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July 21, 2020July 21, 2020

Communism in America – Honest Talk

Communism is an interesting topic that middle-aged people like me haven’t given much thought to since the era of the Cold War. Are you old enough to remember the days of students diving under their desks during safety drills? Evidently, we should have been paying a little more attention to Communism, because it never really went away. It’s here in the western hemisphere. Don’t believe me?

I came across an interesting document that first showed up in front of Congress back in the early 1960s. More specifically, on January 10, 1963, Congressman Albert S. Herlong Jr., of Florida, read the list of 45 Declared Goals for the Communist Takeover of America into the Congressional Record. The purpose was to give his colleagues, as well as the American population, some insight into Communism and their liberal elite ideas and strategies for America that sound ridiculously familiar. They’re happening right in front of our collective faces.

The list itself was first attributed to Cleon Skousen, a researcher who authored “The Naked Communist.” You really should be shocked at how these have played out in front of us. Some of those 45 steps to Communism have been outdated through the course of history. However, many of them are in play today.

Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not the items could be used for war. We already buy a lot of goods from communist China. There’s also a push from free markets and the European Union to further globalize buying and selling.
Here’s a good one; promote the United Nations as the only hope for mankind. If the charter is ever rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government, complete with its very own military (which it already has). Capture one or both political parties in the United States. They’ve infiltrated the Democratic Party, one that I used to be a member of. If you don’t agree that the Democrats have been taken over, you haven’t been paying attention. As the “Social Justice Warrior Democrats” are pushing for full-bore socialism, this seems to be an ongoing effort. And the “conservatives in Congress don’t seem to feel the need to put a stop to any of it, do they?
Get control of the schools. Use them to promote socialism, soften the curriculum (ever heard the term ‘dumbing down?’), and get control of teachers’ unions. Do you honestly think it’s a coincidence that more and more U.S. college students favor socialism?
Infiltrate the press. Do you think it’s a coincidence that liberal politics gets a lot more positive press than conservative politics?
Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and the movies. Is it a coincidence that “Hellywood” is pretty much liberal across the board? Doesn’t appear to be.
Present homosexuality, degeneracy, and promiscuity as “normal, natural, and healthy.” Do you see the stuff on TV these days? That would have NEVER been allowed just two decades ago.
Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for “intellectual maturity.” Ever heard the phrase “religion is a crutch?” That’s where it comes from.
Discredit the Constitution as something inadequate, old-fashioned, and out of step with “modern needs.”

Are you depressed yet? I sure am. You’ll like this one if you live in Minneapolis.

Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. “Defund the police,” anyone? Oh, and make sure to treat all behavioral problems as “psychiatric disorders,” which no one but psychiatrists can understand or treat.
Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
Emphasize the need to raise children away from the “negative influence” of their parents. “It takes a village,” anyone?

How about this one, given all the nonsense we’ve seen during the past four months.

Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use “united force” to solve economic, political, or social problems. Hello… Do Antifa and BLM come to mind? The REAL BLM is a group of “trained Marxists,” according to their co-founder, Patrice Cullors. That’s communism in a nutshell.

As you read these bullet points, do you feel your gut tightening?

Speaking of the liberal elite, it’s long past time to stop voting for the same old people every time we have an election. We have politicians on both sides of the fence who’ve been in Congress since Kennedy was president. Those same people are just NOW going to solve the country’s problems and get us back on track? If they haven’t done so by now, it’s probably time to retire them?

And you, my fellow Christians, take heart. This is Revelations playing out in front of us. We win in the end. The Rapture is coming. I can’t wait. If you haven’t made a real commitment to Jesus, now is the time.

March 5, 2020March 5, 2020

Easter and the Resurrection; Could it be real?

Easter. The Resurrection. We’ve all heard the story about Jesus rising from the grave and being taken up to Heaven after appearing to His disciples and many other people over the next 40 days. I remember wondering in my younger years if there was any evidence to support these claims? Is there any logic at all to believing that a guy named Jesus was strung up on a cross and then returned from the dead?

After all, who in their right mind would believe something like this? Well, I’ve come across a lot of interesting writings during my almost 50 years on this Earth that cement my faith in Christ. I just thought I’d share a few of the more interesting ones with you as we draw closer to Easter.

Before we talk about Easter and the resurrection, let’s get the gruesome stuff out of the way first. I found out something about crucifixion I didn’t know. It’s not the wounds to the hands and feet that end up killing people. They suffocate.

A website detailing the science of the crucifixion makes it even clearer. To inhale, the diaphragm must push down to enlarge the chest cavity to bring air into the lungs. To breathe out, the diaphragm pushes up, contracting the lungs, which then pushes out the air. As Jesus hangs on the cross, the weight of his body pushes down on the diaphragm, bringing air in. However, to breathe out, Jesus would have to push up on His nailed feet, causing excruciating pain. The difficulty surrounding exhalation is nothing but a slow, cruel form of suffocation.

And to be even more correct, the nails more than likely went through His wrists. If a nail is driven through each of the hands, they couldn’t support the full weight of a human being. The soft tissue of the hands would simply rip away from the nails. Those nails in His wrists and feet pierced major nerves in both His arms and feet. Imagine the agony. The Romans knew what they were doing. It was brutal.

As the victim continues to suffocate, carbon dioxide begins to build up. As carbonic acid builds in the blood, the body instinctively triggers the desire to breathe. At the same time, the heart beats faster to circulate whatever oxygen is available. The decreased oxygen damages the tissues, causing the capillaries to begin leaking watery fluid from the blood into the tissues. This results in a build-up of fluid around the heart and lungs. The decreased oxygen also damages the heart itself, which leads to cardiac arrest.

Remember John 19:34? “Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water?” It was the watery fluid that built up in His tissues, lungs, and heart. It makes more sense now. It’s not a made-up fairy tale and there’s a logical reason it happens.

Long story short, Jesus was dead when He was brought down from the cross.

Let’s go with the “swooning” argument that says Jesus wasn’t dead, He’d just fainted. Think about what He would have looked like during His “appearances” to His disciples after “returning from the grave.” He would have been a bloody mess, leaving a trail of blood behind Him, limping, bones would have been showing through the skin in His back after the flogging, and he wouldn’t have presented the kind of resurrection picture that the disciples would suddenly have been willing to die for. They would have run in fright from that horrible sight. Period. I would have. Did you see “The Passion of the Christ?” He would have looked like walking raw hamburger. Roman guards were savage animals when they put people to death.

The disciples were transformed after seeing the risen Jesus multiple times. They were suddenly ready to travel to the ends of the Earth to spread this new Gospel (Good News) and to die for it, if necessary. How do you explain their transformation from a group that was cowering in an upper room to suddenly ready to evangelize the world?

Maybe it was a “mass hallucination,” as some have said. Come on. People don’t have “mass hallucinations.”

Jesus’ own brother James didn’t believe He was the Son of God until after the resurrection. You don’t change your mind and write an entire book in the Bible unless you’ve seen something radical. He saw his brother back from the grave.

How do you explain the conversion of Paul? He once killed Christians and was so transformed after experiencing Christ by the side of a road that he eventually became one of the greatest (if not THE greatest) apostles in history.

The conversions of James and Paul have me convinced they saw something radical. They saw the risen Christ. Remember “Doubting Thomas?” He touched the hands and the side of Jesus, where the wounds were. They didn’t see a “ghost.”

Hundreds of witnesses saw the resurrected Christ. There are too many things that line up to convince me it’s real. There are enough historical documents about a man named Jesus who walked the Earth and claimed to be the Son of God. Either He was completely insane, or He was exactly who He claimed to be.

Don’t believe it because I say it. Look into it yourself. There has to be more to life that the 80-some years we spend on Earth, right? I believe it takes more faith to believe in the “Big Bang” and that we’re all here by coincidence than it takes to believe in intelligent design. Jesus Himself said, “you will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart” (Paraphrasing). Why not take a look? Is there a better time of year than Easter? After all, Easter has to be more than just the occasional chocolate bunny rabbit.

June 21, 2019June 21, 2019

The Apostles Suffered to Spread the Gospel

The Apostles of Jesus had it tougher than we do in America. They had it tougher than we ever will. Here is what convinced me that the Gospel is real. Would this many people have voluntarily died HORRIBLE deaths for a Gospel that wasn’t true? Absolutely not. Give this a run-through and then really think hard about the implications here.

The apostles were not educated people. The apostles were everyday working folks who were far from perfect. But if they can lead people to Jesus, why can’t we?

1. Matthew. Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, Killed by a sword wound.

2. Mark. Died in Alexandria, Egypt , after being dragged by Horses through the streets until he was dead.

apostles — The Apostles suffered and died in horrible ways in order to spread the Gospel. Would you or anyone you know be willing to die a death like this for something that you didn’t believe in and KNOW in your heart wasn’t true? Of course not. (photo from Facebook.com)

3. Luke. Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous Preaching to the lost.

4. John. Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge Basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution In Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered From death.
John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison Island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos . The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve As Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey . He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully

5. Peter. He was crucified upside down on an x shaped cross. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die In the same way that Jesus Christ had died.

6. James. The leader of the church in Jerusalem , was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller’s club.

This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.

7. James the Son of Zebedee was a fisherman by trade when Jesus Called him to a lifetime of ministry.

As a strong leader of the church, James was beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial.

Later, the officer Walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and Knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.

8. Bartholomew. Also known as Nathaniel. He Was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.

9. Andrew. He Was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony.

His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words, “I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it”. He continued to preach to his tormentors For two days until he expired.

10. Thomas. He Was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the Subcontinent.

11. Jude. He Was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.

12. Matthias. The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot. He was stoned and then beheaded.

13. Paul. He Was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational Doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.

Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor to compare to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the apostles and disciples during their times for the sake of the Faith. Jesus said, “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: But he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”

Do we have the kind of faith to get through persecution (which WILL come to us all) as the apostled did? Probably not. But God promises to give us strength in times of trouble. Jesus says, “Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” Do you believe that or not? There is no “maybe.”

Pass on to encourage other Christians. Why Do we feel sleepy in Prayer, but stay awake through a 3 hour movie (I do that all the time)? Why are we so bored when we look at the HOLY BOOK. But find it easy to read other books?

Why is it so easy to ignore a message about God, yet we forward the nasty ones?

Why are prayers getting smaller but bars and clubs are expanding.

Why is it so easy to worship a celebrity but very difficult to engage with God?

Make this message your contribution to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.