false prophet, you now have the eyes, ears and mouth of Satan in your home. You have the entire demonic realm observing everything you do, everything you say. And that idol will speak to you if you're not living the way he wants you to live.

"If you suddenly have a change of heart, if you're sick of that dystopian nightmare and stop worshipping the beast, you will be killed by the image of the beast. It's not that the false prophet is going to send a bunch of guys to your house to kill you; the idol itself will kill you through the demons. That's what the verse says.

"If you aren't faithful to the beast and you don't worship that image every time you walk through your home--if you don't sing the praises of the Antichrist every time you speak, the idol itself will kill you.

"Just imagine an Alexa strapped with a machine gun ready to kill you the moment you misspeak. That's what's going on here. And if the image of the beast can demonically come to life and talk to you and kill you, then the image of the beast can also demonically give you that mark of the beast."

Coming attraction: Demonic spirit world locusts attacking people

Headline this morning from USA Today: "U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists at Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport discovered a live Egyptian locust in a traveler’s luggage from Albania − and quickly brought about its exodus.

"Exotic locusts present a serious threat to U.S. agriculture due to them feeding on a variety of plants, including crops like grapevines, citrus trees, deciduous orchard trees, and vegetables, Customs and Border Protection officials said."

From Fandom Wiki:

During the events of Jurassic World: Dominion, Jurassic World: Prologue and Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, a hybrid species of giant locust, created with the DNA of a prehistoric locust and desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), and maybe other animals, were seen. Biosyn and Dr. Henry Wu created hybrid locust, making them stronger and more resistant. The locusts were originally designed to spread genetic modifications to non-Biosyn crops that would allow them to become immune to drought, frosts, and diseases as part of a project named Hexapod Allies.^[1] However, since they are engineered to not feed on Biosyn seeds, they start to eat every other plant in sight and spiral even further out of control than anticipated, threatening a global ecological collapse.

Per Yahoo review on previous Jurassic movie Jurassic World Dominion: "It's not a Jurassic movie without a shady corporation looking to exploit InGen's discoveries for its own financial gain. Biosyn, the company that led to the downfall of the original park, is back and this time, it not only wants control of the dinosaurs, it also wants full autonomy over the world's food supply. To that end, Dr. Henry Wu clones up a swarm of giant prehistoric locusts to gobble up any crops not grown with Biosyn seed."

*****

While Moses smote Egypt with a plague of locusts, the prophesied plague of locusts found in the Book of Joel looks at something much broader than just bugs; it’s a pestilence in the land of Israel during the tribulation that will thoroughly decimate the land.

“These locusts that come out then are not physical locusts; they’re locusts in a spirit form,” explains Richard Jordan. “I love in Leviticus where it talks about how a locust is clean if he’s a bald-headed locust. If you ever find a bald-headed locust, take a picture of it before you eat him, will you. I just want to see what that critter looks like.

“When Joel 1 refers to that devouring fire in verse 19-20, obviously there’s more involved. Revelation 9:3 says, ‘And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.’

“If you look down at verse 11, it reveals ‘they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.’

*****

“What did you learn in Proverbs that locusts don’t have? The literal insect doesn’t have a king. These locusts have a king, so they’re not the insect. Who is the king over them? He’s an angel. These are spirit-world creatures; fallen angelic creatures.

“They’re not going to attack the plant life in the earth like an insect locust would do; they’re going to attack PEOPLE.

“Verse 5 says, ‘And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.’

“If you’ve ever been stung by a scorpion, you know that’s not a pleasant experience. These things are going to inflict tremendous torment, ‘and in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.’ (Revelation 9:6)

“Now watch this: ‘And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.

[8] And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.

[9] And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.’

“The guy’s got a bulletproof vest plate on! These are wicked creatures, but obviously from the description of them, they are some type of degenerated demonic creatures.

“They’re a combination of horses, men, women, lions, bugs. They’ve got strange bodies, and if we’re studying the underworld and the things that happen with creatures after they die, you’d go to Isaiah 34 and Isaiah 66 and passages like that and you would see that what happens . . .

*****

“When sin corrupts, sin causes degeneration. Evolution’s got it backwards. Evolution says we started in the puddle and we’re heading for paradise. The Bible says you started in paradise and you’re heading for the puddle. The puddle for mankind turns out to be the ‘lake of fire.’

“In the lake of fire, it’s an absolute complete, total degeneration of the humanity that God gave you when He created man in His image. It’s not an uplifting, ‘up with people’ thing; it’s that sin kills you and when you see creatures in the underworld like that, oftentimes you see them in weird, degenerated forms and that’s part of the nature of what sin does over time.

“What you got a picture of is, in the tribulation, there’s going to be these literal swarms of locusts and they’re just going to decimate the land. Then these demonic locusts of Revelation 9 are going to come on the land as a nation whose teeth are as a lion and jaw teeth as of a great lion, and they’re going to inflict this torment upon people who’ve lost everything they had to start with. When you think about that kind of devastation where men want to die and can’t...

*****

“Actor Robin Williams killed himself; hung himself on a closet door and he had all kind of personal problems. One of them was money problems. You and I think, ‘How can a guy who has a TV series who’s making $165,000 for a 30-minute show have money problems?’ Well, one way is his second wife divorced him and got $30 million and he’s trying to pay that off. That’s beyond my ability to relate.

“But when you’re that kind of a bipolar guy that he was, you torment yourself internally . . . Now, these guys are being tormented externally and internally to the place they want to die—they’re in such misery that they cry out to die and God won’t let them die.

“That’s the situation being described when Joel begins. It’s this total devastation that’s going to be brought on the land before Christ comes. Because when you finish this chapter, in the next chapter you have the armies of God show up at the Second Advent and then in the third chapter, you have God going out and destroying all the Gentile nations that came against Israel.

“Joel is just one blast of destruction so that in the latter part of chapter 2, he can say, ‘By the way, there’s going to be a believing remnant that I’m going to save out of that,’ and so what he’s doing is demonstrating to Israel is how they can be delivered out of the devastation through the Messiah.

*****

“Verse 5 says, ‘Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.’

“In other words, the fifth course of judgment is coming. Joel is looking prophetically to the last phase of it. Verse 7 says, ‘He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.’

“You remember we studied Isaiah 5 the vineyard is a picture of the nation Israel? Israel is described as a vine tree and a fig tree. When you bark a tree, you kill it. You cut the bark off around it and it’s going to die.

“He says, ‘You drunkards, cry, weep, howl; you’re cut off.’ All of the luxuries you’ve had . . . . and you know we’ve talked to you about drinking and drunkenness in the Bible and it’s like that stuff we were studying in I Timothy 3 when Paul tells you the elders are not to be given to wine.

“The idea is if you need external stimulants to get through life, then you’re not dealing with life in any kind of a real sense because as soon as the external stimulants don’t work, you don’t have a path to deal with life.

“These guys here, He’s telling the drunkards they’re to wail because they’re going to lose all the things that we’re giving them cover.

“They’re not crying because they’re losing their basic necessities. He doesn’t say, ‘Cry because you don’t have clothes or food.’ They’ve lost that too; they’re crying because they don’t have the luxury of blinding their mind to it. There’s nothing to cover their misery.

*****

“Verse 9 says, ‘The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn.’

“When that stuff is cut off from the house of the lord, in Daniel 8 and 9, the Antichrist starts the daily sacrifice and he cuts it off in the midst of the week. So what you’re reading here is some stuff that’s looking toward this judgment that’s coming on Israel in the middle of the week.

“ It says ‘the priests mourn.’ Why would they mourn? Well, because the sacrifice and the meat offering and drink offering is cut off. How did the priests get their compensation?

“In Israel they were to tithe. But they didn’t tithe money; they tithed corn, wheat, figs, produce. They tithed cattle. You bring a sacrifice, you kill a bullock, and the priest got the meat to eat and that’s when the Bible talks about ‘bring all the tithes into the storehouse.’

“They literally had a warehouse to store all these provisions so the priesthood could be financed. And so the priest is going to mourn because his income’s cut off.

*****

“Verses 10-11 say, ‘The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.

[11] Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.’

“He says, ‘I’ve talked to the drunkards and I’ve talked to the people worshipping; let me tell you farmers something: howl, O ye vinedressers.’

“All of the ability to produce food and sustenance for the nation--that’s why the Antichrist says, ‘You take the mark of the beast or you can’t buy or sell.’

“Somebody says, ‘Well, why don’t we have a Victory Garden?’ Because the land’s been put in a place where it isn’t going to grow you a garden. That’s why they wind up fleeing to the wilderness where God then has to feed them with the manna.”

Imposter's 4 horsemen mimic Christ's 4 aspects

(new article tomorrow)

Revelation 6:4: [4] And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

"Red represents blood and the second tactic is international unrest outside of the nation of Israel. He's a man of war and he's going to fight . . . We saw in the Book of Daniel, the north is involved and the south is involved, Egypt, and then you have the ships of Chittim, the West gets involved and he's going to repel that naval attack. The Navy's involved, the Air Force is involved.

"There's a lot of fighting going on but in the meantime there's this sense of security because Israel, for the first time, they're going to enjoy something they didn't really enjoy before. That is, a charismatic leader who actually provides military protection for that apostate nation," explains Alex Kurz.

[5] And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
[6] And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

"The third tactic is represented by a black horse and the famine in the land that results in starvation isn't due to natural causes; it's the result of war. You're going to see members of the 'little flock' starving; there's going to be food rationing and so forth while the oppressor is enjoying the wine and the oil.

"Obviously the economic effect will benefit the unbeliever, but the result is the persecution of God's little flock; remember the Lord Jesus Christ said, 'Blessed are they that persecute you.'

[7] And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

"The Lord Jesus Christ is the only one who's worthy; He pops those seals. Again, it's the Lord Jesus Christ who commences these events through the instrumentality of this man of sin, the rod and staff of God's indignation against a hypocritical nation.

[8] And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

"When somebody's pale that indicates lack of blood flow. We have in this fourth horse a religious policy that the Antichrist is launching at the start of the 70th Week. Paleness represents lack of blood and you understand animal sacrifices in the history of Israel's religious life. You know how an animal was offered; the blood was drawn.

"Remember you have this individual who is riding and controlling these horses. One individual representing four interesting aspects of his policy of evil. How many representations of the Lord Jesus Christ do we have of His earthly ministry? Four. We're talking about this great impostor and we're going to see almost under every rock how this guy mimics the Lord Jesus Christ.

"The Lord Jesus Christ is represented in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. There are four specific aspects that correlate with who He is in His person: the king, the man, the servant and God. Well, you have this imposter, the Antichrist, who has four representations of his tactics and policy of evil.

"When we look at these verses, Death and Hell (with capitals because they're both personified) is a representation of the religious system. He's a religious man and the apostate nation of Israel, they're going to love him.

"If you're not a participant in this religious system you'll be persecuted with sword, death, famine and beast. There are consequences in rejecting the religious system.

"Remember Daniel? He was a scientist who participated in that Babylonian kingdom UNTIL he was ordered to bow down and worship the false god.

"What makes this religious system so deceptive is it's nothing but a reheated version of the law of Moses and the temple worship and the animal sacrifices that are all biblical.

"You know why the little flock better rightly divide the truth during the 70th Week? You have those religious people saying it's back to Moses, back to Deuteronomy, and they're doing everything that that Old Testament teaches. If they fail to rightly divide the word of truth they're going to be victimized.

"If the little flock says, 'Oh wait a minute, Genesis through Malachi, it's all Scripture, right?'  . . . And here you have this temple rebuilt in Jerusalem. If you don't rightly divide the word of truth it could lead to your eternal destruction. So right division is going to save a lot of lives during that tribulation period."

Off campus at Ohio State

My first run at living in Chicago went from February of 1990 to August of 1999 (when I moved to Brooklyn, NY). I moved around a lot, first living on Briar Place and Broadway in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. Next, I lived on Aldine near Broadway.  I spent a summer living in Naperville before renting a studio at Melrose and Broadway. After that, I rented a one bedroom at Barry and Clark. Then I was back on Briar Place.

Somewhere along the line, with friends helping me move, someone (I’ve never begun to figure out who’s to blame) inadvertently threw out a huge black Hefty lawn bag packed full of clippings of my newspaper writings—everything from Ohio State (including my internships at the Cincinnati Enquirer and the Cleveland Plain Dealer) and then everything from my first job at the Elmira Star-Gazette and almost everything from my second job at the Naperville Sun.

I remember being super upset when I first learned that all my life’s work was tossed into the garbage. This would be something I’d lament on and off through the years, telling myself, “Oh, well, get over it.”

The fact that I never quit being a "rolling stone" made it easier to deal with. After living in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood, I moved into a studio in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood.

When I left NYC after seven years, I took an offer from a friend in Arab, Ala. (30 minutes south of Huntsville) to live in a trailer on their property that had just become vacant. This led to me moving back to Chicago six months later, finding a studio in the Lincoln Square neighborhood just off of Wilson Avenue near Lincoln Avenue.

From there, in the midst of severe depression, I moved in with a Grace Believer who was living in a trailer out in the boonies near Lufkin, Texas. I came back to Chicago and moved in with someone looking for a roommate. I had just met her through a non-profit organization that I was volunteering with (H.O.M.E.). She lived on the 17^th floor of Beach Point Tower at the corner of Sheridan and Ardmore in the Edgewater neighborhood.

After that I lived at Rosemont and Clark, followed by the 7000 block of Sheridan Road between Sherwin and Chase. Then I moved in with my mother in Fairlawn, OH, followed by a move back to Chicago, this time in the suburb of Palatine on Helen Road near Plum Grove. Now I live with my mother in Dayton, OH.

*****

This is all to say, I can only go by memory--there are no documents to place me with anything or anywhere.

So, just today, thinking about what I should tackle next in my “testimony,” knowing I couldn’t leave all these loose ends regarding my time at Ohio State, I heard the old Paul McCartney and Wings song “Band on the Run” play for the first time in the selected playlist for the retail chain store where I work.

I was so delighted because I suddenly recalled how my opinion column began at Ohio State—the one that put me on the map and led to me being so well-read across campus, with a constant flow of letters, both pro and con, coming into the editorial department.

It was a piece about me moving into a rental house with two roommates after living in the dorms for two years. I started by saying dorm life was like the song’s lyrics: “Stuck inside these four walls, sent inside forever” and then dreaming, “If I ever get outta here.”

Our house had some major issues that weren’t addressed by our landlord, Al Desantis, who owned a tremendous amount of properties around campus at the time. I wrote about our plumbing problems and leaking roof, among other things. I quoted my roommate, Marilyn, who said our place was “held together with spit and paper mache.” I said our landlord looked like “Earle Bruce before the Cotton Bowl.”

This was a reference to Ohio State’s football coach at the time and how his OSU sweater would inch up on him to reveal his big protruding belly live on national TV.

I never thought anything about the repercussions, and I guess the Lantern staff didn’t either, but I got into some real hot water with DeSantis, who had a big estate in Columbus with a moat in his front yard!

Anyway, to make a long story short, at the same time this column was making the rounds, DeSantis was preparing to sue me personally!!!

Once I told my parents of his threats, they had to take any financial investments out of my name. As part of appeasing DeSantis, I was ordered to meet with him at the Lantern offices along with the faculty instructor who oversaw the paper. Desantis actually reached across the conference table at one point to where I sat and clenched his fist, saying, “I could just . . .”

He was upset, in part, that I made fun of his weight. Thankfully, and my life was rattled for a solid month or more over this, he decided against filing a lawsuit. I remember learning a lot of lessons, but it did not stop me from being a controversial columnist--in fact, it marked the beginning!

(to be continued)

Teachableness

Guess the hymn below:

"J.M. Black wrote the words and music to this gospel hymn (circa 1893) in less than 15 minutes," writes Heln Salem Rizk in her 1964 compilation of stories behind 'the greatest and most beloved Christian hymns ever composed.' "At a consecration meeting in his church when members were answering the roll call with verses from the Bible, a little 14-year-old girl, who had been previously taken in off the streets, failed to respond.

"The following are the author's own words: 'I spoke of what a sad thing it would be, when our names are called from the Lab's Book of Life, if one of us should be absent.' According to Black, he wanted something appropriate to sing just at that time, but could find nothing in the hymnal.

"The thought came to him, 'Why don't you write it yourself?' When he went home that evening, just as he went in the door the words suddenly came to him. Seizing a pen, he wrote them down in a frenzied flourish. Going to the piano, he played the music just as it is found in the hymn books today, note for note! Black was so amazed at the speed and ease oh his own creation that he dared not change a single word or note from the moment it was written."

According to Wikipedia, "The song's lyrics were first published in a collection titled Songs of the Soul and the song has since been translated into at least 14 languages and sung all over the world in a variety of Christian denominations.^[3] There are more than 500 versions available on such sites as Amazon, recorded by various artists such as Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Jim Nabors, and Willie Nelson, to the traditional tune. The lyrics have also been set to new music by contemporary gospel artists such as Doris Johnson. In 1945, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill created a stir in the British press when he quoted the hymn in response to a question about when the Big Three were going to meet; stated the Winnipeg Free Press: 'Mr. Churchill, in one of his somewhat puckish moods, replied that he did not know, but, he added irreverently, 'When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there.' The British press expressed surprise at Churchill, an Anglican, being familiar with a hymn more associated with Methodism, Presbyterianism, and other 'chapel' denominations or the revival meetings of Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey or R. A. Torrey and Charles McCallon Alexander, whereas the Free Press speculated that Churchill might well have heard the 'catchy' tune in the street meetings held by the Salvation Army.^[4] He might also have remembered the lyrics from the 1941 movie Sergeant York."

Answer: "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder"

*****

“What I represent, what I do, all of it is to come from orders from home," says Richard Jordan. "And I’m just a little colony of home down here. Can you imagine that? Look around you this morning; we’re an outpost of heaven.

“You send dudes up into space and put them in the spaceship way up there, whatever you see in the movies. Well, we’re just that from heaven! God reached out in the world and took a bunch of old dirt bags like us, made of dust, and put a little spit in it, molded a man, and then He put His life in you and made you part of heaven. That’s who we really are.

“Our conversation . . . our sense of our identity is in heaven. It’s that nobler affinity, that grander purpose, that protection and security that comes from really knowing who you are.

“You know why I can press toward the mark for the prize? It’s because I really know what’s going on. I really know what I’m a part of. He didn’t just save me to keep me out of hell. He saved me to make me a citizen and a part of the commonwealth of His kingdom. And He didn’t just give me a citizen card to put my little nametag on that says, ‘Oh, I’m in!’ He said, ‘You know, I want to associate you with a lifestyle that I’ve established. And I want to demonstrate that in your life.’

“It isn’t just that we’re representing heaven but I’m also looking for this thing to get completed. Aren’t you glad of that? ‘From whence also we look for the Savior.’ When He says we’re looking for Christ the Savior we’re looking for HIM!

"I’m not looking to get rich, I’m not looking for an overthrow of the government, I’m not looking for the cure for AIDS, I’m not looking for the undertaker,  I’m looking for Christ. He’s the hope! When Paul says, ‘We look,’ we have that earnest expectation; that eager anticipation for Him to appear.

*****

“There’s a basic Bible principle . . . Old man Bob Jones (1883-1968) used to say, ‘Duties never conflict.’ And you need to write that down upon the impress of the doorway of your mind and never forget it. It will get you through some real questionable situations.

“There’s another one the old man (an Alabama-born evangelist and pioneer religious broadcaster who founded Bob Jones University) used to say, and these two pieces of advice have meant more to me through the years than almost anything, and that’s, ‘The greatest ability is dependability.’ That will help you get through some real tough spots of self-doubt and all the rest.

“If you have that heart attitude to be what God’s given you to be--a member of the Body of Christ functioning in that way wherever you are--you’ll find He’ll open doors and begin to move you around when He’s ready to. Doors will open and you’ll go!

“Paul writes in II Corinthians 7:1, ‘Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.’

“God’s will is that you be clean. Holiness, not a holy mess. God expects you to strive for perfect holiness in the fear of God.

“The will of God is not so much to worry about where you are as much as it is He wants you to BE where you are, living a sinless life. Your attitudes first, then your actions.

*****

“Paul says, ‘I am ready, Rome.’ He’s ready to go. No hesitation in Paul about going and preaching. And he doesn’t miss a chance.

“Notice he says, ‘I am debtor.’ In verse 15, he says, ‘I am ready.’ In verse 16, he says, ‘I am not ashamed.’ That’s a good sermon outline.

“Acts 21:13 says, ‘Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’
  
“He says, ‘I mean, what are you trying to do, break my heart? ‘For I am ready not to be bound.’

“Brother, that’s a man that’s ready, you know that? He meant it when he said that. And he never missed a chance.

“Paul says, ‘I’m bound to preach to the Greeks AND the barbarians.' That’s everybody, whether they’re the 'in-society' and the scholars union or whether they’re the outcasts and dummies on the streets.

*****

“Come over to II Timothy 4:6 and notice his attitude right at the end: ‘But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
[6] For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
[7] I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.’

“You see, that man could look at his life and at any time say, ‘I’m ready.’ ‘I’m ready to go, take advantage of the opportunities that come; I’m ready to meet the Lord.’

“Now, THAT'S the way to live your life, ladies and gentlemen, IF you’re going to LIVE it. That’s cocked and ready all the time. Rain or shine, hot or cold, whatever the situation.

“You are to be ready to do whatever God put you wherever you are to do, no matter what the cost, with a heart of love, but do it! See, DO IT!”

"This is an internal adjustment to some truth from God's Word: 'And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.'

"We're not getting our instructions about how to deal with life off the TV, or out of our of religion or out of our flesh; we're getting it out of God's Word," says Richard Jordan.

"The reality in God's Word is that no matter where I'm at or no matter what's going on, I am sufficient for all things in Jesus Christ.

"By the way, the culture says contentment is some future event and when it gets here, I'll be happy. Forget it; it's not something you acquire; it's not a goal you reach. It's an attitude you learn from the sound doctrine; from the doctrine of God's grace.

"The key to learning things is to have a teachable spirit. So that when you're in the circumstances you ask God, 'What do I need to learn in these present circumstances?' This is instead of telling God what you want Him to change in them.

"What do I need to learn? What are you doing inside of me? We know that 'tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope.'

"The first priority God has in your life is to make you more and more and more, day by day, like His Son. To conform you to the image of His Son; to have Christ formed in you.

"In your ups and in your downs, to take that vital thread of that relationship you have with Jesus Christ, that's rooted in the truth of His Word, and authentic living with Him, to little by little have Him transforming your thinking and thus your life.

"It's so that there's someone who thinks and talks like Jesus Christ. Then in your life you bring this outrageous attitude of gratitude, thanksgiving and contentment. And in the midst of the injustices of life and the injustices of work, you think like Jesus Christ thinks.

"Living out the sufficiency you have in the Lord Jesus Christ takes teachableness. You have to choose to be thankful, focus on what you have in Christ and then step back and look around and ask, 'What do I need to learn where I'm at? What does God's Word say about this that I can bring into my circumstances?'

Philippians 4: [11] Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

[12] I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

[13] I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

"Poverty doesn't have the power to take away contentment. Paul says, 'I've had more and I've had less. More can't bring contentment, less can't take it away. '

"We really don't believe that latter one, do we? We really fear the poverty and yet, in the midst of abounding poverty, you can see people with contentment, joy, that people in the midst of luxury are all the day longing for."

Determined not to quit

This morning my church held an Evangelism Training Clinic that anyone could watch through its website. Unfortunately, I was at work, already feeling worn down from four days in a row of performing physical labor inside a building with poor air-conditioning (a new AC unit was installed but malfunctioned and now they're waiting on a part!!!) during an extended spell of super-high humidity--off the charts, in fact, if you ask me.

I will continue on with testimony, etc., tomorrow now, but in honor of the training clinic, which I look forward to hearing about in the morning (via the live Sunday services over the website), here are a couple of articles from the past joined together:

"I used to preach on the street in Alabama and when I came to Chicago (1978) I'd go downtown into the Loop and stand and watch all these people going by--all these people running to and fro in darkness," says Richard Jordan.

"We understand something that is of eternal value, but if you turn a little light on, people run like sour bugs. I don't know about you, but if I think about that enough I get aggravated and I get a little depressed.

"Shining His light in darkness is a challenging thing, is what I'm trying to say. It's challenging in every way and the world doesn't get it. Everything you do--you know, we do radio, TV, fair ministries, on and on. I just talked to lady yesterday telling me 'how frustrating it is that I have this information and my family just won't see it.'

"I want to look at a guy who faced the same situation--Noah. Hebrews 11:1 says, [1] Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

"That actually is not a definition of faith; it's a description of what faith does. Faith is what provides the substance of things hoped for. You have this hope; this stuff out in the future, but you don't have any evidence right now that that's true. You have a promise and faith is what gives the conviction that what that future thing that's coming is a reality. It's the evidence of things not seen.

"Faith comes by hearing. Faith is dependent on what God says. You're persuaded. In Romans 4 it says Abraham was 'fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.'

"That's the better definition of faith. This is a description of faith's work; of faith's accomplishment. That's why he says in verse 6 that without faith it is impossible to please Him. There's that thing we know and yet you have to have faith to see it; faith to understand it. Because it's the Word that gives light.

Hebrews 11:7: [7] By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

"He was 'warned of God of things not seen as yet.' Noah was given some hidden information. We've been given some hidden information about a future event that was completely unbelievable by everybody you talked to.

"Noah says, 'Hey, God's going to destroy this planet with rain.' And you know what everybody said to him? 'That's scientifically impossible.'

"Look back at Genesis 2: [4] These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

[5] And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
[6] But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

"The ecology system before the Flood was that it didn't rain. There was a mist dew that came up and watered. The hydro-system was different.

"In Noah's day, when he was told, 'It's going to rain; the skies are going to open up and water is going to come down and cover the whole planet and destroy everybody,' he told others, 'I'm building a boat; you got to get into that boat.'

"For 120 years, Noah goes about building that boat because God told him what was going to happen in the future and He believed what God said. But he couldn't point to scientific evidence. He couldn't point to experience.

"Can you image how people horse-laughed him? Can you imagine what people said about him? What his kids had to experience when they went to school? Go down to the mall? 'Your old man's crazy, you know that?!'

"He goes over to the lumber yard and gets lumber and people say, 'Are you nuts?!' They say to the boys' girls, 'Why, you going to marry into that family?! Are you nuts?!'

"But what does light do? It reproves. So Hebrews 11 says he condemned the world. How? By building the ark.

"He didn't have any evidence to point to except what God said and the world didn't get it because nobody believed him. After 120 years he only had his family as converts. You think, 'Man, you talk about feeling like your ministry's not getting anywhere!' But he believed what God said.

"You and I are building an ark for people to get out of the world into the Body of Christ. All we have to do is point to God's Word, but you know the world doesn't see in God's Word what we see in it."

******

"If you don't preach the message God gave to us through the Apostle Paul, you're going to fail to do what God wants done. You'll be like in Ephesians 4 where you produce saints 'tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine' and carried off into confusion.

"We have a book in the office where all the pastors of our assembly from 1900 to today signed it when they became the pastor. On September 1, 1923, J.C. O'Hair signed it. The ministry he had until 1958 had to do with the 'preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery' and standing for dispensational Bible study and that continues with us. That's what we teach and preach. His people, the ministry of the old North Shore Church--the grit, the determination. They were determined not to quit.

"When my wife and I moved up here in 1979, here was a church that at one time had been 1,000 to 1,200 people and it was down to about 60 and all the people in the church that were still there were over 60. My wife and I show up in our mid-30s and these great saints who loved the Lord, loved the message of grace, loved His Word, but one thing, they weren't going to quit.

"They were at that little corner down there at Wilson Avenue and Sheridan Road in Uptown--the worst neighborhood in the city of Chicago at the time. Most dangerous neighborhood in the city of Chicago. You'd get out of the car in the bank parking lot across Wilson Avenue and get in a group and it's all secured and fenced in and walk across over there.

"I remember Beulah Peterson, she was the organist and taught school . . . If you teach English in the government schools in Chicago you're pretty tough. We walked up those steps one evening and there was a drunk sitting there and Beulah says, 'Get out of the way,' and he looks up and says, 'Give me a kiss,' and like that, she took her pocketbook and 'POW,' hit him on top of the head. 

"Franklin Anderson and Roy Faber grabbed him by one foot and the other foot and dragged him out to the curb and I'm sitting there thinking, 'I ain't messing with her. She might be old but . . . '

"And they loved God's Word and they loved the message of God's grace and they weren't going to quit. They had a zeal for the sound doctrine and to reach other people with it. They were part of the first missions that went around.

"Pastor Kurz's mother, Julianna, got saved because some people from the church--Bob Price went door to door sharing the gospel and Alex, who was 7 years old, started coming to the assembly. Bob made Julianna so mad she was going to come and set him right, but she wound up getting saved.

"They actually had a radio station with a transmitter in the bell tower of the church back when you used a crystal. It was there until the '30s when the FAA came in and took over all that stuff. They wanted to get the message out and share it with others.

"Well, our folks here, the same kind of way. No less noteworthy in spirit and determination and grit and sound doctrine. Our ministry extends all the way around the world through that kind of effort. The TV, the radio . . . 

"The love of Christ constrains us. Why does it do that? The love of Christ is made manifest. You know what motivates the life of a Believer? It's not, 'Oh how I love Jesus.' It's, 'Oh how much He loves you and me.'

"When you see how much He loves you and you fall in love with Him who is the lover of your soul, and you're not doing it to get Him to love you, you're doing it because you can't do less for someone who loves you that much, the love of Christ constrains us.

"I've told you before, that word 'constrain,' when my wife and I were dating, she's shorter than I am, and I would stand down on the step and she would stand up a step, and our noses were nose to nose. 

"I would put my arms around her and pick her up and walk across the porch with her and I would say to her, 'One day I'm going to take you home with me,' and I'd sit her down and one day I put my arms around her and picked her up and walked off and I still got her.

"The love of Christ puts its everlasting arms around you and picks you up and walks across the portals of life into eternity. That's the constraining power."

*****

Colossians 4:5: [5] Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time.

Ephesians 5:15: [15] See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,

[16] Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

"That issue of time. That's not the issue of, 'Well, it's 8:20 and I need to be sure that by 9 o'clock I've done these things.' It's not just the moment that you're living in.

II Timothy 3:1: [1] This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

"That's more than just a date on the calendar; it's the times in which we live.

"There's an illustration of this in I Chronicles 12: [32] And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.

"The world you live in is designed by God to work on systems of cycles. They work in 80-year cycles, the average lifespan, then the 80-year cycles work in 500-year cycles, which work in 1,000-year cycles and there's this repetition in the cycles.

"The 'times' is the issue of where you are in the cycle. Ecclesiastes 3: [1] To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

[2] A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
[3] A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
[4] A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
[5] A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
[6] A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
[7] A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
[8] A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

"Paul says to redeem the times because the days are evil. The cycles that we live in are evil; the days of the times of the cycles are evil.

Ecclesiastes 1: [2] Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

[3] What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
[4] One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

"Vanity means nothing, emptiness, nothing real. Without God, everything is empty. Nothing has a purpose without God. Life is total futility."

No other way but 'the way'

I've never forgotten the time when I was 12 or 13 years old and my dad, in the midst of a brief conversation with me about how bad things were getting in America, suddenly asked, “You want to know the two things that are ruining our country?” I could only ponder the possible answer for about 30 seconds before he answered, “Lawyers and Dr. Spock.”

According to Wikipedia, Dr. Benjamin Spock, an activist in the New Left and anti-Vietnam War movements during the ’60s and early ’70s, “was the first pediatrician to study psychoanalysis to try to understand children's needs and family dynamics. His ideas about childcare influenced several generations of parents to be more flexible and affectionate with their children, and to treat them as individuals.”

As a medical doctor who was born in 1923, my dad gave me advice that, looking back at it, was some times kind of clinical, like he was writing out a prescription. He wrote maybe 3-4 letters to me in the first 10 years after I left home and when I would unexpectedly get one in the mail I knew something had to have really motivated him.

One time, shortly after I moved to Chicago in 1990 (age 26) and was struggling with loneliness and wanting to be in a romantic relationship but not finding one, I got a longish handwritten letter in which my dad advised me, among other things, to take a Dale Carnegie course in public speaking so as to gain confidence in developing new acquaintances/friendships.

I never did sign up for Carnegie. It wasn’t until after my dad died in Oct. 2001, and I was charged with handling the mountains and mountains of paperbacks he had in storage barrels in the basement, that I sat down and read Carnegie’s perennial classic, “How to Win Friends and Influence Enemies.”

I don't know how much my dad ever studied the Bible, but it was always by his side in his last years leading up to his totally unexpected death at 78. I would drive home from Chicago to Loudonville, where he lived alone after my parents split up, and walk up to the front door to see him in the living room in his Barcalounger with his well-worn Bible (an RSV) open in his lap. When I'd get up in the morning, I'd come down the stairs to find him either reading from it or praying with it open.  

I would bring home Shorewood's newsletter and he'd tell me repeatedly how informative and well-written he found the articles. I gave him C.R. Stam's book "Things That Differ," but I'm 100 percent sure he never did anything more than flip through it to see what was in it.

I actually gave this same copy of "Things That Differ" to the neighbor who pastored a non-denominational church at the corner of our block. It was just after my dad died and I had about 15-20 other Bible-related books from the house that I thought he might like. I also gave him as a donation to his assembly all the cash I found in my dad's suitcoat pockets, equaling around $150.

This neighbor, who I'd never previously met since he moved to town years after I left for college, had already given me a sealed sympathy card that he asked me not to open until I was on the plane heading back to NYC. I was never so delighted sitting in my window seat on the plane to find a crisp $100 bill he had enclosed with a note telling me to treat myself to a nice dinner!

*****

"Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible with 176 verses and 176 is 16 times 11--1611 as in our 1611 King James Bible. It's a psalm about the Word of God. Every verse except three refer to the Scripture, under 10 different titles.

Psalm 16:11: [11] Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. "That's the joy that you get out of God's Word," explains Richard Jordan.

"The 176 verses are divided into 22 paragraphs. In verse 1 you see the Hebrew letter and the English equivalent alpha. In verse 9 you have Beth. The reason it's in 22 sections is it's called an alphabetical psalm. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. There they are.

"Twenty-two in the Bible is a number associated with wisdom and guidance. Eight is the number of resurrection. Jesus said, 'The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.'

Hebrews 4:12: [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.

"So you have a lot of symbolism associations that way all packed into this psalm.

"You see the symbol in front of verse 25? That little-bitty mark is a tittle. When it says in Matthew 18 'every jot and tittle', that's what Christ's talking about. In verse 153, that Hebrew letter's the jot.

"One hundred and seventy-one of the verses talk about something related to the Scripture. Verse 1: [1] Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.

"The Bible is called 'the way'; it's called 'the law'. Verse 2: [2] Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.

"It's called 'the testimonies'. Verse 4: [4] Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. 'Precepts' is another title for your Bible.

Verse 5: [5] O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! 'Statutes' is another title.

Verse 6: [6] Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. 'Commandments' is another title. Verse 7: [7] I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments. 'Judgments' is another title.

Verse 9: [9] Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. 'Thy Word' is another title.

Verse 81: [81] My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.

Verse 89: [89] For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.

Verse 105: [105] Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Verse 160: [160] Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

(to be continued and below is an old post on 'the way')

John 14: [5] Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? [6] Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

"That term, that little expression 'the way' became sort of the shorthand description of the followers of Christ," explains Jordan. 

"Acts 16:17: [17] The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.

"In chapter 18 when Apollos shows up at Ephesus, the passage reads,

[26] And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.
[27] And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace:
[28] For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.

“That term 'the way' has picked up sort of a personification to it. In Acts 24:14, when Paul is giving his defense before Felix, he says: [14] But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:
[15] And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

“The way, the doctrine Paul followed, they called heresy. When Christ says, ‘I am the way,’ what He's talking about is, ‘I am the way to the Father; I’m the way to God!’

"And that’s the whole issue about 'the way' of God. The whole issue is how do you get to God? You get to Him through Jesus Christ, no other way.

“Hebrews 10:19-20: [19] Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

[20] By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

“He’s talking about the New Covenant. The new and living way is in contrast to the old ministration of death in the Mosaic law. What the Messiah’s going to do is He’s really going to get them to God. He’s bringing the disciples to a place where He’s going to talk to them about the New Covenant.

“He’s saying to them, ‘Here’s the whole scope of what ought to keep your heart from being troubled. That’s what we’re doing. I’m going to go away and I’m going to come back and you’re going to reap benefits over here because I am the way; I’m the one who’s going to provide this new and living way that’s going to accomplish that. I’m the truth. Thy Word is truth. I’m the life.’

“By the way, without Him there is no life. He’s the Creator. Everything in life is about Him. He said, ‘The words I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life.’

"The real issue there is in life is He’s the resurrection and the life. He’s already told them that in chapter 11. He’s the way because He’s the truth. He’s the truth because He’s the life."

"The great proof of the fact that He is the truth and the way is that He’s the life. It all hinges on His resurrection. His resurrection says sin has been put away by the sacrifice of Himself.”