“The idea of the free man in God has always been terrifying to tyrants” – Billy Graham

“The idea of the free man in God has always been terrifying to tyrants, and that is why religious liberty is being curtailed in so many parts of the world today.  Give people the Bible and freedom to proclaim its message, and they will soon be free.” – Quote from Billy Graham speech, “Will America Survive” speech on New Years Eve, 1975.

America has been under the influence of political tyrants, especially over the last eight years under the Obama regime.  The fact that America voted against the tyrannical, socialist, pro-Islamic radicalism, immoral, deceiving, Christian-hating and liberty stealing agenda of the Democrats on November 8, 2016 shows that despite the overwhelming support by the media-of-mass-deception for Hillary Clinton, the public was not fooled.  Millions of Americans saw the awful truth about her via social media, online news sites and blogs (especially through Wikileaks and Project Veritas) , and made their decisions in the voting booth to be sure that the Clintons never attain any leadership position in the White House ever again!

One of the latest posts over at The Last Refuge blog shares a video and commentary about Hillary Clinton’s first public appearance since losing the election.

There are hundreds of comments there, but I wanted to focus on a few that I found quite telling.

First, I will share my reaction after viewing the video.

christinewjc says:

November 17, 2016 at 8:14 am

I watched the video hours ago, but if I recall correctly didn’t the woman who introduced Hillary claim that she has known her for 45 years? Does that mean that she only knows the public image (and obviously fake image) or does she also know all about the crime family side of the Clintons?
With all the evidence of corruption and deceit that was exposed by Wikileaks and Project Veritas, how could a woman who runs a children’s charity ever think that HilLIARy would be suitable as president?
Does anyone know whether or not the disgusting pedo island child abuse ring will ever be completely exposed and participants prosecuted? Is that investigation still ongoing?
How could any woman ever think that Hillary isn’t evil?
I continue to thank God each day that America was saved from the evil of the Clintons! I pray that they will now remain in the dustbin of history.

Then, there was this comment:

JoD says:

November 17, 2016 at 8:20 am

She might have just launched HER new campaign….
Beaten down and emotionally broken….Time for a Pardon!!
Please explain:
If she didn’t do ANYTHING wrong, why does she even need a pardon…hmmm?

My reply:

christinewjc says:

November 17, 2016 at 9:18 am

That is an excellent point JoD! Why did Jesse Jackson need to get behind a podium and say that 0bummer should pardon her…if she didn’t do anything wrong? Answer: They KNOW about all of her criminal activity (some of which has been exposed online but not all of it by the media of mass deception) and they are all probably scared that once Trump gets into office, she will be prosecuted.

Next this commenter makes a good point:

Phil aka Felipe says:

November 17, 2016 at 8:43 am

Children’s Defense Fund? She’s what the children needed a defense against. Thank God, He provided Trump to Defend The Children – from her!

My reply:

christinewjc says:

November 17, 2016 at 9:49 am

Agree totally with your comment! Anyone who supports partial birth abortion when a baby in the womb is pulled out of the mother’s body except for the head and then killed with scissors cutting at the back of the neck isn’t a “defender” of children!

Next, these comments stuck out in my mind as apropos for discussion here at Talk Wisdom.

North Wind says:

November 17, 2016 at 8:51 am

If Hill and Bill are connected to the pedophile ring uncovered in wikileaks, then this whole speechifying thing by Hillary is totally sick and twisted!!!

She may or not get her just desserts here on Earth, but I guarantee you, she’ll get them after death (only God knows a person’s heart, to be sure, but I can find no evidence that she belongs to Jesus).



Phil aka Felipe says:

November 17, 2016 at 9:42 am

“I can find no evidence that she belongs to Jesus”.
He is the good shepherd. His sheep hear His voice and He knows them and calls them by name and they know Him and follow Him.

The voice of another they will not follow because they are a stranger or a hireling or a thief or a robber. The thief comes to steal or to kill or destroy. Hirelings care not for the sheep. John chapter 10.

The fruit is evidence of who she follows and those that follow her indicate they are not His.

The FACT that Hillary Clinton’s hatred towards God was very evident when a woman at an event had to stumble over the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance and then ended up eliminating it from the Pledge that day, tells us where Hillary stands regarding God.

My reply to Phil aka Felipe:

November 17, 2016 at 10:04 am

So true Phil aka Felipe! Her hatred of Christians has been very evident for most of her life. She labeled us as being in a “basket of deplorables.” The term “deplorable” is an adjective, not a noun!

adjective
1.
causing or being a subject for grief or regret; lamentable:
the deplorable death of a friend.
2.
causing or being a subject for censure, reproach, or disapproval; wretched; very bad:
This room is in deplorable order. You have deplorable manners!

Word Origin and History for de-plor-a-ble
adj.
1610s; see deplore + -able. Perhaps from French déplorable or directly from Late Latin deplorabilis. Johnson (mid-18c.) noted the weakened colloquial use of the word for “very bad.” Related: Deplorably.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

She is a deplorable person! Her attitude during her entire life has obviously rejected the saving power and grace of Jesus Christ our Lord. And, she hates those who are born again in Christ and follow Him.
She is part of “the world.”

Jesus warned and told us:

Jhn 15:18

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
Read all of John 15:18 – 25.*

There are those who will forever refuse the redemption offered by Christ. All we can do is continue to share the Gospel. Those who reject it, we have to be willing to “shake the dust from our sandals” and say, “so be it.”

Mat 13:40

“Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age.

Mat 13:49

“So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just,

Mat 13:50

“and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

 

Now that Donald Trump is our President-Elect and Mike Pence is our Vice-President Elect, we need to keep them and their families covered in prayer.  We need to pray for those chosen to be in his Cabinet and all who will be given positions in our federal government.  We need to pray that the Supreme Court justices chosen will uphold our U.S. Constitution (especially freedom of religion, freedom of speech, life, liberty, association, and the pursuit of happiness for all – even those babies in the womb) and make decisions accordingly.  Prayers for protection, prayers for them to keep their campaign promises to We The People, and prayers that their solutions to the problems here at home and around the world will be successful.

*Jhn 15:18

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.

Jhn 15:19

“If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Jhn 15:20

“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

Jhn 15:21

“But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.

Jhn 15:22

“If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin.

Jhn 15:23

“He who hates Me hates My Father also.

Jhn 15:24

“If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father.

Jhn 15:25

“But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’[fn]

Jhn 15:26

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.

Jhn 15:27

“And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

*******

Hat tips to all links.

Christians Must Pray and Act

I’m reminded of that old metaphorical statement “praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.” We have to do both—pray and act. We have to pray like crazy for God to intervene in this country and break us. Incidentally, I also think if we’re going to see a spiritual change in this country, I believe it will happen through our young people.

I was with a bunch of young people yesterday and I was reminding them that all of the Great Awakenings, including the beginning of the modern mission movement, started among young people. One girl said, “I told God the answer is ‘yes.’ I don’t even know what the questions are, but whatever You want me to do, the answer is ‘yes.’” So I believe we need to pray with all of our hearts that God will do a work in our churches and especially in our youth. And while we’re all doing that, we don’t want to sit on our hands and not do the other things that we can do, such as vote, and try to have an informed vote based upon the issues that we know will really matter. So we have to praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

– Dr. David Jeremiah in BGEA Decision Magazine’s 2016 Electoral Guide

Readers may recall that in my former post entitled, Stuck In The Middle With You I had encouraged voters to order the free Decision magazine issue that presents 2016 Election information when considering our choice this November regarding, “Two Visions, Two Americas.”

If you didn’t order the magazine yet, the good news is that the Electoral guide with complete articles are now online!

This morning, I finally finished reading all of the articles. They are very informative and I think they will help readers make the best decisions regarding this upcoming election.

I suggest reading all of the articles at Billy Graham’s website. Each reader can decide which article to read first. I chose to read The Party Platforms and then the Where The Candidates Stand report. As I saw the striking differences between the Democratic vs. Republican platforms, I thought to myself that as a Christian first, wife, mother and grandmother second, Conservative third, and registered Republican last, that if I were in a swing state I would vote for Donald Trump for President.   Why?  Because it would be a vote against crooked HiLIARy!

The stark differences between these two candidates (especially the egregious corruption in the Democrat party that has been revealed by Wikileaks each day)  makes me a Never Hillary voter. The criminal activity that she has been involved in (especially Benghazi), the mountain of lies she has piled up over the years, the legitimate concern about her obviously failing health (and the huge cover-up about this), and the media- of-mass-deception that is doing all that they can to avoid reporting her crimes (while so obviously backing her campaign), places an absolute conclusion in my mind that she should NEVER become president!

Being in the state of California in which the electoral college hasn’t given a victory to a Republican since Ronald Reagan in the ’80s tells me that even if I were to vote for Trump here, technically it wouldn’t really count anyway.  However, would I be neglecting my Christian duty to leave my ballot choice for president blank?

Dr. David Jeremiah’s question and answer portion in the magazine  was very informative; as were so many of the other articles so please take the time to read it all.  I especially took to heart these portions:

Q: How should a Christian voter prioritize the issues?

A: One of the most important questions going forward is, will our people be able to live their lives and worship God in freedom, or will the Supreme Court and its decisions continue to squeeze evangelicals, so that we are forced to violate the law or violate our conscience toward God? I think that’s the biggest issue—whether we can live and worship the Lord and live according to the dictates of our conscience, or get forced into a corner of political correctness and have to make a decision of whether to go to jail or follow our faith.

Q: Living in California as you do, you’ve seen firsthand a lot of the social progressivism before the rest of the country has experienced it. What do you foresee for Gospel-minded Christians in the next four to eight years?

A: There’s both good and bad. The church has always flourished when it was under pressure. Prosperity has never been good for the church. Adversity has consistently been good for the church. The New Testament was written in a time when Rome was running rampant over Christianity and you knew who the real Christians were. They stood up and were counted. I think one of two things is going to happen: Either we’re going to see a revival of some sort, and with that a renewal of the principles upon which this country was built, or we’re going to fall into a time of great pressure on Christians.

I think this current election may have a great deal to do with which direction that goes. And I believe that apart from a spiritual renewal, a Great Awakening like the ones we’ve had in the past—during which we would return to our roots spiritually—what we’re going to face is more and more the church under the pressure of the government, more and more being pressured to conduct weddings that we will never conduct, more and more being told to say things that we can’t say.

I don’t think that means we should be discouraged as believers. The Gospel has never been more necessary than it is now. All of these things that we talk about don’t in any way impact the fact that Jesus Christ is still the answer and that salvation is still the main business of the church.

Hat tip:

Billy Graham.org: Decision Magazine 2016 Electoral Guide

Who Is Your Source of Hope?

Take it from me…it pays to pre-order books because sometimes you will get the book even before the national release date!  Yesterday, I received Dr. David Jeremiah’s latest book:

People Are Asking: Is This The End?

I read the introduction and the first few pages of Chapter 1 – “The Age of Anything Goes.” For an excerpt of the first chapter, scroll down the page at the following link and read Overview of Chapter 1: The Age of Anything Goes.

That excerpt is sobering, but now that I have delved into the entire chapter, the evil and depravity that is going on in the world today is so very discouraging, damaging and frightening!

I truly am saddened that the country that I grew up in from the mid-nineteen fifties through graduating college in 1977 has disappeared and been replaced with the “normalization” of the most egregious sinful secular-leftist and atheistic (even devil-worshipping!) kinds of immorality and death-cult beliefs that it is absolutely astonishing!

There was a time when Christian parents could shield their children from all of this, but no more.  The so-called “smartphones” that adults and children hold in their hands today are just a click away from pornography websites.

Excerpt from Chapter One:

Depravity in Our Minds

In January 2016, the Internet’s largest online pornography site released its annual statistics.  On just this one website in just one year – 2015 – consumers watched 4,392,486,580 hours of pornography.  Convert those hours into years, and it means those people collectively spent more than 500,000 years watching porn.

On this particular site in 2015 alone, people watched 87,849,731, 608 X-rated videos.  Over 87 billion!  That’s twelve videos for every man, woman, boy and girl on the planet.

The rate at which sexual depravity is being “normalized” is causing havoc upon many freedoms that Christians have enjoyed in the past.  Now, deeply held religious beliefs, freedom of speech, freedom to practice our faith in the public domain, freedom of association to reject the immoral cesspool around us, and most of all, the freedom to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ is actively being punished by “the powers that be” in government! This scenario is especially egregious in the liberal courts dominated by anti-Christian “judges” who decide to allow sexual immoralities described in God’s Word to trump the First Amendment rights of Christian believers.

I could go on and on…but most readers get the picture.

The saving grace in all of this is the fact that Christians know Who wins and triumphs at the end of days.  There will come a time when God’s mercy and grace will run out and the judgments will fall upon those who rejected God’s provision for salvation – the Cross of Jesus Christ!

This is probably the biggest reason why this blog exists.  To warn people about the schemes of Satan that are there to grab our minds, entice our flesh, and spiral us down into the cesspool of depravity through active sin;  in order to keep our minds, hearts, bodies, souls and spirits away from God.

God the Father,  who loves us so deeply that He sent His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place and free us once and for all from the penalty that we all deserve for our rebellion and sin; gives us the kind of hope that can never be achieved on our own.

What will YOU do (and decide about God’s provision through Jesus Christ) on this side of eternity?

Dr. Jeremiah masterfully shares the truth that for many people, their source of hope is sadly misplaced.  He states that “the question you must address is not whether America and the world will regain their footing, but how you will respond whether they do or not.”

“That is what this book is all about!”

Dr. Jeremiah explains the four common responses to the growing fears about the future.  Three are wrong, and one is right.

Wrong:

1.  Denial – Living in the illusion that nothing will change, refusing to heed the clouds gathering on the horizon.
2.  Despair – Collapse is inevitable, all is hopeless, nothing can be done and we are doomed.
3. “Eat, drink, and be merry.”  As Solomon (see Ecclesiastes 8:15) warned us, all the pleasure we can get because there is “nothing new under the sun” is not productive.  It doesn’t give us hope.  In fact, it is “all vanity and grasping after the wind.”  (see Ecclesiastes 1:14).

Ecc 1:14

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

Right:

The one right response is to look beyond the gathering storm to the one solid and certain source of hope–to God Himself.  Hope in the future of America and the stability of the world is little more than wishful thinking.  It is not reliable.  The hope God offers is the only realistic, absolute hope that carries the promise of a certain outcome.

The next three paragraphs in the Introduction are very powerful!

We do not know whether America will soon fall.  We do not know when the Lord will return.  But we do know that whatever our circumstances, God’s desire for us is to live without anxiety and with hope.  He offers you “thoughts of peace and not of evil.” and He wants “to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

In this book I will show you how to find that hope.  It is a hope that is not dependent on whether America falls or recovers or whether world order stabilizes or disintegrates.  It is a hope that rises above trouble and chaos, enabling you to keep your focus on your future reward and endure whatever comes, whether good or evil, with grace and equanimity.

Had to look that last word up in the dictionary!

equanimity:

1.

mental or emotional stability or composure, especially under tension or strain; calmness; equilibrium.

Dr. Jeremiah continues:

The added benefit of this hope is that those who exercise it before others set an example that may just make a difference in the outcome.  Enough Christians exhibiting faith in God just might be the salt that saves America.

— Dr. David Jeremiah

San Diego, California

June 2016

Hat tip: David Jeremiah.org – “People Are Asking: Is This The End?”

Hat tips to all links.

There Is A Greater Foundation

A young man recently told me that he plans to vote for HiLIARy Clinton.  During a previous conversation weeks ago, I briefly mentioned several of the scandals that she has been a part of  (Benghazi, emails, Clinton foundation corruption etc.) and I told him point blank that she belongs in jail!  I didn’t see the need to repeat my concerns about her a second time.  I instinctively knew that they would fall on deaf ears.

Knowing that I’m a conservative Republican, he asked me who I was going to vote for.  I said, “I just can’t vote for Trump.”  He said, “So, you’re abstaining from voting then?”  I replied, “When it comes to voting for president this year?  Most likely, yes.”

I explained to him that living in ultra liberal California (he likes to call himself “progressive”) means that my vote for any Republican candidate (since Reagan, who I think was the last Republican presidential candidate to win in the state of California) won’t count for the final outcome in this state anyway, so why cast a vote for someone in whom I have doubts about for the highest office in the land?

I read a very good and interesting article on another blog this morning. The blog is named “We The People of the United States”(In Support and Defense of the Constitution for the United States of America) and the essay is entitled What Is True Social Justice?

The author is a Trump supporter. “Miri” makes the point that the GOP Illuminati is frightened by Trump. I think I could agree with that. Many bloggers have written about the not-so-secret “one party system” disguised as Democrats vs. RINOS in Congress. The fact that the RINO leadership in both the House and the Senate have done NOTHING to stop 0bammy’s destructive policies is proof enough for me. In fact, there are rumors that there are GOP elitists (elitists…in their own corrupted minds, that is) who would rather vote for HiLIARy than Trump. As I have written before, Trump would be light-years better than HiLIARy (and 82% of people in a new poll taken in Virginia think she should be prosecuted), but I still think that Trump’s “you’re fired” attitude towards others is troubling.  What’s more disturbing is perhaps it would cause him to never take proper advice from anyone in his future presidential cabinet. We already have that with 0bummer, who has consistently ignored what military officers and advisors have been telling him regarding fighting ISIS for 7 1/2 years!

Not to mention the continued harassment of 0bummer admin’s plan for ‘summer of chaos’ and martial law (revealed through Black Live Matter hacked messages).

In the first link above (WTPOTUS), we read the FACT that 0bummer’s presidency in the White House has been a fascist’s dream!

Excerpt:

According to one definition, fascism

stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition …

Kagan, who was once a Republican and who is married to Victoria Nuland, must not have been paying attention for the last 7 1/2 years during which Barack Hussein Obama II has placed the U.S. well down the path towards fascism.

We currently have a president who refuses to enforce immigration laws, and other laws as well; who thumbs his nose at Congress, the courts, and the Constitution; whose wife dictates what school children must and must not eat; who uses the power of his office to menace the media; who, as a candidate, formed a “truth squad” that used prosecutors and sheriffs to police what people said about him; who threatens banks and businesses to make them to bend to his will; whose “justice department” warns states that they’d better not try to keep people from using a bathroom (or dormitory, or gym locker room, or shower room) that doesn’t conform with their birth sex, and which threatens citizens that they’d better not say anything on social media that criticizes Islam … Well, you’ve got the picture.

The author goes on and writes:

I do completely agree with Brookings that

distribution based on social justice is the main problem of the world today.

Because through this concept of social justice, communists, socialists, fascists, liberals, and progressives have incrementally instituted our “present system” that features producers from whom wealth is taken and recipients to whom other people’s wealth is given.

There are as many definitions of social justice as there are fish in the sea, but the definition doesn’t really matter. What matters is how progressives use that phrase as code words for Marxist redistribution of wealth.

When Trump met with many evangelical leaders a while back, there was some speculation that Trump may now be “a baby Christian.” Well, I read Marsha West’s recent column over at Renew America (see the links within for explanations of what she is claiming) entitled, “James Dobson reveals who he believes led Donald Trump to Christ,” and I wasn’t really comforted by what I read there.

James Dobson starts off by writing:

Only the Lord knows the condition of a person’s heart. I can only tell you what I’ve heard. First, Trump appears to be tender to things of the Spirit. I also hear that Paula White has known Trump for years and that she personally led him to Christ. Do I know that for sure? No.

So…who is Paula White?

It is no secret that Paula White is a WoF prosperity preacher. Sad to say that any person that rejects the true Gospel of Christ and embraces WoF’s false health & wealth gospel, as she does, is not a regenerate (born again) Christian. In fact, those who have bought into WoF beliefs are caught up in a cult. WoF is not historic orthodox Christianity – not even close! Its teaching on faith is right out of the New Age playbook:

Faith is a tangible

force

. This

force

is released through the spoken word, thus name-it-and-claim-it. When we speak words of faith,

power

is discharged that will accomplish our desires. Through faith we can have health, wealth, success – anything we want!

 

Moreover…

Alleged laws of the universe can be manipulated independent of God. Does this mean God is subject to the laws He created? According to word-faith theology, yes. (Source)

The prosperity “gospel.”

*Sigh*….

Sounds like something that Trump would embrace because he lives in prosperity and “The Art of the Deal” is his gospel! I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with this businessman’s success, but such success is only temporal. “You can’t take it with you” as we all know, and one day he will stand before Jesus Christ either at the Great White Throne Judgment (if not saved)

 

 

or the Judgment Seat of Christ (if he is saved and redeemed by the true Gospel of Christ).

The book of Jude warns us of the “prosperity gospel” heresy and all kinds of false “prophets” who would skew individuals away from the true gospel of Jesus Christ!

Ms. West concludes her essay:

And if it’s true that it was Paula White, as Dr. Dobson seems to think, then we can surmise from what we know about this woman, that Donald Trump did not hear the true Gospel of Christ from her. Sadly, what he heard instead was the false prosperity gospel that saves no one.

I’ll close with a warning from the Apostle Paul:

But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron…

1 Tim. 4:1,2

We can hold out hope that one day Trump will be genuinely born again in Christ. Until then, if he is elected this November, we can hope that God will use this secular man (in a similar manner as He used Cyrus in the Bible) to renew and rebuild our currently beleaguered Judeo-Christian nation.

 

A little history about King Cyrus.

2Ch 36:22

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

Ch 36:23

Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!

Cyrus made this proclamation 48 years after the temple was destroyed (2 Chronicles 36:18,19), the year after he conquered Babylon. The book of Ezra tells the story of this proclamation and the return of the exiles to Judah.

Second Chronicles focuses on the rise and fall of the worship of God as symbolized by the Jerusalem temple. David planned the temple, Solomon built it and then put on the greatest dedication service the world had ever seen. Worship in the temple was superbly organized.

But several evil kings defiled the temple and degraded worship so that the people revered idols more highly than God. (Sound A LOT like today…doesn’t it?) Finally, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon destroyed the temple (36:19). The kings were gone, the temple was destroyed, and the people were removed. The nation was stripped to its very foundation. But fortunately there was a greater foundation – God himself. When everything in life seems stripped away from us, we too still have God- his Word, his presence, and his promises.

Hat tips to all links.

Question: Has the Lord chosen Mr. Trump to bring America back from the brink of destruction?

The question asked in my previous post –  Is America Under Judgment? – brought forth more than 60 comments of conversation.

Well, I have another type of post to share today that may very well generate another heated debate.

As with any topic, the concept of truth vs. error is involved.

The utilization of discernment and wisdom from God (via His Word – the Bible) will become quite evident!

Watch and listen to the following video (below on this page) that was found in the comment section of a post at Now The End Begins: The Real Reason Why Donald Trump Was Chosen To Be The Republican Candidate For President.

Be sure to read the post, too!

[Note:  Watch and listen to at least 41 minutes into the video (below), but it would be best to listen to the entire video.]

Then, if you are led to do so, please share your thoughts, questions, opinions, and Bible-based commentary about what has been shared in the video in the comment section!

~ Christine

 

P.S. Update and clarification. I grabbed the provocative title of this post from a paragraph at the link shared (Now The End Begins – NTEB) to make a point. But in order to see my point, readers must also view the video (below).

My goal was to provide a possible explanation as to why and how Christians (who currently disagree about why God would instill Trump into the presidency… some are very “pro-Trump,” while others are “anti-Trump”) see the rise of Trump at this particular time in history.

 

*******

Published on Apr 21, 2016

Rick Wiles interviews retired firefighter Mark Taylor who was given this prophetic revelation in 2011. The Lord has chosen Mr. Trump to bring America back from the brink of destruction. Mr. Taylor wrote this amazing prophecy in 2011 giving us a glimpse of what’s to come and why all who attack Mr. Trump will fall by the wayside. What’s amazing is that this revelation has gone forth to thousands. The wrath of God has come not for the people of America but for the leaders of the establishment. The hour of judgment is upon them. The light has begun to shine and the darkness of evil will prevail no more.

Hat tip: Now The End Begins: The Real Reason Why Donald Trump Was Chosen To Be The Republican Candidate For President.

Excerpt:

I know that Donald Trump is not a Christian, nor has he run a “Christ-like” campaign. But in case you haven’t noticed, America is not a God-honoring nation, in fact we are the opposite. As a nation we murder unborn citizens, we glorify and promote the wickedness of the LGBT agenda, and we defend evil. I believe with all my heart that the judgment of God began to fall with the election of Barack Obama, and this election will not alter that course in any way. For those of you who were Ted Cruz supporters thinking you were going to elect a “Christian president”, his ties with Mormonism and the Dominionist cult movement disqualified him from that. – Geoffrey Grider at NTEB

Some comments from the NTEB site are re-posted below.

Anti-Trump comments:

cn

4 May 2016 at 4:37 pm
Leave a Reply

Could HE be THE ANTICHRIST? When individuals have said that b4 about Presidents/Popes/etc. I just rolled my eyes but this guy . . . his arrogance is so over the top, for some reason he is charismatic (I don’t know why), even tho’ he ‘claims’ to be a Christian, he does just the opposite of what God would want/he lies so easily and people BELIEVE HIM! People blindly trust him, YET he taught his own children not to trust anyone ‘NOT EVEN HIM’! I cannot explain it but when he speaks especially “when America is great again” statements he seems, I don’t know, plastic if you understand me. I had the “opportunity” to meet him back in the 90’s when I worked for a bank that he was dealing with. He was no different then, then now. All the girls were swooning over him. I could not figure out why. I had to walk away. Anyway, I’ve got this strng feeling about him/Antichrist because of his waaaaay over the top arrogance, pride, lies, nastiness and yet people love him. Sigh . . . I hope that I am wrong . . .

Emily

4 May 2016 at 1:47 pm
Leave a Reply

I appreciate the more rational tone of this article, but the logic of Christians actively supporting Trump fails. Jews did not “vote” or give their seal of approval over Cyrus; they were conquered by a brutal nation because of a leadership failure. You say you were worried about “King Cruz” yet you are okay with comparing Trump to King Cyrus? Wow. And when did a man become responsible for his father’s words or beliefs? Last time I checked, each of us is responsible for our own conduct, including every idle word. You impugned Ted Cruz over nasty media articles – many from liberal sites such as Slate – that tried to paint Cruz as a Dominionist based on his father’s preaching. I believe evangelicals have been played. The media used the term like the way they paint evangelicals as radical fundamentalists.

Many of us who supported Cruz did not support him for being a Christian – who knows the salvation of any one person (and how can you judge the state of Cruz’s salvation? How can you say that Cruz is disqualified for “ties” when Trump has much, much worse associations?) – but we supported Cruz because he is the only one of the candidates with a viable shot who is a Constitutional Conservative and one who supports religious freedom. Cruz was hated more by the establishment than Trump – called “Lucifer in the flesh”. Those who support Trump have turned on the Constitution. Trump is a big government progressive. He will not build the wall – especially when he sees the price tag and the debt we are in. And what good is a wall when people can tunnel under, go over, go around, or go through?

The reality is we are facing financial collapse. We are facing nuclear attack. We are facing unprecedented natural catastrophe. The bible states that only a fool longs for the Day of the Lord. Who longs for sinners to be judged, when we should be praying for their redemption? The bible is clear that we will see the abomination of desolation standing were it ought not, and so we must be prepared for some hard times.

We will see churches lose there tax exempt status. We will see churches sued, closed, and pastors put in jail before long. We will see bibles removed from homes – a famine for the word is coming, so hide the Word in your heart.

Ky

4 May 2016 at 3:31 pm
Leave a Reply

Geoff,

What you believe about Trump and what you know are two VERY different things. Trump may very well be what God has in mind to rule America in the last days, (May God’s will be done.) but you have presumed to know the mind of God in this matter, and furthermore, you have supported a known ungodly man for president in the process. I just don’t think you can reconcile voting for him if we had other choices, and we did. The heathen and the ungodly at least have an excuse. You KNOW better. My mother, and quite possibly yours, always said, “Two wrongs don’t make a right.” That is the principle I see in play here. We have tried to reverse one wrong with another. In the grand scheme of things, it could be everyone gets a pass on who they support in elections, but I don’t think so. How do you suppose God will deal with the priests and the pastors that supported Hitler’s rise to power in WWII? Many Christians went to their death for how they handled that election because they refused to go along. We don’t know what Trump will do if he is elected. Some predict he will become a dictator worse than Obama or that he is a Trojan horse. Whatever you may think about Cruz, his track record was one of standing up for the Constitution as well as getting in the face of the RINOS in Congress. Prayer is what is needed now. We have sown our crop and are getting ready to the reap whirlwind.

Geoffrey Grider

4 May 2016 at 3:55 pm
Leave a Reply

You look at Donald Trump in terms of politics, but I look at him in terms of fulfillment of Bible prophecy. When I read my Bible, I see that revival is not coming, and that the end times are upon us.

Ky

4 May 2016 at 6:01 pm
Leave a Reply

Agreed, but that does not mean you desert your ethics in anticipation of what you THINK Christ intends.

Rich

4 May 2016 at 10:51 pm
Leave a Reply

Agreed. Well said KY. Deserting ethics is common among Trump supporters…

*******

Christine writes:  ***Ultimately, no matter what happens we have the promises of Jesus who will never leave nor forsake His Own!***

*******

Christine writes:  ***Some additional comments from NTEB to consider***:

*******

Fights (from NTEB)

4 May 2016 at 1:39 pm
Leave a Reply

Geoffrey, thank you for clarifying your position about Trump. I do believe God will be placing him in power and I do believe we’re in end times. I am so thankful I know who is on the throne!!

 

*******

 

Dorsey Lightner (from NTEB)

4 May 2016 at 3:37 pm
Leave a Reply

Very informative. The Bible in correct context Geoffrey. Most Christians are not Bible Scholars and many with great knowledge are way off . I like the pro and Con Question format and your Biblical responses . I do believe The Lords purpose will prevail . Watch and pray , walk in the spirit of truth and love as Jesus walked . So shall we who trust obey and follow Jesus Christ . Titus 2 ; The Grace of God that brings salvation ! The blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior ! Thanks! I will share this because . The world will be shaken in these last days . Many will follow Jesus Christ and many will fall away following lying spirits .

 

*******

 

Irene (from NTEB)

4 May 2016 at 8:37 pm
Leave a Reply

So true, Dorsey. This world is getting ready for the greatest shaking this world has ever seen.

 

*******

 

Tracy (from NTEB)

4 May 2016 at 3:43 pm
Leave a Reply

Geoffrey, You have written a great article here, and more than likely, if we knew the future, you’ve hit the nail on the head with it. We all know that God uses people in ways that only He sees fit.
Even though critics were going at him in every direction, Trump just kept gaining in the polls. Like some would say, “he’s unstoppable.” God is in control of this.
I have to say again, Hillary is totally evil, to the very bone. Watch her!!

 

 

*******

Christine writes:  ***Note the contrast between the two writers (Geri Ungurean and Geoff from NTEB) in comments below!***

*******

 

 

Geri Ungurean (from NTEB)

5 May 2016 at 1:00 am
Leave a Reply

Geoff – you said:

“GOD IS PREPARING TO SHAKE THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD, AND I BELIEVE HE IS GOING TO USE DONALD TRUMP TO DO IT.”

I say:

“GOD IS PREPARING TO DESTROY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND I BELIEVE HE IS GOING TO USE DONALD TRUMP TO DO IT.”

 

*******

 

An opinion comment from pam (from NTEB ):

5 May 2016 at 11:08 am
Leave a Reply

We have accepted homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle and this was the final nail in the coffin of the USA. It is being pushed hard through mass media, which Donald Trump is a master manipulator of. We were never going to vote a person that’s not degenerate into the highest office in the land. The media can make the masses believe anything they want, that’s why saturating our souls with Gods Word and growing in His grace and knowledge is the only thing we as a country can do to arm ourselves agains the god of this world. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are both agents of Satan. This is God’s permissive will, He is allowing this rebellion to take place it should cause Christians mature in the faith to bow in humility NOT to get excited about the divine discipline that’s about to ravage this nation. That’s what is so disturbing for me to see. No humility, just a bunch of I TOLD YOU SO’S. But then this is where we are.

 

*******

Christine writes:  ***One final comment below where readers can consider whether or not the “prophecy” of the retired fire-fighter is Bible-based OR not; and therefore, whether what he has said in the video is legitimate or not.***

*******

 

 

Gigi (from NTEB)

5 May 2016 at 5:14 pm
Leave a Reply

This morning while reading my Devotional and doing my study, my spirit led me to Jeremiah 23. I am going to write some of the scriptures here which is directed to “Prophets” and encourage you to read the entire chapter.

Thus says the Lord of hosts:

“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you.
They make you worthless;
They speak a vision of their own heart,
Not from the mouth of the Lord.

I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran.
I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22
But if they had stood in My counsel,
And had caused My people to hear My words,
Then they would have turned them from their evil way
And from the evil of their doings.

God Bless You!

Liberal Hypocrisy: While Liberal “Entertainers” Try to Dictate What is “Morally Right” in NC, Muslims Prepare to Build an Islamic Museum on Ground Zero In NYC

This essay tells the truth about the liberal leftist hypocrisy and insanity that is being pushed upon America by B. Insane 0bama and his ilk. The terrible shame of the brain-dirting that has been done (especially to young people!) in this nation is so sadly evident in everything that Kingsjester’s blog discusses in this very important and informative post!

~ Christine

Kingsjester's Blog

Today’s Modern American Liberals, from President Barack Hussein Obama to the all-too-common Internet Troll, are continuing to fiddle around with “Gender Identity Rights”, while our nation, like Ancient Rome, burns.

CNSNews.com reports that

The pop group Maroon 5 on Friday joined the list of entertainers canceling appearances in North Carolina because of its law that denies anti-discrimination protections and dictates which restrooms transgender people can use.”This was a difficult decision for us to make as a band. We don’t want to penalize our fans in North Carolina by not performing for them, but in the end it comes down to what we feel is morally right,” the group said on its website.

The band led by Adam Levine, who doubles as a celebrity musician-coach on NBC’s “The Voice,” won’t appear Sept. 11 at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte or Sept. 12 at PNC Arena in Raleigh.

A spokesman for…

View original post 1,382 more words

Bibi Netanyahu is a very wise man!

I ask visitors here, can you really find any truly logical reason to blame Prime Minister Netanyahu for cancelling his “meeting” with 0bama? Past history has shown 0bama’s constant disrespect for Israel’s Prime Minister and the unconscionable, ill-advised, and disastrous Iran “deal” is most likely the culprit in this scenario.

Israel’s Netanyahu cancels US visit, catching White House off guard.

Excerpt:

A report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz cited sources close to Netanyahu who claimed “no appropriate time” could be found to hold the meeting. 

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said Tuesday that Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. informed the White House last week there was a “good chance” Netanyahu would not make the trip.

An Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, told the Associated Press Netanyahu wanted to avoid meetings with presidential candidates.

The unusually pointed pushback from the White House was the latest signal of ongoing tensions between the U.S. and its closest Mideast ally, which have never fully recovered since Obama incensed Netanyahu’s government by pursuing and then enacting a nuclear deal with Iran. The flare-up comes just days before Vice President Joe Biden is set to meet with Netanyahu during a visit to Jerusalem.

This isn’t the first time Obama had been caught off guard by Netanyahu’s travel plans. Last year, the White House accused Netanyahu of a breach of longstanding diplomatic protocol when he announced plans to speak to a joint session of Congress without consulting or notifying the president. Netanyahu used that speech to implore U.S. lawmakers to reject the Iran nuclear deal, which Israel sees as emboldening its archenemy.

I do not blame Netanyahu one bit for cancelling (or not accepting in the first place) the visit with the worst pResident in U.S. history!

God forbid that the absolute ungodly ugliness of either of the two Democrat candidates gets into office! America has suffered enough under the 0bama BADministration! We definitely don’t want a repeat of liberal leftist lunacy!  What a disaster it would be to have either the perpetually lying Hillary Clinton or obviously Communist Jew-hating Bernie Sanders !

Dennis Prager (who happens to be a religious Jew) describes in less than five minutes how the runaway liberal leftist policies are there for the purpose of the undoing of the American Revolution.  In this short video, he explains how the far left has undermined our Republic and why either Clinton or Sanders needs to be defeated in the election coming this November!

Prager’s comments:

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – There are two types of people in this world – those who see only the trees and those who see the entire forest. Talk radio host Dennis Prager assured CPAC attendees that he falls into the latter category.

“We have today an undoing of the American Revolution,” Prager said Thursday during a speech on the main stage at CPAC. “I say this without rancor; I say this without exaggeration. The American Revolution’s ideal, especially of small and limited government, is being undermined. The left represents Europe; the right represents the American Revolution. It is a battle between the American Revolution and the French Revolution. It is nothing less than that.”

Prager, a WND columnist, explained that just as Christianity is based on a Trinity, America has a trinity of values as well: liberty, In God We Trust, and E Pluribus Unum. He lamented that Americans have not taught that American trinity to their children.

“The left is undermining all three aspects of the American value system,” he said. “It prefers material equality to liberty.”

He noted 70 percent of millennials, according to one Pew Research poll, don’t want freedom of speech if that free speech might hurt someone’s feelings.

“After 50 years of left-wing indoctrination, people don’t believe in freedom of speech, they believe in the right not to be offended,” he said.

Regarding our national motto of “In God We Trust,” Prager said our nation needs God if it is to maintain a constitutional system of government.

 “I don’t care if you’re a social liberal and a fiscal liberal, or just a fiscal liberal, this country was founded on the belief that freedom was only possible and small government is only possible if people are accountable to a morally judging God,” he declared. “I understand the origins of America were God-centered because either God gives us rights or people give us rights, and there is all the difference in the world.”

Regarding E Pluribus Unum, which means “Out of many, one,” Prager said the liberal doctrine of multiculturalism and the grievance industry are undermining national cohesion.

Read more at Prager warns of ‘undoing of American Revolution’

It will be a much better time here in the United States of America when we have a genuine, America-loving, loyal, Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution following Republican president come late January, 2017!

Hat tips to all links.

The Political Version of Adam’s Excuse to God

It is very, very sobering to realize and admit that we are all complicit in the evil. Black3Actual over at Oil For Your Lamp has written a post that brings one to the conclude with the fact that only Jesus Christ can save us from ourselves! This becomes more and more evident to me with each passing year, month, week, day, hour, minute, and second!

Jesus Christ, our good shepherd, is the world’s one and only true hope!

The wise still seek Him!

~ Christine

Thanks for this post, Joe. Needed to be said, written and shared.

The Oil for Your Lamp

When I saw this picture, all I could think about was the excuse Adam gave God for eating the forbidden fruit:

“It’s not my fault; that woman you gave me made me do it.”

View original post 1,301 more words

Islamist running 140 tax-funded charter schools in U.S.

Just when those of us who keep ourselves informed regarding the creeping shariah stealth being utilized by Islamists here in America, we now discover an additional method [which is not being reported by the media of mass deception]  being used for Islamist invasion here in the United States.  Do you know about the Gulen charter school method of creeping sharia and it’s goals?  The article reveals that this may have been under the radar here in the United States for over 9 – 10 years!

WND:
Islamist running 140 tax-funded charter schools in U.S.
Casts broad net of influence over lawmakers.

Excerpt:

Muhammad Fethullah Gülen is a Turkish Islamist, writer and preacher with a secret plan for bringing Shariah law to America.

Arguably Turkey’s most influential spiritual leader of the past 50 years, Gülen left that country in the late 1990s and now directs his cult-like Islamic movement from a guarded compound in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania.

Part of his empire consists of a thriving network of more than 140 charter schools in 26 states that sell themselves to parents as a secular and more academically rigorous alternative to public schools.

As the second largest chain of charter schools in the United States, Gülen schools rake in tens of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars every year.

But the schools — which have innocent-sounding names like the Horizon Science Academies in Illinois, Harmony Schools of Excellence in Texas, Dove Science Academies in Oklahoma and Magnolia Science Academies in California — have long been the subject of investigations into alleged corruption scandals involving influence peddling and visa abuse.

USA Today reported recently that the Gülen faith movement secretly funded 200 overseas trips for congressional lawmakers and staff since 2008.

“Turkish leaders have asked the United States to extradite Gülen from the remote compound in rural Pennsylvania where he has lived for 20 years.

The movement has founded hundreds of charter schools across the United States and around the world, has its own media organizations, and was deeply entrenched with the Turkish regime until a falling out two years ago. That led President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to declare Gülen was running ‘a parallel state’ inside the country with the intent of undermining the government.”

Critics argue that the schools also covertly engage in Islamic missionary outreach, usually after-hours or during school extra-curricular activities.

Anti-Shariah activist Pam Geller says Gülen has been dubbed “the Turkish Khomeini” for a reason.

“It has been widely reported for years that he wants ultimately to restore the Islamic caliphate in Turkey. That alone should make his charter schools in the U.S. a subject of law enforcement scrutiny, but it largely hasn’t,” Geller told WND. “There have been allegations that funds from these schools have gone to a Turkish Islamization movement, Hizmet. The U.S. government shouldn’t be funding Gülen’s schools; it should be investigating them and shutting them down.”

See list of all 140 Gülen charter schools in 26 states.

Most of the parents of students who attend Gülen charter schools have no idea about Gülen’s background as a Turkish Islamist and believer in civilizational jihad — which is a form of nonviolent jihad focused on infiltrating and overcoming Western nations over time through immigration and exploitation of the civil liberties available in those nations.

But a new book on Gülen and his U.S. schools hopes to blow the lid on his cloak of secrecy.

Read more at WND.com

Do yourself a favor and read this book!

Clare Lopez, co-author with Christopher Holton of “Gülen and the Gulenist Movement: Turkey’s Islamic Supremacist Cult and its Contributions to Civilizational Jihad,” says the movement is extremely secretive but there’s no small amount of information for those willing to dig. She and Holton decided to peel back the layers.

LOTS of good comments following the article on WND.  One of the best was written by “Engage Gray Matter”:

I don’t care where you are on the political spectrum or what your faith is; the idea of Sharia Law is anathema to the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law in the U.S. It should be weeded out wherever it rears its ugly head and outlawed within the U.S. It should never be allowed to take root. It is to be eradicated. Any politician who even pays lip service to a separate rule of law in the U.S. is unfit for office. Sharia should be outlawed part and parcel.

As far as introducing it to curriculum in our public schools, it should in all instances be shown as opposite of what our culture has established as basic fundamental freedoms (rights) guaranteed to each individual, endowed by our Creator (God) and Islam should be shown for the political polity it is masquerading as a religion as a guise to cover its real intent which is to subjugate its adherents through fear, intimidation, and ignorance.

Here is what St. Thomas Aquinas had to say in regard to Islam:

“He (Mohammed) seduced the people by promises of carnal pleasure to which the concupiscence of the flesh urges us. His teaching also contained precepts that were in conformity with his promises, and he gave free rein to carnal pleasure. In all this, as is not unexpected; he was obeyed by carnal men. As for proofs of the truth of his doctrine, he brought forward only such as could be grasped by the natural ability of anyone with a very modest wisdom. Indeed, the truths that he taught he mingled with many fables and with doctrines of the greatest falsity.

He did not bring forth any signs produced in a supernatural way, which alone fittingly gives witness to divine inspiration; for a visible action that can be only divine reveals an invisibly inspired teacher of truth. On the Contrary, Mohammed said that he was sent in the power of his arms – which are signs not lacking even to robbers and tyrants. What is more, no wise men, men trained in things divine and human, believed in him from the beginning. Those who believed in him were brutal men and desert wanderers, utterly ignorant of all divine teaching, through whose numbers Mohammed forced others to become his follower’s by the violence of his arms. Nor do divine pronouncements on part of preceding prophets offer him any witness. On the contrary, he perverts almost all the testimony of the Old and the New Testaments by making them into a fabrication of his own, as can be seen by anyone who examines his law. It was, therefore, a shrewd decision on his part to forbid his followers to read the Old and New Testaments, lest these books convict him of falsity. It is thus clear that those who place faith in his words believe foolishly.”

– St. Thomas Aquinas – Summa Contra Gentiles, Book 1, Chapter 16

Should Christians be involved with combating the moral decay that is currently raging in our culture?

God’s truth is eternal and Christian convictions must be commitments of permanence. Political alliances and arrangements are, by definition, temporary and conditional. This is no time for America’s Christians to confuse the City of man with the City of God. At the same time, we can never be counted faithful in the City of God if we neglect our duty in the City of man. That’s a good principle to remember as America gears up for a crucial political debate. – Albert Mohler

Before I get deep into today’s topic,  I wanted to first publicly thank and acknowledge my dear blogging friend Steve over at Cry and Howl for placing Talk Wisdom on The 2015 Cry and Howl Top 20 Conservative Blog Award list!   It was so kind of Steve to recognize this “little fish in the big pond” of blogs out there!

I highly recommend checking out the other blogs on that list!  Really great content can be found at those links and I also want to send congratulations to all the other bloggers on the Cry and Howl award list!

Of course, Steve’s blog is always spot on and influential in the crucial political debates between the truth of conservative thought and the lies of “the new totalitarians” that he often battles against in this highly charged political arena that exists today!

When you go to his site, you will notice that next to my blog name he wrote, “not wholly political.” I also appreciate him for writing that!  This brings me to the topic that I wanted to cover today.

Yes, Talk Wisdom often discusses various political, cultural, and moral issues from the Christian conservative perspective.  But this blog also exists for the additional purpose of sharing God’s truth in the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

When I originally decided what the main goal of this blog would be, I wrote:

Talk Wisdom’s goal is to defend the tenets and values of Biblical Christian faith. We defend our Constitutional Republic and Charters of Freedom, especially when speaking out against destructive social and political issues. As followers of our Savior and Lord, we should boldly stand up for Jesus Christ in our present circumstances. He is our Savior, Lord, and King, and His love needs to be shed abroad in our hearts and in our world – now.

For anyone interested, let me share a bit of history about this blog (including the one I previously had at Blogger) and how I came to the decision to write the content that I write here at Talk Wisdom.

Back in October of 2005, Biola University held its first “God blog Conference.” It was three days that were jam-packed with information, instruction, discussion, and Christian oriented blog content awareness and suggestions.

The important question of whether or not Bible based Christians should be involved or engaged in politics; or just be salt and light in this dark world came up and was debated extensively. Many God bloggers were steadfast in their choices. Some just knew that they were “meant to share the Gospel and biblical principles alone” without getting into tiresome political debates. Others were convinced that it was their calling to draw attention to the political battles that are currently raging in our culture. It is certainly an interesting and valid question. Several prominent Christian leaders (and blog panelists) had different opinions on it and backed their views up with Bible verses.

During one class question and answer session, I recall stating that I wanted my blog to be one that discusses both Christian apologetics as well as how politics, culture, and moral issues can influence us; either positively or negatively.  The professor said something like, “that would be an impossible endeavor!” Apparently, he was of the opinion that it was too much to do within one blog.  Admittedly, it can be a difficult task to juggle all of those goals in one blog.  However, with all due respect to that professor, I came away from the conference with the steadfast decision that I was still willing to try!  Here is what I wrote back in 2009, five years after attending that first God blog Conference:

In 2004, I attended my first blog conference at Biola University. One of the speakers asked members of his class what each of our goals will be in writing Christian-based blog material. I stated that I wanted to write discernment articles that include the gospel of Christ while exposing how politics, culture, education, the media, and apostate churches battle against the Word of God and the message of the gospel. I recall that the professor told me, “that would be an impossible endeavor.”

Yet, here I am, five years later including all of the above with the discussions here at Talk Wisdom. I don’t quite know why the professor thought that way. Perhaps he thought that I should limit myself to apologetics and not include any criticism of the world around us. Or, maybe he worried that any “politically incorrect” approach might turn individuals away from the Gospel message. (Been there, heard that – MANY TIMES – even by some fellow Christian believers.) Perhaps I should have asked him why he thought such an endeavor was “impossible.” I didn’t get the chance to ask him. The session ended abruptly because we were out of time and he was surrounded by bloggers asking many questions.

The following is one of the great quotes of  C. H. Spurgeon:

The Church of Christ is continually represented under the figure of an army; yet its Captain is the Prince of Peace; its object is the establishment of peace, and its soldiers are men of a peaceful disposition. The spirit of war is at the extremely opposite point to the spirit of the gospel.

Yet nevertheless, the church on earth has, and until the second advent must be, the church militant, the church armed, the church warring, the church conquering. And how is this?

It is the very order of things that so it must be. Truth could not be truth in this world if it were not a warring thing, and we should at once suspect that it were not true if error were friends with it. The spotless purity of truth must always be at war with the blackness of heresy and lies.

– C.H. Spurgeon 1

1. Spurgeon, Charles, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. 5 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1879), 41.

In my opinion, Spurgeon’s quote is ever the more relevant in today’s culture – even more so  than it was back in 2004!

As the graphic above implies – sometimes the truth hurts! However, secular society’s love affair for diversity (even at the expense of causing harm) and tolerance (today’s code word for never offending anyone – except Christians and conservatives!) doesn’t WANT to know any kind of truth that may initially hurt someone (emotionally speaking).

The trouble with the “new tolerance” mantra is that common sense is often sidetracked or even eliminated altogether.  Let’s see a non-political example.  Common sense tells us to grab the arm of a child and pull it hard to prevent that child from running in the street in front of a speeding bus! The truth of the need for rescue may hurt the child physically at that moment in time, but the lie of freedom to do what would harm him if he ran in front of the bus can end up killing the child!

Such an illustration is even important when considering spiritual truth. These days, telling someone who adheres to a false religion is detrimental for them and is not the truth given by God in the Bible may hurt a person’s feelings (at first); but the end result of them finding Jesus Christ and becoming a child of God through the biblical Gospel message brings eternal life that they would not have had without Him!

Spurgeon’s ending line is quite the keeper! It sums it all up in one brilliant sentence!

The spotless purity of truth must always be at war with the blackness of heresy and lies.

*******

Yes. The body of Christ contains many different members with different gifts. One person may be better at teaching children. Another, better at writing poetry or songs that honor the Lord. We all have certain gifts that maybe others don’t have. Some, genuinely may believe that they shouldn’t be involved in volatile political debates.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that Bible based  Christians  MUST BE ENGAGED IN THIS BATTLE FOR MORAL PURPOSES.

Whether their contribution in such an effort means actually working in the political field or just assisting (and/or financial support) in the efforts of certain organizations (e.g. Concerned Women for America; Alliance Defending  Freedom – just to name two) that promote Christian morals, values and ethics; it has always been my opinion that we must not let the secular humanistic crowd overtake what we hold dear as American Christians who love God, Jesus Christ, and His Word, the Bible.

I read the following article back then and thought that it spoke directly to my thoughts, concerns, and beliefs of why I think that Bible based Christians must become motivated and involved in combating the moral decay that is currently raging in our culture.

Albert Mohler shares many good talking points throughout the piece.  The point that is especially important and desperately needed today is that Christians who are gifted in this particular area need to be willing to not only read and pay attention to the details, but also need to be willing to act upon them. Mohler sums it up quite well at the end of his article:

We are concerned for the culture not because we believe that the culture is ultimate, but because we know that our neighbors must hear the gospel, even as we hope and strive for their good, peace, security, and well-being.

This is no time for silence, and no time for shirking our responsibilities as Christian citizens. Ominous signs of moral collapse and cultural decay now appear on our contemporary horizon. A society ready to put the institution of marriage up for demolition and transformation is a society losing its most basic moral sense. A culture ready to treat human embryos as material for medical experimentation is a society turning its back on human dignity and the sacredness of human life.

Trouble in the City of Man is a call to action for citizens of the City of God, and that call to action must involve political involvement as well. Christians may well be the last citizens who know the difference between the eternal and the temporal, the ultimate and the urgent. God’s truth is eternal and Christian convictions must be commitments of permanence. Political alliances and arrangements are, by definition, temporary and conditional. This is no time for America’s Christians to confuse the City of Man with the City of God. At the same time, we can never be counted faithful in the City of God if we neglect our duty in the City of Man. That’s a good principle to remember as America gears up for a crucial political debate. * (bold mine)

No matter what you think your particular calling in this life is, as a born-again, Bible believing Christian it is also your duty to at least do something to help turn the tide of moral decay. This needs to be a top priority not only for ourselves and the ‘here and now,’ but even more importantly, for the sakes of our children and grandchildren and their future lives on this earth.

~  Christine

* Quote from Mohler article:

Engaging the City of Man: Christian Faith and Politics

by Albert Mohler
June 15, 2006

With thanks again to my kind friend Steve at Cry and Howl for including Talk Wisdom in the Cry and Howl Conservative Blog Awards for 2015!