Podcasts about only christians

Rev. Tanner Fox | Romans 5:1-8Paul offers us a vision of the cross of Jesus that is strong enough to hold us in our suffering. The experience of the Christian in suffering is unique to that of the world. Only Christians can live with hope IN suffering and see all the ways removes, remolds, reinforces our dependencies and delight in Jesus.

Dr. David Swanson | 1 Chronicles 29:16-17Paul offers us a vision of the cross of Jesus that is strong enough to hold us in our suffering. The experience of the Christian in suffering is unique to that of the world. Only Christians can live with hope IN suffering and see all the ways removes, remolds, reinforces our dependencies and delight in Jesus.

Deception is Under Control  (audio) David Eells - 8/21/24  And even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn [upon them] (2Co.4:3-4).   The god of this world is Satan, but he does not run this world. He is called the god of this world because this world worships and serves him whether they know it or not. Anyone who serves the lusts of their flesh worships and serves Satan as their god. He is the father of the flesh, which is also called the old man. God never gives Satan credit in the Scriptures for being sovereign. Jesus said, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth (Mat.28:18).   Satan blinds the minds of the unbelievers so that they do not understand and see the light of the Gospel. We can see from other Scriptures that Satan received his authority from the Lord to blind the unbelievers. (1Pe.5:8) Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: (9) whom withstand stedfast in your faith… We have the ability to withstand Satan when we walk by faith, but the word “may” here implies that he has permission to devour those who do not believe. With Christians or non-Christians, unbelief gives permission to Satan. The faith that resists and binds Satan is a gift from God (Eph.2:8).   (Joh.12:35) Jesus therefore said unto them, Yet a little while is the light among you. Walk while ye have the light, that darkness overtake you not: (Notice that word “overtake.” This indicates that darkness is chasing all of us. The Lord is saying that for a little while we are going to receive the light but do something with that light while you have it, so that the darkness does not overtake you.) and he that walketh in the darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.   (36) While ye have the light, believe (I.e., trust in and act on) on the light, that ye may become sons of the light. (If we do not act on the light now, the impression will leave us and the darkness will again close in. When we pass by the moment, we have been tried and failed if we have not done something with the light.) These things spake Jesus, and he departed and hid himself from them. (Jesus hides Himself from those who do not value the light enough to act upon it.)   …(38) that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? (39) For this cause they could not believe, for that Isaiah said again, (40) He hath blinded their eyes, and he hardened their heart; Lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, And should turn, And I should heal them.  Israel had the light for a long time, and they did not bear fruit of it. Many Christians have the light, but do not act on it. They start out in a blaze of glory, but soon the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, trials, and persecutions hardens their hearts and allows the darkness to overcome them (Mat.13:19-23). We must believe and walk in the light while we have it so that Jesus does not withdraw and hide himself.  In (Isa.6:8) And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me. (9) And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. (10) Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed. God is blinding eyes and hearts through the devil. God makes us responsible when we see His Word to walk in the light of its truth. (1Jn.1:7) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin. Walking in the light sanctifies us.   God has a method for weeding the Church which most do not understand. (2Th.2:3) Let no man beguile you in any wise: for [it will not be], except the falling away come first… (8) And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his coming; (9) [even he], whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,   (10) and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. (11) And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: (12) that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Falling away comes through the deception of Satan.   However, God is sending this working of error to those who do not love the truth so that they might be judged. This letter is addressed to the Church. Only Christians, using the term loosely, can fall away. There is a great falling away today, but an even greater deception is coming. Before God sends judgment, He sends “a working of error” to weed out the Church. Who will believe a lie? It is the evil and wicked who will believe a lie.   (Pro.17:4) An evil-doer giveth heed to wicked lips; [And] a liar giveth ear to a mischievous tongue… (11) An evil man seeketh only rebellion; Therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him. The evildoer will be weeded out by deception. They will be the ones who are going to buy the lie and fall away. The righteous love God's Word and the truth, and will not be deceived because they will not depart from it in the midst of trials.   (1 Cor.11:19) For there must be also factions (Greek: “heresies”) among you, that they that are approved may be made manifest among you. It is necessary for heresies to be among us, so that they that are approved by God may be known. God is doing two things with deception and evil: He is revealing the wicked, and revealing the true. This is God's method throughout history for separating His people from the tares. Birds of a feather flock together. God will gather the tares into bundles to burn them.   Deception is one of God's methods for proving who will be counted worthy of the kingdom of heaven. Remember this working of Satan will come through power, signs, and lying wonders. These are placebos to pacify the Church with replacements for the genuine to confirm the lies being taught. The genuine are listed as gifts of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are the word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, healings, workings of miracles, prophecy, discernings of spirits, kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues. For our own safety, we should obey Paul who said, Learn not [to go] beyond the things which are written (1Cor.4:6).   We read in (Dt.13:1) If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give thee a sign or a wonder, (2) and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods (Elohim), which thou hast not known, and let us serve them. Here we have a false prophet speaking a sign that comes to pass. No false prophet can command something and have it come to pass unless God says so.   (Lam.3:37) Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? This is clear that God is trying His people with error. This prophet is saying, “Let us go after other gods.” This is not as uncommon as we may think. Actually, the Hebrew word for “gods” here is the same word used everywhere else in the Old Testament for our God “Elohim.” In this case, he is talking about a false elohim.   There are many false elohim, because anyone who has a Jesus of their own making and not the Jesus of the Bible has a false elohim. (Dt.13:3) Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. False prophets prove us for God by deception. God is saying it is necessary for us to be proven by deception to see if we love Him.   Those who love Him will not buy the lie. (Dt.8:2) And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble thee, to prove thee, to know what was in thy heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or not. This is the whole point. A prophet, a dream, a vision, a teaching, or anything that comes to us that is not according to the commandments is a trial from God, to see if we are going to be counted worthy of the kingdom.   Now in (Eze.14:1) Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. (2) And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, (3) Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them? An idol is anything that demands more of our love, time, or money than God; self-will being the most evil idol. Should we ask the Lord's direction if all we want is what we want? It is dangerous to inquire of the Lord with self-willed motives before our face. We may satisfy our flesh but lose a blessing.   (Eze.14:4) Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord: Every man of the house of Israel that taketh his idols into his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him therein according to the multitude of his idols.   God is not our God, and we are not His servants when our will is more important than His Will. Before we ask God, we should ask ourselves if we would be as willing to go in the opposite direction should He give that answer. If we would not, then we have an idol. We should deal with our idol first. (Eph.5:5) For this ye know of a surety, that no… covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. The Greek word for “covetous” only means “to desire more.” A person who desires more than is necessary is an idolater. The word “idolater” comes from two words, eidolo, meaning “that which is seen” and latres meaning “a servant to.”   Those who constantly desire more are servants to that which is seen (physical things), not the Lord. These things can be anything – possessions, a job, a religion, or people to name a few. When people serve themselves, they can be their own idol, like the son of perdition who sits in the temple of God making himself god. Judas, whom Jesus called the son of perdition, sat among the disciples who were the temple of God. He was his own idol because he only wanted to please himself. There are many Judas' today. (Exo.20:3) Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Whatever is more important to us than the Lord is going to deceive us if we do not renounce it.   Back to (Eze.14:7) For every one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that separateth himself from me, and taketh his idols into his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I the Lord will answer him by myself: (8) and I will set my face against that man, and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.   Those who are separated from God through their idols will be answered according to the lusts of their own heart. God is going to give them an answer that is not a true answer because He will be answering their lusts. God said, “I the Lord will answer him by myself.” The Lord's answer may come through an apostate prophet, a religion, a thought, a dream, a word or a doctrine, but it will come to deceive. This could bring chastening or even reprobation as we see in verse eight.   (Eze.14:9) And if the prophet be deceived and speak a word, I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. A true prophet, who has idols, or a false prophet can be deceived by a false word from God, as we shall see. (2Th.2:11)… God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie. The Lord sends the false word because people do not love Him, but the world. (1Jn.2:15)… If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. We are here to prove who it is that loves God.   God is going to cleanse His Church in these days because there are many idols. When the Word of God says one thing, and we believe our religion, which says another, our religion is our Babylonish idol. God will send deception and it's an increasingly degenerative road to travel. The more we believe religion, instead of God, the more deception comes in. Nothing but the Word of God should move us.   (Rom.3:4) God forbid: yea, let God be found true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified (accounted righteous) in thy words, And mightest prevail when thou comest into judgment. When we agree with God in the midst of judgment, we will prevail. These are the people whom God accounts as righteous.   When we receive a prophecy, vision, dream, revelation, or a word that agrees with the Word of God, praise the Lord because the Word does not give many specifics. It does not tell us where God wants us to live or work or whom He wants us to marry. It gives us principles to find out the true will of the Lord in all areas. We can desire something so much, we hear “the Word of the Lord.” We can become convinced that this is what the Lord wanted us to do, only to find out later that we missed God. We need to be careful, because if our desires are not for the will of the Lord first, we can be deceived.   Let's look at Balaam's situation. The children of Israel were in the plains of Moab. Balak, the King of Moab, was very fearful of the Israelites. He gathered together the elders of Midian and Moab. They decided they would hire Balaam to curse these people. Balak said to Balaam, I know that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed (Num.22:6). If Balaam spoke the Word of the Lord, it was going to come to pass.   The “profit” Balaam went to the Lord with the promise of rewards in his heart and a request to curse Israel on his lips. (Num.22:12) And God said unto Balaam, Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people; for they are blessed. (13) And Balaam rose up in the morning, and said unto the princes of Balak, Get you into your land; for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you.   Balak did not give up. He sent more honorable princes who offered to bestow upon Balaam a very high honor and give him anything he asked. Balaam decided to ask the Lord again since this sounded like a pretty good offer. (Num.22:19) Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the Lord will speak unto me more. (20) And God came unto Balaam at night, and said unto him, If the men are come to call thee, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak unto thee, that shalt thou do.   Balaam did not like God's “no,” so God, wanting to put to death his covetous self-will, gave him a “yes.” (21) And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab. (22) And God's anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of the Lord placed himself in the way for an adversary against him…   Notice that God was angry that He went contrary to the first word spoken to him. The ass carrying Balaam to his reward, saw the angel with his sword in the way and stopped, saving his life. Balaam, still ignorant of the angel, was furious and beat the ass. Then God opened the ass's mouth to reason with Balaam, who was so blinded by the prospect of reward that he did not realize that an ass was reasoning with him and making more sense than he was.   (Num.22:32) And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I am come forth for an adversary, because thy way is perverse before me. The Hebrew word translated “perverse” here means “headlong” or “self-willed.” Because of this self-will, the Lord gave Balaam what he wanted to hear and told Balaam to go and speak what he was told to speak, but when Balaam went, the angel of the Lord was waiting to kill him.  Balaam got the following revelation through this: (Num.23:19) God is not a man, that he should lie, Neither the son of man, that he should repent: Hath he said, and will he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and will he not make it good? Balaam really wanted God to change His Word. Have we ever been there? It is a dangerous place to be in if we want a straight answer from God. God can send deception that will lead to crucifixion of the flesh or in more stubborn cases reprobation.   (Jude 1:11) Woe unto them! for they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah. We can be hired by our own selfish desires. Balaam wanted God to tell him “yes” and refused to hear God's “no,” so God told him “yes.” Be careful how much you want something from God. God wants us to submit our will to His, to desire what He wants, and to take Him at His Word. Do not let your flesh be pampered by voices that speak contrary to what the Word has already spoken, or God will send deception.   (2Th.2:11) And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: (12) that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. Many have adopted deceptive doctrines that appease their selfish desires such as doctrines of materialistic prosperity rather than sacrifice, unconditional eternal security so that they may live after the flesh without fear of God's warnings, rapture without purification through trial, eternal life without discipleship and holiness, etc.   God's people have justified just about anything to appease their flesh such as unscriptural divorces, abortion, drunkenness, drugs, lying, stealing, etc. Peace for the flesh is deception. Satan and his ministers are anxious to tell us what our flesh wants to hear. (2Co.11:14) And no marvel; for even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light. (15) It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness…   When Jeroboam was the king of the northern ten tribes, he was afraid that his people would go and worship in the ordained temple at Jerusalem and, in so doing, stay and serve the king of Judah. He decided that he would erect altars for the people in Bethel and Dan. Jeroboam then made two golden calves and called them in Hebrew Elohim (1Ki.12:28). He put the name of our God on his own creation. Aaron did the same thing when Israel came out of Egypt. He built a golden calf and called it in Hebrew YHWH and Elohim. The apostate religions teach a Jesus of their own creation, not the Jesus of the Bible. Paul called him another Jesus (2Co.11:4). Jeroboam and his people were serving another Jesus.  The golden calf was the Egyptian god Apis who was called the creator. In other words, they were worshiping the god they knew in the world before they ate the Lamb and came out of Egypt. Many “Christians” are worshiping a Jesus that is acceptable to the world and the flesh. Jeroboam and his apostates were also making priests (ministers) who were not Levites (1Ki.12:31). This tells me that in ten of the twelve tribes, the ministers were not ordained of God but apostates. That is exactly what has happened in the church today.   God sent a young prophet to prophesy against the altar in Bethel. In Hebrew, “Bethel” means “house of God.” At that time, the king was standing at the altar offering incense before the people. When the prophet prophesied against the altar, the king stretched out his arm and pointed his hand at the prophet and told his men to seize him. At that point, the king's hand dried up and he could not draw it back. The altar rent and ashes poured out, which the prophet prophesied would happen.   This, obviously, symbolized that God did not accept their sacrifices in this place of apostasy. The king asked the prophet to restore his hand, so the prophet prayed, and the Lord restored the king's hand. As a result, the king wanted to take the prophet home and reward him. The prophet declined for he was commanded by the Lord to neither eat bread nor drink water in that place (1Ki.13:8-9). That place was where God's people were in apostasy and where their leaders were not ordained of God. It was an apostate religious system.  We must not eat their bread! This represents partaking of a false Jesus since He was the bread of life (Joh.6:48). Jesus is also the Word. Jesus said to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Leaven changes the bread (the Word) to make it more acceptable to the flesh. Neither should we drink their water, which represents the false spirit formed by a false word. Jesus commanded us to come unto Him and drink of the living water of the Spirit through the Scriptures. (Joh.7:37)… Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. (38) He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living water. (39) But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believed on him were to receive… Without this, any Jesus we might know is another Jesus.   The prophet was being obedient and was leaving those backslidden people. In Bethel, there was an older prophet who had heard what the young prophet did. He saddled his ass and caught up with him. (1Ki.13:15) Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. (16) And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee; neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: (17) for it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest. (18) And he said unto him, I also am a prophet as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water. [But] he lied unto him.   (19) So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. The young prophet falsely believed that God had changed His Word that was originally given and so ate and drank of the apostate word. We are told in Jude 1:3 to contend earnestly for the faith which was once… delivered unto the saints. Today many without scriptural foundation tell us that after the apostles God changed what He called an “eternal covenant.” This lie has robbed the Church of its power by replacing Jesus with a golden calf. Daniel and his three friends would not defile themselves with Babylon's food (Dan.1:5-16). After refusing Babylon's food, they were said to have ten times the wisdom and understanding of those who did eat (Dan.1:17-21). They also were the only ones to not bow down to the image of the beast (Dan.3:12,18), Babylon's version of the golden calf.  The young prophet was deceived into a modern gospel. (1Ki.13:20) And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back; (21) and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast been disobedient unto the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,   (22) but camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy body shall not come unto the sepulcher of thy fathers. The Lord tried the young prophet; but he was said to have “not kept the commandment” of the Lord, which was synonymous with partaking of apostate spiritual food. He lost his life in that place as many do today. The old prophet of God spoke a lie for personal gain. That place had leavened him, and he was now a false “profit.”   We must respect the Word of God so much that nothing can turn us away from it to another Jesus. We have to remain on guard, for even vessels of honor can be used as vessels of dishonor to try us. When the young prophet left a lion met him in the way and slew him. (1Ki.13:26)… the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord…The lion was given permission from God to kill the one who ate the apostate spiritual food. (1Pe.5:8)… the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. “May” is used here because the devil must have permission to devour. He is ordained to devour apostates.   The Lord tested the apostle Paul by His Spirit. (Acts19:21) Now after these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. Paul determined in the Spirit, that he was going to Jerusalem and then to Rome. He could have only gotten that revelation from God because it was in the future. (Act.20:22) And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: (23) save that the Holy Spirit testifieth unto me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. It was the Holy Spirit telling Paul to go to Jerusalem where he could expect bonds and afflictions.   (Act.21:4) And having found the disciples, we tarried there seven days: and these said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not set foot in Jerusalem. Notice this was just the opposite of what the Holy Spirit had told Paul he was going to do three times before. Paul was being proven by “the Spirit” as to whom he would listen. Other disciples were offering a new word. He was being given an opportunity to obey his flesh and avoid the spiritual cross. (Act.21:10) And as we tarried there some days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. (11) And coming to us, and taking Paul's girdle, he bound his own feet and hands, and said, Thus saith the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.   Having been told by the Spirit again that he would go to Jerusalem and be persecuted, he was now going to be tried by human sentiment. (12) And when we heard these things, both we and they of that place besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. (13) Then Paul answered, What do ye, weeping and breaking my heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. (14) And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done. Paul obeyed what the Lord told him, which is the important thing.   The Lord will try us by His Spirit to see if we will believe what He has told us. We need to believe the original promises above all that we see and hear. God will prove or try us through religion, ministers, spoken word, or well-meaning friends. We are tried by external circumstances, but we are tempted by our own lusts. These things are necessary to prove who loves God. God waited until the last seconds, when Abraham was about to plunge the knife into Isaac, stopped him and said unto him, Now I know that thou fearest God (Gen.22:12). There is no proof that we believe God's promises until we are tried. The Lord then provided a ram caught in a thicket for a sacrifice in the place of Isaac, the seed of Abraham. This, of course, typified Jesus who died in the place of all the seed of Abraham, including we who believe.  God will tell our spirit what He wants us to do. Dreams, visions, revelations, or spoken words will agree with our spirit, but not our flesh. When God sends us to a cross, we are going to be tried to not go. We can also be tried to go beyond the Lord. We should do nothing when we are uncertain of God's direction. We should not be led by prophecy or by dreams and visions when they disagree with our own spirit. These are to be wonderful confirmations and direction for what we feel in our spirit. We are to be led by the Spirit of God.   If God puts something Scriptural in our spirit, we should let no one talk us out of it. Peter was used to try Jesus in this way. Jesus told the disciples that He was to die at Jerusalem, and Peter rebuked Him. (Mat.16:22) And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall never be unto thee. (23) But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men. Jesus knew that He was being tempted by Satan through Peter to do his own fleshly will.  Many may be tested by alien demons, artificial intelligence, CGI, religion's seducing doctrines, fleshly enticements, money and prosperity but we must follow the Spirit and Word through our spirit to escape.

In this profound episode, Jonathan is joined by esteemed theologian and author Michael Horton to discuss his latest book, "Recovering Our Sanity: How the Fear of God Conquers the Fears that Divide Us." In a world teetering on the brink of chaos—from unsettling politics to the lingering effects of the global pandemic—Horton's book offers not a typical self-help guide but a deep theological exploration of how a proper fear of God can liberate us from our myriad earthly fears.Dr. Horton, Professor of Theology and Apologetics at Westminster Seminary, explains what it truly means to fear God—both biblically and theologically—and how this reverential fear can effectively drive out fears of the future, others, and even death itself.Throughout the episode, Dr. Horton discusses the different types of fears that plague our society—from cultural anxieties to personal struggles—and how these stem from a lack of genuine fear of God. He emphasizes confronting our earthly fears with the hope found in Christ, rooted in the Gospel, and the shift from self-preservation to a Christ-focused life.This episode is a humbling, thought-provoking, and hope-igniting journey that challenges listeners to replace false securities with the profound joy of knowing Christ, who commands us, "Do not be afraid." Join us as we explore how cultivating a healthy fear of God can recover our sanity in these turbulent times.To ask Jonathan a question or connect with the Candid community, visit https://LTW.org/CandidFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/candidpodInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/candidpodTwitter: https://twitter.com/thecandidpodTRANSCRIPT:This transcript recounts Candid Conversations with Jonathan Youssef Episode 249: Recovering Our Sanity: How the Fear of God Conquers the Fears That Divide Us: Michael Horton.  [00:01] Jonathan: My very special guest is Mike Horton. He is a professor of systematic theology and apologetics at Westminster Seminary in California, and he is the author of many books, including The Christian Faith Ordinary and Core Christianity. He also hosts the White Horse Inn radio program. He lives with his wife, Lisa, and their four children in Escondido, California, and it looks like he's on his back patio,  having a conversation with me and being very gracious with his time. Mike Horton, thank you so much for taking the time to be on Candid Conversations.[00:45] Michael: Thank you, Jonathan.[00:50] Jonathan: I do thank you for your time. Now Mike, I've read your books, I have subscribed and I do recommend all of our listeners subscribe to the White Horse Inn. If you could just give us a quick, whirlwind tour of your story, we can talk a little bit about the podcast and some of your books as we progress through the interview.[01:19] Michael: Well, thank you, Jonathan. Yeah, I was raised in a Christian home and came to understand the doctrines of grace partly through my older brother. Kind of had my own little, not little, my own Romans revolution and then started digging deeper into Church history and theology and biblical studies, and eventually went to Biola University, Westminster California, then to Oxford for doctoral studies and then post-doc at Yale and came back to teach at my alma mater and have been here for 25 years. Blessed to be able to have a hand, with my colleagues, in training pastors; pastors training pastors.[02:17] Jonathan: I've been a recipient of many of the students of Westminster Seminary who taught me at Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta, and I've been really blessed by your work. You've got a very jovial, friendly, California vibe to you, but when you speak, you're like a double-edged sword. It's so penetrating. And I think there could be a theological issue that I've been struggling with for months and you'll say it so concisely in a few sentences, and I'll think, Where was that when I needed that?[03:09] Michael: You're too kind. Thank you.[03:11] Jonathan: Tell us a little bit about the White Horse Inn. It has been on for something like thirty years.[03:17] Michael: Yeah, thirty-plus, almost thirty-five years now. It has been such a fun thing. I've learned so much from my colleagues on the program. I still learn from the new team. We produce a magazine, too, Modern Reformation Magazine, which is really—I encourage people to subscribe to that. It's a good digest of topical theology related to culture. The umbrella organization is called Sola Media, and one of the things that we do that I'm so excited about being a part of is called Theo Global, where we host theological conversations (like we do on the White Horse Inn) between Baptist, Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican traditions and bring people together from a particular region. So we've been doing it for eleven years in India and also almost that long in Nigeria or in Kenya, in Nairobi. And then also Cairo for the Middle East. We just did one in Thailand that Pakistanis and Indians were able to come to, because they're not able usually to see each other. And then we are, Lord willing, starting another one in Southeast Asia, probably Singapore.So these have been so rich. Out of them are coming, a series of theology books from the global church to the global church. And so instead of having just regional theologies or theologies that pretend that they're not culturally contextual, we want to hear the voices of people from different locations testifying to the same Gospel, and that's just really been lots of fun.[05:42] Jonathan: Well, having ministered near that area of the world in Australia, you're right, there can be a disconnect between the cultures. We read each other's books and that sort of thing, and those are Western cultures, but I think we miss out on hearing about what is happening in Southeast Asia, Because they do face similar obstacles but also some quite different. As one of the points of your book is, there is still the one true God and the one Gospel that reaches across those cultures and reaches across so many of those things that we would consider barriers. And I think that's wonderful. I pray the Lord would bless that.[06:30] Michael: Thank you. One of the things I find, Jonathan, is there is a sweet unity around the Gospel that binds us when I go to these other places. Wherever I am in the world, I don't feel like I'm a stranger because I'm with my brothers and sisters. I wish I felt the same way in America. It's very different here.[06:51] Jonathan: Yeah, I was going to say it's interesting that what you're doing is you're unifying and uniting across denominations, across cultural things, and yet that's working almost in the opposite direction of where we see things here, which is there's division within denominations; there's division within small regions. You're undoing what is happening on a bigger scale in some of the Western parts. It's exciting to hear that's not happening everywhere, that there's actually some unification taking place and that's encouraging. And I know that's going to be an aspect of what we talk about in our conversation about one of your new books.Now, I know that you had some health issues with your heart a couple of years ago. Maybe for some of our audience who didn't know or having heard any updates, are you healthy?[07:54] Michael: Thanks for asking. Yes, what it was was a valve that just exploded in my heart, so it was an emergency open-heart surgery. But they said—they know my arteries and my heart better than anybody, they said, you'll die of something, but it won't be of heart disease. You have a good heart; you have good arteries; this was just a fluke.[08:24] Jonathan: Unbelievable.[08:25] Michael: So—yeah. I'm fully recovered. They said I could go bungee jumping again if I want to.[08:32] Jonathan: Again. I'm glad that you were already doing that—I picked up your book a while ago and I've been wanting to have you on the podcast ever since reading it. And the book is called Recovering Our Sanity: How the Fear of God Conquers the Fears that Divide Us. And my goodness, what a perfect title for everything we see. Give us a little bit of the reason for writing and the timing of the book.[09:18] Michael: Well, it had been percolating for years now, actually. I wrote a book many years ago called Beyond Culture Wars: Is America a Mission Field or a Battlefield? And this is in a similar vein, but really in light of the fears that really divide us today. And the center used to be the Bible, the Gospel, getting the Gospel right and getting the Gospel out. We have our doctrinal differences across the evangelical mainstream, but basically we had different political views and those political views didn't divide between brothers and sisters and churches.And what I've seen lately has just been like a food fight in a cafeteria, and political issues and social issues raised to the level of the Trinity. And it's like, okay, well, we can argue about that over coffee, but we don't bring it into the church. That used to be kind of how people thought about things. These things are important, but they're not as important as our unity in Christ. But I hear people attacking pastors, pastors attacking their flock, back and forth over these issues. And I think people don't get this heated over the doctrine of election or justification or the Trinity. Does it suggest that these issues are deeper in our hearts than the truth of Christianity, so what really binds us?And I looked at it and I said what really binds us is salvation, what we think we're saved from. If we think we're saved from the people over there who are threatening our values, or the people over there who are different from us ethnically, or the people over there who have a different view of economics and social justice? What are we really afraid of? What are our ultimate fears? And I argue that we have all these secondary fears. The real fear deep down, the mother of all fears, is the fear of death. And none of the solutions that can be offered by FOX or CNN, there is no solution to that. But we have it. Why isn't that on our dashboard as central, getting it right and getting it out?[13:01] Jonathan: In the book you cast a broad net in kind of what you've just said up here, picking out a few of the issues that you're seeing so much division over. But then you lay out some of the theological framework to reorientate your reader to where fear should rightly be placed. And it's away from the fear of one another and having a right fear of God.And you use the word sublime in the book, which I found really helpful as an aspect of God. I wonder if you could give us a little bit of explanation and walk that out for us.[13:52] Michael: Sure. I love that word. Sublime is really, I think, what we're talking about when we talk about the fear of God. Some people will say, “Well, it's not really fear. It's reverence, awe.” Fear is a big part of it, but it's a kind of fear that attracts. Think of what happens if you've ever stood at the mouth of a volcano, looking over it, watching the lava flow. Or I live in Southern California, so we have fires, and there's a kind of weird attraction to going to the fire and seeing it. Or you're out on the ocean and you're terrified. A squall comes up you're afraid, but you're also kind of your heart is racing not just because you're afraid, but also because you're kind of in awe of what's happening. In awe of the waves.God, you know whenever an angel shows up in the Bible, an emissary of God, what's the first thing? You know the number-one commandment throughout Scripture? The number-one command is “Be not afraid.” Because when even the mailman of God shows up, people are terrified.[15:31] Jonathan: Yeah, or Moses's face is a little too bright.[15:36] Michael: Yeah. Hey, put a napkin over that or something… That's what, really, is the basis for all sublime events, encounters that we have is really the fear of God. And so it's … A Jewish writer, John Levinson, puts it well. He says, “In the Hebrew Scriptures God beckons with one hand and repels with the other.”So there's a kind of don't get too close. Even Jesus in His Resurrection, “Don't touch me. I'm different.” God is different from us. And that sense of awe, of majesty, of even terror. Think of the disciples in the boat with Jesus. They were afraid of the storm, and then Jesus calmed the storm and they were afraid of Jesus. Who is this who has control over the winds and the waves? They were terrified. And that's the kind of Who is this? What am I dealing with here? The kind of shock and awe, the surprise is something that is missing, I think, from a lot of our experience as Christians today.[17:11] Jonathan: Well, and I know in the book we've seen a lot of the statistical evidence that comes in support of what you've just said, which shows that evangelical Christians really don't know what they believe. They have a complete misunderstanding of God, of the nature of Christ, of their roles.[17:51] Michael: If the fear of God is not the beginning of our wisdom, then something else will be. We'll fear something else. We will fear other people who are different from us and we'll fear cancer, we'll fear losing our job, we'll fear environmental collapse and catastrophe, we'll fear these other people taking over. It's not that those … that there aren't legitimate concerns of a political and social and cultural nature. But we have a disordered fear. And if we have disordered fears, we have disordered loves.God is not only the source of our greatest fear, legitimate fear; He's also the only one who conquers our fears and says, “Welcome home, prodigal. Welcome home, here's the feast.”[19:22] Jonathan: And deals with our, as you refer to it, the mother of all fears.[19:27] Michael: Death. We're dying. In California, people aren't allowed to die; they pass away; and we put these cemeteries out, far away from view, or we turn them into parks and things. And it used to be every time you walked into a church there would be headstones, and it reminded you as you walked in why you're going in there. The Gospel is for dying people, and we're all on that road. And so the question is, How do we face death? … How is that ultimate anxiety relieved? We mourn, but not as those who have no hope. So what does that mean for my daily life now? I could be twelve years old and I'm dying. I could be eighty and I'm dying. So what … Let's talk about that. Let's talk about the dying and the resurrection of the dead and being attached to Jesus so that what He is in His humanity right now, glorified, we will be. Let's talk about that. That's a lot better than anything on CNN or FOX.[21:00] Jonathan: I love it. I think in the book you tell the story of when you went to a debate with, I might be messing this up, but I think it was with an atheist and you sort of said, “Yep. Great. Can I talk about Jesus now” and kind of put him off, and he sort of like, “I wasn't prepared to debate that.”[21:22] Michael: Yeah. This was years ago. Bill Nye the Science Nye.[21:24] Jonathan: Bill Nigh, that's right.[21:25] Michael: He was talking about how religion is based on false fears and so they develop myths and so forth.[21:37] Jonathan: And you were like, “Well, that's true.”[21:39] Michael: Yeah. I don't disagree; that's a pretty fair analysis of religions. I guess you'd have to take one by one and analyze it, but as a generalization, now can I talk about Jesus and His Resurrection? Let's keep getting back to the main business here.[21:59] Jonathan: The main issue. Yeah. In the book you draw this distinction between naturalistic and hyper supernatural, but then you sort of carve out this third option of ordinary. Can we talk a little bit about that and how we see that playing out in our world today, particularly in the Church?[22:23] Michael: Sure. Often what you see today is a naturalism underwriting the progressive agenda and John Lennon's “Imagine.” On the right, you tend to have a hyper supernaturalism wedded to a conservative agenda. And so what do I mean by that? Well, a naturalistic worldview says, of course, God isn't involved. If God exists, then He's not involved in this world. He didn't create it, it's self-evolving and so forth.A hyper-supernatural worldview says that God works miraculous. You know, to say that God did it means it's a miracle.[23:34] Jonathan: Yeah.[23:35] Michael: Whereas in the Bible God does all sorts of things. Mostly, He doesn't perform miracles. What about all the times when we cut our finger and it heals after a week? What about that? What about a child [who] has a brain bleed in NICU and it resolves in 24 hours. How about those? Those aren't miracles. People say, “the miracle of childbirth.” There's no miracle of childbirth; it's just a spectacular example of God's providence. That's part of our problem is we're looking for God only in the spectacular, only in the extraordinary, only in places where we can point to and say, “Oh, God did that.”So we can't explain how somebody recovered from cancer; we say, “Well, God did it, not the doctors.”[24:46] Jonathan: Right.[24:47] Michael: Well, how about God did it and the doctors did it. God did it through the doctors.[24:52] Jonathan: How much control does God have here?[24:55] Michael: Right. He has control of everything. It's not just supernatural events; it's not just miracles. God's in control of every second, every breath. Every breath that you and I take is under His dominion.[25:11] Jonathan: That's right. He holds all things together. You know, I hear that phrase a lot, “That was a God thing. That was a God thing,” and I always have to stop and say to them, “Everything is a God thing.” I mean, conversations. The fact that your brain works. The ability to read. The ability to understand and reason. It's like I hate when you get that narrow scope, as you're saying. We've lost the sublime. We've lost an understanding of how much—you know, it's almost a deistic view that, you know, God sort of—[25:42] Michael: Yes![25:43] Jonathan: He's put some things in place and then He occasionally steps in and—[25:47] Michael: That's why I argue that actually naturalism and hyper supernaturalism unintentionally conspire with each other against Christianity—[25:57] Jonathan: Right.[25:58] Michael: —you know because, you know, we get to the place where we don't see God in our ordinary, everyday existence, but only in these punctuated events, and we've got to raise things. I think we do a lot of pretending. We pretend that things that have an ordinary explanation are miracles because we have to have God in our life. These large swaths of our lives where there are no miracles are upheld by God's marvelous providence.[26:40] Jonathan: Right. Amen to that. In the book, one of the fears you mentioned is fear of losing your job. And I think in the book you helpfully distinguish between calling and vocation or job and helping us understand and distinguish the two things. I wonder if we can talk a little bit of bringing clarity to that, because we're longing for something to put our identity in. Is it a football club? Is it a university? We're currently, I don't know when this will air, but we're in the middle of March Madness. Who did you pick? What's your university? What's your background?And vocation is very much one of those things we can put our identity in, and yet I think you talk about the ultimate and the penultimate between calling and vocation. I wonder if you could bring some clarity to that, and then we'll turn to some of the practical outworkings of the division we see after that.[27:53] Michael: Yeah. Well, one of the things I try to maintain throughout the book is, look, the things I'm talking about are not unimportant. They are legitimate fears. There is a legitimate anxiety. The question is, where do we go with that? But yes, let's affirm it. It's real, it's a deal, but penultimate not ultimate.For example, if I am in a circle of people I've never met before, we're having breakfast, and I ask them, “Tell me about yourself,” very ordinarily they'll say, “Well, I'm a dentist. I'm a …”Now okay, there's an example. That is part of our identity. Vocation is a gift of God; it's a calling. So to say, you know, we shouldn't place our identity in our vocations, well, not ultimately. That's the problem. It's a part of our identity, just like being a father is part of my identity. That's a calling. And we have to realize, as Luther said, we have many callings, many vocations during our life. We're parents, we're spouses, we're children, we are extended family members, we're dentists, and cleaning movie theaters. We have all kinds of callings/vocations. Sometimes we have a vocation to suffer, to carry a cross. Sometimes we have a vocation to be a friend. We have lots of vocations, and keeping them in balance is very important.Keeping them penultimate, not ultimate, is my point. My ultimate identity is chosen, redeemed, justified, being sanctified, will be glorified, in union with Christ. That's my identity and that's really who I am. Paul talks about himself as if he's almost collapsed into Jesus. His identity is so bound up with Christ that he can even say his suffering is something he glories in because it shares in Christ's suffering. That's my identity; that's where I really find who I am. The other stuff is not just stuff I do, that turns it back into a job. It is part of my identity, but it's penultimate, not ultimate.[30:57] Jonathan: Well, as we said at the beginning, we see division in so many different places. We're, of course, as you know, we're in another election year, and that—fear is going to be used as a … it's going to be weaponized this year, particularly this year, in America. And we have an international audience, so I want to be sensitive, but I know that internationally also they see a lot of American news as well. I think you talk about how, in the book, two sides to the fear coin. You mention both in the book. One side, fear is easily exploited as a motivator. On the other, fear is a weak motivator in the long term. Why is that? Let's kind of unpack that a little bit.[32:07] Michael: Yeah. I use the analogy of deer who are … there is this fight or flight that God gave us and the animals as well. It's purely instinctual, instinctive. You don't … Whether you're a deer or a human being, you don't really think about, you don't contemplate, you don't calculate, you don't explore what … You have a car coming towards you, you flee. You get out of its way if you can. But what happens is—That's adrenaline. That adrenaline rush is just a marvelous gift of God's providence. The problem is what would happen is deer had this disease of constantly being afraid, every crack of brush of another deer drove them wild running in fear? That's what I see us doing now, and what happens is it works in the short term. If you're going to cynically use fear to get a herd of people to do what you want them to do, that might work in the short term, but long term, people can't live like that. Long term, people actually become cynical. They won't participate at all. They'll just turn it off because “I've had this scare a thousand times and I'm not going to have it anymore. I'm tired of it.” It just runs out.And that's what I think a lot of people are feeling right now with American politics. So I'm not an analyst of American politics by any stretch of the imagination; I'm simply looking at it on the pastoral side. What is driving us to be like the deer in the headlights every five minutes? And it's exhausting us.[34:33] Jonathan: Yeah.[34:34] Michael: Each side whipping up the other side against each other. If I don't win this election, dot, dot, dot. If the other person wins the election, dot, dot, dot. It's apocalypse not. I especially find offensive any use of God or the Bible or Christ for that fear. Anyone who does that, particularly cynical leaders who don't even go to church, aren't professing Christians really, but they use the lingo to gain the nomination of particular groups. When Christians participate in that, they carry crosses to the U.S. Capitol to storm it and talk about hanging the vice president, and they're carrying crosses with Bible verses, this is the sort of thing that must just aggravate our Lord and Savior whose name is taken in vain.And yeah, is that a critique especially of evangelical political conservatives? Yes, it is. Because they are my brothers and sisters closest to me. The secularists aren't really invoking the name of Jesus and Bible verses and carrying crosses. I'm more worried about evangelicals distorting the gospel than I am about who wins this next election.[36:54] Jonathan: What is that doing to your testimony to those people who don't know the Lord? What message is it giving them?[37:10] Michael: That Christianity is about power.[37:11] Jonathan: Right, exactly.[37:12] Michael: It's not about a cross with God who has all power becoming flesh being spat upon and then being crucified upon a cross, bleeding for our sins. It's about basically choosing Caesar over Jesus, making Pilate our hero rather than Jesus.[37:45] Jonathan: I found that chapter, I can't remember if it's the Christian nationalism chapter or the one before, but it was really helpful the way that you walked out American history in a way that probably a lot of the readers might say, “I don't know if I understood that.” Or “I don't know if I fully understood Thomas Jefferson and his letter to the Danbury Baptist Church in Connecticut.” Understanding separation of church and state, understanding like how we got to where we are and the creating of even thinking between the British … French revolution and those different paths that were laid out before us. And even just understanding our own history and how we got to where we are, I think a lot of it is just cast as Christian nation. And I found it helpful the way you distinguish that.Because I hear this a lot in the church in terms of America being the new Israel, are there blessings that have come with certain things? Sure, fine. Our Constitution is well put together. I love the history of Witherspoon, the Scottish Presbyterian, and you can see some of that in the language that comes out through the Constitution. Again, I think it's helpful to have your historical understanding rather than this reinterpretation that we have now that it's, as you said, it's this feeling like someone's come in and taken this from us. And now, to use the title of your other book, now we're at war, right? It's not a mission field, it's a battlefield. We're fighting for the honor of our country. And all that's done is create us and them division and a lack of clarity and a lack of what we're called to in a mission sense as Christians. Where was I going with that? Who knows? Anyway, I found it helpful.[40:10] Michael: You said it better. Preach it, brother.[40:16] Jonathan: Just random thoughts. Just reading your books and regurgitating it to the people. So later on in the book you sort of walk us through the areas where division has come in. So we have Christian nationalism has certainly seeped into churches. Then you have some really helpful, short chapters with issues with LGBTQ+ community, cancel culture, racism. Let's just kind of walk through some of these and help Christians who are listening to this who are saying, I thought this was the right way to handle that situation but you're saying something else. Let's kind of walk through maybe even just one or two of those. Again, you had a really great illustration under your LGBTQ+ chapter of the young man whose family had sent him to you and you were pastoring him and what happened with all that. If you could tell us a little bit about that, just to help kind of encapsulate what we're talking about here.[41:35] Michael: Sure, this brother struggling with homosexuality, his dad was on the board of a prominent evangelical organization, and his pastor had told him that we basically don't want your influence in the church, so he was considering leaving the faith. But then he read Putting Amazing Back Into Grace, a book I wrote a long time ago, and came out to work at our organization as just a pretext for just hanging out and shepherding this guy. He became a part of our church and a lot of people looked after him and we got a lot back from him.He went back home, and his pastor said that all this reformed teaching he was getting was heresy and so forth, and no, you've lost your salvation. Romans says that He gave them over to a depraved mind. So he committed suicide and …So what is it? Why do you do stuff like that? Well, you do it out of bad theology, to be sure, but also out of fear. There are a lot of churches that just don't want to deal with it. They don't want to have this problem. They don't want to say that they have people in their congregation who are really, really suffering. If you're a secularist, you don't suffer from homosexuality. You don't suffer with gender dysphoria. Only Christians do. And only Christians suffer with greed and envy and malice and other sins that are listed in these same sin lists in the New Testament. You don't lose your salvation over those.The key is repentance, right? We're called to a life of repentance. Whatever our tendencies are towards particular sins, we're all corrupt in heart. We're sinners and we're sinned against and we are in a sin-cursed world. And so where do we go with that fear? And then once that fear is solved objectively in Christ, having been justified through faith, we have peace with God. That's an objective fact. With that now as an objective fact, how do I respond to this brother or sister who's justified just as I am, and who is being sanctified just as I am, but has propensity toward a particular sin that I think is particularly serious, particularly great? How do I love this person? How do I respond to this person?John Calvin said a pastor needs to learn how to have two voices: one for the sheep and one for the wolves. And what I've seen in some very close cases to my own experience, what I've seen sometimes is pastors confusing the sheep for wolves and treating them as apostates or as people who, you know, if you really were a Christian, you wouldn't be suffering with that. Well, they're not saying, “I have a right to this sin.” They're not saying that it's okay. That's why they're struggling with it—and they're struggling with it in your church.So one of the surveys, actually a couple of the surveys concluded that about 80 percent of people in the LGBTQ+ community were raised in conservative Roman Catholic or Protestant churches.[46:39] Jonathan: Give that statistic again because I think we need to hear it again.[46:42] Michael: I don't know exact, it's in the 80s, 80 percent.[46:46] Jonathan: Over 80 percent.[46:49] Michael: Right. And what's even more striking is the same percentage said that they would come back to church, even if they didn't change their rules, but listened to them and cared for them. That's what I found amazing. I was glad that they asked … they added in that survey even if they didn't change their beliefs but they were kind and they listened and they cared for me.So if I'm fearful, here again the adrenaline, the deer in the headlights, that's a gift God gave us for fleeing something that is imminently threatening. This is not imminently threatening. If I come to understand that, then I'm not a deer in the headlights; instead, my brother or sister, my friend, parent, I'm someone who is looking out for the best of this person and now I can actually get ahold of myself and think and make judgments and articulate things. And ask questions and get information. That's a big part of it. It's not all spiritual. People are suffering from mental health disorders, and that's physical, that's brain chemistry. All kinds of things.People are suffering from sins that have been committed against them in the past. A lot of this is very complicated, and it's not all that person's direct fault. Again, we're all sinners, sinned against, and live in a sin-cursed world. And all those factors play into what we have to consider when we're not the deer in the headlights but can sit down with people over a long time, be willing to walk with them over a long time, be willing to read up on things, ask them questions, we're that interested in them and understanding what they're going through, understanding their pain. It's like if they have cancer we'd be at their house with casseroles, but if they have these things, you know … So let's … fear of the Lord drives out the fears of everyone and everything else. This is the beginning of wisdom.[48:52] Jonathan: Exactly. Well, I think we could probably have this conversation for probably another four more hours, which we might do just because we're having so many technical difficulties. You know, I can't recommend this book enough. Mike Horton, Recovering Our Sanity: How the Fear of God Conquers the Fears that Divide Us. I told my team I want to re-air this as we get closer to November so that we can all be reminded once again of what we're called to. Mike, what are you working on at the moment?[50:35] Michael: I've been kind of obsessive compulsive about a project, three volumes with Eerdmans. First volume is coming out in May, titled Shaman and Sage. This is a very different project. It's the history of spiritual not religious. Where does this come from? You have this divine self within trying to break out of all constraints. And so I trace it all the way back to ancient Greece and to the Renaissance. And then the second volume, Renaissance to the scientific revolution. And then the third volume is covering Romanticism to the present.[51:31] Jonathan: Oprah.[51:32] Michael: Exactly.[51:35] Jonathan: That's going to be a massive help for believers, because that's the one we see a lot in those statistics. Yeah, I hear that from quite a few people, spiritual but not religious, or whatever the phrase is. But well, Mike Horton, it's been such a privilege. I'm so grateful for your time and coming on to Candid Conversations and sharing with us.[52:10] Michael: Jonathan, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure.[52:14] Jonathan: Thank you, brother.  

Aaron Dodson, Tony Brewer, Barry O'Dell, and Brock Kendall discuss Rubel Shelly's 1984 Freed-Hardeman speech. Shelly argued for a viewpoint termed "Christians Only but Not the Only Christians." The panel will examine Shelly's main points, their impact on Christian unity, and their relevance today. Tune in for an in-depth look at this significant topic. Subscribe to Substack: https://christianitynow.substack.com If you want to support the show with a one time donation, go to www.buymeacoffee.com/christianitynow   If you want to support the show monthly, www.patreon.com/christianitynow    You can. also PayPal:  nearcurches@gmail.com    Be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristianityNowStreams   #christianitytoday #paneldiscussion #churchofchrist #denominations #denomination #unity #unityinchrist #christianunity #bibletime #biblestudy

This is The Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview.Part I (00:13 - 13:38) ‘We Live in a Society of Unfiltered Liberalism, and It Functions Like a Religion': The Battle of Our Modern Age, Transcendent Theology Squares Off Against SecularismThe Dangers of Liberalism and Why YU Should Change Its Charter by The Communicator (Rabbi Rafi Eis)Part II (13:38 - 17:16) Beaver Dams and the Glory of God: Farmers Lay Down Their Arms — And Dynamite —in the War Against Beavers After Realizing the Collective Good of Their WorkIt Was War. Then, a Rancher's Truce With Some Pesky Beavers Paid Off. by New York Times (Catrin Einhorn)Part III (17:16 - 20:25) What Bible Verses Should Be the Basis of Law and Applicable to All People? What Commands are Applicable for Only Christians? — Dr. Mohler Responds to Letters from Listeners of The BriefingPart IV (20:25 - 22:33) Do We Concede the Point to the LGBTQ Agenda If We Accept the Distinction Between "Biological Male" and "Male"? — Dr. Mohler Responds to Letters from Listeners of The BriefingPart V (22:33 - 28:03) Do You Think That We Rely Too Much on the Simple Reading of the Text in our Bible Studies and Church Services? Should We Return to Dramatic Renditions of Scripture? — Dr. Mohler Responds to Letters from Listeners of The BriefingSign up to receive The Briefing in your inbox every weekday morning.Follow Dr. Mohler:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTubeFor more information on The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to sbts.edu.For more information on Boyce College, just go to BoyceCollege.com.To write Dr. Mohler or submit a question for The Mailbox, go here.

The Civil and Un-Civil War  (Audio) David Eells - 7/3/22 2019 Kentucky Derby Predicts Lockdowns and Persecutions Michelle Rogers - 5/2019 (David's notes in red) In 2019 I felt quickened in my spirit that the Lord had something to say through the Kentucky Derby that year, and that I needed to look into the race. With some excitement I began searching the internet only to discover that this Derby was like no other. For the first time in the history of the Kentucky Derby the winning horse was disqualified because, he ran out of bounds almost causing the worst disaster in derby history. The horse was named, Maximum Security. Here is a short excerpt from the news: “May 5, 2019: War of Will's trainer, Mark Casse, likened the race to following a drunken driver and said Maximum Security's swerve had put the lives of other horses and their riders in peril." For the sake of clarity, here is the final line up of Derby Winners. (The significance of the winners is in the meaning of their names, and the disaster that was narrowly averted.) Maximum Security (later disqualified.) So the correct order of 1st through 3rd places are as follows: 1st.   Country House 2nd.   Code of Honor 3rd.   Tacitus I puzzled over the name of the first horse for almost a year because I just could not see what the horse, Maximum Security, had to do with the United States. When I heard the name, I immediately associated it with the term, “maximum security lockdown” like in a prison and couldn't understand how that could apply to America. (As we have seen there have been lockdowns and the leftist DS is pushing for more.) It wasn't until March of 2020, when the lockdowns started, that it made any sense to me.  I was watching a minister on the internet sharing about his father's vision many years ago in which he saw that something was going to happen that would so frighten people that they would flee the cities and migrate to rural areas. That's when I understood exactly what it meant. (Well, this is happening especially with liberal cities where they don't punish crime but instead the police. They are crumbling because they have no economic sense. They punish the good and reward the bad.) (The lockdowns are being contested in the United States and may be deemed unconstitutional if they haven't already. We may see the global Beast implement them, but for now it seems that they could be deemed unconstitutional, or “disqualified” like Maximum Security.) The second horse, which became the first place winner, was Country House. (Country House represents the migration to rural areas of the United States as people flee the big cities, although there may be more to this than I understand.) The third horse, which became the second place winner, is Code of Honor. (Code of Honor is a military term and may signify an increase in military action in the coming days. Rev 6:3-4 And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come. And another horse came forth, a red horse: and to him that sat thereon it was given it was given to take peace from the earth, and that they should slay one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.) (This could already be starting although the police and military actions are very covert at this time. Most people don't know that there is a Civil War going on in many nations; the Alliance against the D.S.) The fourth horse, which became the third place winner, is what I think is the most important aspect of this revelation currently, and why I felt led to share this sign with the UBM community. In the summer of 2020, I was walking my dog and mulling over all of the deadly George Floyd riots, feeling overwhelmed with everything happening in our country. In exasperation I said, “Lord, what will happen next?” Although I had not thought of the Kentucky Derby race in a while, I immediately heard in my spirit, “Check the 3rd horse.”  I was very surprised to hear Him say that. So I rushed home to research the horse that took third place. (I had overlooked him because he was originally the 4th place horse.) I discovered that his name was Tacitus, which means “silence.” With more research, I discovered that Tacitus was the name of a famous Roman politician and historian who wrote about the persecution of the early Christians under Nero. Tacitus recorded how Christians were scapegoated and blamed for a destructive fire that broke out in Rome, leading to mass persecution of the Christians. (I felt that the Lord was saying that the next major thing that would happen in our nation was Christian persecution, and that it would come about in the same way. We would be blamed for contrived events as the early Christians were under Nero. I also felt led to stock up on Bibles because soon we will not be able to purchase them as they will be considered racist and homophobic etc. etc.) The very next day as I was pondering the meaning of Tacitus, a friend sent me Dana Coverstone's dream about the coming persecution. As I watched the video about his dream, I experienced a trembling deep inside my spirit. I knew that it was a direct confirmation of what the Lord had shown me the day before. Joh 16: 2-4 They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the hour cometh, that whosover killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto God. And these things will they do, because they have not known the Father, nor me. But these things have I spoken unto you, that when their hour is come, ye may remember them, how that I told you. And these things I said not unto you from the beginning, because I was with you. (The day after Jan 6, I turned on the radio to hear the propaganda, and they were talking about finding and “separating” anyone associated with the event because they pose a threat to society. I thought that could be the event, but now that we are seeing the fallout from Roe V Wade, I think this could be the event that leads to persecution.) Acts 6:15  And all that sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. (This was Stephen who was persecuted and stoned to death.)  (The Lord has said that if we watch and pray, God will give us strength to endure persecution as He gave Jesus strength before the cross. Our love for Christ and for our enemies brings great glory to God just as Stephen's face shone with God's glory. Paul witnessed Stephen's sacrificial love, and his stand for truth played a part in Paul's glorious conversion and ministry.  Just yesterday the Lord spoke to me from John 10, and how the good shepherd sees the wolf coming, and he lays his life down for the sheep. Jesus said that he had the power to lay his life down, and to take it up again. In the same way, He will give us the power to lay our lives down as He leads, because His Holy Spirit indwells us. )   Poll: 44% of Americans Believe a CIVIL WAR is Coming Mary Villareal - 6/3/22 (David's notes in red) (Natural News) The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) poll showed that 44 percent of Americans believe that the United States is headed toward another civil war, which includes 53 percent of Republicans and 39 percent of Democrats. (The D.S. has invaded this country and many countries and is being rooted out by those who want to bring NESARA/GESARA law and prosperity. There is a Civil War which is breaking out more and more on the surface and will get worse. More false flags are predicted.)  While this is a cause for concern. Another poll showed that one in five individuals somewhat approve of assassinating politicians whom they believe were “harming the country” or U.S. democracy. Nearly seven in ten also agreed that left-wing politicians were deliberately driving economic changes to gain power by replacing conservative white voters with non-whites entering the country in what is called the “replacement theory.” This “replacement theory” began in white supremacy circles long ago, but has since moved to mainstream media such as political right-wing citizens. It also came to the attention of the media in May when the Buffalo shooting suspect penned a 180-page racist document online that promulgated racist conspiracy theories he referred to as the “great replacement.” He then live-streamed himself gunning down Black shoppers at a supermarket. He then allegedly used the inspirational idea that minorities were and would be replacing whites as justification for his actions. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray said that the bureau is investigating it as a hate crime. “I want to be clear, for my part, from everything we know, this was a targeted attack, a hate crime, and an act of racially motivated violent extremism,” he said. (Related: Toxic, treasonous media pushing “white supremacist” hoax and hit lists of Trump supporters in desperate scheme to drive America into civil war.) “What we found was a great deal of hostility for people on the other side of the political aisle. A majority of both Republicans and Democrats believe their political opponents pose a threat to the country and want to harm their political opponents,” the SPLC said in its report. “That kind of animosity could fuel partisan violence.”   2015 US military exercise triggered a cascade of conspiracy theories The U.S. already put in place some parameters in case things could take a turn for the worse. In 2015, the U.S. military conducted a routine exercise in the south that triggered a cascade of conspiracy theories. Some people believed the maneuver was a precursor to a Chinese invasion, while others thought it was in preparation for a massive asteroid strike. Dark fantasy websites said that the exercise, which was called Jade Helm 15, stood for “Homeland Eradication of Local Militants.” And then there's the talk of an impending civil war. (Related: The seeds have been planted for the next American Civil War. I don't think anything stops it now.) Today, almost half of Republicans and Democrats believe in using violence to achieve political ends – a massive increase compared to the less than a tenth for each in 2017, or the year Trump took office. The U.S. has since become a “factionalized anocracy,” which is just halfway between autocracy and democracy that is “quickly approaching the open insurgency stage.” (Anocracy or semi-democracy is a form of government that is loosely defined as part democracy and part dictatorship, or as a "regime that mixes democratic with autocratic features.”)  With violence now part of the U.S. political language, novelists like Canadian national Stephen Marche imagine disunion among the states, with the country being “one spectacular act of violence away from a national crisis.” Visit Chaos.news for more news related to civil unrest. Watch this video link to know more about the possibility of the government orchestrating a civil war to escalate its own draconian policies. (I understand that a lot of people would disagree with my direction here especially those who have been deceived by the 1,000 years of peace deception. Cyrus' empire was followed by a more corrupt empire. The Greek empire, many times equated to the Antichrist empire, in the statue of Nebuchadnezzar's dream in Daniel proves this. Daniel was a type of the Man-child reformers at the time Cyrus conquered Babylon. Also, in Rev.6 we see the Man-child ministry begin just before the second seal when peace is taken from the earth. So we see the victory over the D.S. will be short.)   Leftists Make Good on “Night of Rage” Riot Threats After  Roe v. Wade Gets Overturned Ethan Huff - 6/25/22 (David's notes in red) Link to Article (Natural News) Before the US Supreme Court declared that murdering unborn human life was not a federal right, Leftists planned a so-called “night of rage” to riot against the decision. (Leftist/Satanists have always been baby killers.) This is the “George Floyd” event of 2022. The overturning of Roe v. Wade is shaping up to become another mass destruction event where extremists on the Left howl and break things, and possibly even commit violence against humans outside the womb. (This is what communists and anarchists do.) “DC CALL TO ACTION NIGHT OF RAGE … THE NIGHT SCOTUS OVERTURNS ROE V. WADE HIT THE STREETS. YOU SAID YOU'D RIOT” reads a flyer that was spotted on a light pole in Washington, D.C., the other night. “TO OUR OPPRESSORS: IF ABORTIONS AREN'T SAFE, YOU'RE NOT EITHER. JANE'S REVENGE.” the flyer further states. (To have a fit because you can't kill babies proves who you are but we will pray for them.) See this WendyRogers.org page for videos from Arizona, showing the abortion “insurrection” that's already taking place this weekend. In other words, there are people, out there, in this country who believe that not being legally allowed at the federal level to murder unborn children is a form of “oppression,” even though they have the right not to get pregnant in the first place. Jane's Revenge, by the way, recently took credit for the firebombing of a crisis pregnancy center in Buffalo, N.Y., which was blasted to bits for helping women save their unborn children. Jane's Revenge declares “open season” on pro-life groups, crisis pregnancy centers The thought of even just some unborn human lives being saved from abortion is so upsetting to Jane's Revenge that the domestic terrorist group recently declared “open season” on everyone affiliated with anything pro-life. The group has an extensive history of damaging the property of pro-life groups and crisis pregnancy centers, including a pregnancy resource center in Des Moines, Iowa, that just like the Buffalo clinic, was recently firebombed. A pro-abortion extremist was also reportedly arrested in advance of a plot to target Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home. “The Jane's Revenge threats have received little attention in the rest of the press, but we hope the Washington, D.C., and Capitol police are much better prepared than they were for the riots of 2020 and 2021. The Justices and the Court as a democratic institution have to be protected,” wrote the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal. Another letter allegedly written by the fine folks at Jane's Revenge states that the impending Supreme Court decision “is an event that should inspire rage in millions of people who can get pregnant,” referring, of course, to women as they are the only people who can get pregnant. “We need the state to feel our full wrath … We need them to be afraid of us,” the letter goes on to state. “Whatever form your fury takes, the first step is feeling it. The next step is carrying that anger out into the world and expressing it physically. Consider this your call to action. On the night the final ruling is issued – a specific date we cannot yet predict, but we know is arriving imminently – we are asking for courageous hearts to come out after dark.” “Screaming for the ‘right' to murder the unborn … Has there ever been a more demon-driven age?” said, someone at Zero Hedge about this insanity. “Like the KKK, BLM and ANTIFA, Jane's Revenge are state-sponsored domestic terrorists,” responded another. “Maybe they can just do a peaceful tour of the Capitol building?” joked another. (Sarcastically referring to the hypocrisy of the Jan. 6th fiasco.) The latest news about the Left's obsession with abortion can be found at Abortions.news.   Roe Decision Brings Us Incredible Clarity on the Luciferians Running the Abortion Child Sacrifice Cult Mike Adams - 6/27/22 (David's notes in red) Link to Article (Natural News) It's all the same pool now: the left-wing vaccine pushers, abortion instigators, LGBT indoctrinators, child groomers, transgender genital mutilators, pedophiles and Luciferians… they have become a homogenized group of death cult practitioners who feed on children while working to destroy every Christian person or pro-lifer on planet Earth. (Only Christians understand that the people who have these demons pass them on to those who listen in a geometric progression. The closer we get to the end, the more demon possessed people we will see, until what Jesus said happens, and that is, “You will be hated of all nations for my names sake.”) And now in the aftermath of the US Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade, their inner demons have come out for all the world to see. Over the weekend, demon-inspired abortion advocates carried out demonstrations of filth and pedophilia in public, with obese naked men riding bicycles in front of children in Seattle, followed by “golden showers” urination displays as well as some people eating their feces. Scantily-clad LGBT and transgender advocates twerked in front of children, while a pregnant woman wrote in black marker, “Not yet human” on her pronounced baby bump, and then displayed it for all the public to see. The demonism was on full display, even while police in blue cities watched and did nothing. The only thing remaining is for LGBT Luciferians to start sodomizing small children in public while onlookers cheer and wave rainbow flags. (That won't be far behind…) The gift in all this? Clarity.   Decent people can now see that the radical pro-abortion Left is crazed, demonic and purely evil Now there is no doubt among decent Americans which side of this fight is steeped in evil. Because abortion advocates just couldn't stop at “rare” or “solemn” abortions that were considered a last-ditch option for unwanted pregnancies. No, they had to celebrate abortions and expand the definition to not just full term babies but even to kill babies up to 28 days after they're born. To the political Left, abortion is no longer a reluctant, shameful procedure but rather is now something to be celebrated and even repeated as often as possible. Over 25 prominent corporations in America — including Disney, Levi's, Apple, Netflix and more — have even promised to pay for employees' “abortion vacations” so they can travel to places like New York or Los Angeles to have abortions, with all expenses paid. So now demonic Leftists can get pregnant and then get paid to take a vacation and murder their unborn child. This can be repeated ad nauseum because there are no limits on the corporate “benefits” for abortion tourism.   The Fourteenth Amendment protected former slaves and now protects unborn babies The evil nature of the Left's true intentions — mass murder, violence, suffering, death and destruction — is now out in the open for all the world to see. And no reasonable person believes the left-wing's lies anymore… claiming that murdering unborn babies is necessary for “reproductive health” or “human rights.” Authentic human rights must include the rights of the humans not yet born, for they are protected by the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1, which says that no state may deprive a human being of life, liberty or property without due process. Abortion ends the life of a unique, conscious, aware and alive human being, yet that human being has never been indicted, prosecuted or found guilty of anything. To deprive that human being of the right to life is to violate the Fourteenth Amendment, which was added to the US Constitution following the heinous human rights violations surrounding slavery in America. By rejecting the human rights protections of the Fourteenth Amendment, abortion advocates are taking this country back to the days of slavery where one group of people could claim “ownership” (and control) over another group of people. When slaves were not considered to be full human beings, they were mutilated, raped, abused, bought and sold and sometimes even killed.  These actions were horrific evils that were eventually overturned, just as Roe vs. Wade has been overturned, in the name of human dignity and human rights. Yet today, the abortion zealots want to bring back the very same violations of human rights, claiming that doctors and mothers-to-be somehow have the right to mutilate and murder an entire group of human beings (unborn human babies) simply because they find the existence of those babies to be “inconvenient.” By this definition from Leftists, any group of people in America who find another group to be “inconvenient” must therefore — in their twisted logic — have the right to murder those they despise. This is the pro-abortion argument in a nutshell: That one group of Americans can murder another group of Americans, and that the federal government must protect this “right to murder” even though it grossly violates the rights of the individual. (This precedent will set the stage for the persecution and murder of Christians too.) Thus, overturning Roe vs. Wade was actually one of the most progressive decisions the US Supreme Court could have possibly rendered. It establishes universal human rights in America, protecting all human beings from the violence and homicide of others. More importantly, it protects the most vulnerable in society — infants that are wholly unable to defend themselves against such violence. As such, overturning Roe vs. Wade protects the ultimate minority — the minority of one.   Left-wing Luciferians oppose human rights being expanded to include those they wish to kill Never forget that the Luciferian Left claims to operate from a philosophical framework of “inclusiveness” and “tolerance,” yet their proclamations of compassion and human rights never extend to their own unborn children. Thus, they are discriminatory, not inclusive. Their “tolerance” isn't even strong enough to tolerate the life of another conscious human being that they don't wish to have around, so they demand the right to kill that individual at will. “On demand,” as they say. These are not the philosophical pillars of compassionate, empathetic, inclusive people; they are the desires of a murderous death cult that allies itself with Lucifer while rejecting Christ and God. LGBT pushers and abortion advocates are not on the side of good; they are wholly aligned with pure evil. And now, thanks to SCOTUS, we have achieved remarkable clarity on what the abortion / LGBT / grooming / pedophile Left actually stands for. They are murderers, rapists, pedophiles, groomers and demons. Their goal is the complete destruction of Christianity and anything smacking of God, which is why they also enjoy shredding Bibles. Watch the following video (profanity warning), depicting left-wing abortion advocates / Luciferians shredding a pastor's Bible while verbally mocking him: https://twitter.com/i/status/1540678347432202240 Finally, there's also video of an abortion advocate screaming about how he "loves killing babies.”   Brighteon.com/aae88741-152e-4ee8-aebb-d3884dbcbde0 (Don't forget, our job is the great commission and the good news, not just opposing evil, but offering the solution. Opposing evil while not offering a solution is ineffective.)   Civil War in the US David Eells  Something we have received in our morning prayer meeting is that the D. S. will be used by God to bring down apostate Babylonish Christianity in the U.S., especially the leadership. They will target them with fire, sword, pestilence, and famine. God uses men to chasten whom He will.  At the same time we have received that Cyrus/Trump will continue to conquer the Babylonish D.S. and bring them to justice. Many have been executed in military tribunals in 5 different locations. Since these are both true there can be but one scenario where these things can both happen; Civil War, which we are in right now. The battle is between the elite radicalized left wing globalists, mostly Democratic party, muslims, MS-13, Antifa, perverse sexual groups, Anarchists of all kinds, AND the patriotic, Christian, and right wing of the Alliance. Ken Dewey received this word called, WALLS IN AMERICA. (It is about Civil War.)   Walls in America: Civil War Coming Ken Dewey - 11/2018 (David's notes in red)  Link Here I woke up early in the morning, turning in bed I looked at the clock and it said 2:22 am. (2 is the number of division. There is a revelation in Pro 2:21-22 For the upright shall dwell in the land, And the perfect shall remain in it. 22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, And the treacherous shall be rooted out of it.) I said to myself what does that mean? I have always been aware that God speaks in numbers with special meaning in the Scripture. I got out of bed and went to prayer and this is what I heard: Look at the FIRST TWO DAYS of Creation. and see I did SEPARATE LIGHT FROM DARKNESS AND WATERS FROM THE WATERS. I SEPARATED THE LAND FROM THE FIRMAMENT AND MADE HEAVEN. I will move the two... Earth and the Heavens and I will bring awakening. I will be known by men to be THE CREATOR. Men have not believed [or wanted to believe that I exist], now I will show them MY CREATIVE POWER. I WILL SHAKE EVERYTHING THAT CAN BE SHAKEN AND THEY WILL BE FORCED TO SEE ...ME! (Earthquakes that split the country will be a part of this judgment.) See that 20 divided by two is 10, and then add the numbers 10 and 2 and you have 12. Twelve is the number for my governmental perfection. Ten is the number of completion of testing. I MOVE NOW TO BRING MEN TO SEE MY GOVERNMENT. I am the Lord and besides me there is none other. I am your only God, and I rule and none can speak or correct me, FOR I AM YOUR GOD ALONE. I WILL SOON TAKE BACK MY EARTH FROM MEN WHO HAVE TRIED TO STRIP IT FROM ME. Men have moved against me. Two, Both male and Female, and I will move to complete my work for all to see. I will reveal my reasons for making 2, male and female, and all will know the difference in my 2. SEE THAT THERE ARE NOW TWO [2] WALLS IN AMERICA. There is the Border Wall which many do not want, and then there is ANOTHER WALL BUILT RIGHT ACROSS AMERICA DIVIDING THE LAND. THE BOUNDARIES WERE PLAIN TO SEE IN RED AND BLUE. (Right and left wing) STARK; STANDING OUT IN THE VISION. THE WALL WAS PLAINLY BUILT AND MEN WOULD FIGHT OVER IT. (How ironic: The division of Right and Left is partly over the Border Wall.) ***While I heard the above words I saw a Vision and heard sounds... THIS IS WHAT I SAW AND HEARD: The sound of rumbling of War Machines, guns and bombs. I saw the Bullets flying over the DIVIDING WALL IN AMERICA as the two sides fought. I heard then the words: CIVIL WAR FOUGHT. MEN DYING, BLOOD IN THE STREETS. [This caused me to remember again the several times now I have heard the Lord speak before about Civil War coming again to America]. In the end of these words and visions I sat there knowing that we are entering right now into very dangerous days in America. The time is very short for this Nation. Americas land will never again be the same as it has been, but is changed by another Civil War. I knew that the second war was to be much worse than the first and would leave the Nation divided into parts.I have seen America ceasing to be America, as it is, and becoming a battle ground which would divide into pieces or sections. Unlike the first Civil War, this new Civil War will divide permanently men from men, land from land, and there would be separate governments arise from the aftermath.Many will arise to fight again for Freedom. They will have their place, but those fighting against Freedom will also have their place.America will never be as it has been, united again, but it will divide and be less than it has been in the past. Like the Soviet Union divided and fell, so will this Nation.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxI have spoken this Word as I have heard it. Lord help your people, who believe, to come up under you and live in the Secret Place, for there will be no safe place besides you. … Desert ProphetAs we have said this Civil War is happening and will get worse.  Looks like in Matt's dream below the Deep State demonrats are going to try for a false flag attack on the Russians again to try and start World War 3 to distract from their evil works and their election cheating and a war would make more money for the Elites.    False Flag War With Russia and Distraction  Matt Stewart - 11/12/18 (David's notes in red) The dream started like this: Several of us (Greg, Gabe, Anna, myself, and a few others I did not recognize) were in a foreign country, and none of us knew where we were, but I knew, in the Spirit, that it was Russia. We were all walking down a road towards the center of a city, and we all came to a stop. But I noticed that the road continued on towards the center of the city, and came to a round-about. In the center of the round-about was a water fountain feature. And there were cars and people walking around this round-about. Then Gabe said, “We should go to this restaurant over here.” The restaurant was off the road a little bit and to the right. (Many dreams have likened UBM to a restaurant. In Russia also there are spiritual restaurants to partake of God's Food.). Then a couple of others in the group agreed, and they all went.  I turned my body towards the restaurant to go, but then I looked down the road to the round-about and saw a column of smoke, or cloud, coming down towards the center of the city and it hit with a big explosion. The wave of shock and debris went out and I knew that the people engulfed in it were obliterated. I thought to myself, “I hope it doesn't reach out here where I'm at.” My first thought was that it was a nuclear bomb going off, but the shock wave and destruction was very small compared to a nuclear bomb, which made me think of an asteroid hitting. (Battle field nukes are much smaller and can be mounted on missiles.) Then I knew in my Spirit that the remaining people in the city were very angry and thought that the Americans did this to them. I turned and looked down the opposite way from the city. There was a fox-hole with two American military men in it. (False flag by the D.S.). One was of higher rank than the other. Then the Russians started shooting at the two Americans in the fox-hole. All of a sudden, bullets and bombs started flying by in both directions.  The Russians weren't only aiming for the Americans in the fox-hole, but even further beyond that. As I looked up from the scene of the two Americans in the fox-hole and looked beyond them, I could see land of distant countries being shot at by the Russians and they were shooting back. (This appears to be what has happened before; A false flag by the D.S. to start a war between Russia and the west. This is the elite attempting to make money on the war because Trump has been drying up their income. Also to distract from their dirty deads and the theft of the elections.) Then I continued on into the restaurant, but took one look towards the city to see the destruction, but there was no destruction. Then I realized I must have just seen a vision of something to come. I asked the Lord for a word by faith at random for the over all dream and received: Nah 1:6 Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken asunder by him. 7 Jehovah is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that take refuge in him. 8 But with an over-running flood he will make a full end of her place, and will pursue his enemies into darkness We received by faith at random this parable of Civil War in the U.S. on 11/11/18. The full story is in chapters 19-21 in Judges. The portion  received was about the conquering of the perverse left wing. This is at least the second time recently that we have received this. It is the story of the tribe of Benjamin who defended perversion in the form of gang raping a defenseless woman in their midst much like the satanic D.S.  are known for doing to men, women, and children.  The Democratic party has defended and taken part is this like Benjamin did and factioned against Israel who stood against this perversion to both of their destructions. The right wing had a set back but ultimately wiped out Benjamin. - Jud 20:43-46 They inclosed the Benjamites round about, and chased them, and trod them down at their resting-place, as far as over against Gibeah toward the sunrising. 44 And there fell of Benjamin eighteen thousand men; all these were men of valor.  45 And they turned and fled toward the wilderness unto the rock of Rimmon: and they gleaned of them in the highways five thousand men, and followed hard after them unto Gidom, and smote of them two thousand men. 46 So that all who fell that day of Benjamin were twenty and five thousand men that drew the sword; all these were men of valor. So all Israel set an ambush much as the Trumpites have done to the perverse left wing in watching them cheat, steal, and rape, while gathering proof for the tribunals. Benjamin was taken down to 600 men and was almost extinguished as a tribe, which will happen to the D.S. American Civil War Marilyn Klinke - 07/28/09 (David's notes in red) In the dream, a Godly sister in Christ and I were at some train tracks, watching young men board the trains. The young men were dressed in American Civil War uniforms and going off to war. The sister and I implored them not to go, telling them that this war would not be good and that brother would end up fighting brother. No one would heed our tearful pleas; they just kept boarding the trains.  I noticed that, in addition to each soldier carrying a rifle, they also had a small pack or tray of seedling vegetables, like you plant in your garden in the spring. I understood the part of the dream about civil war coming, but was puzzled over the seedling vegetable plants. I felt that somehow the plants represented in some way the disruption of food or crops because of the civil war, but after praying I also thought that they might indicate that the war would start in the spring. Perhaps this dream has some relevance to the events we see coming to pass now. (The second seal in Rev. 6:3-4 is war and the third seal in Rev. 6:5-6 is famine.)  Civil War in the US Kenneth R. Atnip, Sr. - 12/18/2010 (David's notes in Red) My 16-year-old daughter, Maryann, had a dream a few days ago. She dreamed of civil war against the…government. The scene was very chaotic and those in rebellion to the government were going house to house forcing any and all men to join with them. Many of us Christians were in hiding, not willing to join in a rebellion against the government. (The right-wing will be a threat against Christians, too, who will not kill. Although Christians will not agree with the government they will obey Jesus and not take up arms to kill them. He has others without Biblical convictions to do that.) She awoke in the middle of the night with a strong taste of blood in her mouth. Her 13-year-old sister, Aimee, woke up as well and immediately asked her what was wrong. The 16-year-old said that she had the taste of blood in her mouth to which the 13-year-old asked, "Were you dreaming of war?" Somehow she knew that she was dreaming of war. Last November my three-year-old son, Jeremiah, slept with Mom and Dad. He awoke at 5:30 AM yelling, "War is coming ... people are dying ... people are crying to God". He has no idea what these things are. It woke me out of a dead sleep and I sat up and looked at him. He was wide awake and started telling of hearing a noise: "pop, pop, pop", he kept repeating. All day he kept talking about big balloons coming and looking out the window. He said, "Maybe they won't come; maybe they will pop". (This will become a shooting war.) Should we Die by the Sword or the Cross? David Eells I want to preface what I am about to say with this:  I am in agreement with Cyrus/Trump conquering Babylon and bringing an end to its extreme criminality. But when this turns into a Civil War I do not agree Christians should disobey Jesus and fight with flesh and blood which we are commanded not to do. We should leave this up to those who are doing this. Our Kingdom is not of this world.  We are called to bring as many people as possible from both sides into the Kingdom of God and eternal life. Those who disobey our Kingdom will not be a part of it. Please be very patient with me and I will share something that just may save your physical and eternal life. If you are not willing to believe only what the scriptures say concerning your relationship to this evil world and its God-ordained plan in your life, don't waste your time reading this. When Peter used the sword to keep Jesus from going to the cross, He said, "All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword". Even though the true saints will not agree with much that is about to happen in this world, they will not take "the sword" of man and break their covenant with God as the apostates and their leadership will. God's plan for His people is demonstrated by Jesus. (Jn.12:23) And Jesus answereth them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. (24) Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit. (25) He that loveth his life loseth it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. (26) If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will the Father honor. As Jesus was a seed sown in the dirt of this earth, so must we be. The wicked of this world are the dirt that puts to death the fleshly husk of the seed so that the inner life may come forth and bear fruit. As a lamb does not struggle with a wolf, the seed does not struggle with the dirt but permits it to fulfill its purpose. (Lk.10:3)...I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves. In God's plan wolves devour the flesh of the lambs. He uses the wicked to chasten His children. (2Sam.7:14) I will be his father, and he shall be my son: if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men. (2Cor.4:11) For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (16) Wherefore we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day. (17) For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory. The glory of God will be manifested in those who will "resist not him that is evil" but will "turn the other cheek" and permit the dirt to do its job. No one else can drive the nails, friend. You are unable to do it and other Christians shouldn't do it.  It is God's plan to use the harlot and the beast to crucify our old man. (Acts 2:23) [H]im (Jesus), being delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay. (4:27) [F]or of a truth in this city against thy holy Servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, were gathered together, (28) to do whatsoever thy hand and thy council foreordained to come to pass. Through death to self at their hands, the world will see Jesus in us and we will be enabled to fulfill the great commission. (1Pet.4:1) Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; (2) that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. In the days when God's people were ruled over by the Roman beast it was written: (Rom.13:1) Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; and the [powers] that be are ordained of God. (2) Therefore he that resisteth the power, withstandeth the ordinance of God: and they that withstand shall receive to themselves judgment. Though Christians are forbidden to take the mark and image of the beast, they are also forbidden to take up arms against secular nations over them. This puts the people of God in a position of weakness like Jesus when He submitted to His cross instead of fighting. Using Babylon and her king as a type of the U.S. and her President, God warned his people to submit to her as far as secular matters go. “Obey every ordinance of man for the Lords sake” (Jer.27:5) I have made the earth, the men and the beasts that are upon the face of the earth, by my great power and by my outstretched arm; and I give it unto whom it seemeth right unto me. (6) And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant.... (7) And all the nations shall serve him.... (8) And it shall come to pass, that the nation and the kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. (Notice that DS Babylon has sent these three things against God's people and is killing many.) (9) But as for you (Christians), hearken ye not to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreams, nor to your soothsayers, nor to your sorcerers, that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon: (10) for they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land, and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.... (12) And I spake to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. (13) Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord hath spoken concerning the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon? (14) And hearken not unto the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon; for they prophesy a lie unto you. (15) For I have not sent them, saith the Lord, but they prophesy falsely in my name; that I may drive you out, and that ye may perish, ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you. Fear this warning and do not listen to false prophets who come as patriots to stir up Christians to rebel against this country. Those who do, God will destroy by the hand of this government. In this way God will cleanse His body of those that refuse to obey and go to their cross. Jesus said, "Love your enemies", not shoot them, and "turn the other cheek", not make war on them. That's what those concentration camps are for, friends. They are expecting and waiting for Christians to "take the sword". Our Lord said, "All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword". I am certainly not excusing the government's actions in any of this. God will bring the U.S. against His people and their apostate leaders because they have ignored His covenant. (Hos.8:1) [Set] the trumpet to thy mouth. As an eagle [he cometh] against the house of the Lord, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law. (2) They shall cry unto me, My God, we Israel know thee. (3) Israel hath cast off that which is good: the enemy shall pursue him. (4) They have set up kings, but not by me; they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. In the days of Jesus we see this same type in these days. The apostate people of God were in bondage to the Roman beast for their rebellion against the Word. These stiff-necked people of God were in constant revolution against the Romans and paying a great penalty for it. (Mk.15:6) Now at the feast he used to release unto them one prisoner, whom they asked of him. (7) And there was one called Barabbas, [lying] bound with them that had made insurrection (revolution), men who in the insurrection had committed murder. (8) And the multitude went up and began to ask him [to do] as he was wont to do unto them. (9) And Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? (10) For he perceived that for envy the chief priests had delivered him up. (11) But the chief priests stirred up the multitude, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. (Jn.18:40) They cried out therefore again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. Notice that Barabbas and many with him were in prison for making a revolution against the Romans. Jesus suffered in the place of this Jewish patriot. In like manner the true body of Christ will suffer innocently because of "Christian" patriots who will revolt against the U.S./U.N. beast. In another type, Barabbas was chosen out of all the Jews that were in prison with him to be released. Barabbas means "son of the father". Because Jesus went to the cross, a remnant of these people who truly are "sons of the Father" will be forgiven and saved. Militant patriots do not understand what the Holy Spirit showed in this text, that killing Romans or Americans is "murder" and that those who steal from them are "robbers". Remember, God did not defend almost 1000 very religious patriots whom the Romans destroyed. In 66 A.D. when the Jews rebelled against the Romans, they captured this mountain 1000 meters above the Judean wilderness. In a well-supplied, seemingly impregnable fortress, the Jews attempted for seven years to hold out against the Roman beast. In a clear type, all but a remnant of seven committed suicide and brought an end to the worldly state of Israel. "Christian" rebels in our day will, in effect, commit suicide by fighting against the beast and bring an end to the worldly state of the Church.  Jesus gave us permission to "flee" like sheep before the wolves, but not to fight in the flesh as wolves. (Mt.10:16) Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. (23) But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone through the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. Notice that this persecution will spread the Word through the cities of God's people and He will come. Praise His Name!   Every beast kingdom was raised up by God to chasten and bring into bondage and crucifixion His rebellious people and so it will be with the Babylon of our day. Our warfare is not with flesh and blood men but with the demon principalities and powers that rule them (Eph.6:12). (Mt.5:38) Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: (39) but I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. (Jas.4:7)...resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Many will fight to keep from going into captivity but only God determines if one needs this for their maturing. (Rev.13:9) If any man hath an ear, let him hear. (10) If any man [is] for captivity, into captivity he goeth: if any man shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Only God gives authority to the beast to bring His people into bondage or death.  Not only can God protect those who are mature but He can also give rest to those who need to submit to their cross. (Jn.19:11) Jesus answered him, Thou wouldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above. Like our Lord, we are to receive everything as from God and leave retaliation up to Him. (Rom.12:17) Render to no man evil for evil. Take thought for things honorable in the sight of all men. (18) If it be possible, as much as in you lieth, be at peace with all men. (19) Avenge not yourselves, beloved, but give place unto the wrath [of God]: for it is written, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord. (20) But if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him to drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head. (21) Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. Our old man wants to live by defending self and retaliating, but our obedience to these commands crucifies that carnal nature in us. Satan seeks through well-meaning people to keep us from this cross. (Mt.16:21) From that time began Jesus to show unto his disciples, that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up. (22) And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall never be unto thee. (23) But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art a stumbling-block unto me: for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men. Notice that Peter, by the spirit of Satan was a stumbling block by trying to dissuade Jesus from going to His cross. Peter later took the sword, to try to enforce his way and again met with rebuke. (24) Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (25) For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.  Even when we are at our best, the hidden carnal nature must be crucified. (1Pet.2:20) For what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffeted [for it], ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer [for it], ye shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. (21) For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps: (22) who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: (23) who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committed [himself] to him that judgeth righteously. What could be clearer? We are to follow in Jesus' steps by cooperating with God's process of using the harlot religious system and the beast kingdom to bring us to the cross. We are not to resist them by force. The laws of our kingdom do not permit us to fight in the flesh to escape captivity. (Jn.18:36) Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. In the days leading up to a civil war in the midst of the One World Order, many will stand up against the U.S. as the king of the South.  Included among these are some of God's people who will try to impose their vision of the kingdom of God in the U.S. by violent methods, but they will be killed. (Dan.11:14) And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of the south: also the children of the violent among thy people shall lift themselves up to establish the vision; but they shall fall. God will not permit fleshly methods to have any success so that His people learn to walk in the Spirit. (12:7)...[I]t shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when they have made an end of breaking in pieces the power of (self in) the holy people, all these things shall be finished. Notice that our temptation to use our own power must be crucified. (Zec.4:6)...Not by (our) might, nor by (our) power, but by my Spirit, saith Lord of hosts.  War is of the world and is motivated by lust, not God. (Jas.4:1) Whence [come] wars and whence [come] fightings among you? [come they] not hence, [even] of your pleasures that war in your members? (2) Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and covet, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war; ye have not, because ye ask not. Those who join with the world to make war on their enemies are enemies of the cross and of God. (4) Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God. Much more on this subject Here: https://www.ubm1.org/?page=swordorcross  We do have a spiritual warfare to accomplish.  Jesus gave us authority over the principalities and powers and rulers of this darkness and this is the only way this battle is won. Luk 10:19  Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you.  Rev 12 tells us the saints won this battle with the dragon, who is the devil and the god of Babylon, in the heavenlies. Rev 12:7-12  And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going forth to war with the dragon; and the dragon warred and his angels;  8  and they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.  9  And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.  10  And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuseth them before our God day and night.  11  And they (The saints) overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.  12  Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe for the earth and for the sea: because the devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time. (Then comes the war against the saints in Rev.13.)   Select Language Afrikaans Albanian Amharic Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Basque Belarusian Bengali Bosnian Bulgarian Catalan Cebuano Chichewa Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Corsican Croatian Czech Danish Dutch Esperanto Estonian Filipino Finnish French Frisian Galician Georgian German Greek Gujarati Haitian Creole Hausa Hawaiian Hebrew Hindi Hmong Hungarian Icelandic Igbo Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Javanese Kannada Kazakh Khmer Kinyarwanda Korean Kurdish (Kurmanji) Kyrgyz Lao Latin Latvian Lithuanian Luxembourgish Macedonian Malagasy Malay Malayalam Maltese Maori Marathi Mongolian Myanmar (Burmese) Nepali Norwegian Odia (Oriya) Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Romanian Russian Samoan Scots Gaelic Serbian Sesotho Shona Sindhi Sinhala Slovak Slovenian Somali Spanish Sundanese Swahili Swedish Tajik Tamil Tatar Telugu Thai Turkish Turkmen Ukrainian Urdu Uyghur Uzbek Vietnamese Welsh Xhosa Yiddish Yoruba Zulu Powered by Translate Printer-friendly version

Trials and Tribulations - not only common in Toy Story but, yes, something similar. In the lives of all people there are trials. In the world of Christians, these trials are tribulations and they happen every day. Only Christians can endure tribulations because of Christ. The greatest tribulation in the world is.....the WORLD. Being persecuted for thoughts, opinions, movements against popular culture and self-centered, narcissistic legislation that goes in the face of god's Word. Like Lydia, in Acts 16, Christians cannot bed the knee to freedoms offered by legislation that fly in the face of God's Word. You cannot serve two masters. Lear how Christ is your peace in these trials and tribulations.

Message: The Letter to the Hebrews Text: Hebrews 9:15-22 Testament and testator is the same as our last will and testament. Old Testament law, before that the Passover, before that God used an animal to cover Adam and Eve's sin. Death is the consequence of sin and death is the payment for sin. Blood is not the issue. An animal couldn't just be injured for the blood, it had to die. Blood that leads to death is the payment for sin. We must never forget: good is not the issue, bad is the issue. In an unexpected twist, Satan wants good to be the issue. In a very superficial way, he wants you to do good in order to not think about the bad. Only Christians teach that God is reaching down to man. Everyone else tends toward man reaching up to God. John 20:27 NIV

What is going on in America? Are we turning into a dictatorship nation?  Do not undermine my authority. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. American workers, many of them are being extorted and held hostage by this covid shot mandate. There being force because many workers want to take care of their families. So what about their constitutional rights, which have been violated, which is also discrimination. Reality: A person can respect the position but does not respect the person that's reality. Satan is using leaders elected leaders for his destruction of America. But Jesus defeated Satan AND WILL defeat him again. What makes it OK for a woman to say my body my rights in kill an unborn child so why is it not okay for a person to say my life my rights in refused to get of Covid shot, and don't say that is different because both issues are dealing with rights in the life of others. A man has no say, so if a woman chooses to get an abortion, but he may want to keep the child, grandparents have no voice, so if a woman wants an abortion, they would like to have grandkids. This list can go on. But my religious beliefs as an American citizen are being threatened taken away from me because I do not want to get a covid shot to lose my job. Is that American justice just asking? Yes, COVID is real. I know I had it, but I believe in the healing power of Jesus Christ. Read plasm 91.  To my understanding, you have the Department of Justice wants to try to file suit against Texas because they upheld the law by making abortion illegal.  I wonder what God's word says about abortion: I know in the book of proverbs it says speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves for the rights of all who are dissolute speak up and judge pretty defend the rights of the poor and the needy in this proverbs 31 verses 8 through 9. No, I'm not the most intelligent person in the world, but I'm smart enough to know the unborn child could not speak for themselves think about that. I also have another question is our leaders directly or indirectly helping to promote terrorism within our nation? I'm just asking this question because I genuinely don't know but looking at what's going on here and now, I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering this. OK, now let's get back to the subject of abortion. The Bible never specifically addressed abortion; however, there are numerous teachings in the scripture that make it abundantly clear what God's view of abortion is. Jeremiah 15 tells us that God knows us before he forms us in the womb. Psalms 139 verse 13 through 16 speaks of God's active role in our creation then the formation in the womb verse 22 through 25 prescribed the same penalty is death for someone who causes the end of a baby in the womb yes for someone who commits murder. Now to me, this indicates that God considers a baby in the womb to be just as much of a human being as a fully grown adult such as you and me I. for a person that believes in Christ, a Christian abortion is not a matter of a woman right to choose it is a matter of life and death of a human being made in God's image Genesis 1 verse 26 and 27 Genesis 9 verse 6, now put what does the Bible say about abortion put abortion is murder it is the killing of a human being who has created an image of God. Are the American people living in a state of terror? Afraid that they may lose their job being a federal or government job if they refuse to get the covid shot or afraid to get kicked off an NFL team or they refuse to get the Covid picture, what about the rights of the American people. Something else is shocking to me. Why would anyone want to use the legacy of a deceased person to get what they want, be they a politician or just a regular Joe on Streets? Why would you want to use a dead person for your gain? It appears that particular politician is throwing the US constitution out the window for their self-interest, not America inserts interest their self-interest. Just look around America. We live in the signs of the time, whether you choose to believe it or not your choice.  I believe that there are many warnings in the Bible about the power of the government taking over or, let me say, the increasing government control. Yes, as Christians, we are to obey the laws of the land, but if the land laws go against God's laws, Bing will not follow. I want to clarify that this is not any form of rebellion, nor is this a political podcast. This is Christian freedom. The Bible states emphatically in Galatians 5:1 that believers are free in Christ: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1). Before Jesus died on a cross, God's people lived under a complicated system of laws that served as a moral compass to guide their lives. The Law, while powerless to grant salvation or produce true freedom, nevertheless pointed the way to Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:19–24). Through His sacrificial death, Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law, setting believers free from the law of sin and death. God's laws are now written in our hearts through the Spirit of God, and we are free to follow and serve Christ in ways that please and glorify Him (Romans 8:2–8). In a nutshell, this is the definition of Christian freedom. An essential aspect of Christian freedom is our responsibility not to return to living under the Law. The apostle Paul compared this to slavery: “Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). Continuing to live under the Law after salvation is merely a legalistic form of religion. We cannot earn righteousness through the Law; instead, the Law's purpose was to define our sin and show our need for a Savior. Christian freedom involves living not under the burdensome obligations of the Law but God's grace: “For sin shall no longer be your master because you are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14). In Christ, we are free from the Law's oppressive system, we are free from the penalty of sin, and we are free from the power of sin. Christian freedom is not a license to sin. We are free in Christ but not free to live however we want, indulging the flesh: “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13, NLT). Believers aren't free to sin but free to live holy lives in Christ. Christian freedom is one of the many paradoxes of the Christian faith. True freedom means willingly becoming a slave to Christ, which happens through a relationship with Him (Colossians 2:16–17). In Romans 6, Paul explains that when a believer accepts Christ, they are baptized by the Spirit into Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. At that moment, the believer ceases to be a slave to sin and becomes a servant of righteousness: “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:17–18, ESV). Only Christians know true freedom: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). But what does Christian liberty look like in a practical sense? What are we free to do and not do? What can we watch on TV? What can we eat and drink? What can we wear to the beach? What about smoking and drinking? Are there limits to Christian freedom? In 1 Corinthians 10, the apostle Paul gives a practical illustration of Christian freedom: “‘Everything is permissible—but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his good, but the good of others” (1 Corinthians 10:23–24, NIV84). In writing to the church in Corinth, Paul mentions members attending meals in pagan temples, just as they had done before receiving Christ. They felt free to continue participating because they thought these festivals were merely a normal part of the social culture, and they didn't see their actions as pagan worship. Paul laid out several warnings, reminding the Corinthians of Israel's dangerous flirtation with idolatry in the Old Testament. Then he handled the practical concern of eating meat that had been sacrificed to idols. “Everything is permissible,” the Corinthians were saying. True, Paul says; Christians have a great deal of freedom in Christ. However, not everything is beneficial or constructive. Our freedom in Christ must be balanced by a desire to build up and benefit others. When deciding how to exercise our Christian freedom, we ought to seek the good of others before our good. In Judaism, restrictions were placed on purchasing meats in the market. Jews could only buy and eat kosher meats. Paul said believers were free in Christ to buy and eat any meat (1 Corinthians 10:25–26). However, if meat sacrificed to idols came up, believers were to follow a higher law. Love is what limits Christian freedom. Later in the chapter, Paul wrote about eating meat as a guest in someone's home. Christians are free to eat whatever they are served without questions of conscience (1 Corinthians 10:27). But, if someone brings up that the meat has been offered to an idol, it is better not to eat it for the sake of the person who raised the issue of conscience (verse 28). While believers have the freedom to eat the meat, they are compelled to consider what's best for those who are observing their behavior. Romans 14:1–13 raises a key determiner in understanding the limits of Christian freedom. In the passage, Paul again brings up eating meat sacrificed to idols and observing certain holy days. Some believers felt freedom in Christ in these areas, while others did not, and their differing perspectives were causing quarrels and disunity. Paul emphasized that unity and love in the body of Christ are more important than anyone's convictions or Christian liberty: “Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister” (Romans 14:13). Essentially, Paul's message to the New Testament believers and us today is this: even if we believe we are right and have Christian freedom in an area,[sPause sec=2.6 ePause] if our actions will cause another brother or sister to stumble in his or her faith, we are to refrain out of love. Paul spoke again of the matter in 1 Corinthians 8:7–9: “Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food, they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near God; we are no worse if we do not eat and no better if we do. Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak.” The issue in New Testament times was eating meat offered to idols; today, other “gray areas” arise in our Christian walk. Romans 14:1 calls these “disputable matters,” areas where the Bible does not give clear-cut guidelines on whether a behavior is a sin. When faced with gray areas, we can rely on two guiding principles to regulate our Christian freedom: let love for others compel us not to cause anyone to stumble and let our desire to glorify God be our all-encompassing motive (1 Corinthians 10:31). [sPause sec=2.6 ePause]

Philadelphia is known as the “City of Brotherly Love.” The motto references the Greek word phileo which means “brotherly love” or the love between friends. Christians revolutionized the way this term was used. In Paul’s day, the word was used only to reference actual family relationships. Only Christians called one another “brother” or “sister” when it wasn’t literally true. Loving one another is an essential part of Christian discipleship and pleasing the Lord. One might say that living to please the Lord is the vertical dimension of the greatest commandment while loving one another is the horizontal dimension (see Matt. 22:37–39). In yesterday’s reading, sexual immorality was condemned as sinful in part because it involved harming a brother or sister in Christ (1 Thess. 4:6). In other words, Christian love is our best defense against the temptation to give in to lust and other selfish desires. Paul encouraged the Thessalonians by recognizing that they’d been doing very well in the area of loving one another (vv. 9–10). In fact, they had earned a reputation throughout the region for this virtue (see 1 Thess. 1:8). Since Paul and his team had been forced to leave, the apostle concluded that the young church had been “taught by God” Himself! God would accomplish His will for the Thessalonians despite pagan hostility and persecution and despite the absence of His chosen missionaries. So they could now rest on their laurels, right? No.  As is true so often in the Christian life, the reward for faithfulness is more opportunities to be faithful. So Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to grow “more and more” in love (v. 10). We’ve already noted that sanctification is progressive—spiritual growth should be ongoing! >> Today, identify a specific act of Christian love that you can do for a specific brother or sister in Christ. If you’re unsure, pray about who and what. Then, make plans to act on it!

Shows Main Idea – The most authentic and best possible communication that you can have with someone is when you're sharing your most precious treasure with them, and they are reciprocating. Only Christians can have this depth of communication because you must be alive—not dead—in Christ to walk in this type of light, power, and gifts. Show Notes: https://rickthomas.net/podcast/ep-320-how-to-enjoy-the-best-possible-communication-with-someone/ Will you help us so we can continue to provide free content to the world? You can become a supporting member here rickthomas.net/recurring-membership/ Or you can make a one-time or recurring donation(s) here https://rickthomas.net/donations/

Who recognizes that Christ is all and in all? Only Christians. To be a Christian you have to come to the point where Christ is everything when it comes to salvation, to the purpose of life. But what does it mean that Christ is all and how do we live as if Christ were all? Let Spurgeon disciple you in Christ-centered living.

Only Christians can have true peace. True peace is a promise from Jesus who is the Christ. John 14: 27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. Our peace is rooted and grounded in who He is, and flowing from Him, His promises. Because He is the God who is present, we know we are safe from pestilence, and even when we see events we would never have believed we would see, “though the earth should change, And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;” We can also confess: Psalm 46:20 “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah. What a glory that God has condescended to reveal to us He is Yahweh-Shammah, our God who is present! As you young people say, we have a new “outro” and praying the Lord will expand our prayer community. freerangeprayer@gmail.com Facebook - Free Range Preacher Ministries Instagram: freerangeministries twitter @PreacherRange Cover Art by All our Scripture quotes are drawn from the NASB 1977 edition. For access to the Voice Over services of Richard Durrington, please visit RichardDurrington.com or email him at Durringtonr@gmail.com Our podcast art designed by @sammmmmmmmm23 Instagram

Rev. David Appold, pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Paducah, KY, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Only Christians have true comfort in the face of death. While those who do not trust in Christ for salvation may attempt to avoid the subject of death or write it off as just another part of life, Christians grieve as those who have hope. Such grief acknowledges death as an enemy Christ has defeated. His death and resurrection have established His reign over all things and all people, even those who have died. For that reason, St. Paul writes with confidence to the Thessalonians that those who have died before Christ’s return are not apart from His care. That will be made plain on the Last Day, when Christ returns. He will descend bodily and visibly, commanding the dead to rise from their graves. The voice of an archangel and the sound of God’s trumpet will ring forth. The dead in Christ will rise first, and then those Christians who are alive at the time will meet Jesus in the clouds together with Him, The upshot is beautifully simple: we will always be with the Lord. This pure doctrine concerning Christ’s return and the resurrection of the body is the source of great comfort for all Christians.

Original Broadcast: September 2008 Monthly Theme: Stewardship To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life ... and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24) Old and New St. Paul writes to the Ephesians that we should put off the old self and put on the new self. All this is done through the renewal in the spirit of our minds. What does this have to do with stewardship? Christian stewardship can only be done by those who have been renewed in their minds by the Holy Spirit. Only Christians can properly practice stewardship. But there is no "cookie-cutter" approach to Christian stewardship that works for everyone. Stewardship is a discipline that can be done by any Christian, regardless of our spiritual maturity. In fact, stewardship is one of the best ways to grow spiritually. By modeling our Savior's stewardship from the Gospels, we can learn more clearly the benefits of stewardship for our faith. Seeing that purpose for stewardship, we see that there should be no stewardship program that appeals to our sinful nature. Every stewardship program should be aimed at every Christian's spiritual growth, striving to better emulate the true righteousness and holiness that is the image of God in which we've been re-created. Amen.

Genesis 1:26-28—A Christian View of Earth Day Lesson 1: We can find __________ __________ with every person we want to evangelize to. (Acts 17:22-28) Lesson 2: The dominion mandate implies that we are ___________ of God’s ____________. (Gen. 1:26-28) Lesson 3: Only Christians have a __________ __________________ for protecting the environment. (Prov. 1:7, Col. 2:3, 1 Tim. 6:20, Ps. 36:9) Family Worship Guide Memory Verses: John 10:27-30 Day 1: Read Acts 17:16-34 and discuss: What is Earth Day and should Christians celebrate it? Why or Why not? What Scriptures support your answer? Day 2: Read Acts 17:16-34 and discuss: What common ground exists between a Christian and someone who observes Earth Day? What Scriptures support the common ground that exists? Day 3: Read Acts 17:16-34 and discuss: What are the implications of Earth Day and the philosophy of those who observe it? How could you steer the conversation towards the gospel?

WWCHNT IS BACK! With an epic season ahead of us we start with the top 5 things ONLY Christians say, along with an "in or out" segment. Enjoy!

Only Christians would think to find strength by meditating on the death of their leader.

Only Christians would think to find strength by meditating on the death of their leader.

We live in a world of despair, depression, unfulfillment, and dissatisfaction. Man defines happiness as an attitude of satisfaction and delight based upon present circumstances. He relates happiness to happenstance. He regards it as something that can't be planned or programmed. Biblical joy, on the other hand, consists of the deep and abiding confidence that all is well, regardless of the circumstance and difficulty. It is the opposite of worldly happiness. Real joy is always related to God and belongs only to those who are in Christ. It is the permanent possession of every believer. The Bible says that it is the joy of the Lord that is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). A good analogy of joy is this: it's the flag that flies on the castle of the heart when the King is in residence. Only Christians can know this kind of true and lasting joy. Christian joy is a gift from God to those who believe the gospel. This Sunday I start our new series on Walking in the Joy of the Lord from the book of Philippians.