Against Principalities and Powers

As noted poet/philosopher Bob Dylan once observed, "The Times They Are A'Changing."  And I'm not talking about the news. I had an uncomfortable ride home from the food bank today with a 350 pound person of unidentifiable gender. I almost asked him/her/they/hir/your highness/o' "arbiter of all that's woke" what the person's pronouns were. The person of massive girth and unidentifiable gender was quick to let me know the person who did not share that person's pronouns with me lived with "my" partner.

I had to rush getting my food because the line of cars at the food bank line was so long today and my driver was early and impatient to get home. It gets crowded at the food bank right after prices at Walmart get bumped up. And I'm pretty sure they did this week, since I had to run by Walgreen's on the way over to get some laundry detergent and saw very quickly that the other Wal store's prices had taken a bit of a jump themselves with a 12 pack of sodas up in the teens now.

I made the mistake of saying something about inflation and this driver person quickly let me know it wasn't the Democrats fault and that inflation was mostly in my imagination. I said, "Well my grocery bill has doubled since 2020 and I don't have enough imaginary money to keep up with that level of spending. I'm not the US government after all, hence the food bank. Anyway," I added, "that was going to happen when the minimum wage for entry level jobs jumped to $15 to $20 an hour." 

I thought this gender unaffiliated person was about to have an attack of the vapors.

That had nothing to do with it according to my driver and the driver person quickly let me know he would never agree with me about that anyway. "Besides," he sneered. "I make $15 an hour and without me you wouldn't have a ride home." I wanted to get home so I didn't point out that without me, he'd be able to get behind the wheel of the van more easily. I also didn't bother telling him that's what drivers were making before the minimum went to $15 here. Experienced drivers didn't get a raise after minimum was bumped up because they were already making minimum. All that happened to my driver was he quite suddenly was reduced to a minimum wage worker with the stroke of our very blue governor's pen. Entry level staff were all of a sudden making more than they are worth and everybody's grocery bill doubled. Of course, my person of unisex attire again insisted it was all in my imagination. Silly me!

Having worked more than 4 decades setting up nonprofit organizations to address problems the central planners in Washington overlooked when designing their programs for the proletariat in my neck of the woods, I had a good deal to say about transportation and the massive embezzlement of taxpayer funds that goes into the pockets of bureaucrats in the business of government funded transit. I saw it first hand. I helped triple the budget of our regional rural transit provider due to the unfair distribution of funds in Texas for rural transit. The Republicans had just taken over the state legislature and I helped the Democrats working with us on our rural transit initiative learn how to speak Republican. We were about the only such initiative to get what we asked for that year to the benefit of our region. East Texas is the most densely area populated with seniors and disabled folk in Texas. One in five East Texans were driving challenged or didn't own cars at all at the time. That was 20 years ago. By now it's probably much worse.

East Texas is sort of the Old Texan's graveyard. In our senior years we Texans move there to fish and subsequently die. Lots of lakes and medical facilities in East Texas. All we lacked was transportation for folk living in the country around the lakes. We were the second largest rural transit district and were getting the smallest appropriation. The largest appropriations by 4 to 10 times were the areas around Houston and Austin. It's where we keep our Democrats and their lobbyists so we can keep an eye on them. 

When I helped get the East Texas Council of Government's rural transit budget tripled, I got a nasty letter from the president of the COG and he actively worked to get me off the Public Transportation Advisory Committee for the state of Texas. I was warned by a lawyer friend to check under my truck before I started up in the morning to look for any funny wires or boxes. The thing was that when the budget tripled, it triggered an audit and apparently someone at the COG didn't want to do THAT paperwork on the transportation program. 

At any rate, my driver, of course, was secure in his knowledge that the Democrats and particularly their genius leaders like Kamala and Tim would take good care of him. He/she/it or whatever pronouns the driver is going by, conveniently keeps his brain oblivious to the blatantly obvious Marxist themes the Harris campaign is embracing, and echoing the same themes in speeches and banners and such by the US Communist party. 

Already the Democrat party's socialism lite has attracted wealthy elites drawn to the leftward political movement by the kind of power socialism always puts in the hands of a few powerful people. And who better to rule than powerful rich folks, corporate barons, and power brokers is the thinking. After all, like me and my driver, the masses can't be trusted to think correct thoughts nor take care of themselves. And my friendly neighborhood driver/person of indeterminate sex defends the future enslavement of the proletariat with eyes tight shut. "You're not going to convince me otherwise!" the young person of indeterminate gender assures me.

You'd think all this, the solidly leftist news spewing from the big media companies, the corporate/government collusion, not to mention our leader's taking bribes and colluding with China, Russia, Ukraine and whoever else will slip a few million bucks under the table would discourage me. It doesn't. The more it looks like the seriously evil left appears to be about to seize power totally, the more certain I am that Christ's return is imminent and we'll be going home soon. The devil's been getting panicky and he's become a lot less subtle these days. He's in a lot more hurry to secure his position as Prince of this world because he knows his time is short. Besides being left behind isn't going to be fun for anyone even if they get a seat on the politburo. They don't make asbestos long john's anymore, so I'd rather not be in their bootsies or around after the good guys have gone off to heaven with Jesus. Nukes tend to warm things up pretty good.and now that we humans have the means to annihilate ourselves, I suspect we're gonna finally collect the wages of sin much of mankind has been earning over all these millennia.

 © 2024 by Tom King

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is God a Torturer?

You would think that the son of God would
have his Father's temper, but........not so much.

Do atheists realize the fact that we Christians will go to heaven while non-Christians and atheists will going to hell where God will torture you for eternity and we will mock you all day long?

This bait question was recently posted on Quora. It was posted I suspect in order to generate a debate between atheists and Christians, in part to reveal Christian hypocrisy. I don't think the doofus who posted it is, in fact, a Christian or has ever met Christ in his spiritual life. The premise behind the question is a false premise - an argument based on a fallacy. The false premise here is that the human soul is and always will be immortal without any interference from God to keep our souls going.

Ecclesiastes 9:5 says, "The living know that they shall die but the dead know nothing neither have they a part in anything done under the sun." The righteous dead, we are told in Scripture, will be raised from sleep at the second coming. Jesus describes death as sleep. He says (Matthew 10:28) "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Apparently the soul does not survive hell according to Jesus.

The wicked dead, on the other hand, will be raised at the second resurrection to face judgment and will then die again one last time. There is no eternal ever-burning hell. It isn't in Scripture. It’s a doctrine borrowed by the Roman church from Greek and Roman mythology to frighten people into obedience. 

God is love and merciful. The idea that He, who died a horrific death that all of us who believe in Him might not perish but have eternal life, will “torture and mock” people for eternity is a damnable though quite effective lie designed by Satan and borrowed from paganism by the Roman church that actually drives people away from God by making Him look more evil than Hitler. 

Man’s soul is not immortal. Only God grants eternal life (see John 3:16). Nowhere does the Bible say God grants eternal life to the lost. The only place where anyone says “Thou shalt not surely die” is in the Garden of Eden and it’s the first lie told to Eve by a snake. 

Sadly, the “You’ll be tormented in hell” malarkey is just too good a story that pastors cling to in order to scare people into the pews and loosen their purse strings. Turns out that idea keeps more people out of the church than it keeps in. It’s a lie about God’s character and a violation of the 3rd commandment, even more so than using swear words like GD. It’s claiming to speak for and about God without his direction. It defames God’s character and THAT is the bit God won’t hold you blameless for as it drives away people from Him. 

Every time God gets mad at an individual or a group, it’s because they are harming the innocent. He got mad at Israel because they were sacrificing 26,000 babies a year to the god Moloch. If I were God, I’d get mad at that too, but even I wouldn’t chicken fry someone forever and not allow him to die.  And I certainly wouldn't mock him. That’s just horrible and nothing like the God of love and mercy that I know.

Jonathan Edwards lied, whether he believed what he was saying or not. The not-so-Reverend Edwards upset a lot of good Christian people with his horrific sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." It upset me centuries later when I had to read that monstrous thing for literature class in high school. Edwards took massive liberties with the Scripture in that sermon. It drove thousands of the timid into the pews and loosened their purse strings as it was intended to do. You have to wonder how many good-hearted people fled westward, appalled that New England's god was a monster.

Here is the absolutely terrifying picture of God that Edwards paints. 

"The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment"

 No!

• 1 John 1:5 - This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
• 2 Peter 3:9 - The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
• John 17:3 - “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
• Romans 5:8 - But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God doesn't give Himself a pass on the eternal hatred and vengeance option. How can we say God is good all the time, and tell people he sets fire to immortal people and enjoys the ensuing fiery sports - people flopping around and screaming.

I don't think so!

© 2023 by Tom King

The Aims of the Great Reset Seem Familiar

21st century Progressives attempt to distance
themselves from Nazism's brand of socialism
with a different sort of self-loathing racism.

The left doesn't like to talk so much publicly about the "Great Reset" these days. Too many conservative journalists and pundits have cast the idea in sinister terms. In a recent issue of Hillsdale College’s Imprimis, Michael Rectenwald described the economic goal of the Great Reset as “‘capitalism with Chinese characteristics’—a two-tiered economy, with profitable monopolies and the state on top and socialism for the majority below.”

Klaus Schwab - proponent of rule by elites.

So why does this better form of socialism sound awfully familiar and vaguely unsettling. Think about the "progressive" obsession with race, particularly with the narrative that one particular race is evil and responsible for all the misery the world is going through. The dominant narrative obscures the fact that most of the so-called misery is being heavily promoted by a would-be single powerful party and, in fact, is being created by that party itself through massive overspending, manipulation of elections, generation of a steady stream of what can only be described as propaganda, and the crippling of free speech and a free press, and the attempted suppression of a particular religion in order to secure the dominance of a political sort of religion. 

So far, the movement toward the Great Reset is crippled by an ineffectual senile leader in the U.S.. Apparently puppet dear leaders aren't enough to fully trigger the tipping point that the left firmly believes will be the Great Reset. It's interesting how much the idea of the Great Reset mirrors the Anschluss of 1938. The same thing that happened to the Hitler's Brownshirts when they became troublesome, I'm pretty sure will happen to Antifa's foot soldiers once the goals of the movement are achieved and the authority of the leader class firmly established. The similarities between the two groups are surprisingly similar. 

George Soros - funder of BLM, Antifa
and the Democrat party.

For instance, the foot soldiers of this Great Reset at the ground level are anti-Israel. Sure they pretend it's not about hating the Jews at all, just hating the idea that they have a whole country of their own that is successful and peaceful among the chaos and terrorism that infests their neighbors. They find the Christian religion in particular to be in the way and anti-revolutionary. Sexual pervision pervades the Antifa foot soldiers, especially among the LGBTQ et al drivers. Racism is solidly ensconced in the protest groups (BLM) which claims to be anti-racism, but is anti-white in its rhetoric. Intimidation, wrecking and looting shops (see Krystalnacht), burning cities, and occupying places where there are people they don't like (or stores they do like).  Sound eerily familiar?

Progressivism does not concern itself with protecting the peace, but with appeasing the world's aggressors, expecting that when everything collapses (the Cloward Piven Strategy) we'll all be forced to accept the new two-tiered socialism as a matter of survival. Hey, whatever works is fine if you're a true believer in socialism. Lying is okay if it's for a good cause. Keeping key information from the masses is fine if it helps bring them into submission to the collective. Full of fine slogans and lofty ideals, the foot soldiers of this new revolution are under the impression that they will be rewarded by being elevated to positions among the elite leader class. It never seems to occur to them that the elite leader class plans for them to quietly join the proletariat and subject themselves to the whims of their betters. No dachas in the country for you my progressive friends.

If you haven't figured out yet who the progressive movement is similar to, think about who Marxism and its offspring socialist infatuations convinced hundred of millions of envious poverty-stricken people to accept. The most notorious of these repeated attempts at "a better kind of Marxism" (Hitler's description of Nazism) was the bloody Fascist experiment of the 30s and 40s, on the heels of which we got the expansion of Stalinism and Maoism, and dozens of other just as blood-thirsty versions of  communism around the world, resulting in close to a half billion death toll of the 20th century at the hands of that pernicious evil.

The Great Reset has been tried before. From the Roman conquests where the emperors decided everyone needed to have Rome to tell them what to do, to the brutal Lords of the Dark Ages, to the Medieval monarchs, to the colonial powers of the 1700s and 1800s, to the socialist tyrants of the 20th century, it's all been based on the idea that an elite privileged ruler class is needed to control the lives of ordinary working people. 

It's the system the devil argued for, then sparked a war over in Heaven itself. Through the ages, Satan has kept telling the same old lie to the gullible oppressed peoples of the world.  "You shall be like gods! The ends justify the means. You are better than the masses. You deserve special protected privileges. The proletariat needs to submit to the collective as governed and organized by you, the genetically superior class.  Thanks for that, Darwin, by the way. Trouble is not everyone gets to be the protected elite class. The drivers require mules. So most of us will be hitched to the wagon while the drivers get to crack the whips.

Jesus said the truth will make you free. Others have had the remarkable wisdom and courage to stand up to those self-proclaimed betters and say, "Give me liberty  or give me death!" Christianity has infected the culture of the world with the idea that no man or woman is by right of conquest or birth, a god-king or emperor, Great Mogul, Caesar or Caliph, Mikado, Pharaoh, Tsar or Pope for that matter. Christ even inspired Protestants to reject any god but Jehovah. It was inevitable once people were allowed to read scripture for themselves that they would reject Earthly gods.

As I often say, when faced with the inevitability of humanity destroying itself, "Christ's Second Coming is not an occupation." It's a rescue mission and the Marxists aren't going to be happy when they see the proletariat being taken from among them. And it's interesting that the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation pointed forward to a time in which, for the first time in history humanity has created for itself, the means to literally destroy itself in a lake of nuclear fire. 

The Chinese have a curse that goes, "May you live in interesting times." Well, boy howdy is it getting interesting? The world is dividing into two camps. Jesus described it as "the sheep and the goats."  And from my decades-long experience working among both the high and lowly of our culture, I have seen the sheep get gentler and the goats get, well goatier. Something's about to happen.

© 2023 by Tom King

Rome Aids Washington Border Policy

Roman Catholic charities and organizations are supporting the Democrat left's border policy despite the church's opposition to the left's abortion policy. Scripture says the whole world will "wonder after the Beast." Seems like the Beast is wondering after the Image to the Beast despite their political differences. 

The last two popes have come out openly in favor of a global (i.e. socialist) government with teeth (Pope Benedict's words). The teeth would be to keep troublesome nations like the US in line. Despite its firm stand on abortion, the Vatican is far more supportive of global socialism these days than they are of liberty. The Holy See prefers social "justice" to freedom it seems. So, in fact, do many progressive Protestant churches. There is even a movement to reunite Protestant churches to the so-called "mother church." Pope Frances has issued a video declaring an end to Martin Luther's little protest. The churches that seem most interested in reuniting with the "mother church" are those with political ties to progressivism. Here's what Frances had to say to a gathering of Protestant evangelicals of the charismatic strain.

As it turns out, socialism may be the glue that will cement the power of the 3 unclean spirits like frogs that come out of the mouth of the Dragon (pagan secular powers), the Beast (which received its power from pagan Rome, and the false prophet (who could that be)? What we do know is that these 3 powers will "perform signs and go out to all the kings of the earth, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty." Revelation 16:13. 

This is all one more sign of Christ's imminent coming. The forces of darkness are gathering. You cannot watch or read the news. You cannot avoid the pressure to surrender and join the dark side. Whether you do or not depends on your faith and trust in He who is coming soon.

Note: We are called by Christ to love and not hate, even our enemies. We are also called to be watchmen on the wall, wise as serpents and gentle as doves. We see in these things the signs of Christ's coming. It is a call to Christians everywhere. Let us watch and be ready for as the old hymn says, "He will come!"

© 2022 by Tom King

Taking Prophecy Seriously

 

Saw an article today warning Christians not to take Bible Prophecy too seriously lest we stop trying to fix the problems we have in this world. The writer worries we'll just all sit on our duffs and wait for Jesus to come and let the world go to hell in a handbasket.

I sharply disagree with the author on this one. While we're convinced the world IS going to hell in a handbasket and very soon, that only makes us work that much harder to do good in the world.

For instance, my own church, which includes the Second Coming in its very name, at the same time has the second largest parochial school system in the world, one of the largest mission programs of any church, and a first rate hospital system and medical university. We were the fastest growing denomination last year and are growing faster out in the third world than we are in the States. 

Seems to me that people who believe Jesus is coming are busily trying to make the world a better place AND they aren't just sitting around talking about how we should take rich people's money, give it to the government and hope they'll do a good job taking care of the poor (the never do).

Those who believe Jesus is coming soon are the very ones showing up at disasters, digging wells for third world villages, teaching nurses, doctors and teachers, feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, healing the sick, clothing the naked and lifting up the lost and downtrodden, and even more so as we see the end approaching.

So "NO!" Let's by all means take the Bible prophecy seriously. It means we only have a short time to save as many souls as we possibly can before He gets here and we personally do the work. The closer it gets, the harder we will work. That may not be how it's done in "higher" social churches or among progressive socialists, but it's how God's children do it.

by Tom King

The Republic is Falling. Babylon is next.

So I think I'll just sit back and watch Hillary and The Donald destroy each other. They've canceled another of my favorite TV shows in favor of ANOTHER "reality" gladiator show. It seems lately it's nothing but shows like Survivor, Naked and Afraid, American Idol, Big Brother and other shows that pit one against another and showcase the wickedness of man's heart. TV reminds me more and more of the Roman Coliseum.

Does any of this seem like history repeating itself to anyone else? The Old Republic is falling and Babylon/Rome is rising to take one more shot at uniting the world under the Dark Lord and his minions. We only have a choice between bad emperors and worse ones. We may stand on the wall and shout a warning. We may defend the breaches, but ultimately Babylon will fall again, tearing out its own throat and dying in a pool of its own blood. We won't need guns or swords or weapons of war. We'll be leaving shortly.

But remember, the Second Coming is a rescue mission not an occupation. When it's done, all that's left is ashes and molten slag for a thousand years. Without God there can be no utopia. Without us here, Earth cannot be rebuilt; life cannot resume for we are the gardeners of Earth. But we will come back. Jerusalem made new will descend and when it is all done and the final judgment settled, God's children will spill out of the 12 gates of the city to plant and build and grow and do mighty things in the Earth that we cannot even now imagine.

We certainly live in interesting times.

© 2016 by Tom King

Christians on the Mountaintop - Do We Bow Down?

Robert Jeffress endorses Trump

Whether you believe we are approaching the end of the world or not, things certainly are becoming interesting in a "striking parallels" sort of way. This past week, First Baptist Church of Dallas Pastor, Robert Jeffress, told his congregation that "Christians who do not vote for Donald Trump are fools." Jeffress has become a very loud proponent of Donald Trump as savior of the country of late and he doubled down on that in last week's sermon.

Let's skim right over Jesus's admonition that anyone who calls another person a "fool" will be in danger of "hell fire" (Matt. 5:22) and get right to it. Most Christians are familiar with the story in Matthew 4, ironically found just one chapter in front of the 'no calling people fools" admonition, is the story of the devil's temptation of Christ.

Remember there were three temptations. The first was the temptation for Christ to show off his power by turning stones to bread (remember he was hungry at the time). The second was the temptation to show off his power by engaging in risky behavior (throwing himself off the temple roof) and forcing the angels to catch him. The third was on the mountaintop where Satan offered to give Jesus the world and skip all the uncomfortable flogging and crucifixion business in exchange for him bowing down and acknowledging the prince of this world.

Jesus would have none of it. The takeaway from this story is that you don't give obeisance to the devil in exchange for a promise of power. You probably know where this is going. Donald Trump has made passing remarks about protecting and empowering Christianity, not that he, himself, needs any of the traditional benefits of Christianity like forgiveness of sin or guidance in how he should behave. He promises to make this a "Christian" nation again and to make America great. He promises to drive out the filthy Muslim hordes and give us free government healthcare, to make us rich and to make us powerful.  Sound familiar?

We, as Christians are standing with the devil on the mountaintop. The devil isn't wearing a red suit. He doesn't have a tail and horns and a pitchfork. He's wearing a $3000 suit and a bad red combover. Instead of a pitchfork, he has a fat bank account full of money that he's conned and swindled out of the very sorts of people who shout his name and who apparently will beat up anyone who dares to disagree with their lord and master. We were even treated last week to an eerie group pledge with right hands raised at a Trump rally. 

As Nancy Reagan would have put it, "Just say NO!"  The Donald is promising Christians power, glory and riches in exchange for worship. And he's getting the worship, make no mistake. Throughout history, the devil has used the same tactics over and over to win power for himself and his supporters. He starts with promises to fill their bellies, then to show off their power by doing dangerous things. Finally he asks them to bow down in exchange for all the wealth in the world.  It's always the same.

While Christ offers to change our hearts, Satan only offers to change our circumstances. Hitler did it in 1933. Stalin and Lenin did the same thing in 1917. Mao repeated the process in 1949. The Roman emperors took power by offering "bread and circuses", then the excitement of conquest, then power over the world. It's always the same playbook. Trump offers us "deals" that will make us wealthy and well-fed, a chance to show off our power over our enemies and only asks us to pledge our loyalty to him in exchange for the chance to share Trump's glory.

I find it stunning that Christians, who worry about the rise of the Beast at the end of time, so eagerly flock together to create an Image to the Beast in someone like Trump. Donald Trump may not be the actual anti-Christ any more than they feared Barak Obama was, but like Obama, I think the Donald is working for the anti-Christ. Even he may not know it yet, but the events that Donald Trump threatens to put into motion - war on the families of terrorists, a veritable "Trail of Tears" for Mexican illegals, and the further expansion of government to take care of our "needs" all serve the interest of the Beast or the anti-Christ or the devil or whoever is behind the actual conspiracy against humankind that is taking place right in front of our eyes.

And as the Jews in Jesus' day had the Sanhedrin pitching for Satan's team, we apparently have church leaders doing the same. Prominent clergy like Jeffress, Jerry Falwell Jr., Michael Murdoch, and black evangelical leader Mark Burns are pitching for Trump.  Even Evangelical TV host, Pat Robertson, says, "(Trump) inspires us all." 

Well, this is one Christian who is not "inspired" by Donald Trump. I'm horrified. God help us if we let this serial philanderer, adulterer, swindler, mob-connected racketeer, casino and strip club owner, serial bankruptcy artist and egomaniacal demagogue anywhere near the White House. Some simple trusting Christians like Trump because they say that because he is rich, he will not be corrupted by the corporate oligarchs who buy influence in Washington and secretly control everything in our country. "He doesn't need their money," is the reasoning.

I've got news for you people - Donald Trump IS the corporate oligarchy. He's been buying influence in Washington and everywhere else for his entire career. How do you think he got so rich in the first place?  He's not corruptible?  You could make that argument. Trump is corruption incarnate. He doesn't need God's forgiveness he says. Of course not. Why would a man who sees himself as the Messiah, need to ask God for forgiveness? Sending him to the White House only means he doesn't have to bribe politicians anymore. They have to bribe him!

The fact that Christian "leaders" are falling for this deception only proves to me that we are approaching the last days of Earth's history. They've said it couldn't happen before, but that hasn't stopped the devil from trying again and again and again; each time with more destructive results; each time with more death and destruction. And I believe he will keep at it until he brings the world down around him. Unfortunately, for the first time in history, mankind has the means with which to burn the surface of the planet to ashes. Isn't it interesting that Revelation describes a "lake of fire" being the final end of evil. Me, I'd like to avoid all that.

“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth:
and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.”
- Isaiah 65:17

Whether Trump wins or someone else does, things don't look good for our world. They always promise a utopia - a man-made heaven on Earth. There's no such thing and cannot be so long as men love power and worship themselves. If we do get a reprieve and someone decent does become the most powerful political figure in the world, we should get our affairs in order as soon as we can while there is still time. We should witness to the truth as loudly as possible and to all the Earth, because the end will surely come. Jesus' coming is not an invasion or a conquest. It is a rescue mission and at its conclusion the world will go up in flames and be cleansed that we may start over with a new Earth - pure, pristine and sinless.

The storm's coming. Get ready.

© 2016 by Tom King

I Will Never Die!

The most profound change in your life comes when you realize that when God says you have eternal life, He means it starts today. We are no longer subject to the kind of death that the human race fears so much. Eternity has already begun for us. If we cease to breathe for a time and sleep for a while then wake when Christ comes for us, then death isn't death at all, but what my grandpa called a "dirt nap".  And oh, the joy when we wake up in that incredible "great gettin' up morning". 

Teach that to your children. It changes everything for them, especially their relationship to the trials, tribulations and the troubles that present themselves when they are growing up. It brings the petty persecutions, the sadness and loneliness of being an adolescent more bearable.

I got a peek at that idea in my senior year at Valley Grande Academy. I made the 500 mile pilgrimage to Weslaco, Texas mostly because there was this girl...


She dumped me the first week for her old boyfriend. I locked myself in my dorm room for 3 days. Our campus pastor, Mike Hansen, dropped by my room to talk. I didn't want to talk. I wanted to be miserable, but I let him in.  He told me something that changed things for me.

He said, "Tom, God has a wonderful girl picked out for you already. This one just wasn't her. She's waiting for you up ahead. You just have to find her."  I got up off the bed, took a shower and went back to living my life. Six more girls dumped me before it finally occurred to me that God might want to be more involved in the selection process. So I got down on my knees and prayed very hard. I said, "God, you pick the next one. I'm done."  Two weeks later the love of my life invited me to sit with her on the bus to Bible camp so we could play guitar and sing. Shortly after that God smacked me up beside the head (literally, I think - there was a sudden shock and I saw stars). He told me as clearly as I've ever heard his voice that this girl was precious to Him and that I was to take care of her.

So I did. But what Pastor Hansen told me taught me something I've never forgot. We live on God's time. He has all the wonderful things we can imagine prepared for us. All we have to do is walk the path he lays out for us. He never promised us unending sunshine and rainbows in this life. What he promised us is that if we trust our hearts and our lives to him that in the end it would be well worth the wait. I'm grateful that God helped me wait to find the other half of me. Together we have begun an eternal life together. I am not afraid anymore like I was that day in my dorm room when I was entertaining notions that my life was doomed to be eternally miserable.

If you come upon a young person who is deeply troubled, sad and discouraged, remind him that eternal life has already begun if he or she will only allow God to give that to them. We may have to walk a rough and rocky road to get there, but the journey is so worth it. Along that road you will find love, you will see the faces of your children as they enter the world, you will see them grow, you will grow closer and closer to your beloved and to God and when it's done you will go home with Jesus - every day a new tomorrow filled with joy unimaginable and nothing the devil can do to you will take that away from you.

 - T. King © 2014

Can Anything Good Come Out of Nazareth

A friend whose opinion I normally respect did a serious riff on Glenn Beck's Theology the other day. He echoed the sentiments of others like Dr. Russell Moore and Jim Wallis who have characterized Beck as dangerous.  Reminds me of the reaction of the political/religious leaders of Jesus' time when John the Baptist and later, Jesus, showed up. They were suspicious of any charismatic leader who didn't report to and take orders from the Sanhedrin.  "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" they asked, then proceeded to plot against the popular young preachers.

At the end of time, scripture tells us that God will call us to "Come out of her My people." I, personally think that's happening right now.  So what if Glenn's a Mormon? Last week, I never heard anyone at the Restoring Honor Rally call anyone to come be a Mormon. Beck and his fellow speakers simply echoed the very call of Revelation to "come out of Babylon" and return to God.

Beck's critics are harshest in their criticism that Beck mingles religion and politics. That seems odd since Babylon as described in Scripture is a political as well as religious entity. You cannot separate the two functions of the entity John calls Babylon.

The religious leaders who are up in arms believe any revival should not only be led, but only spoken about by a purely religious leader-here, I imagine a guy in a Men's Wearhouse suit with that big plastic televangelist hair.  God seldom calls the same folks our politicians would choose if they could choose God's messengers for themselves.  Lets face it. They'd choose someone who would flatter them and acknowledge their power.  Certainly, Ahab would not have picked Elijah for the court prophet. Pharoah certainly wouldn't have picked Moses to represent the Jews.  God has always chosen his own messengers, taking little in the way of advice from the current crop of Scribes and Pharisees.

No, I suspect God will be quite able to sort out the sheep from the goats all by Himself. And who would I think I am to criticize God's choice of who is a sheep, much less what shepherds he sends out for the lost lambs? I believe that in the coming months we'll be surprised at who steps forward and begins to proclaim the same message of Restoration, faith, hope and charity that I heard last Saturday.

And it will be also, no surprise at all if the hounds of hell do not beset those messengers who call for a return to faith in God.

As to Beck's theology, I suspect a brief Q&A at the Pearly Gates will take care of any errors any of us might be laboring under and who's going to argue with God when he or she is standing on the Sea of Glass. A movement is beginning. It is without acknowledged leaders. Did you notice how quick the opposition came to assume Beck wanted to run for President?  Of course they did, because who among those who oppose his message would not jump at an opportunity to seize power if given such a springboard.  They cannot seem to understand that Beck isn't seeking power. He reminds me of that "voice crying in the wilderness". Beck constantly talks like a man who believes God must increase while I must decrease.  He knows that what he says will likely get him killed. He wore a bulletproof vest on stage because his wife asked him to, knowing he was only inviting a sniper's head shot.  Remember John the Baptist's messages were often political too.  Herod locked him up because John had the audacity to criticize the King. He executed John because his entourage (the bloggers of his day) demanded it.  The Sanhedrin convicted Jesus because he was drawing followers away from the "rightful" religio-political rulers of the day. Pontius Pilate executed him to satisfy the mob gathered at his gates.

I would echo Joshua's words today, "Choose you this day whom you will serve."  If it is any other than God, you're off the boat, even if that thing you serve is your church, a church leader or a political leader.  Anything between you and God is not from Him. That's precisely why church leaders are up in arms.  They see Beck as a threat, a sheep stealer. Like the Scribes and the Pharisees, they will seek any means to bring anyone down who does not acknowledge their power and authority. Who do you think those folks were working for?  Certainly not God.  Is it any wonder Jesus that the only name-calling he ever did was reserved for the nation's politicians and their business partners?


I choose to dedicate the next 40 days to prayer and meditation on what is happening, upon His soon coming and upon my relationship with God. It's a great idea. I'm glad Beck suggested it.  I see no harm in that.


Just one man's opinion....

Tom King