Monthly Archives: January 2021

January 31, 2021 · 10:00

Get Ready!

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. (John 15:18)

Get ready! The days of easy Christianity are gone. The Demonrats have taken the reins of power in the government and they intend to punish those who supported President Trump. These include registered Republicans, Conservatives, and Christians. A group calling themselves the Secular Democrats of America sent a letter[1] to Joe Biden demanding a clamp-down of conservative Christians, removing them from public office, and “re-educating” Trump voters. They insist that the “Biden administration must ‘educate the American public,’ particularly those identified as the ‘religious right,’ on the need to keep their “religious dogma” to themselves. The document calls for a purge of social conservatives from all levels of government, labeling them as ‘white nationalist’ and ‘conspiracy theorists.’”

How that will affect Christians[2] remains to be seen, however, the sentiment is there, and it is strong. I do not believe I am hyperbolic when I say the Democrat Party is satanically motivated. It is also not fair to paint all Democrats with the same broad brush. Surely, a small handful exist that do not lean hard left, but the majority do. Hence, the moniker I have given them, “Demonrats.”

It will not be long before the persecution of Christians begins in America. In some ways it already has. The question is how will “pudgy” American Christians stand up to persecution? Our Christian brothers and sisters all over the world suffer persecution now. What makes us think we are exempt?

I believe Christians will escape the coming seven-year Tribulation. However, we cannot know when Jesus will come to Rapture His Bride, His Church, out of this world. We will not suffer the full horrors of the Tribulation, but we may need to endure some persecution before that time comes.

Get ready! Arm yourself with the Word of God. “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11) The first piece of armor is the support belt of truth. The belt supports your abdomen and back to help you stand straight. It is composed of “truth” that comes from the Word of God, who is Christ (John 14:6). Next comes the breastplate, i.e., body armor, meant to protect your heart. That piece is made up of righteousness, i.e., “right living,” a “right attitude,” a “right outlook.” That too comes from the consumption of the Word of God. After that, you need sturdy footwear to help you stand when the terrain gets rough. That comes from “the Gospel of Peace.” You will have to carry the shield of faith to deflect the incoming missiles the devil will send your way. You need to protect your head, your mind. For that, you need the helmet of salvation. That comes from having the assurance that you are saved and that your Captain has your back. All of these are defensive “weapons” that you need to keep in good working order. Finally, you need to take up your only offensive weapon, he “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). Jesus encouraged us not to worry about what to answer when questioned. “But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you” (Matthew 10:19-20, emphasis mine). If you were paying attention you would have noticed that all the pieces of armor are anchored in one way or another to the Word of God. If you are not daily in the Word, you will run out of ammo very quickly. Get ready!

This weekend I listened to Jan Markell’s interview with Pastors Tom Hughes and Mark Henry. They have a timely message to prepare us for what is coming. I hope you will take the time to listen to it all the way through. Get ready!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZg_cRa3AYc

Notes:

[1] https://drrichswier.com/2020/12/16/democrat-document-surfaces-demanding-biden-clamp-down-on-conservative-christians-remove-them-from-public-office-and-re-educate-trump-voters/

[2]  When I say “Christians” I am referring to true, Bible-believing, born-again believers and not necessarily those affiliated with mainline. liberal Protestant denominations.

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January 24, 2021 · 10:00

Romans 13

Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. (Romans 13:1)

January 20, 2021 saw the first successful coup d’état to unseat a legitimate sitting President of the United States in history, and replace him with an illegitimate puppet of the left. I realize that is a strong statement and many may disagree, but, for the time being, the First Amendment to the Constitution still grants me the right to say it.

I heard from a friend earlier this week who was upset with his pastor for condemning the President Trump supporters that showed up in Washington DC on January 6 as unlawful rioters. Trump supporters showed up by the thousands to “encourage” lawmakers to only count “legal” votes. They met on the Mall about a mile away from the Capitol and listened to speeches and raised their voices loudly hoping that “their representatives” in Congress would hear their voices. Their protests were vocal but peaceful. President Trump also spoke to the masses. He encouraged them to “fight” but the context, which the media overlooked, did not imply physical violence, but rather to struggle (“fight”) for the right through the means made available by our Constitution. President Trump did not incite the riot for which he has been accused.

Meanwhile, while President Trump was still speaking, a mile away from the Capitol Building, ANTIFA thugs dressed as Trump supporters surrounded the Capitol and began their assault on the Police guarding the Capitol. Later, many of the Trump supporters made their way to the Capitol to continue their peaceful protest. Several of them unwittingly got swept up with the ANTIFA thugs and ended up going into the Capitol Building with the real rioters. Because a small number of Trump supporters were implicated with the ANTIFA rioters, the media found an easy scapegoat to blame for the riot and assault on the nation’s Capitol. The Trump supporters got the blame and ANTIFA went unmentioned.

So, Pastor Bob (not his real name), my friend’s pastor, ignorantly hopped on the media bandwagon and condemned the Trump supporters for rioting and behaving unlawfully. Biblically, I believe that is called “bearing false witness” against your brother – brother because I am sure that many of the Trump supporters are Christians. From there, Pastor Bob launched into a sermon on Romans 13 that deals with a Christian’s responsibility to submit to the governing authorities.

I have wrestled with this passage for many years, probably since President Obama first took office. On its face, the passage could not be clearer. The “higher powers” are ordained by God and resisting them is resisting God.[1] God placed these rulers in place for our benefit.[2]

At the time Paul wrote this letter to the Romans, the Roman Empire ruled the western world. Nero was Emperor at the time, and he was no friend of Jews or Christians. All prior empires were ruled by a single monarch possessing absolute authority. Some early civilizations had codified laws, but they were laws made by the monarch. Subsequent to the Roman Empire, nations continued to be ruled by one kind of monarch or another. Romans 13 makes sense in all of these instances. The subjects of these kingdoms had no choice in who ruled over them. They had to submit or forfeit their lives, so the best advice was to submit.

The United States does not fit that pattern, although, arguably, there are those now working to change that. The United States is unique among all the nations of the world throughout world history. We do not have a ruler. We have a Constitution, a national code of laws, the “Law of the Land.” The preamble to the Constitution opens with the words “We the People.” Our form of governance comes from the people by way of representatives that legislate, supposedly, according to the dictates of the people. The Constitution makes clear that, while there are three equal branches of government that keep each other in check, the only rule comes with the consent of the people. We have no monarch ruling over us. The law of the land, the Constitution, ensures, supposedly, that those that govern and those that are governed are subject to the law.

So, how do we apply Romans 13 to our unique form of government? All citizens of the United States are subject to the Constitution, not to legislators, presidents, or judges. When our elected officials make laws that violate the Constitution, we, as Christians and citizens, are not bound to submit to laws that violate the supreme law of the land. We, as well as our leaders, are subject to the law. If our leaders fail to uphold their oath to the Constitution, then we the people are obligated to remove those leaders from office. We should not submit to unlawful legislation.

This new administration, empowered by a Demonrat Congress and Senate, a feckless Supreme Court, and promoted by left-wing media, will destroy the Constitution, and soon, the United States of America will become a nation like all the ones that have gone before. When that happens, Christians will have to take Romans 13 as Paul originally intended, but while the Constitution remains, Romans 13 implies that we are to defend it and submit to it. However, it could be that our time to do that has expired. If that is the case, Christians need to prepare for persecution as we wait for our Lord’s return. We need to pray as Jesus did in the Garden, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Notes:

[1]  Romans 13:2

[2]  Romans 13:4

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January 17, 2021 · 10:00

A Reprobate Mind

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; (Romans 1:28)

Romans 1 beginning with verse 18 delineates the progressive decline of mankind’s spiritual condition into total depravity. I know, the Calvinists will point out that we are all born in total depravity, and I get that. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). However, I am speaking from a human perspective in this case. Humans gauge good and evil very differently than God does. For example, humans view theft in degrees. Lifting a pack of Live Savers ™ and slipping them into your pocket or purse when the cashier is not looking, is not as bad as armed robbery of the same convenience store. Holding up a convenience store because you want to feed a starving baby, is not the same as robbing that store because you need to feed your drug habit. However, to God, it’s all theft. He does not view sin in degrees.

So, back to the decline of man: Romans 1:18-32 outlines the progressive decline into a condition of irreversible depravity. It begins with the failure to recognize God, the Creator, in the first place. One does not need the Bible to inform oneself about God. The very creation testifies to His existence. The vastness, enormity, and complexity of creation, from the unfathomable reaches of the universe beyond our solar system to the invisibleness of the subatomic world, scream that all of this is no accident. It is all too well-balanced. It is too precise. Everything in the Creation works together and is interrelated. None of this could possibly come into existence from a freak explosion of an indefinable particle of mass somewhere in the emptiness of nothing. The thought of such a thing is absurd! Yet, the majority of humankind, if they give it any thought at all, prefers the absurd instead of acknowledging the Creator.

Therefore, “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-20, emphasis mine). God gives no excuse for denying the Creator.

From there the downward spiral begins. Since they deny God, they need to replace Him with something out of their own imagination: a Big Bang, evolution from a primordial soup, seeding and evolving of the human race guided by the aid of “Ancient Aliens” from other worlds. Close examination of such far-fetched ideas leads to a never-ending list of more unanswerable questions with just as many unsatisfactory answers. The real answer to all of these questions is GOD, but that answer is just too simple for God deniers. So, they continue in their fruitless pursuits, and they “[become] vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart [is] darkened” (Romans 1:21). The dark obscures clear vision. “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:22). God calls them “fools.”[1]

After that, humanity falls into idolatry. Idolatry is not necessarily the worship of grotesque figures of strange demonic entities. Idolatry is more than that; it is the act of giving anything priority over God. That can be as innocuous as the forms of entertainment that occupy our time to involvement in such grandiose ideas as the activist groups who want to save the planet, combat climate change, save the dogs, engage in politics, etc. Anything that takes one’s focus away from God is idolatry. The passage explains the decline like this: “[They] changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans 1:23). America pulled up anchor from the Solid Rock of God more than five decades ago and has drifted into idolatry, as a nation, ever since. As a result, “God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves” (Romans 1:24). We see this too in the rise of pornography, homosexuality and all forms of sodomy, pedophilia, and more.

This gives evidence that we are in the place of God’s judgment on our nation. “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet” (Romans 1:26-27, emphasis mine). Unless you have been living in seclusion, or worse, you are caught up in the idolatry of this world, it should be obvious that our nation has fully sunk into the morass of all kinds of human depravity.

Except for the voices of maligned Christians, our nation as a whole gives no thought to God. “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient” (Romans 1:28, emphasis mine). The Greek word translated “reprobate” is adokimos means “not standing the test, or not approved.” It is used in reference to metals or coins that do not meet accepted standards. They are unfit, unproved, or spurious. The English definition gives the meaning of “depraved, unprincipled, or wicked.” A “reprobate mind,” therefore, is one that is incapable of proper reasoning.

This explains much of the unrest in our country. ANTIFA claim that they are anti-fascist, but they practice fascistic behavior. The BLM movement claims they support black lives, but their actions end up being detrimental to black lives. Many politicians of both parties wrap themselves in the Constitution, yet they oppose the duly elected President of the United States and refuse to investigate the illegal voting in five states that robbed President Donald Trump of a second term. And now that the other candidate appears to have the office in hand, they turn in irrational spite, hatred, and vindictiveness against the sitting President who has only a matter of days to serve in an attempt to impeach him. It makes no sense, and no amount of logic or reason will deter them from such a stupid act. This is a clear example of a reprobate mind!

Sadly, it appears that come January 20, 2021, the party of the reprobate mind will rule our nation unless we have a miraculous intervention of God. Let us pray that happens.

Notes:

[1]  Psalm 14:1; 53:1

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January 11, 2021 · 11:22

Loosening Grip? « Terry James Prophecy Line

Source: Loosening Grip? « Terry James Prophecy Line

 

I am so ready for this! How about you?

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January 3, 2021 · 10:00

Happy New Year?

Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: (Isaiah 46:9-10)

I really do not feel like writing. I am feeling rather sad, but I try to post something every week, so here goes.

The year 2020 has been the worst year of my 70 ½ years on this earth. I am certain that many of my readers share the same feelings. Now we are looking ahead to a new year. In the past, the New Year offered hope for improvement, but this year, the outlook, at least from my perspective, looks dismal.

Last year started out looking promising, but then COVID-19 hit and threw the entire world into a panic. Without recounting all the details, our nation suffered a great loss economically, socially, and religiously. Our shadow government, the unelected bureaucrats that seem to be the de facto legislators, instituted irrational mandates about wearing masks, social distancing, prohibitions on public gathering – all unconstitutional, by the way – and the public just fell in line like lemmings. What makes me really sad is how our pastors have willingly gone along with these (yes, I will say it) stupid regulations and closed their churches or instituted ridiculous rules on how we do gather – reduce attendance, wear masks, social distance, no “fellowshipping” inside the church, come in, wait to be seated, leave only when your row is dismissed, etc. Seriously, I have lost my desire to attend a “live” service. I know, Hebrews 10:25 tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, but one would think our pastors would look a little harder at that verse and consider also the one that says we should obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).

I get it. COVID-19 is highly contagious and can be deadly, but so can the flu. As 2020 came to a close, the death rate from all causes in the United States did not increase even with COVID-19 (the CCP Virus). In fact, the complicit media suppress the statistics published by the CDC that those that contract the disease have a better than 99% expectation of surviving it. The relatively small numbers that do die of the disease have other underlying complications that contribute to the death. And yet, the general public is paralyzed with fear of contracting the disease. I have to laugh (although it is actually not funny) when I see people driving in their cars or walking outdoors in the fresh air wearing masks. It’s funny, but it’s sad.

The ones making the rules (I will call them “the Swamp” because they are indeed swamp creatures) do not care about the welfare of the public, although they would have you think that they do. (By the way, have you noticed that none of them have missed a single paycheck while the rest of the proletariat are losing their jobs and their businesses?) Their interest and intent is complete control of the populous so that we will fall in line according to their dictates. The first step was to incite fear of an invisible enemy, the CCP Virus, and make everyone shelter in place, wear masks in public, and social distance. That worked. The next thing will be to force everyone to take a vaccine for a disease that has a 99% survivability rate. You might object, “The government isn’t making anyone take the vaccine.” You would be right about that – now – but it may happen in the near future. Consider that airlines are already talking about requiring proof of vaccination before they will allow passengers to board their airplanes. Many “Big Box” stores, like Amazon who does not even have “stores,” are saying they will require proof of vaccination before they will sell to you or allow you into their stores. It sounds a lot like the “Mark of the Beast” (Revelation 13:18). It is NOT the Mark of the Beast, but it certainly paves the way for it.

On top of that, 2020 was an election year that gave us what is arguably the worst case of voter fraud in history. The abundant evidence of fraud in a variety of forms clearly shows that President Trump handily won, but the Swamp persists in robbing him of a second term. Even many of those who claim to be on his side, starting with the Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell, encourage the President to concede the election, claiming that it would be in the best interest of the nation. Inhabitants of the Swamp include many RINOs.

Three days from the posting of this blog article, a joint session of Congress will meet to count the electoral votes. There are two Constitutional ways that President Trump can secure a second term. According to Article II, Section 1, and the Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution, the President of the Senate, VP Mike Pence, is responsible for counting the votes. If he determines that elections for certain states were improperly and unconstitutionally conducted, he can choose not to count the electoral votes from that state. We have at least five or maybe six states that conducted fraudulent and unconstitutional elections, and if VP Pence rejects those votes, it is quite possible that neither candidate will have a majority. In that case, the vote goes to the House where each state is allowed one vote for President. Since the majority of the states represented are Republican majorities, President Trump will get the majority of votes, and he will win a second term.

The second option is for a member of the House of Representatives to challenge the legitimacy of the votes from those states in question. That would certainly be a Republican Congressman. This would require a second to the motion by a member of the Senate. The two houses would then divide for debate, and if the challenge stands, again, the vote would go to the House of Representatives where each state would get just one vote, and again, the majority of states being Republican, President Trump will win a second term – if everything is on the up-and-up.

I have said this before; neither option for President will improve our nation’s situation. If Biden wins (God forbid!) our nation will rapidly sink into Socialism and submit to a One-World government. If President Trump wins, the Swamp will rise up like nothing we have seen to date.

The year 2020 was not a good year. The New Year, 2021 does not promise to be better. In fact, it will probably be worse. Can we have hope? YES! Signs around the world and our nation portend the soon return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For those who have placed their trust in Him, He will soon take us out of this world before the Seven-Year Tribulation devastates the planet. After the Seven-Year Tribulation, He will return with His saints to rule and reign on Earth. Then, and only then, we will have true world peace. Joy to the World! But for those who have not placed their trust in Christ, this year will be nothing compared with what is to come. If you do not know the Savior, read my page on “Securing Eternal Life.”

Happy New Year?

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