Most of us have heard the saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.” The same can be said for human beings. You can lead them to living water, but you cannot make them drink.
Jesus said, “I am the living water, he who comes to me will never thirst again.” By that he meant, that we all thirst for clarity, hope and consolation, but although we thirst for the life-giving water He offers – yet many refuse to drink for one reason or another.
Although my friend Bill at the pier has let me give him countless rides home and let me pray for him, he doesn’t seem to be responding to my promptings and asks no questions. Maybe he thinks he’s something special because I always encourage, overlook a person’s foibles and treat them like a friend. Like I said in the past, Bill is a highly educated man and I respect him for that. Also, he was a drummer and writer for a music magazine back in the day, (I enjoy talking to intelligent people) but like I said in my last article I in essence called him a fool for not believing in God by quoting the scripture that says, “The fool has said in his heart: there is no God.”
There seems to be something about drug addled liberals that take pride in not believing in God and they let you know it. The next time we meet up I will have to lay it all on the line once and for all not knowing what to expect, after all, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make them drink. Bill saw me yesterday from a distance walking out onto the pier and went around behind the snack bar to avoid bumping into me. I’ll just have to leave him in God’s hands as always.
As most of you know, I’ve been an evangelical Christian for many years and have led numerous people to faith in Christ. Unlike some, who keep score I never felt it was gaining me any brownie points in doing so and I seldom if ever use the Roman Road tactic but instead rely on God’s prompting.
After receiving Christ, I made it a point to learn all I could about this living water which for me was very gratifying.
With this mindset, I been able to lead all seven of my siblings to faith in Christ and mentor them in understanding scripture since we were brought up in a broken home devoid of Godly things. I, being the eldest had to set the pattern for right behavior even though I faltered at times. I even baptized my baby sister in the ocean when she thought she had cancer which later proved to be malignant. She made her way to Florida from Michigan to have me baptize her after I led her to faith in Christ.
Today I found out that a nephew had just had an operation for stomach cancer, but the doctors couldn’t get it all taken out, so he will have to undergo chemotherapy. Amazingly, I had just been thinking about him this morning when I received the call from my “born again” younger brother who had received Christ ten years ago after much prompting by me.
The first thing to enter my mind is – was this nephew saved? He claims to be a Christian but although he doesn’t smoke or drink nor use drugs, I was skeptical since although he is a good man, he never talked about God nor went to church.
Knowing this, I phoned him at the hospital, but he was indisposed. Since he is over a hundred miles away and that region is in lockdown because of Covid 19 I had to leave him a message. I made it a priority that he should know how to be saved – step by step and told him I would be praying for him. I’m sure he was glad to hear from me since I’m his favorite uncle. (At his urging I had portrayed Fagin in the musical “Oliver” for his drama class in the new auditorium in Eaton Rapids Michigan for graduation. Everyone was elated that a professional would step into that role in that place and the whole town turned out.) I received a standing ovation for the closing spotlight number. It was very gratifying for me too.
In any case, I hope my nephew will receive Christ and that his children follow suit, but I have yet to hear back from him.
So yesterday was an unfruitful day, or so I thought. I had met a group of young people as I was preparing my gear to do some serious fishing and walked out onto the pier. After a few short minutes I saw the young lady with the teenaged group coming my way and when she finally reached me, I said, “What are you doing out here by yourself?”
“They’re on the beach and swimming.” As she sauntered over to me.
“Looks like you just wanted to be alone with your thoughts” I replied.
As she approached, I could tell something was bothering her, “Do you want to tell me about it, maybe there’s something I can do?”
“Nobody can do anything for me.” She whimpered as she began to cry.
“God can help you with anything.”
“My boyfriend dropped me yesterday – and I am deeply hurt.”
“Let me pray for you.”
“Please do.” As tears fell from her eyes.
I said a short prayer for the healing of her broken heart and after a few minutes she began telling me her life’s story. How that no one in her family had ever prayed for anything and that her grandmother was a Jehovah’s Witness and that her boyfriend worked for the Lutheran church!
I knew then that this was a spiritual battle, a divine appointment after I discerned what was happening.
After talking awhile, she regained he composure.
Now, I was concerned for the state of her soul. “These are perilous times in which we live and who knows what will happen next. Maybe even the rapture.
I asked her about her spiritual life, and she said she had none. I told her about God and Jesus Christ and quoted scripture. Soon I asked if she would like to receive Christ as her savior and she replied, “Yes, but I’ve never prayed before and don’t know how.”
“Just repeat after me – if you feel led…..”Father in heaven, I confess that I have ignored you. Please forgive me. I now receive Jesus Christ into my heart and life, so change me and give me peace.”
As much as I like to eat fish, for the fifth or sixth time I went out on the pier to find that the fish weren’t biting, and it was blistering hot in the sun. So once again, I was just in time to give Bill a ride to his apartment. Bill was in the shelter at the end of the pier as is his usual ritual for the past twenty years. Being debilitated because of stomach problems he spends the early part of each day fishing. I was beginning to wonder if God had sent me there in response to Bill’s prayers and asked him so as we walked from the pier to my car. Bill’s reply was, “I’m an atheist who doesn’t believe in a God who cares. If there is a God, He tried to kill me yesterday with a lightning strike.” Then I remembered that there was a violent lighting storm yesterday about this same time of day and he must have gotten caught in the rain on the way to his apartment.
After we mounted the car I said to Bill, “Do you know what the Bible says about people that don’t believe in God?”
“No”
“It says, “The fool has said in his heart there is no God.”
Now I know that Bill isn’t a dummy, having aspired to be a medical doctor and was a pi beta kappa in college I just surmised from this that he was angry at God for his ailments – as so many people are.
I followed up my defense with, “Haven’t you ever considered the wonder of man and woman and their ability to pro-create and about how plants and trees take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen for us to breathe?”
I followed up with the miracle of eyesight and asked, “Can you show me a scientist that can make the lowly egg already packaged in a shell?” I could have gone on and on, but I think he got the picture.
Bill was stuck dumb for an answer and was quiet for a little while as he mulled over some possible answers. But then he changed the subject altogether and proceeded to tell me how he doesn’t sleep, and lays awake every night with the television on till the wee hours of the morning.
Just then, we had reached his apartment and I was prompted to ask him if I could pray for him “Bill I’d like to pray for you. Would you mind?”
“Sure, why not, I need all the help I can get.”
So, I proceeded to pray for Bill in a non-condescending way, after all, I had already called him a fool, “Heavenly Father, give Bill the rest and comfort he needs in Jesus name, Amen.” (Putting on a show of piety is not in my nature and so I make my prayers for others and myself – short and sweet.)
Bill thanked me as usual and hobbled away in deep thought as I drove away about my business.
There are millions of people just like Bill. People searching for answers for peace of mind and assurance but the last place they look is in the Bible.
Two days later and I’m out on the pier again, this time trying to catch some fish to eat. As usual I encounter a retiree and I strike up a conversation. This healthy robust man begins telling me of his fears for his grandchildren what with all that’s taking place in our country. He claims to have studied law and went on and on about how the crazies were ruling the country and how there was chaos everywhere – to which I could only agree.
After letting him have his say I asked him if he was a Christian. He said he was a Catholic – a lame one at that. This opened the door for me to tell him of my conversion experience with Christ and how I believed we were living in the Last Days. He quit trying to impress me with his doctorates and degrees and became intrigued by what I had to say. His visage said it all, “I didn’t know that!” – I had given him something to think about tonight. Maybe he’ll crack open the family bible that’s been gathering dust on the shelf.
By now I had rigged up my line and finally said goodbye. I walked toward the middle of the pier. But I no sooner get started and I see Bill come hobbling down the pier toward me. He sat on the bench where I had laid my fishing gear- a small tackle shoulder bag. I could tell he needed a ride home as sweat gathered on his brow, and again the fish weren’t biting so I offered him a ride. He let out a sigh of relief and said thank you.
I can only assume that God has been working this thing out, the timing was once again perfect.
Books to read.
As all my readers know, I usually have a book to recommend and this time one was sent to me written by one of them.
It was a good read crisp and clean and better than most self – published work.
The title of the book is “Out Giving God”, a book that started out to be a reality check on faith in God.
I liked the book because it pulled no punches and didn’t gloss over or make excuses for failures in the life of a Christian.
Like so many, author Christians Russel Bonds was “saved at childhood”, grew up in a church going family and tried to do everything right. But the time came when he was finally tested, “These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So, when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” I Peter 1:7
This book is a good testimonial for those who are going through a rough patch in their faith.
(Over the years I’ve talked to some that had left the faith because things didn’t turn out the way they expected. If they had read scripture, they would have found that Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me.”)
The title to this article sounds like the title of an apocalyptic horror film. It is nighttime, shouting ensues from the crowds of young people rioting in the streets and gets ever louder as they march toward us carrying weapons and bricks. Overturned police cars are burning on the streets. This true to life movie is made up of highly dramatic scenes depicting sirens blaring from emergency vehicles and red and blue flashing lights. The police are lined up shoulder to shoulder with shields and truncheons as they make their way toward the terrorists.
On a side street several young black thugs are pummeling a helpless old wheelchair bound woman who happens to be white. A man wearing a Covid mask steps into the scene and having seen enough, pulls a handgun from behind his waistband and begins blasting away at the thugs who fall backward dead – one after another. The scene is reminiscent of a scene from the movie “Death Wish” starring Charles Bronson screened in the late sixties.
But wait a minute, before you protest this scene. This isn’t a scene from a movie, it is a scene from actual real life. The silent majority has had it and is fighting back with pent up fury retaliation can’t be far behind and civil war is beginning to look likely.
Reality and the book of Revelation have converged and now the book of Revelation doesn’t seem too farfetched as it once was. It’s as if we – the present generations – are smack dab in the middle of the prophecies of that ominous book.
Not only has reality and the book of Revelation converged but politics and Christianity have merged as well with all out spiritual warfare in the offing. Grey areas have all but diminished and now it’s “in your face” confrontation where right is wrong and wrong is right and there is no God.
With the presidential election coming up we can expect chaos to escalate even further with the prompting and encouragement of Godless Democrats. The presidential election is only three months away and they are determined to win at all costs even with lawless distractions.
The newspapers – or what’s left of them are phasing out because of their outright lies and inability to report the facts and instead have been infiltrated by hard left writers seeking fame and fortune by reporting politically correct propaganda or even outright lies.
In the meantime, earthquakes, tsunamis, drought, floods, and famine are destroying whole communities and threaten to destroy a third of mankind while another third twiddles their thumbs in fear. The final third lives under a rock and couldn’t care less about the state of the nation or anyone else. They only want football season to finally open. But as of yesterday, the football season has been put off again because of a phantom virus (Covid19) relapse.
Common sense tells us that these things have always been and are self-correcting in time, but never in the life of the planet has everything gone out of whack at once.
The only explanation is that there IS a Creator (God) who is very angry with mankind for taking His commandments so lightly. Commandments are not just suggestions to disregard on a whim and He gave them to us for our own good. But not only that, He gave us the capability to engage in the creative process by making babies, babies that we take for granted and kill by the tens of thousands every year – and they are a precious gift given to us by Him. Anyone would be greatly offended if you gave them a gift and you through it away like so much garbage. What an atrocity, what an afront to our benevolent and gracious creator.
In reality, there is no other reason needed to destroy mankind. But God is longsuffering and going about salvaging those who will turn to Him in repentance. Perhaps that is why He doesn’t just destroy mankind completely. Perhaps our Devine Creator is letting these disasters happen to us to get our attention so that we might repent. It appears that we have done to little too late to be granted a reprieve and He had no option but to fulfill biblical prophecies of doom in our lifetimes.
If God is who He says He is in the Bible, then He can and will do as He sees fit and so far He isn’t moving to alleviate our fear of the future and who can blame Him. We have no one to blame but ourselves for ignoring His admonitions and basic life rules. Furthermore, even pastors and clergy are wishy washy in their belief system and find loopholes in scripture for not calling for repentance from the pulpit, they themselves needing it just as much as the congregants.
Our desperate prayers are falling on deaf ears. God has seen enough and now it’s every man for himself individually – no more national repentance.
Although small revivals are beginning to take place throughout the world it seems that God is going forward with prophetic scripture incrementally, but a man would have to be blind not to see the pieces of the prophetic puzzle coming together.
Even though we know the things prophesied in the Bible must happen we must do our best to stem the tide of evil. Pedophilia should never be right. Abortion should never be right except in certain cases. Homosexuality should never be right. Murder should never be right – neither should theft, yet we permit, condone and embrace those things that are bringing our country to it’s collective knees while we should be using the windows of opportunity that we still have to warn others of their need of a savior before that opportunity fades away – never to be seen again.
With permission from this wonderful web site, I would like to remind you that this is an election year and that the state of our nation is at stake. The Godless Democrats are going to all they can to tear this country down and hand it over to Islam and the Communist party. It’s never enough to just pray, we must put feet on our prayers and do what we can to stem the tide of corruption and vote for who and what is right.
Books
I just finished reading a great book titled “American Crusade” by Pete Hegseth. This man is right about all the evil that’s going on in our country and believes – like I do – that all right thinking people should do what they can to stem the present tide of corruption for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
I want to thank you for stepping up and out and bravely lending your voice to the millions that are voiceless.
Thucydides in his history of the Peloponnesian War says, “The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and, notwithstanding, go out to face it.” You did so and I stand with you ready to lend my voice to the fight.
If I may offer some insight from my narrow vantage point, my thoughts center on your comment about the powers that be “driving God out of our families, our schools, and our courts” even our very churches, which many church’s will gladly accept, sadly. I would add from the military as well.
When I see a Ranger tabbed officer, testify against his commander in chief and participate in an attempted coup, I hang my head low and cry. Where is the honor, where is the keeping oneself morally straight? I still hold the creed as something worthy to live up to. However, the rot in the military is another battle the “children of darkness” have created a strong beachhead in.
A west point cadet goes four years thru the academy with rabid communist leanings and he is allowed to continue and graduate, only after his images go viral is action taken! We have a retired SEAL admiral opine that our duly elected President, not terrorism, nor China, nor a rouge nuclear nation is the biggest threat to national security. Meanwhile a SEAL Team 7 platoon was sent home from Iraq because of a deterioration of good order and discipline and separately allegations of sexual assault, cocaine use among the teams, so much so that there was ordered a review of the culture and ethics of the elite units. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff just today, “launched an outspoken attack on the Confederacy and signaled his support for the military renaming bases named for Confederate leaders”. The cancel culture has reached the top of the military and it is part of a deliberate design to pursue the deconstruction of our nation, its heritage, family values and traditions in pursuit of a dangerous agenda built on the failed policies of the past. The list could go on, but the sobering truth is our moral compass is lost, the military always provided a bedrock and foundation for our future leaders. I fear the darkness has crept in
The military has lost its bearing, and true north is off a few degrees. We can course correct, but that takes hard moral leadership. Our military cemeteries are filled with patriots who died fighting against everything the liberals and establishment republicans stand for.
Any businessman will tell you if you are running out of cash, you obviously have a cash flow problem. However, cash flow is a symptom, not a cause itself. It is an indicator of something more serious. In the same way America is in moral free fall, as you stated we have taken God out of schools, homes, entertainment, military and even our very own Church’s. As my mentor taught me, “We are victims of spiritual warfare. We have media masking truth. We have courts without Justice. We have anger replacing patriotism. We have schools deliberately dumbing down our youth. We have replaced our traditional heritage with “multiculturalism,” revisionism, and values relativism.”
We are in a moral crisis and it has been a long time coming, we have ceded the high ground. With an election around the corner – and one that may prove to be a “watershed” for the future of the Republic.
President James Garfield expressed it well:
Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature…
If the next centennial does not find us a great nation… it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.
America was once a beachhead for liberty, truth, freedom and the Gospel to a hurting world, we need to do what many leaders have done in the past in times of crisis and hold fast to 2 Chronicles 7:14 and “seek His face.” It may be that He forgives our nation of its sins and grants us another opportunity to reestablish the America that once was.
I will keep you and your family in our prayers and know that I and many others are on the frontlines of the fight to take back our Republic.
As most of you already know, I am an avid reader of non- fiction books. There are two reasons for this, one is that you can always learn something from them and the other is that truth is often stranger than fiction.
In any case, I bought another book from our fantastic library system of five of them scattered throughout Collier county. In looking through the available books I found one that was about an orphan boy who fought in the second world war at the age of fifteen. I knew it was self -published because of the unpolished prose and misspelled words. Nevertheless, I liked the cover photo of the main character in the aged sepia colored army photo. About midway through I found out his daughter had helped him get his story together; and an interesting one it is.
At three years old he was abandoned to an orphanage by his non – caring teenaged mother who was just trying to stay alive during the Great Depression, she herself having been an orphan and having borne him out of wedlock.
In spite of the inconsistencies (which I tried to overlook) the story was compelling, and I began to see it as an exercise in psychology.
His story is one of an overcomer who became a soldier at the age of fifteen and fought in Second World War. He also told little stories about having overcome life’s adversities. I suspect that this was the gist of his story as he rambled allot.
As I read with an open mind, I began to fully understand that everyone has a story to tell and the plots are endless – each one unique to the individual.
Since reading that book, I’ve began to see my “friends” at the fishing pier as lost orphans floundering in the vast sea of life.
The Naples pier opened recently from the Covid lockdown, and I went for the second time since it first opened. The first time no – one was there, today, however, nearly everyone was there, Bill, Adrian and his wife, Nelson, Joe, and Jimmy. Frank and Mel were missing. Most were huddled in the shade, under the shelter at the end of the pier – since the day was yet another scorcher.
I said my hellos to everyone and began making my rounds individually. First was Joe, probably one of the best fishermen on the pier – a man who studies the tides, water temperature, wind, and other factors before casting his line. Joe is a former baseball player who played with some of the greats of the game in the minors. Today he goes around with constant pain and takes Ibuprofen daily – I fear for his overuse of this liver destroying medication. He appeared to be happy to see me since the others despise his fishing prowess and rarely talk to him. Joe knows what I’m all about, but he never wants to talk about the things of God changing the subject whenever I begin talking about Him.
Jimmy is the angry one of the crowd and is always complaining about something or someone, a racist to the core. He is the first one I greeted from afar as I approached the group of guys sitting in the shade under the canopy, “Hey Jimmy…..How ya doin?”
Startled, Jimmie looked up and greeted me with a weak smile, something he seldom does to anyone. But I did that to make him feel important. To God – everyone is important, and I know that. I feel sorry for him. Who knows why he has such pent-up anger? What a terrible way to live.
As I sat down next to Bill, I said hi to Adrian, a fellow from Romania whom I’m just getting to know and Nelson the quiet one who seldom converses with anyone and appears to be hiding something. Either that or he is very insecure. Whistling all the time, he reminds me of a song I heard as a child about whistling in the dark when you’re afraid.
Bill, a man in his sixties is a former writer for a music magazine as well as a drummer who played with various rock bands during the seventies. He was born into a privileged family and was Phi Beta Kapa during his University years but somewhere along the line he crossed over to using drugs – even though he initially aspired to become a medical doctor. Since he knows the entertainment business we can talk about films and music endlessly.
Bill is morbidly obese due to health problems and I often offer him a ride home. Even though he only lives a few blocks away, it must be a struggle to get to and from the pier daily. I knew he had been a hard-core atheist and leftist in the past, but I felt that he just didn’t know any better because of the drugs he was abusing. It didn’t take long for him to open up to me because the other guys just looked at him as an oddball and avoided engaging him in any meaningful conversation. I witness to him all the time.
Our friendship grows stronger each time we meet, and I’ve even gone so far as praying for the poor soul in the car on one of our trips to his apartment. The last time I even gave him my cell number and to him to call me if he ever needed to go the doctor or needed anything 24/7.
Insofar as my faith is concerned, he’s learned to accept it and is happy to have my company.
The one thing they all have in common is that they are like the orphan I mentioned earlier. I see flawed characters everywhere I look, and I can sympathize with each and every one of them on some level since each of us is looking for condolence, peace of mind and assurance that everything is going to be ok. We are like children on ships tossed about in this often-turbulent sea of life, or like orphans in the storm.and are incapable of saving ourselves…… we all need a Father figure – a person who cares, and a savior as well…..
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life…..Try Him, you’ll be glad you did.
By Jim Towers
I drive a new Toyota, and it’s extremely reliable, but the indicator light for a low inflated tire kept coming on even though they all looked good to the naked eye. So, each time the light came on I took it to the dealership. (This has happened twice before in the past year. Yesterday I took it into the dealership once again, this time demanding that something be done to correct the situation. The people there already recognized me, and a couple even know my name. Although we were always cordial toward each other, I was beginning to feel they were giving me the runaround. I thought maybe they just inflated the low tire and sent me on my way with a slow leak rather than fix it once and for all.
In any case, I sat around watching television with a good number of other individuals waiting for the repair to be made. I waited and waited and waited some more, by now I was getting antsy and had to remind myself that everything has a reason for those in the family of God, “All things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose.” Finally, after two and a half hours my name was called and the young man led me to a cubicle as if to tell me something in secret.
We sat and he didn’t seem to know where to begin, but after a moment he said “Jim,…we took off the wheels and put each of them in a tank of water – individually. …. None of them needed air and none of them were faulty in the least. We don’t know what to make of it.” Just then it hit me like a ton of bricks, It was a God thing!….I should have known. So when I went outside to pick up my car I reached into the glove box and took out two little red bibles and gave one to the young escort while saying, “ Here kid, with the way things are going your gonna need this, Jesus is coming back soon.” He exclaimed “Thank you sir, thank you.” Then, I remembered the young lady who had been trying to help me move things along and I turned back to see her in her cubicle. I thanked her for all her help and handed the little red book to her saying “Jesus is coming back soon, you’re going to need this.” She thanked me as if she had been thinking along these lines but didn’t know where to look to find out why things have been so abruptly changed in our lives. She thanked me so profusely you’d think I had given her a winning lottery ticket!
While driving home I couldn’t help but think that God had sent me there for the very purpose of delivering His Word to both of them. So, I thanked Him for the privilege of doing so.
The next day was a beautiful Saturday so I headed to the fishing pier (my mission station) to see if they were opened yet. (We had been on lockdown for a month) and sure enough it was, but there very few people fishing and it was 100 degrees out there so I decided to get lunch at Mc Donald’s rather than stand around and bake in the sun.
An older homeless man was sitting on a wooden planter just outside the store. His bicycle was leaning against sign nearby. Two raggedy back packs were lying at the man’s feet they held all his worldly possessions in them. As I passed nearby, he shouted out, “Hey man, how are you doing?” I felt the need to acknowledge him face to face, “I’m doing fine how about you” I asked as I looked at the sunburned man white haired man whose arms were crisscrossed with deep wrinkles throughout them. “My names Fletcher, what’s yours?”, as he reached out to shake hands,
“Jim,….. glad to know you Fletcher.” His big hands were calloused and rough and he still had a good manly grip. “Things could be better.”
“How so.” As I sat next to him, “Tell me about it.”
After a moment to think about it , he replied., “Well I Don’t know why the good Lord above has me alive.” The man’s eyes were beginning to water. Apparently, he doesn’t get this kind of attention too often.
“I jest got out of the hospital…I was dead for three minutes Doctor said I was dead. I heard him say it while lying there dead. I decided to open my eyes and tell him I was alive, and I did,… I said, “No so, doc, I’m alive!… The doctors jaw fell to the floor and they kept me for a couple of days and released me.”
I began witnessing to the man tenderly, but with conviction. “Maybe the Lord want’s to save you.”….
” I know it, …I jest know it!” the man replied.
Before long he was weeping openly and he squeezed my hand harder and harder. “I try and try to be what God wants me to be, but it just doesn’t take.”
I told him that sometimes we just have to pray with our faces to the floor, confessing our sins and calling out to God in the name of Jesus Christ until we get a breakthrough.”
It must have been a revelation to the man – having heard that. His eyes popped open and he replied, “That’s just what I needed to hear, Maybe I should do that!” Thank you, Jim.
I prayed with him still holding my hand as if I were a lifeline directly to God. “God sent you to me ,….God sent you too me …I just know he did, I was calling out to Him when you arrived out of nowhere….Thanks Jim, thanks.
In these turbulent times, everybody who isn’t a Christian is hurting out there. They are searching for answers that only you and I possess.
I went in to get a small order of chicken nuggets and the woman at the counter inexplicably said while handing me my order – “God loves you” although I had never seen her before.
BOOK
If you have the time for a good read, try this page turner by Michael Medved “God’s Hand on America” Divine providence in the modern era. All true and documented stories about how God intervened in the history of our great nation.
YBIC
Jim Towers Write me at jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com and check out my website www.propheticsignsandwonders.com. also www.dropzonedelta.com warriors following Christ.
An excerpt and link to the article by Britt Gillette who is the founder of End Times Bible Prophecy.
About two thousand years ago, Jesus rebuked the religious elites of His day. He criticized them for their failure to recognize His Coming. He told them, “You know how to look at the sky and predict the weather, but you don’t know how to recognize the signs of the times” (Matthew 16:1-3). Just like you and me, the religious leaders could see dark clouds on the horizon and know a rain storm was on its way. In the same manner, Jesus said they should have seen the signs and prepared for His arrival. The Pharisees and Sadducees knew the Old Testament Messianic prophecies, yet they failed to recognize the Messiah.
But their failure is relevant to our day and time as well. Why? Because Jesus wasn’t simply addressing the Pharisees and Sadducees when He said this. He had a second audience in mind – you and me. That’s right. Jesus was also talking to our generation. The Bible is filled with prophecies about the Second Coming, and Jesus commanded us to watch for Him (Mark 13:35-37). Our generation is also expected to recognize the “signs of the times.” But are we? Do you recognize the signs of the times?
An article from Khouse.org- How pertinent to the current state.
We are fast approaching a time when each of us will have to make some decisions—decisions about our life, our relationships, and our worldview.
After World War II, the Communist Party assumed control of Romania. Once the Communists came to power, they proceeded to co-opt the Church. They spoke of love and tolerance, but these words masked their true intentions.
Those Christians (including the clergy) who did not have a strong Biblical foundation were easily deceived and many who did were intimidated into silence.
After the takeover, the Romanian Communists convened a congress of four thousand priests, pastors, and ministers of all denominations in their Parliament building with the proceedings being carried in a national radio broadcast. One by one, the ministers got up and had nothing but words of praise for communism and assured the new government of the loyalty of the Christian Church.
Richard Wurmbrand
One of the pastors scheduled to speak was a man named Richard Wurmbrand. As he listened and waited, his wife Sabina leaned over to him and said, “They are spitting in the face of Christ. Richard, stand up and wash away this shame.”
He said to her, “If I do so, you lose your husband.” She replied, “I don’t wish to have a coward as a husband.”
So Wurmbrand rose and instead of repeating the same thing every other pastor said, he told the assembly how wrong they were and how this flew in the face of Christian doctrine.1
At this point, the broadcast was interrupted and the martyrdom of the Wurmbrands began. Sabina went on to serve eight years in prison while Richard served a total of fourteen years, eight of which were in solitary confinement. As Richard Wurmbrand said,
In solitary confinement, we could not pray as before. We were unimaginably hungry…The Lord’s Prayer was much too long for us—we could not concentrate enough to say it. My only prayer repeated again and again was, “Jesus, I love You.”2
After he and his wife immigrated to the United States, he was called to testify before the United States Senate, stripping to the waist to reveal the scars of eighteen wounds received from frequent tortures. A reporter with the Philadelphia Herald said of Wurmbrand’s time in prison, “He stood in the midst of lions, but they could not devour him.”
Not all the Romanian clergy were as brave as this. Orthodox and Protestant churches would outdo each other in showing their loyalty to the Communist Party. One Orthodox bishop put the hammer and sickle on his robes and asked his priests to no longer call him “Your Grace,” but “Comrade Bishop.”
The deputy bishop of the Lutheran church in Romania began to teach in the theological seminary that God had given three revelations: one through Moses, one through Jesus, and the third through Stalin, the last superseding the other two.
What Happened?
The Communist coup in Romania was not like authoritarian takeovers in other countries. Rather than the systematic annihilation of their enemies, such as with the Castro regime in Cuba or the Pol Pot government in Cambodia, this coup was “civilized.”
Rather than an outright prosecution of the church, they seduced it. After the seduction came the oppression, but by that time it was too late. The time to fight back was past.
What would you do if you face a situation like the one confronting the Wurmbrands? We all like to think that when the time comes to stand up for our faith, we would be as heroic as Richard and Sabine Wurmbrand.
The truth is if a person has not conditioned himself to resist evil and waits for his “big moment,” he will find himself wanting. If one spends their life compromising their values in small ways, they will continue to compromise in larger ones. In today’s politically correct world, it is easy to find ways to compromise, to rationalize one’s actions. If one subscribes to the idea of relative values, there is no place where you can say, “This far and no more.” Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) once wrote,
What is morality in any given time or place? It is what the majority then and there happen to like, and immorality is what they dislike.
While written almost 100 years ago, this philosophy still defines the secular worldview today. While a Christian defines morality through the lens of the Bible, the World defines it according to the transient whims of the time.
Though Whitehead was raised in a Christian home, he rejected every aspect of Christian teaching. A mathematician and philosopher, Whitehead’s influence was felt on both sides of the Atlantic, as he taught at both Cambridge and Harvard.
Using these universities as his pulpit, Whitehead preached his version of “process theology.” a term used in his time for situational ethics, a philosophy that can be traced back as far as the teachings of Plato. (It is also through the Greek school of thought that theologians began to allegorize the Bible, polluting God’s basic message to us.)
Relativistic morality is pervasive in the world today. In fact, those of us who hold to a Biblical worldview are not only in the minority, we are on the brink of being ostracized.
It is easy to talk about such things in theory, but it is another thing when it happens to you.
A Personal Stand
For this writer, the recent controversy over admitting homosexuals into the Boy Scouts was the event that turned theory into reality.
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was founded in 1910 under a charter granted by the United States Congress, one of only two organizations so honored (the other being the Red Cross). The principles of the organization are embodied by the Scout Oath:
The Scout Oath
On my honor I will do my best To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.
When I joined the Cub Scouts in 1959, the oath was clear and unambiguous. The organization embodied patriotism, a belief in God, the promise to live by the Golden Rule and to live a moral life.
Starting in the 1960s some people began questioning the mission of the Boy Scouts.
Attack from the Atheists
The first attack came from atheists. While the BSA will grant membership to anyone who believes in a “higher power”, atheists believed that the Boy Scouts should not discriminate against them and should grant membership to those who do not have any belief in God.
This issue seemed to be settled when in 1993 the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal of a lower federal court ruling on the issue. The case at hand was whether the Boy Scouts of America could deny membership to atheists and agnosticswithout violating federal anti-discrimination laws. The U.S. appeals court in Chicago concluded that the federal law forbidding discrimination in “places of public accommodation” did not include private groups such as the Boy Scouts. The ruling dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of a seven-year-old Illinois boy who refused to make the required Boy Scout pledge to “…do my duty to God and my country.”
As a result, while the BSA could maintain their policy on atheists, they were barred from many schools and other public buildings because of their stance on this issue.
More Attacks
The next group that challenged BSA policy was the homosexual lobby. They sued the BSA over the policy barring homosexuals from being Scouts or Scout leaders.
This issue was supposed to be resolved with the 2000 landmark Supreme Court case Boy Scouts of America v. Dale that ruled that as a private organization, the BSA could exclude a person from membership when “the presence of that person affects in a significant way the group’s ability to advocate public or private viewpoints.”
Even with a loss in the courts, the homosexual lobby then took a different tack—they went after the money. Those who wanted homosexuals in the BSA began to put pressure on contributors to the organization to withhold funding to effect a change in the rules.
The Current Controversy
In response to growing pressure to change its membership policy, in July 2012 the Executive Committee of the BSA’s Executive Board released a statement revealing that an “11 person committee” convened since 2010 by the BSA conducted a two-year review and reached a “unanimous consensus” recommending retaining the current membership policy.
Still not satisfied with the outcome, those that wanted a change continued to put pressure on BSA’s large contributors. In February of this year, UPS and Intel both announced that they would withhold their funding until BSA changed their membership policy.
In response, BSA announced that the Executive Board would vote again on the membership issue even though they voted to retain the current policy just seven months before. This decision caused an uproar within the BSA rank and file. Many felt that it was a betrayal of the leadership, caving in to money interests.
The Executive Board then reversed themselves yet again and announced that they would postpone their vote until the upcoming annual meeting, scheduled for next month.
Rules for Radicals
What is happening to the BSA is becoming a common occurrence in today’s society. An organization that used to be viewed as being synonymous with American Values has slowly become vilified and is now being projected as anti-American.
The tactics that were used to maneuver BSA to such a state come right out of a classic book written by Saul Alinsky titled, Rules for Radicals. Rule #13 in his book is, “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Alinsky codified a technique that has been used for years for people and groups to push through a particular agenda.
In this case the Boy Scouts were the target. Their position on homosexuals in Scouting was “frozen” in place and “personalized” in the persona of a Boy Scout who was expelled from Scouting for announcing that he was homosexual and a Cub Scout Leader who announced she was homosexual as well.
As a result, BSA found themselves “polarized.” They were polarized from much of America. They went from being held up as model for good citizenship to being booed during the opening flag ceremony at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
They have also polarized their membership. The policy the BSA Executive Board has decided to vote on is the worst of all worlds. The new motion would allow local units to decide for themselves whether or not to admit gays into their troops and packs. The Board argues that the units would not have to associate with homosexuals if they chose not to. In this regard, they are being disingenuous at best. Scouting units come together for larger activities involving multiple troops and packs.
The only way to be sure a unit would not associate with homosexuals in Scouting would be to isolate themselves completely from all other Scouting groups and activities.
In the name of tolerance, homosexual advocates have moved the BSA from mainstream to almost a fringe group.
But that is not enough for these activists. They have stated that they will not rest until BSA endorses the homosexual lifestyle.
While the tolerant attitude would be to “live and let live” and start their own scouting organization, they have decided to forcibly impose their values on others. They decided that they cannot tolerate intolerance.
This leaves the Christian Scout Leader or parent on the horns of a dilemma. It is very similar to one facing many people in conflict with their church. The question for them is “Do they stay in the organization and work within or do they leave that organization?”
For many leaders the only answer is to leave. To stay in the organization is to give a tacit endorsement to the policies they espouse.
What is happening to the BSA and their leaders is a microcosm of a larger secular war being waged on several fronts. The concept of Freedom of Religion is slowly being replaced with Freedom of Worship, relegating one’s faith and beliefs to the four walls of a building. God-given rights are being replaced with “rights” granted by the state, Freedom is being replaced with “fairness.”
Decision Time
We are fast approaching a time when each of us will have to be make some decisions—decisions about our life, our relationships, and our worldview.
The first thing we need to do is be strong in our faith. Are we secure in Him?
Next, we need a firm hold on our worldview. A worldview is the framework that we hang our life decisions on. If one believes that there are moral absolutes, then the decisions we make every day become easy. If our worldview consists of moral relativisms, then every decision and life choice is studied, considered, and worried over.
Ephesians 6 is one of the best instruction manuals for preparing for the coming battle. It teaches us to put on the Full Armor of God and to put it on before the battle is joined.
But we also must act. Before his death at the hands of the Nazis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote,
Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.
Each of us has a part to play in the battles to come. The question is: will we stand tall with Christ as Richard and Sabine Wurmbrand did, or will we spit in the Face of Christ?
It seems that everyone these days has his or her own conspiratorial take on today’s chaotic events never stopping to think what the Word of God has to say about them. There are many conspiracy theorists, even Christian ones.
Since we are all different in our ideologies and depth of faith and knowledge of scripture we have a tendency to believe we are the only ones who can decipher truth, which is true – but only for ourselves individually and today with the world so out of whack conspiracy theories abound.
I know a woman who must not be able to sleep at night and probably even sleeps under her bed. Every day she posts something NEW to report. The sky is falling!,…the sky is falling!! Granted we have much to be worried about, but to hear her tell it everyone who is a Democrat is evil and drinking children’s blood to prolong their lives. Hillary, Obama, Soros, and Pelosi are the main perpetrators while Bill is just another sordid sex obsessed pervert. Although the perverted Podesta brothers are certainly demon possessed. I would submit that they are evil minded individuals but if they were so evil as to kill children and drink their blood why wouldn’t they have been caught in the act by now?
We all know that somewhere in the deepest underground this atrocity exists since many people are no longer rational nor moral. Albeit some devil worshipers, witches and other lunatics no longer hide their obsessions nor their fidelities to the netherworld and openly flout their sinfulness in the open for all the world to see. While this may be true we Christians must continue to live by faith. “The just shall live by faith.” …… “Without faith it is impossible to please God”.
Another man, like the wise sage that he thinks he is, can tell us all about life – never once refers to scripture when making his assessments. He is not unlike the Pope or Rick Warren of the Chrislam movement thinking that all religions can co-exist and mingle with one another – in love. If we bible believers know anything, it is that there is only One meditator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, – other lesser beings or manmade philosophies just don’t count. And love? As a guy from Brookland would say, “Forgetabout it!….. Godless people are only obsessed with themselves.
Then there are Christians who should know better but believe that all the world is against them and are ready to throw themselves out the window. Their problem is that they think that they are the center of the universe and are constantly looking inwardly, not caring enough about others to reach out to them. Indeed, it’s normal to think that way. But Christians are supposed to be dead in Christ so no, we are NOT the center of the universe.
Another “friend” tries to look at things pragmatically as though he has it all figured out “All we need is a little love and understanding.” Duhhhh! Hell will freeze over when that happens my friend so don’t hold your breath.
I tolerate these folks because I know that only a few of us hard core Christians know God’s word and biblical prophecy intimately and try to live accordingly. Biblical knowledge also gives us insight into the workings of the world and to the madness of today’s events, it helps us to know that, “Satan goes around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
Although God knows our evil thoughts as well as the mediocre ones, He is willing to forget and forgive us. But He takes delight in those who strive to please him. David was a man after God’s own heart despite his human failures. He confessed his sin, repented, and kept going -trying to do better each time.
Now, onto my conspiracy theory. I believe that certain factions of society have nothing better to do than to sit at their laptops and write things that would make your hair stand up on end spreading lies and filling people’s minds with fear and anxiety, Dr. Fauci is a prime example, contradicting himself repeatedly and keeping everyone on the edge of their seats. But while he is only one man, let us stop to consider that there are hundreds if not thousands of others whose aim is to undermine our way of life with false information and Fake news to intimidate and cause terror from with their writings and Muslim extremists are expert subversives and shouldn’t be underestimated. They are schooled from an early age to hate and kill “Infidels” who don’t fit their mold. Amazingly, some Muslim women abide by their ridged laws and rules by covering their faces and bodies in black apparel and if they step out of line they can be stoned to death by their very own fathers or brothers. Their Sharia laws are extremely strict and hypocritical.
Homosexuals have no idea how lucky they are to be living in the United States of America. In Muslim countries they wouldn’t be marching in gay right parades without a care in the world, unless they have a death wish. But rather than defend their rights they side with their own enemies in total confusion.
While it is becoming harder to disseminate the news and believe the opinions of others. We have to remind ourselves that the father of lies is Satan and he is the one pulling the strings. At the same time though, we must remember that he is only a created being himself who will one day be judged and put in his place by his creator – Almighty God. We have no need to fear Satan, “If we fear God, we have nothing else to fear.”
Nevertheless, many of us bible believers are experiencing backlash from our friends and neighbors for not being fooled by the powers that be. It’s a sad thing when even our own family turns against us – having been brainwashed by teachers, professors and even clergy – saying we should be tolerant of other beliefs and actions. But since when is rioting, looting, and burning to the ground another’s property a good thing? Paul warns Timothy that these things will happen in the last days. Love and respect, – since they are matters of the heart – have been eliminated from society and now only hypocrisy remains.
We, as bible believing Christians must bone up on the Word of God to be able to stand in spite of the lawlessness surrounding us and to confront it. There should be no more mediocrity and wishy-washiness among us. The days of apathetic leisure are gone forever. There is hardly any doubt that prophetic scriptures are being fulfilled – even as we speak – with no end in sight.
Jesus is the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE.
PS.
With so many other things to worry about, interest in my film project appears to be nil.
I try to keep my wits about me by simply trusting God’s word – the bible. We know these things must come to pass. It says so – throughout the Holy Scriptures. Covid,
With the breakdown of Judeo-Christian law – based on the ten commandments- is this twisted travesty for law poised to take over our country?
The plot thickens, and now Sharia, the Islamic form of law, may be coming to a town near you. Already, Muslims have taken over Minneapolis and established a number of minarets to call the populous to Muslim prayer five times a day in Minnesota. This once great American city has been taken over by Islam and left-wing liberals, (a people who don’t know any better.)
In the meantime, with our cities burning and being looted we citizens don’t know who or what to believe or even what to think since news organization barely tell the truth anymore. It is quite a coincidence that the anarchy happening today is the very place that Obama, while he was president planted over fifty thousand Muslim Somalian’s – some of the most violent and primitive people on the face of the earth. Obama, himself a Muslim did all he could to infiltrate the United States with that evil ideology. While the Somalian’s resist assimilating into our culture and still follow sharia law, our federal Government has spent over 5 billion dollars in resettling them here from their home country. Incidentally, Minneapolis has over 70 mosques within a 30 mile radius and it is entirely likely that many of the Somali immigrants were out on the street rioting. We already have proof that Somalian Rep. Ilhan Omar’s offspring were aiding the rioters.
Just below Detroit Michigan in an area that was once predominantly Polish – Islam has taken over so completely that they already have their own sharia police in cars policing the town of Hamtramck. The capital, Lansing has become a gathering place of all sorts of lawless radical groups. It’s hard to believe that my hometown has become Sharia compliant. Not surprisingly, radical Islam is another beneficiary of the race riots taking place. It is their intent to destroy America as well.
In September of this year there will be a conclave of evangelicals praying for our nation while at the same Hillary Clinton and her cronies will be brought before the courts to explain their subversive impeachment hoax against President Trump, Obama may be included. Knowing that justice is hot on their tails, there will be continued violence to divert our attention from this act of justice- mark my words. There are many corrupt politicians, lawyers and cops involved in various shades of corruption in our country and they are now scrambling to cover their tracks
Before the 9/11 attacks I had a ministry at the local coffee shop in Miami. One day a group of men clad in Muslim dress arrived and parked their cars in front of the place as if they were the new owners – they were. Sam had been bought out, but the place continued as before, but with new operators. The same old crowd of retirees still gathered there nightly to share a few laughs and to kibitz. Many were Jews. I enjoyed the comradery and give and take of the place.
By the time 9/11 occurred I had become well known as Jim the Baptist but was respected by all, even the Muslim Pakistanis that owned the place and dropped in occasionally. I even helped one man write his final exam for a podiatry class he was taking at MCC. In any case I was never alarmed that they were Muslim since they acted “normal” toward me.
Back then I was completely unaware of the writings in the Quran, and not until the destruction of the Twin Towers did, I know what it’s teachings were all about after I began doing research on this religion and found it to be one of dominance, intolerance, and hate.
A writer on the internet says, “We have now confirmed that the Obama Foundation was tweeting about George Floyd on May 17th, more than a week before the day Floyd was reportedly killed by police in an act of violence that sparked the worldwide riots we’re all witnessing.” George Floyd was killed on May 25th. So, what was the Obama Foundation doing tweeting about Floyd on May 17th, when nobody knew who he was? To top it all CAIR, a national Muslim organization has joined in with BLM and calling for sharia yesterday.
As the plot thickens concerning the tragic events confronting our nation, I may have to add scenes depicting these events to my proposed film. Check out my re-constructed website www.propheticsignsandwonders.com. to find out more about my proposed film.
Today,
I stopped by Taco Bell to get a bite to eat today and asked for salt at the counter. There was a young black lady in her early twenty’s sitting in the otherwise empty place who had heard me ask for salt. She looked up from her laptop and taco and said, “You shouldn’t be eating salt – it’s bad for you”
I answered back, “I love salt and we need it for the brain to function properly.” She laughed.
I continued, “Are you a nurse?”
“No, but I am studying to be one.”
I walked over to her and said, “You must be a Christian to have warned me like that.”
To that she replied rather shame faced, “Well I try to be, and was even going to church before the virus hit.”
As I handed her a little book of bible verses, I told her, “Going to church isn’t enough, you have to tell God you’re sorry for having neglected Him and repent and receive Christ.” She began leafing through the little red book, so I left it at that and went to eat my meal.
Having noticed that she had only eaten a taco with a small drink, when I finished, I asked if she had eaten enough – she answered, “No,..not really”. I handed her a five-dollar bill and she lit up like a Christmas tree as she stood and stepped up to the counter for more food – while she thanked me and I said “goodbye.”
P.S.
I ended with this little story to encourage you to do the same in these days of racial conflict.
