Saturday, December 19, 2015

Prophet for Hire

   "Freely have you received, freely give" Jesus taught His disciples. Sadly, not all ministers of the Gospel follow that directive. In His Messages to the Seven Churches in Asia, Christ lamented, "I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication."  Revelation 2:14
   The story of Balaam bin Besor is told back in Numbers 22-24. We'll get to him in a minute, but first let me point out Pergamos wasn't the only church with this problem: Jude and Peter also encountered this same activity in churches they ministered in (see 2 Peter 2:15-16, and Jude verse 11).  The Apostles say these opportunistic preachers & teachers "love the wages of unrighteousness"  and "run after the error of Balaam for reward" ;  "teaching things they ought not for filthy lucre's sake" (Titus 1:11).
   To be clear, there is nothing wrong with ministers of the Gospel receiving tithes & offerings from the people they minister to. The labourer is worthy of his hire, and you shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain. Men & women of God who have committed themselves to the Gospel of Jesus Christ have a reasonable expectation of compensation from those they serve. I personally know of a couple who slept on the floor of their apartment because they would not take of the church's offerings to buy themselves a bed! And there be many, many who sacrifice the comforts of this this life to serve on the mission field or pioneer works at home.
   Unfortunately, theirs are not the names, not the faces the world knows and associates with the evangelical church. They see only the Balaamites who are always asking for money! Those who suppose gain is godliness, and the ones raking in the most bucks must be the ones preaching what God wants taught! Don't be deceived. To the world, religion is a business.
   So, who was Balaam?  A fascinating character in the Bible: is he a good guy, or a bad guy? Balak, the king of Moab, hired this prophet to curse the people of Israel. But God wouldn't let him, and instead, he blessed Israel three times, and prophesied the utter destruction of the Moabite nation. Indeed, Balaam gave forth one of the great Messianic prophesies in the Bible: "I shall see Him, but not now; I shall behold Him, but not nigh:  there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and  Sceptre shall rise out of Israel...."  But even though he didn't curse Israel, he still wanted the curse fee from King Balak. The New Testament points out it was Balaam who gave Balak the strategy of using Moabite & Midianite ladies to seduce the men of Israel into idolatry at Baal-Peor.
   The Devil hasn't changed his tactics, folks! He's still got his Monarch slaves out there selling sex for idolatry. (Just look at the past few Grammy Awards nights.) So Balaam really is working both sides of the street. He's serving God, but taking kick-backs from the Devil! And many of these Balaamic ministers are in fact preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and His Second Coming, just as  the original Balaam prophesied of the first coming.
   What happens though, is after awhile, they see what side their bread is buttered on, and they figure out what Christians wanna hear, and tailor their messages to draw the biggest crowds and offerings. Teaching things they ought not for filthy lucre's sake. Like the Pre-Trib Rapture Theory, for example.....books, movies, video games, come on! M-O-N-E-Y!
   It's not all the Balaam gang's fault though, either. We keep buying their books & DVD's, attending their conferences, and paying top dollar to have them speak at our churches. In the words of Isaiah, "...which say to the seers, 'See not'; and to the prophets, 'Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits.'".  (Isaiah 30:10) They wouldn't preach smooth things if we didn't pay them to do it!
   "When we do these things, we're not doing them for God, we're really doing them for OURSELVES!" coos Victoria Osteen gleefullly. Truer words were never spoken. But the Word of God is not for sale, and the Kingdom of God cannot be bought for money. In case you haven't figured it out, I'm not here to tell you what you want to hear. I don't scratch itching ears for profit. Don't you think I know my little blog would go viral if I filled it with the right buzzwords kicking around, and wallpapered it with Satanic symbols (to expose them, of course)?
   "The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up", Jesus thought as He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and those who sold doves in the Temple. I'm not saying your Youth Group can't do a car wash or bake sale, but when pastors fear offending their biggest tithers, or are beholden to the government for that precious tax-exempt status, there is a problem.
 You cannot serve God and Mammon.  It's about integrity. I can sit here and tell you God will make you rich if you send all your money to me...I know all the Prosperity verses.
But I also know Elishah asked Gehazi, "Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and oliveyards, and vineyards, and sheep and oxen, and menservants and maidservants?" (2 Kings 5:26)
    As the old song goes, "But the buyers and the sellers were no different fellas than what I profess to be, and it causes me shame to think we're not the people we should be."  Amen.

Next: The Judge at the Door

Sunday, November 29, 2015

That Woman Jezebel

   Eve, Delilah, Jezebel! Of all the women in the Bible, none is more notorious than Jezebel, the very embodiment of all that's wrong with women! No other name conjures up her sheer wickedness and opposition to the kingdom of God. She is the worst of the worst, and the name used by Christ to describe an enemy within His church.
"Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not."  Revelation  2:20-21
   Who or what is Jezebel? The literal, historic person was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, who became the wife of King Ahab of Israel. Of course, that Jezzy was thrown out a window, run over by a chariot, and eaten by dogs (2 Kings 9:30-37) so it isn't her, but someone or something that acts just like her. She isn't one specific woman, nor all women in general as some preach.
   There are three other "women" mentioned in Revelation: the Sun-Clothed Woman (ch 12), the Whore of Babylon (ch 17), and the Bride of Christ (ch 19). Each of these is an allegory representing a group or class of people all in their own spiritual boat: the persecuted Church, the apostate Church, and the redeemed & resurrected Church. So it stands to reason Jezebel is also an allegory representing a class of people in the same spiritual condition. These are false prophets and teachers leading the people of God away from the truth of the Gospel and back into carnality and paganism.
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, speaking lies in hypocrisy: having their conscience seared with a hot iron..."  1 Timothy 4:1-2
   So why do I say Jezebel is the people and not the spirit? Because Jesus said He gave her the chance to repent, an option not open to demons. Now when Jesus says Jezebel is teaching His servants to commit fornication, that doesn't mean she's demonstrating the positions! It means, she's justifying that behavior, saying God understands and it's OK and you were born that way and Jesus loves you that way, blahblahblah. It  also means she's encouraging fornication through the culture and her spells.
   When Joram asked Jehu if he came in peace, he replied, "What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?" Jezebel is all about two things: sex & magic. Idolatry, occultism, witchcraft, and fornication all go together. The media are constantly pushing both on the servants of the Lord from daycare onward. Disney is one of the biggest channels of Jezebel! Their children's films are loaded with overt and subliminal messages encouraging sex and the occult. 
   And it's something the church allows to go on. Instead of boycotting Starbucks' snowflakeless cups, we ought to boycott Disney's mind control programming that prepares our children for the age of the antichrist. You don't believe Disney is doing Jezebel's work? Do a little research, there's some good stuff out there. Just google the video "In Upendi" (i.e. "In Your Panty") and see for yourself. Remember the name Jezebel literally means "chaste", so we're talking about those with a name or reputation of being pure and wholesome.
   How far has Jezebel gotten in the church? You need only view the Buzzfeed video "I'm a Christian, but I'm not"   to witness the attitude toward sexuality that's taken hold of our youth.
And idolatry? Superheroes are our new gods & goddesses, while ancient deities from  Egyptian and Canaanite fertility cults and Greco-Roman mystery religions are being resurrected in our culture as well.
    Why do you care? Because Jesus Christ our Lord has decreed this punishment on all churches that allow her witchcraft and fornication classes: "Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and those that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I AM He that searcheth the reins and hearts; and I will give every one of you according to your works."
   The world is always lowering her standards of sexual morality, and the Church continues to follow suit. The push for "tolerance" and pluralism have also taken hold. It would be easy to blame the church leaders, but we all have a part in this. We need to shut off Jezebel's song and listen to the voice of the Spirit of Christ. He is telling us to repent!

Next: Prophet For Hire!
   

Friday, November 27, 2015

Good Church, Bad Choice

   What makes a good church? Good preachin' & moving worship? Great fellowship, a voice in the community, support for missions & orphanages? How about strong leadership and organization, or diligent financial stewardship?  Revelation tells us of a church that had so much going for them, yet Jesus threatens to send them through the Great Tribulation! Just what was going in Thyatira that was so serious it made Jesus (who loves the little children) say He would kill their children if they didn't knock it off????
   "I know thy works, and charity, and service,  and faith, and thy patience, and thy works, and the last to be more than the first..." (Revelation 2:19) I want you to see, this was a really good church! They had a lot of really awesome stuff in that congregation! Faith! Love! Service! Good works! Patience, too. (But there is one thing I notice is missing: can anyone guess?) Man, these guys were rockin' it! What pastor wouldn't love to have a group like the Thyatiran believers? Yet! Jesus has a problem with them that merits severe punishment if it isn't corrected.
"Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce My servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols..."  (Rev 2:20)
   So, though they had all this they were doing right, they got one thing wrong: they let the wrong person teach. Works, charity, patience, service, even better works, what was missing? How about sound doctrine? Jesus said He has "a few things" against them, not just one. IMHO, it was the lack of solid Biblical doctrine that opened the door for Sleazebel to creep in and seduce that church with her witchcrafts. Had they been taught strong, sound doctrine, they would not so easily have been led astray by her siren song. Paul's epistles to Timothy & Titus stress the importance of sound doctrine. Notice the Ephesian church, whom Paul had warned with tears about false teachers creeping in, did a much better job screening their ministers (Revelation 2:2).
   I cannot emphasize enough just how vital it is for church leadership to thoroughly check out teachers, worship team members, ministry heads, and anyone else with influence in the church! A little leaven leavens the whole lump, and if Satan can slip even one of his servants into your core group, he can spoil your whole church. I've personally seen churches destroyed by just one person in the right place. Lay hands on no man suddenly! Let them first be proved! (1 Timothy 5:22)
   "Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death..."  (Rev 2:22-23) 
Now I know some wanna say "children" here isn't literal, but means "followers". Moot point. Who do you think Satan is going to go after first? Have you watched any kids' cartoons lately? He starts working on them from the time they're babies. So many of Jezebel's followers would be children anyway. You say, "JESUS wouldn't literally kill children!" Well, He wouldn't literally make idle threats either. Did not God say through the prophet Hosea  "I will forget thy children"? 
   Can you see how important it is to monitor what our children are exposed to? Notice Jesus calls these kids "her children", not "your children"! This is no joke, folks. Are we making the same mistake Thyatira did in letting our children be so hypnotized, socialized, and bewitched that they become Jezebel's children? Listen to what Christ is saying; it's so easy to gloss over a passage we've read or heard so many times, we totally miss what He's saying.
   We need to talk more about just who or what Princess Jezebel is. Because those believers who whore around with her will be severely chastized. I'm not saying they will lose their salvation, but if they listen to her long enough, she could deceive them into taking the mark of the beast--then they will be stricken from the Lamb's Book of Life. And do we want to lose any of our children to her?

Grace and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Next: That Woman Jezebel!

    



Sunday, November 22, 2015

Do You See What I See?

  " God is watching us from a distance" claims a recent pop song, as if He were disinterested and uninvolved. Yet Christ's  Messages to the Seven Churches reveals a God Who sees to the very core of our beings, and is deeply concerned with what He finds there. A recurrent theme in the messages (Revelation 2-3) is the difference in how we see ourselves and how God sees us.
   For example, the church of Laodicea thought they were all that, but Jesus informs them they were really "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked"! He's not pulling any punches! To Sardis, which had a name or reputation they were alive and thriving, Jesus says simply, "You are dead". While Smyrna, a church stricken with poverty, is praised and encouraged by Jesus, "You are rich"!
   Remember when Samuel was reviewing Jesse's sons, and assumed he knew which God had chosen to be king? The Holy Spirit told him, "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." (1 Samuel 16:6-7)  In Isaiah 55:9, God reminds us all, "...My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."  And to the self-righteous wicked, God says, "...thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes." (Psalm 50:21) How presumptuous we are, to suppose the Most High God has the same ethical standards we do!
   This problem affects not only individuals, but cities, nations, --and churches. Why? What I call Isaiah's curse, this phenomenon that we see without really seeing, and hear without understanding (Isaiah 6:9-10, Matthew 13:14-15, Mark 4:11-12, Luke 8:16, John 12:39-40, and Acts 28:25-27) The authors of the epistle to the Hebrews lament they cannot teach us all they'd like to "seeing ye are dull of hearing" (He 5:11) And Paul grieves over the veil untaken away from peoples' hearts when they read or hear the Scriptures (2 Cor 3:14-15).
   The Pharisees asked Jesus, "Are we blind also?" (John 9:39-40) And Jesus counsels the Laodiceans to "anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." (Rev 3:18) This is something we need to keep in mind, lest we make the same mistake of thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to, both as individuals, and as churches. No matter how good we may look on the outside, Jesus searches the hearts and reins: our innermost, true selves.
   I'd hate to go around thinking I'm God's gift to the world when really Jesus says I suck. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord! May we see You as You truly are, and ouselves as You see us!
Next: Good Church, Bad Choice
Peace!

Saturday, November 14, 2015

The D-Files

   "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy."  Revelation 3:4

   What jumps out at you in this verse? As we go through our informal study of Jesus' Messages to the Seven Churches, it's important to really pay attention (though we've read the passage numerous times) to what the Spirit of God is saying. Don't fall asleep, folks! The part of this promise of the Lord that slaps me & shakes me up, is that in this whole church there were only A FEW who had not defiled themselves. 
   Let that sink in! Sardis was not some little store-front church with the Pastor, his family, a couple friends, and dissatisfied believers who left other churches. We didn't have 40 denominations back then: when He says "the church at Sardis", He means THE church--every believer in the city!  And just a few of them were clean!
   So what was up with the rest of them? Do you suppose they realized how filthy they were? Or did they think they were cleaner than everyone else? What about you? What about me? Am I the guy who checks himself out on the mirror, then goes & forgets what a mess he is?
   When was the last time you heard a sermon about defiling yourself? Never mind what's on the Starbucks red cup, what's on you? What's that on me?
   James tells us, "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world" (James 1:27) Are we doing this, or are we bringing the world right into our homes, our hearts, and even the Sanctuary of God? But what defiles?
   In the thirteenth chapter of Hebrews, we are told,  "Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge."  The Sexual Revolution hasn't reached Heaven, folks! Back in Hebrews 12:15-16, we are admonished to be "looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright..." 
   Remember the matter of Baal-Peor, when 23,000 fornicators died in one day? I'm not saying He's gonna, but what if, what if Jesus walked through His church decimating all the fornicators? Imagine!  What are you selling your birthright for?
   Besides fornication & bitterness, what else defiles us? It ain't our diet, Jesus taught, but, "those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies; these are the things which defile a man..."
   The profanity coming out of my mouth, Jesus? My evil thoughts that no one knows about but You? When Abraham pled with God for Sodom, the Lord told him, "If I find ten righteous there, I will not do it." How many did He find? 3 1/2???? We in America today, are we too lenient, too easy on ourselves? Do we turn the grace of God into lasciviousness? As the world lowers her standards of profanity & vulgarity, do we lower ours?
   Jesus is looking for a church not having spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing, but that it be holy and without blemish! (Ephesians 5: 27) In Sardis there were only a few like that. If you ain't nervous yet, ain't worried yet, I don't know what else to say to ya! 
   I wanna walk with Jesus in white! I don't wanna miss out on that! Let's work out our salvation with fear & trembling,  'cuz many are called, but few are chosen. We need to get outta Sardis like Lot & the girls got outta Sodom! No turnin' back, no turnin' back!
Next: Do You  See What I See?
Peace, & God bless!

Saturday, November 7, 2015

The Messenger of the Covenant

   "And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people...." Ezra 3:11-13
   Me, I guess I'm Old School (or should I say, Old Temple). For the Church has changed, and not all for the better. And not all the changes were approved by the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ the Righteous. We are looking at the messages to the Seven Churches in Asia, but before we take a look at what's in the messages, I'd like to take a minute to behold the Messenger. 
   Hear John's descrption from Revelation 1:12-17....
"And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and His hair were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters. And He had in His right hand seven stars; and out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword; and His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead."
   How different from the namby-pamby wimp so popular with the carnal christians of today, who accepts everyone, tolerates everything, judges no one, and makes no call to repentance! The Church has lost her fear of God, and now sees Him as a cuddly Teddy bear or their Best Bud. True, in past generations Christ was seen as a stern and angry Judge; and maybe that view was out of line with Scripture. But now we have gone too far in the other direction and completely emasculated  Him.
   Behold, the Messenger of the Covenant! His feet are like brass. Brass in the Bible symbolizes divine judgement, like the brazen serpent in the wilderness. And His eyes, like fire:  a refiner's fire, melting away all the dross so that only the purest gold may remain (Malachi 3:1-3) Out of His mouth, a sharp, two-edged sword  (Hebrews 4:12). A sword divides (Matthew 10:34-35) And the fact that He holds in His hands the stars (leadership of the churches) means simply, He can do whatever He wants to with them.
   John, "the Apostle whom Jesus loved", who knew Christ personally and spent his life serving Him faithfully, fell at His feet as dead. If anyone had a right to see Jesus as his "best bud" it would have been John. But John responded with fear, and respect, and a sense of his own unworthiness.
   If there was one thing I could change in the Church today, it would be our view of Jesus Christ. He ain't Mr. Rogers, and he ain't Big Bird! He is the Lord of Sabaoth, the Commander of the armies of Heaven. "If then I be a Father, where is Mine honour?  and if I be a Master, where is My fear?" asks God through Malachi.
   You saw that cop grab that impudent little High School girl and flip her desk right over with her in it? You think Jesus won't do the same to His Church????? Do some homework, read Revelation chapters 1-3, and meet me back here next time. We'll get into some specifics...if you dare!

Sunday, November 1, 2015

What If Churches Got Report Cards?

   While on the Isle of Patmos, the aged apostle John received a visit from Jesus Himself, Who asked His servant to deliver a series of messages "to the seven churches which are in Asia".  Each message contained a review of the church's strengths and weaknesses, with the promise of rewards for excellent service, and corrective actions for failures. A "report card", if you will, on each of the pastors & congregations of select cities in Asia Minor!
   The first three chapters of Revelation present Jesus's assessment of the overall health, attitude, priorities, faithfulness, and effectiveness of the seven churches. He doesn't pull any punches, and He doesn't sugar-coat any issues! Roughly speaking, the grades Christ gives are:

  • A+    Philadelphia (not PA!)
  • A-     Ephesus
  • A      Smyrna
  • B-     Thyatira 
  • B-     Pergamos
  • D      Laodicea
  • F      Sardis
   So how would your church stack up? It's time we dig a little deeper and really try to get a handle on what Jesus loves, what He hates; what He's glad we do, what He wishes we'd do; what He'd like us to stop doing, what He'd like us to continue doing, what He'd like us to resume doing. What's in our churches that Christ wants out? What's out that He wants in?
   Why study the report cards of churches that have long since faded into history? Because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever! The problems He had with them are the same problems He'll have with us when we do what they did, when we allow what they allowed, when we ignore what they ignored.
   And the rewards for obedience and constant faithfulness will be the same for us, if we continue in well-doing. Likewise, the judgements and punishments will be the same for us if we continue on in sin and compromise. Yes, Jesus punishes His church!  Did not our Lord say, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten" ?  God is good all the time, but sometimes chastening is the good thing to do!
   So if you have "ears to hear", let's dive into this: it won't always be easy, won't always be fun.....toes will get stepped on, faces will get slapped! But these are the last of the last days, my brethren, and on that day, you wanna hear, "Well done thou good & faithful servant" or "Depart from Me, ye that work iniquity; I never knew you" ?
    * * * * *
   Rend your hearts and not your garments! See ya next time.....Peace!
 


Monday, October 26, 2015

End the Foolishness!

   I never thought I'd have to say this, but, THE EARTH IS ROUND! There are those in the Church who are actually preaching such abject foolishness as a flat earth and a geo-centric universe. I have been a Christian for forty years now, a member of at least four churches, and at no time have I ever believed, taught or been taught the earth was flat, or the center of the solar system.
   There is absolutely nothing in the Bible that conflicts with what we know about our planet's shape and orbit! And anyone saying anything different needs to shut up! I won't even say, "And wise up", because nobody could really be that stupid. Let me make myself perfectly clear where I, and every church I've ever been part of stands: Copernicus was right, and Columbus was right! The earth is a sphere that revolves around the sun. Period!
   Why must I take the time to affirm what everyone knows naturally, rather than preaching the love and power of our risen Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ? There are those among us who clearly wish to destroy whatever shred of credibility the Church might have left in this world! I cannot and will not believe that any born-again, Spirit-filled child of God would proclaim such outright folly that neither his fathers, nor his fathers' fathers believed.
   But we are living in the days when false Christians and false ministers have infiltrated the Church, bringing in damnable heresies, compromise, false doctrine, false worship, worldliness, and now downright stupidity to the Body of Christ. "They went out from us, but were not of us" the Apostle John wrote. These are the seed of the Wicked One, come to destroy the Church from within.
   How can we possibly have a discussion with the unbelievers about creation and evolution, the beginning of life, or any other important subject when we're seen as ignorant, narrow-minded buffoons?  To all my non-Christian friends and acquaintances, I want you to know, I do not stand with teachers or churches proclaiming a flat earth! They are imposters whose purpose is to discredit us! (Just like these clowns who predict the end of the world every six months.)
 To all my Christian brothers & sisters: don't tolerate such teaching. End the foolishness!

 

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Why Does the World Hate Columbus?

  The Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria! When I was a kid, Columbus was a hero, honored with his own day (somehow associated with White Sales). In school we learned of this man who resisted the conventional wisdom of his day and boldly ventured out into the unknown! The great explorer and discoverer acclaimed by both the Italians and the Spanish! A great lighthouse, El Faro al Colon', stands to honor him in Santo Domingo.
   But in these days, he is villified as an intruder who spoiled Paradise, the very symbol of greed and exploitation. Like he came uninvited to the Western Hemisphere and ruined all the beauty, harmony, and innocence of the native cultures.But why hate on Columbus? Why not mention Pizarro, Cortez, De Leon and the others? It's always Columbus they bash & trash.

   Though there is no prophecy specifically about him, Christopher Columbus helped to bring about the fulfillment of two separate prophesies in the Bible. The first is a tiny little prediction tucked away in Genesis as Noah foretells the destinies of his sons' descendants. The second concerns the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the End Times!
   The first prophecy in Genesis 9:27 is only four little words: "God shall enlarge Japheth". After the flood, Japheth's children settled what is now Europe. In Acts 17:26, Paul informs the men of Athens that God "has made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation." According to the Amplified Bible, "...having definitely determined [their] allotted periods of time and the fixed boundaries of their habitation (their settlements, lands, and abodes)."
   So, God decided long ago who was going to live where and when!  Well, the day came to make good on the promise to enlarge Japheth (beyond Europe), and thanks to Columbus' discovery, the road was cleared for the British, French, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese to colonize the New World. Now the Devil would be perfectly happy if everyone believed Noah was just a myth, but since Noah's prophecy came true.....!
   Yet there is a far more important prophecy which Columbus' voyage made possible, namely that the Gospel, and the church of Jesus Christ, would reach unto the uttermost parts of the earth, touching every nation, tribe, and tongue. Passages include Psalm 2:8, Matthew 24:14,  Acts 1:8, Romans 9:25-26, and of course, Revelation 5:9. Without Columbus' arrival on the land of the Taino people (present day Haiti/Domincan Republic), millions would have continued in the darkness of life without Christ.
    
   Why does the world hate Columbus?  Because God made him "...a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth." (Isaiah 49:6)  And the world loves darkness.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

What Did Jesus"Say" About Gays?

   The logic being pushed by gay Christians is that, since Jesus didn't openly condemn homosexuality, He must therefore be OK with it. Which is kinda like little Johnny cutting off his sister's ponytail, and justifying himself by stating," Mommy didn't say I couldn't." Now I'm not a big fan of arguing from silence (obviously the Gospel writers didn't record every single word our Lord uttered), but if ya really wanna go there, I'm up for it!
   So let's take a minute to look at what Jesus did say, then we'll go back to what He didn't say.  First, what was His attitude toward the Old Testament? Clearly, Christ regarded the Law and the Prophets as the Word of God. Whenever ethical questions arose, Jesus always referred back to the Scriptues, saying, "What is written in your law? How do you read?" (Luke 10:26) Again, He told the masses, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: all therefore whatsoever they bid you, that observe and do...."  (Matthew 23:1-2) Does this sound like He has a problem with the Mosaic Law?
   So just what did Moses say? Leviticus 18:22 reads, Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."  The very next verse forbids bestiality. Pretty clear, black-and-white, no grey area; but in case anyone missed it, Moses reiterates in 20:13, "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death, their blood shall be upon them."
   The fact that Jesus said nothing directly about homosexuality doesn't help the gays' case. If you wanna talk about what Jesus didn't say, He didn't say, "well Moses was just an old insecure homophobe anyway, so don't listen to him. God's positiion on homosexuality is evolving." What Christ did say is, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill."  Matthew 5:17. Now if Jesus had a problem with the scribes and Pharisees' interpretation or applcation of the Leviticus sexual morality laws, would not He have called them out on this? But He never challenged them on this issue.
   OK, what about the NewTestament? What was Christ's view of the Apostles' writings?  "And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgement, than for that city"  Matthew 10:14-15  And in Luke 10:16, "He that heareth you heareth Me; and he that despises you despise Me; and he that despises Me despises Him that sent Me"
   So the person who rejects the message of the Apostles rejects Jesus Christ, and the Father as well.
   Well, what did the Apostles say about homosexuality? The Apostles to the Jews didn't need to say anything, as Moses had already given us God's word on the matter. Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, taught the church at Corinth, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."  1 Corinthians 6:9-10.
    And what did Jesus Christ have to say about ol' Paul? Only, "Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace for I am with thee."  Acts 18:9-10. What He didn't say? "My Apostles have issues....don't worry about their homophobic rules." No! He told His Apostles, "Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained."  in John 20:23.
   So, you wanna argue from what Jesus didn't say? He didn't say Moses was wrong, and He didn't say Paul was wrong. He stood up for both of these men. And I'm not going to hold my peace either, 'cause I know from experience: if push comes to shove, He'll stand up for me, too.
Amen.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Blood Moon, Schmood Moon!

   There's a lot of talk these days about the "Blood Moons", that they are signs of prophecy being fulfilled. And many prophecies are indeed being fulfilled, but I'm not so concerned over something so mundane as a lunar eclipse! Why? Because that's not what the Book says!
Let's open our Bibles, and see what the actual sign of the end, and of Christ's return, is.

"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31
"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come." Acts 2:20
"For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine." Isaiah 13:10
"Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed,  when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously."
Isaiah 24:23
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken."  Matthew 24:29
"But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken." Mark 13:24-25
"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars...for the powers of heaven shall be shaken" Luke 21: 25-26
"And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise." Revelation 8:12
   Clearly this is none of this is referring to a common lunar eclipse that takes place before the Tribulation as a sign that it is coming! Notice the both the Old Testament prophets, the New Testament apostles, and even Christ Himself state that not only the moon, but the sun also and the stars will all be obscured from view. Don't you realize, it is impossible to have a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse at the same time? This is not a natural, normal, predictable event!
   It is a catastrophic, one-time occurence, heralding Christ's return!
 All through your Bible, it is always the sun AND the moon AND the stars...not the moon only! The first time this sign is mentioned appears in Genesis, in a dream God gave Joseph!
"And he dreamed yet another dream, and told his brethren and said, 'Behold, I have dreamed a dream more, and behold, the sun, and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.' "  Genesis 37:9
   Now Jacob thought the dream meant he & his family would bow down to Joseph, which was the short-term fulfillment of the vision. But the deeper, Messianic meaning was that one day, the Sun, and the Moon, and the stars would switch off their high-beams and flip on their low-beams in deference to the True Light, Jesus Christ Almighty!
   Folks, there is no prophecy as such stating that a lunar eclipse foretells the coming of the AntiChrist, or of the beginning of the Tribulation. Read da book! Don't add to His words, don't take any away! Blood Moon, Schmood Moon!
Peace.

Sunday, September 20, 2015

I'm a Christian, BUT........!

I am a Christian, but....
...I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Isaiah 6:5
...who can say, "I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin"? Proverbs 20:9
...if I bridle not my tongue, my religion is vain. James 1:26
...if I have not love, I am become as sounding brass, and as a tinkling cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:1
....if I say I have not sinned, I make Him a liar, and His word is not in me. 1 John 1:10
....we have this treasure in earthen vessels. 2 Corinthians 4:7
...I am a worm, and no man. Psalm 22:6
...I am carnal, sold under sin, for that which I do, I allow not; for what I would, that I do not; but what I hate, that do I. Romans 7:14-15
...I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing....for the good that I would I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Romans 7:18-19
...all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 1 John 2:16
...without holiness, no man shall see the LORD. Hebrews 12:14
...if I say I know Him, and keep not His commandments, I am a liar, and the truth is not in me. 1 John 2:4
...if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Psalm 66: 18
...if I do not forgive, neither will my Father which is in heaven forgive my trespasses. Mark 11:26
...we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Isaiah 64:6
...if I think I know anything, I know nothing yet as I ought to know. 1 Corinthians 8:2
....not everyone who says to Jesus, "Lord, Lord!" shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 7:21
...neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
... the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked...Jeremiah 17:9
....we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:10
...when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8
....He that planted the ear, shall He not hear? He that formed the eye, shall He not see? He that chastises the heathen, shall He not correct? He that teaches man knowledge, shall He not know? Psalm 94: 9-10
...if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 1 Peter 4:18
...except we repent, we shall all likewise perish. Luke 13:3

I AM A CHRISTIAN, BUT I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST!


Saturday, September 12, 2015

Take My Hand, Precious Lord..............

   "Should  I stay or should I go? " asked the Clash back in the day. The Apostle Paul wrestled with the same question (Philippians 1:20-24)  with going to Heaven looking better and better, yet remaining here on earth more needful to his disciples.
"The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness"
Isaiah 57:1-2
"Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them."
Revelation 14:3

   Over the past few years, I have seen my mother, mother-in-law, and several other friends and fellow saints pass from this world, and into the everlasting arms of the Father. I do not pity them; I do not pity any other family member, friend, or fellow minister whom the Lord shall see fit to call home from this time onward. Blessed are they, for they shall be spared the distress of all that is coming on this world!
  As Jesus was being led away to Golgotha, He turned and said to the women who cried after Him, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.......For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?" (Luke 23:28-31) Yeah, things are gonna get really bad, really quickly, really soon. No, I don't feel sorry for those who get out before it all hits the fan! Whom the Lord chooses to keep from the hour of temptation (for they are worthy).
   But as for me, who am less than the least of all saints....do I wanna be here? Do I want to see the scoffers & scorners go scurrying into their holes like little mice when God's judgement hits? Do I want to see the Two Witnesses send plague after plague upon the unrepentant ungodly? Do I wanna see the look on the smart-mouth atheists' faces when every eye shall see Him, and every knee shall bow?
    Do I wanna hear the children of Israel ask the Messiah, "What are these wounds in Thy hands?" when they look on Him Whom they pierced?  Do I wanna see the Beast and the False Prophet taken? Do I wanna see Babylon fall? Do I wanna see the angel grab hold of Satan and lock him up 1,000 years? Do I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in?
 I wouldn't miss it for the world!

   God granted old Simeon his wish that he wouldn't die without seeing the LORD's Christ. My heart's desire and prayer is that I might not only survive and endure all the things that are coming quickly, but also that I might remain faithful unto the end,  to be among those that are alive and remain at His coming.  To be among those Isaiah heard say, "LO, this is our God, we have waited for Him.....this is the Lord, we have waited for Him!" (Isaiah 25:9)
    Lord, carry home whom You will, sparing them the grief of the fiery trial that shall test them that be upon the earth in these days, only let me serve you and abide faithful until You return!

Amen & amen. Maranatha!


Saturday, September 5, 2015

September 2015: Hell, Hope, or Hype?

   Have we entered a critical period in history? Is the stuff about to hit the fan? Is humanity's destiny a step closer to fulfillment? Prophecy watchers warn that all hell is about to break loose, even as New Age gurus proclaim a new era of Light and Love! And it's all coming down in the next few weeks.......!
  I know what you're thinking. Y2K bug didn't exactly bite. Mayan Calendar off by more than a few years. We've heard it all before. One side says Doom & Gloom while the other cries, "Peace and Safety". Most of us just say, "Nuthin's gonna happen." Why is this time different? Or is it?
   Those of you who've been with me awhile know I'm no Chicken Little. I'm no sensationalist, I don't tickle ears with juicy gossip. I don't just repeat what everyone else is saying without checking it out first. But a lot of people out there are saying a lot of things about this month we've now entered. Listen, if half of what the prophets & prophecy watchers are saying is right, September 2015 is gonna rock you're world and not in a good way.
  Am I scared? A little, I'll admit. Not because of "blood moons" or Newton's timetable or any of that, but because everything written in the Bible is going to come to pass in its time, GUARANTEED. When? I don't know.
   When His Apostles asked Christ about the time of His coming and the signs thereto, He told them, basically, "It ain't none of yer business" (Acts 1:7) But now in our day many of the things John wrote of in Revelation-that were for ages total mysteries to Bible scholars & commentators  - are part of our everday life. Like using numbers and symbols to buy & sell goods & services. The political & spiritual aligments spoken of in the Scriptures are falling into place.
   I'm not here to tell you it's all going to fall apart this September. I hope to God it doesn't. Personally, I am not ready for all this! I would like things to stay "normal" a while longer. But what God said, He said, and He ain't changing His mind.
   His judgements are certainly coming down on this nation & this world; nothing can hold it back. God is merciful and gracious, and His ears are open to the prayers of His people. But He is not changing one word of what the apostles & prophets have written.
   What's going to happen this month? A new wave of love? Hell on earth? Nothing at all?
We can only wait and watch. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, hold onto Him with all you've got. If you are a fence-sitter, it's time to get serious with God. And if you are a scoffer, just keep laughing. Only don't say nobody told ya.

"How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?"  Hebrews 2:3

Saturday, August 22, 2015

NUMBERED!

   Are you ready to hunker down & ride out the storm? Daniel warned Belshazzar, "God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it" (Daniel 5:26). The kingdom of the Antichrist also is numbered: it has an expiration date! Satan's kingdom is NUMBERED! And he knows it, too: "...the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth he hath but a short time."   YES!
   I don't know about y'all, but I am SICK of Satan's rule! I am so ready for a regime change! I hate everything he says & everything he does. But the scumbag is a lame duck and he knows it. He's going to try a last ditch effort, not to win, but to make his defeat as costly as possible. The good news is, the clock is running!
   We don't have to defeat him, brothers: Jesus already did that!!!!  We just have to hang in there & hold on until the clock runs out. Jesus says: "...he that endureth to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 10:22) and, "In your patience possess ye your souls....and when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."  (Luke 21: 19,28)
   All we have to do is survive until the kingdom of darkness is destroyed! Don't wimp out, don't back down, don't compromise.....just hold fast unto the end. Did not our Lord promise, "I will be with you even unto the end of this age." ? We don't have to throw a "Hail Mary" pass folks: just take the knee & let the game clock run out!
   Have you not read, "...from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days."  Daniel 12:11-12)
   I tell you, the moment the abomination of desolation sets up, I will be marking my calendar: 1,335 days, 1334, 1333, 1332......that's not even four years, folks! Less time than you spent in High School (only a whole lot more evil). But we can do it! Be encouraged! Satan's kingdom is numbered! He's looking at a 1,000 year prison sentence! I can't wait!
 Sure, things suck right now, but "the triumphing of the wicked is short" (Job 20:5) For this Scripture must needs be fulfilled: "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever!" (Revelation 11:15) Yeah!
   And I ain't saying it's going to be easy, guys: far from it. But God has promised to give His angels charge over us to keep us in all our ways. This is the time for faith & patience. Even so, Come, Lord Jesus! Peace!

Monday, August 17, 2015

The View from Here

   Rip Van Winkle awoke from sleep after twenty years to find the world he knew had disappeared completely. As I look about upon my country, my society, my culture, I feel as bewildered as ol' Rip. When I was born again (as we called it then) back in the summer of '76, the world was a far different place!
   The Seven Words Ya Can't Say on Television weren't said on television. Books that today are required reading would have been banned from High School then. Though evolution was taught in public schools and Ancient Alien theory had already been born, most people still believed the Bible was the Word of God.
   Guys who wanted to be girly were called sissies, not heroes. Everything is upside-down and backwards from how it once was. Men are changed into women, women into men, kids into adults and adults into kids. The "Furries" masquerade as animals while lobbyists fight for human rights for apes. Computers are getting smarter, people getting dumber.
   The Confederate flag is coming down, the LGBT rainbow banner going up (and going up over many churches!). Vulgarity is so rampant that Charlie the Tuna doesn't even bother discussing "good taste" anymore; this generation wouldn't have a clue what he was talking about. And respect? Where will you find that?
   What of freedom? We had that, and privacy, too. There were laws against usury, protecting borrowers from exhorbitant interest rates. Now banks charge you $3.00 to use your own money!  The world has changed, the Church has changed, and yes, I too, have changed: not always for the better. Many have even tried to change the Scriptures themselves. But God says,
"For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." 
"Of old hast Thou laid the foundations of the earth: and the Heavens the works of Thy hands.They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same,and Thy years shall have no end."
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
"JESUS CHRIST the same yesterday, and today, and forever."
   What a comfort to know our firm foundation will never alter or vary! Peace!

Saturday, June 6, 2015

Thw Walking (Wish They Were) Dead!

   It's nearly a year since my mother left this world to be with the Lord she'd loved and served since she was a child. And in a way, I'm glad she's passed on before the stuff really hits the fan. "The righteous perishes, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the the evil to come"  says Isaiah 57:1. What evil is coming?
   Some of you think I've lost it already, but I'm telling you that some of the Bible prophecies that for centuries theologians and commentators have assumed were allegorical or symbolic may actually be quite literal! That would be extremely disturbing! In particular, I'm referring to Revelation chapter 9, and the ungdoly beasts that ascend from "the bottomless pit" or abyss, asc John called it.
   In our day, the technology exists to open a wormhole to another dimension. Some of you say, "Matt, you've been watching too many movies", but I tell you , CERN is not science fiction. The people of the world are actually trying to fire this thing up. I believe it is the fulfillment of Rev 9's prophecy.
   When this door is opened, horrible creatures emerge into our world to attack the human race. John tells us things things have faces like men, yet hair like women. Friends, the beings from the other side are indeed androgyneous (that is, guy-gals) having both male and female characteristics as the prophet describes.
   Another terrible aspect of these creatures is, they have a sting like a scorpion, only far more intense; and worst of all, some component of their venom actually prevents their victims from dying. Imagine! People wracked with such unbearable pain they want to kill themselves, but cannot! "And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them."  Rev 9:6 This is what awaits those who reject God and His Christ!
   No matter what they do....jump out of buildings, crash their cars, set themselves on fire, toss themselves into the sea......nothing will kill them for 5 months! Sound  impossible? So does rising from the dead, but Jesus Christ did it. And He will both protect His own who trust in Him, and punish His adversaries.
 I know you think I'm crazy, but the Bible has this habit of being right. Like when Moses predicted the Diaspora. I am telling you that everything wriitten in Scripture will come to pass, not one jot or tittle shall fail until all be fulfilled. No matter how wild or far-fetched it sounds. Who would have thought one could rise from the dead, or people could speak in languages they'd never learned?
 Ads for a beer brand talk about being ready for whatever comes next. You're gonna need more than beer.......

Friday, May 29, 2015

Hold Fast!

   Are you ready for anything? Will your faith stand the test of time? Jesus encourages us: "That which you have already hold fast till I come."  (Rev 2:25). Paul adds: "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." (1 Th 5:21) And in Hebrews we're told, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering" (He 10:23). Brothers & Sisters, we must hold on tight to what we have no matter what comes, no matter what we see or hear!
   Why? Be assured that Satan will huff & puff and try to blow you off your firm foundation. In the coming days, you will see & hear things you thought you never would; things absolutely and quite literally out of this world. 
  First, the world system will do all in its power to discredit God & the Bible. The prophets tell us: "...there was given given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them" (Rev 13:5-6) "....and a mouth that spake very great things.....I beheld and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them." (Dan 7:20-21)
   This is not some day, friends: it's happening now! Our education system drums evolution into our kids' heads from kindergarten onward. Comedians and cartoonists mock God & the Bible with impunity. TV, movies, cartoons all preach monism and evolution. As an example, the whole premise of Marvel Comics' The X-Men is that the human race is still evolving. Anyone see the movie Lucy ? Its theme is that we've evolved from ape to man and shall evolve from man to god.
   Brace yourselves: it will only get worse! Would your faith endure should the aliens arrive and proclaim they are our creators? Would that invalidate the Bible? Listen, it wouldn't faze me, 'cuz God already told us they're coming! Hear Revelation 9:1: I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth, and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit..."  This being seems to give man the technology to open a door to another dimension, with disastrous results as our world is invaded by locust-like creatures.
   Further, the rulers of the world consort with aliens who guide the nations' actions: "and I saw three unclean spirits like frogs...they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almghty." (Rev 16: 13-14) Hey, what are frogs like? Hairless, green skin, big bulging eyes, long thin arms & legs, long thin fingers & toes.....and what are aliens like? They're like frogs! But they're really devils!
   So, you ready? I leave you with Romans chapter 8. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
   Hold fast, brothers. Jesus told you, Paul told you, and now I tell you. Hold fast.

Monday, May 25, 2015

That Old, Rugged Cross

   "To the old, rugged cross, I will ever be true, its shame and reproach gladly bear...."  pretty much sums up where I stand and what I stand for. I'm not a member of the "Truth Movement" per se, ( though I rejoice in the truth!) but one who holds to the truth of the Bible, which has greatly come under attack lately. When Pontius Pilate sarcastically asked Christ, "What is truth?" our Lord might well have answered, "Yer lookin' at it, Numb-nuts!" (FYI, He didn't)
   But what is it about that old rugged cross? It's what sets Christianity apart from every other religion in the world. For every other founder of every other faith says, "Follow me, people; I did it and you can do it, too!" It being not merely acceptance by God, but becoming one with Him: becoming a god in your own right (and by your own efforts).
   But the old, rugged cross says, "Not so fast!" 'Cuz something happened there. Something gross, and ugly and wrong. "For 'twas there on that cross that the dear Lamb of God for a world of lost sinners was slain". See, we couldn't ascend Jacob's ladder up to God; He had to come down here to our level....to the lowest level, and be executed like a common criminal.
   "That old, rugged cross, so despised by the world..." Why do they despise it? Because it brands us guilty sinners....they know in their hearts they deserve to die there, but they don't wanna hear it. They don't want to hear about absolute, black or white right and wrong. "I'm ok, you're ok" is the message they want to hear.
   But it's not the message I preach! I don't care if I don't fit in: I never did fit in anyway! Here's the reality: THERE IS NONE GOOD, NO NOT ONE. and ALL OUR RIGHTEOUSNESSES ARE AS FILTHY RAGS. On that cross, Jesus took our sins, and gave us His righteousness. That's the message I live for, and if so be the will of God, I shall die for.
   So let some stuck-up atheist sue the town of so-and-so to take down that cross; His nail-pierced hands are stretched out still, and still He cries, "Come to Me, you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." But this is, as they say, a limited -time offer, as the Holy Ghost says in David, "TODAY, if you will hear His voice"!
   Tomorrow? The day is coming when the grace period on the human race ends. The time is coming when, as in the time of Noah God closed the door of the ark. I don't care what everyone else is saying or doing, let them follow their fads & trends. I will cling to the old, rugged cross.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Laugh While You Can!

   The new generation is so wise in their own eyes! After all, they have instant access to nearly all information obtained by man. They laugh at us old school types who believe in God and the Bible. "Myths and fairy tales!" they call it, so sure that what their teachers told them is the absolute truth (even though they taught them there IS no absolute truth).
 Laugh while you can, kids. Have a jolly ol' time at our expense, at Christ's expense, at the Bible's expense. Of course you're so much smarter than us! When we were kids, we didn't have The Daily Show  to tell us what was real. Neither The Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park, nor SNL. So it's no surprise we're not as smart as you are.
   I am a fool for Christ's sake, I admit it! "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness"  says our book you disdain, adding, "there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of his coming?'". So we already knew you would act that way.
   Keep laughing! Here's another good one from Jesus: "Woe unto you that laugh now! for you shall mourn and weep." Laugh while you can, because you will cry like little babies, and there will be none to comfort you. Laugh all you want, but God also says, "I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear comes."
   Christ's enemies laughed as He hung on the cross, sneering, "He saved others, but he can't save himself!" No one was laughing when the Roman guards came by three days later, reporting how He got up & walked out of that sealed tomb.
   Laugh while you can! You have no clue what's coming, and nowhere to hide from it. Tell yourselves you evolved by chance, and there is no Judge to answer to. Laugh at us foolish Christians! Better still, go join ISIS and hunt us down with them. See how many kills you can rack up.
   But I know I and my foolish Christian friends will one day declare exactly what the Prophet Isaiah predicted we'd say: "Lo, this is our God: we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for Him, we wil be glad and rejoice in His salvation."
   Laugh while you can.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

How Shall We Escape?

   Two great calamities await the earth. I'm not talking about earthquakes, or epidemics, solar flares, or other Hollywood scenarios. I'm not talking about natural disasters at all. Doomsday preppers build themselves shelters, stock up on food & ammo, train themselves in survival skills. The very wealthiest have built themselves entire underground cities where they suppose they shall be safe from the coming crises. Skeptics wrap themselves in a cloak of denial, mocking the doomsayers and scoffing at prophecies.
   But none of this shall avail: the wisdom of the wise will not deliver them, nor the riches of the wealthy. Strength, courage, ingenuity, perserverance, luck--what shall they profit? "For except those days were shortened there should NO FLESH survive", Christ warned. So what is coming that is nearly universally destructive? Two things.
   The first, is that mankind shall almost unanimously officially enthrone Lucifer as ruler of the world. Yes, he's been running a lot of things behind-the-seens for centuries, but soon man shall welcome and embrace him as their god, and practically hand him the keys to the planet.
"For,behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people" says Isaiah. Adds Joel, "A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness".
   Funny thing about darkness: when you first walk into a dark place, it's almost total blackout. But slowly, your eyes adjust, and after awhile it doesn't seem quite so dark anymore. The level of light hasn't changed, only your perception. Spiritual darkness is the same: the more time you spend in it, the less you notice it. And so people of this generation adore the darkness, imagining it to be pure light.
   When Antichrist arises, he won't have to twist arms to get people to follow him----he will be a Rock Star to them! He'll be a Disney princess! A superhero! That is the first calamity.The second is that God won't tolerate the first.  His wrath, restrained for 2,000 years, will come down with unstoppable force.
   IN the nearly 40 years I've been walking with the Lord, studying His word, I've learned a few things. God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble. All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. There's only one place we will be safe, folks, and that's in Jesus.
"Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, whose heart departeth from the LORD ...Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is."  Jeremiah 17:5,7

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Can You Hear Me Now?

   FORGIVE ME if I have a little attitude this morning. So many now are talking about the "Blood Moons" and the total solar eclipses as signs of coming judgement. Well, better late than never! Over a decade ago I did a series on my public broadcast show on End-Time Ideas,  which included a chapter called, "The Final Sign".  It dealt with one of the most often repeated prophecies in Scripture; here is Peter's telling of it on the day of Pentecost: "And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the LORD come:"
   This prophecy is all through the Bible,  and it's good that people are talking about it now, but back in the day, everyone was like"Pre-Trib Rapture! Party Time!" Back when I was studying for my ordination in the Foursquare Church (which I didn't get), I learned the Church's creed is that there's not one more prophecy that needs to be fulfilled before the Rapture can happen. And that's what most Christians here believed. Just look how many prophecies have been fulfilled in the past 10 or so years!
   Remember Joseph's dream about the Sun and Moon bowing down to him? Jacob asked, "Shall I and your mother and brothers indeed bow down to you?" Not exactly: Rachel died from complications after she delivered Benjamin. The deeper prophetic meaning of this dream will be fulfilled when Christ returns, and the sun & moon will surrender to the True Light (Revelation 22:5) Don't you all realize there's no way we can have a solar eclipse, and a lunar eclipse at the same time? Think about it.
    And why are you all so surprised and shocked the the U.S. is turning against Israel? Does not the Scripture tell you Satan's "aliens" (unclean spirits like frogs) will gather ALL NATIONS against Israel? Do not the Prophets tell us the king would break his covenant? This ain't news, folks, and it sure ain't time to panic. Everything is going exactly the way the Bible always said it would. Not the way the "Bible Prophecy Experts" said, 'cuz according to them, the Rapture was scheduled for 1988.
   Well, some of you didn't listen to me back then: you're smarter than me, and holier, more righteous, I get it. I was telling folks for years we would be here during the Tribulation. You ought to have listened to me. Maybe you'll listen now. What I'm telling you is, God hasn't retired & He didn't resign. He protected His chosen from the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Romans, the Catholic Church, the Communists & Nazis; shall He not keep us also in the days of the AntiChrist? Did not our Lord promise He would be with us even unto the end of this age?
   God doesn't change, folks. It's time to stir up our faith in the God of Elijah, of Daniel, of Moses, of Joseph, of David, of Paul, and of John. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the hearts of man the things that God has prepared for those that love Him. Jesus will call His Two Witnesses, He will seal the 144,000, He will do great & mighty things you know not! BELIEVE! 

Sunday, March 22, 2015

The Whole World in His Hands!

Kurios Theos Pantokrator...do you understand what this means? Yes, the literal translation from the Greek would be Lord God Almighty or Lord God Omnipotent, but what does that really mean? It means that our God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is Absolute Ruler of the universe; There is none higher than He; He needs no one's permission or approval to do anything He wishes!
   Realize that all the forces of nature- known and unknown- are His to command. A few examples:
He sendeth forth His commandment upon earth: His word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool; He scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteh forth His ice like morsels: who can stand before His cold?  Psalm 147:15-18
And it shall come to pass in that day, That the Lord shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria, and they shall come... Isaiah 7:18
...and though they be hid from My sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them. Amos 9:3 
And the Lord shall utter His voice before His army: for His camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth His word... Joel 2:11
In His hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is His also. Psalm 95:4
He looketh on the earth, and it trembleth; He touches the hills and they smoke. Psalm 104:32
The silver is Mine, the gold is Mine, saith the Lord of hosts. Haggai 2:8
   And as if this weren't enough, remember God can also turn His enemies against one another! Am I worried that the rulers of this world have all the money, write the laws, and direct the military? To God they're just a drop in the bucket (Isaiah 40:15) So they're all going to team up with the Devil to fight God? Is He scared? Should you be? "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision." writes the Psalmist (Psalm 2:4-5).
   Listen, the devil may think he has Christians figured out, but he doesn't have Christ figured out! God has stuff we haven't even imagined yet (1 Corinthians 2:9), and we don't even understand all the prophecies- they're sealed until the end! Bottom line, our God ultimately holds all the power. Remember who you are and Whose you are. 
Grace and peace always, and in all ways.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

With Their Boots On

   Twenty-one Coptic Christians were taken captive and put to death because they would not renounce Christ and serve Allah. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints. Indeed, these are dangerous times we're living in. But we have hope, folks. We ain't in this thing to lose! Mordecai asked Esther,  "...and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" It's no mistake we're here at this time!
   Jesus posed this challenge: "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" I want the answer to be YES! Guys, it ain't time to give up; it's time to remember who we are and Whose we are! Speaking by Isaiah the Prophet, God says:
Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I AM the LORD thy God... Isaiah 43:1-3
   Did He not tell Joshua, "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life; as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee" ? The same God Who was mighty in the ark of the covenant is just as mighty in the people of the New Covenant! When he said, "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world", he didn't mean "a little greater" or "barely greater", he meant WAAAAAAAAAAAY greater!
   God's not going to evacuate us, nor will He let the devil trample us into the dirt! May I remind you that in every age and in each dispensation, God has raised up faithful servants to fulfill His purpose on the earth? Shall He not do so now also in these final days? Jesus encouraged the church of Smyrna, "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer..."
Isn't He going to seal His 144,000 servants, and raise up His Two Witnesses? And God has a purpose & plan for each of US!
   I hear so many always talking about everything the Devil's doing, or claims to be doing. I'm not going there, I ain't his P.R. man. My gig is to remind you God hasn't thrown in the towel, and neither should we! We have a Friend That sticks closer than a brother; and Jesus will be with us even to the end of this age.
   Obama & the DHS say Christians are a bigger threat than ISIS. YOU GOT THAT RIGHT, MISTER! We are a threat to Satan and his kingdom, and it's about time we started believing that & acting like it. If God be with us, who can be against us? There is no reason God can't use any of us just as He used Esther, Joshua, Moses, Noah, Elijah, David, Samson, Daniel, or Enoch.
   I leave you with Revelation 17:14 "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them; for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful."  How I want to be in that number!

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Take Courage, People of God!

  We live in a day when almost all we hear about is what the enemy is up to! They have all the money, they write all the laws, they control the military, the media, the schools and even the church, blahblahblah. "...and they worshipped the Beast, saying, 'Who is like unto the Beast? who is able to make war with him?'"   When Satan tried to impress Christ with all the power he's supposed to have, Jesus' answer was, "Take a hike!"
 The "elite", the "1%", the "Illuminati"----are they any better than us? They wanna suck up to the devil- does that make them invincible?They're human just like us, and can be defeated just like any other empire in history! Hear the words of the Prophet Isaiah:  "...who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and the son of man which shall be made as grass; and forgettest the LORD thy Maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor?" Isaiah 51:12-13
   The Beast isn't unstoppable as long as God is on the throne! Let me remind you all of another prophecy of Scripture: "but the people who know their God shall be strong, and do exploits"  Daniel 11:32.  Zechariah goes on to state: " and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David as God, as the angel of the Lord before them" Zech 12:8 !  Just as the Ten Spies weakened the hearts of Israel by emphasizing the Canaanites' might, so too can we weaken the Church's resolve by overstating the enemy's power.
   After all, they're just men: they haven't evolved beyond us as they like to think! Isn't that what L. Frank Baum was telling us in his Wizard of Oz? You remember story: a teen runaway and her misfit loser friends take out two wicked witches (no thanks to the Wizard). Turns out "the Great & Powerful Oz" is nothing more than a special effects wizard, a master of illusion!
The enemy may be powerful, but the real power belongs to God!
"As it is written, for Thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. NAY, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us
   You thought Jesus is the Prince of Peace? He is indeed, but He is crowned with many crowns, and another one of His titles is the Lord of Hosts!  The Lord is a Man of War (Exodus 15:3)! And hey, when the Beast and the False Prophet are finally beaten, you're going to be looking at them like, "Whaaaaaaat?" "They that see thee (the Antichrist) shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, THIS is the man that made the earth to tremble?????"
Isaiah 14:16    
   It ain't our destiny to lose, friends! Just like the Wicked Witch of the West had a problem with water, Satan has an Achilles heel too: "AND THEY OVERCAME HIM BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, AND BY THE WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY"  
   I don't care what kind of science they have, don't care what kind of magic they have; WE HAVE JESUS!   

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Terrified Yet?

   They call him "Jihad Joe", the ominous, Darth Vader-like spokesman seen in ISIS beheading videos....the new face- or voice- of terror. Are you afraid someone one day will sever your head from your neck like the poor victim in the video? Don't be! Not saying it won't or can't happen, but Jesus commanded us:
"...Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you Whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell: yea, I say unto you,  Fear Him."  Luke 12:4-5

   They want us to be afraid of them. All across the country people are kowtowing to ISIS already, embracing Islam & the Quran! Forget that! Paul instructed his disciples at Philippi,
"Only be sure as citizens so to conduct yourselves [that] your manner of life [will be] worthy of the good news (the Gospel) of Christ, so that whether  I [do] come and see you or are absent, I may hear this of you: that you are standing firm in united spirit and purpose, striving side by side and contending with a single mind for the faith of the glad tidings (the Gospel).
And do not [for a moment] be frightened or intimidated in anything by your opponents and adversaries, for such [constancy and fearlessness]  will be a clear sign (proof and seal) to them of [their impending]  destruction, but [a sure token and evidence] of your deliverance and salvation, and that from God."  Philippians 1:27-28, AMP
It bears repeating, "...that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel: And in nothing terrified by your adversaries..."
   The Roman Catholic Church is seeking to capitalize on believers' fears of ISIS, calling Christians to "unity" under their shadow. We must not give in to that either! We are to strive for THE FAITH OF THE GOSPEL, that faith the Apostles and Prophets gave their lives for! What faith? That if I donate to some TV preacher, I'll become rich? No! But that, "the very hairs of your head are all numbered" and Jesus can and will preserve and protect those who put their trust in Him!
   Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego told the king like, "Go ahead, make my day! Our God is able to deliver us, but if He chooses not  to, no big; we'll be in His presence in a minute anyway!" The Fourth Man who was in the fire with them will be in the fire with us too! He doesn't change: stand up for Jesus, & He'll stand up for you!
   There were cases when God teleported  Elijah out of trouble, and other times sent fire from heaven to burn up the bad guys; another time he blinded them all and took them prisoner! If the Father did that for them, will He not do it for you, O ye of little faith?

* * * * * * *

   FYI, Jihad Joe: you kill me, I ain't stayin' dead! When Jesus comes back, I'm comin' with Him, and the FIRST sucker I'm looking for is YOU! Whacha gonna do then? ; )
   'Til next time...
Fight the good fight. God save the Faithful.




Sunday, January 18, 2015

Divine warning: Leaders will be held accountable!

    That funny amber icon on your dashboard you've been ignoring is a warning: "Check Engine Soon". You don't smell anything strange; you don't hear anything, you don't feel anything. So you keep driving.You drive right past that DEER CROSSING sign you've passed a million times without ever seeing any deer. You don't even bother to scan the woods for movement.We tend to block out warnings when we see no danger.
   In the Scriptures, Jesus gives  His folllowers a number of warnings of things to come, and we would do well to heed them. When Christ appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos, He directed him to send messages to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor. As He reviews each church's character and performance, Jesus commends their  successes and exposes their faults.
   The congregations are reproved for their apathy and self-conceit, but really it's the leadership Jesus takes to task. Christ judges them, not just for what they do pro-actively, but also for what they allow to go on!
To wit:
"But I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam..."
"So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate..."
"Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants..."
   He speaks of the deeds of the Nicolaitans (Re 2:6) the doctrine of Balaam, and the prophesy of Jezebel. I see three hotzones in the church which pastors and elders must watch over. The deeds, or what people are actually doing, physically. Doctrine is what is being taught, whether officially or casually: what the church believes or thinks. Prophesy refers to the spirituality of the church; not necessarily someone standing up & declaring, "Thus saith the Lord", but the spirit by which anyone ministering in the church speaks, or sings, or prays. That is, pastors, what are your people doing in their bodies, understanding in their minds, and following in their hearts?
   Note that Jesus even threatens to remove leaders who allow ungodliness to continue! What bothers this blogger is that church leaders fall all over themselves, bending over backwards to make the changes the world calls us to make, yet treat Jesus like a pesky little check engine light! When have you ever heard denominational leaders standing up & declaring a new policy forbidding the deeds of the Nicolaitans, the doctrine of Balaam, or the seduction of Jezebel? I wish!!!!!
   Paul warned the leaders of the church of Ephesus, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers..." (Acts 20:28) John the Baptist prophesied, "And  now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire..."  (Matthew 3:10)
   Pastors & elders can't control everything that people do, but they need to set the standards in the church and hold them up, correcting those who drift outside the lines. If you won't, and instead allow the world to shape your church, you will be removed!  Hebrews 13:17 tells us church leaders must give an account for what goes on in their churches. Remember, it's not just what you do, but what you allow.

Fight the good fight. God save the faithful.

 

Sunday, January 4, 2015

What's Next?

   Once upon a time, someone decided this would be a good time to begin the new year (I don't really think so): so here we are! 2015 Anno Domini. What do I expect in the new year? Lies, lies, and more lies. I don't claim to be a prophet folks, just one who keeps his eyes on trends, and looks out to where they're heading.
   Who lies to us? The goverment? The press? The education system? The Church? The internet? The Devil? A true Prophet, Jeremiah, wrote, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" That's right, friends: we deceive ourselves. People believe what they wanna believe! Facts and stats have nothing to do with it; even what is written in the Scriptures is set at naught when it conflicts with what we want to believe.
   I hear skeptics say, "There's not a shred of evidence" when there's a whole mountain of it right in front of them! The credulous believe rumors, "documentaries", myths, folklore, anecdotes,  and outright hoaxes with no evidence at all. How do we determine what is true, what is false?  I tell you, it is easier to get someone to believe a lie than it is to get them to believe the truth! Pretty much all you have to do is state it as if you yourself believe it, and your apparent conviction will be enough to sway some people's opinions.
   What have we got to work with? "Facts"? Who determines what is fact? The majority? The authorities? The "experts"? Statistics? Who collected them, and how reliable are their techniques? Who is reporting them, and are thet leaving some things out? Studies? Who funded them? How about Reason & Logic? They're pretty useful.....as long as you begin with a correct premise! We all know the guilty have been acquitted, and the innocent convicted through logical & legal manipulations. Gut feeling? Intuition? Good luck wit dat!
   We are told in Scripture, "... be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (1 Peter 3:15) I heard a preacher on TV state, "I know it in my knower". That was his testimnony! I kid you not!  Guys & gals, we need something better than that!
   There are talkers out there known as "Truthers". But what if they're telling us just enough truth to earn our trust, only to turn around and tell us an even bigger lie? HOW DO YA KNOW? The Bible tells us "Prove all things." Don't jump on every bandwagon, folks. People are saying alot of goofy stuff, and the more it gets repeated, the more it gets believed----but it's still just as goofy! There was a story going around the web that NASA scientists predicted the sun would go dark for three days in December 2014. Duh!
   I think some people put stupid stuff out there just to see who'll bite it. If I could tell you one thing for 2015, friends, it's
DON"T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU SEE & HEAR! 
   My Dad used to say there are three sides to every story: my side, your side, and the truth's side. Be careful who  you listen to. Peace.