This will be the shortest blog I have ever written because I have already written two today, and I don’t want to bore you.

People are saying that our country is divided, and it is. People say we are divided by race, color, gender, sexual preference, and political party. According to the Bible not only our country is divided but the whole world is. We are divided between those who are fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ and those who are not. The book of Proverbs would suggest that we are divided by those who are wise and those who are fools. The division occurs because those who do not love Jesus as their Savior and God don’t like those who do. The division occurs because those who are fools act like fools.

We were having a barbecue yesterday in our back yard with 3 different of our kids and their familes. Sam was barbecuing sockeye salmon that I just brought home from Alaska from a fishing trip. I got to feeling dizzy and asked Patty to help me walk to the bedroom so I could lay down for a minute, and shortly after standing up I fainted. I guess I was kind of a spooky sight lying there with my eyes wide open, my mouth open, my face white as a sheet, and out like a light. I came to just as the EMT’s showed up and then the ambulance. I really didn’t want to go to the hospital, but I was so groggy I couldn’t put up much of a fight. I fainted because of a drop in blood pressure, my blood pressure was 80/50. By the time we got to the Albany hospital it was back up to my normal 120/80. I think that the reason it dropped was that I inadvertently took two doses of my Parkinson’s medicine within 2 hours when it is supposed to be every 8 hours. I have an alarm on my phone that reminds me every 8 hours and then I mark that I took it, but sometimes I get to busy to mark it down, and then I forget that I took it. I probably will be more careful now, at least for awhile. Man it is a bummer getting old. First-time for me to ride in an ambulance. I think I will make it my last. Being physically out of it, and unable to get my body to do what I want is a very rotten feeling. I got home from the hospital and rode my stationary bicycle for two hours and again this morning, disciplining my body for being so wimpy. I am planning on climbing Mt Adams in one week so I better be getting in shape. The command to be strong is given almost 50 times in the Bible and it obviously isn’t talking about physical strength when it says that. The command to be strong in the strength which God supplies means to manage pressure well, to endure under trials, to not be anxious, or fearful of the COVID virus, and to not get uptight when you get Parkinson’s, cancer, heart problems, or a broken toe. Paul said, ”my physical body is getting weaker but my spiritual body is getting stronger”. That is what I want and will work hard to make happen.

I have been studying ”Marxism” a bit lately because the term is being thrown about a lot. The main word in the philosophy of Marxism is equality. Justice is achieved through equality. Freedom is experienced through equality. Happiness is the environment created by equality. The philosophy of Marxism isn’t as big of a problem as the methods espoused in accomplishing equality in the masses. Marxism which is the philosophy that drives Communism and Socialism says that the role of government is to establish and maintain equality between people. In order for government to succeed at this task they need to exert a lot of control over the lives of people. In order for perfect equality to be achieved the one’s in power must be perfectly just, wise, and fair, with no corruption. The problem observed in the history of governments is that when power in leadership increases so does the level of corruption resulting in inequality.

A second problem is that the definition of equality is expanded way beyond the Biblical definition of equality which says that we are all created in the image of God, that Jesus died for every person and that He desires every person to be saved and adopted into His family. That every person has equal opportunity to grow into the character of Christ and to develop their gifts and serve Him and others. Marxism says that true equality means we are equal in what we possess, how much money we have, and how much power or influence over others that we have. Every government that attempts to achieve equality in a society in the area of possessions, income, and influence will become a welfare state resulting in the loss of motivation on the part of people to work, achieve, be responsible, and faithful because others will take care of that for them.

The Bible teaches that God is the great equalizer, and that He doesn’t cause equality to exist outside of our behavior, attitude, and dependence on Him.

Matthew 23:11-12 But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

Christians often see the term ”self-help” as a prideful term, but understood rightly it simply means that I am responsible before God to live my life to please Him, and as I do He blesses me. The blessings of God are not money and possessions, but joy, peace, honor, hope, inner strength, and a sense of worth and value.

Lately I have been learning a lot of new words or old words with new definitions. One of those new words is intersectionality, which comes out of Marxism.

At the ideological heart of the left today is the theory of intersectionality, which holds that interlocking systems of oppression determine most of the world’s outcomes.

Intersectionality is a theoretical framework for understanding how aspects of a person’s social and political identities such as gender, sex, race, class, sexuality, religion, ability, physical appearance, height, weight, education level, intelligence etc. might combine to create unique levels of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies advantages and disadvantages that are felt by people due to a combination of factors.

If your goal was to create the opposite of a self-help philosophy, you’d land on intersectionality. The way to change your life for the better isn’t to work hard, practice good habits and make good decisions—the way to change your life is to overthrow the systems of oppression that are keeping you down, and the way to gain authority among your peers is to achieve a higher level of victimhood.

Marxism, Socialism, and Intersectionality is the heart of Liberalism, the left, the Democratic party, BLM, and most of the news media and social media today.

But the good news is that Jesus is coming to establish His Kingdom on the earth and He will be the perfect, righteous, just, holy ruler and judge that will establish true equality on the earth. Until then it will be a struggle.

Yesterday I was perusing around my IPad reading mail, Facebook, and some news. I hadn’t done much of that while I was in Alaska fishing for the last week. A live program that was just beginning presented by ”Front Line” doctors caught my eye, and I started watching it. It was so amazing, shocking to the point of making me really angry, yet refreshing at the same time that I continued to watch it as it continued for hours. I was so impressed with what was being said that I ”Shared” it on Facebook. I went back a few minutes later to see how many had watched it, and found that it had been taken off of my Facebook page. I went back to find it where I had originally seen it and it was gone from there as well, I then went to YouTube and it was no longer there either. I then read where Donald Trump Jr’s twitter account had been suspended because he had shared it. I began reading some comments by liberal media people about it, and they made the doctors who were part of this coalition out to be idiots and weirdos. I did a little research on the dozen I had heard and found them to be very experienced and well educated. I thought to myself, this is amazing that the American people can be literally spoon-fed information that those who control Google, Facebook, and YouTube want us to hear and believe. I was in a written discussion with someone about the value of wearing masks, and they said ”Google it”and you will find lots of documentation that masks work. I thought to myself, that isn’t proof, all the articles that say they don’t work have probably been removed. I have to admit that I have been a bit naive about this. I thought that censorship to that degree was illegal. Here is the introduction to the doctors presentation.

Frontline doctors from across the US held a “White Coat Summit” on Monday in Washington DC to dispel the misinformation and myths surrounding the coronavirus. The doctors are very concerned with the disinformation campaign being played out in the far left American media today.

Did you catch that? ”the disinformation campaign being played out in the far left American media today.”

Year’s ago I read a book about the devil and his strategies to control our lives. His primary method according to the author is to control what we believe to be true by gaining control of of those institutions that we believe are sources of truth. It looks like he has been very successful in carrying out his plan.

These doctors are trying to communicate truth to the American public for their health and well being, and they are being blocked at every turn and in every venue, and being slandered, vilified, and ridiculed as incompetent and nut cases.

The way this whole thing has come down makes me believe very strongly that what they are attempting to communicate is absolutely true.

The question that plagues me now is ”Why”? Why would this information that was so positive and hope filled be so vigorously blocked? ”Why?”

In 1997 Edith Schaeffer wrote a book entitled, ” What is a Family?” I read it when the youngest of our 8 kids was 10 years old, and it had a very profound impact on my thinking, and caused me to give great praise to my heavenly Father for the amazing gift He had given to Patty and I. Today we have eight children, I guess it is hard to call them children now with the oldest being around 45 years old. Today we have been married almost 51 years, we have six daughters and two sons, all who are married, with good marriages, and 27 grandchildren. They all love Jesus, each other, and us.

The term ”nuclear family” is one that consists of two parents, father and mother and children, one or more living together in the same house. The nuclear family is the basic unit of any healthy culture and society. There are many discussions today about what has gone wrong with America. There are many different issues and causes, but I am sure that the demise of the nuclear family is a major one. The percentage of kids raised in a ”nuclear family” has gone down every year. Right at the end of World War II the percentage of families with two parents was almost 80%, and today it is less than 50%.

Today in my life as a pastor one of my main activities is to pray for every person in our church every week. I pray for God to work in marriages, to give parents wisdom to train their kids to be champions, I pray for every husband to love his wife as Christ loved the church, I pray for divine protection around every kid so that they are not deceived and led astray by the devil and his demons, I pray that every person follows the Lord and serves Him with their talents and gifts, and I pray that every family is bound together by love.

I won’t know until I get to heaven what difference and impact my praying has had, but by faith, I believe it is great.

We had an outdoor service today with great worship, sweet fellowship, and incredible testimonies from twelve people who got baptized. It was a very blessed day that filled me up to overflowing. We are God’s church, we are the ”Bride of Christ”, we are the ”Body of Christ”, and we are the ”Family of God”. God was with us today in a very real and powerful way, it was truly an awesome day.

Today people in government are messing with the church all across our country. They are not just messing with an organization, but with the eternal companion of Jesus Christ, the Church who Jesus died for, the apple of His eye.

Those people who are doing the ”messing with” don’t have a clue what they are doing and the consequences that they are storing up for themselves in the ”day of wrath”

Romans 2:5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

The blessings that come from God in this life and at the Judment Seat of Christ are given to those who love His church, give their lives for His church, who help make His church beautiful, and who invest their lives, energy, talents, gifts, and resources to help make the eternal Bride of Jesus growing, healthy, and vibrant.

The book of Revelation is known for it’s descriptions of end-time judgments against our world and the people who live on it for their rejection of God. Many of the judgments are severe, and some of them are very difficult to understand. Before the description of the Tribulation on the world begins, the Apostle John, who wrote the book, writes a message to seven different churches. We are living in an increasingly chaotic time, which very well could be the time not far from the events written about in the book of Revelation so the messages to the seven churches should probably be especially appropriate for us today who are followers of Jesus. There a several phrases repeated to all seven churches which obviously should be of special importance. One of those repeated phrases is ”to him who overcomes” or ”he who overcomes”. In each of the seven instances it is followed by a very special reward from God which are in stark contrast to the judgments poured out on most of the inhabitants of the world.

An ”overcomer” is one who wins a wresting match, who conquors an enemy, and who finishes a race. An overcomer is faithful, committed, strong, and devoted. John, writing in the Epistles of John says that we can overcome the world, it’s temptations, and it’s values. He also says we can overcome the devil and live above his attempt to control our life. They are very real forces that are trying to destroy our life and pull us away from devotion to God.

The message to the seven churches in chapters two and three is obviously right before the remaining nineteen chapters describing famine, war, disasters, and tribulations, and it is clear that some will overcome and some will not. An overcomer is someone who enters a war mentally prepared to fight, to resist, and to be a warrior. An overcomer isn’t one who in the middle of the battle wonders why his life isn’t comfortable or easy. An overcomer is always aware of his enemy, and is always aware that his enemy is striving hard to devour him. An overcomer is not a wimp.

I have memorized Revelation chapters two and three and review them mentally at least once each week. These two chapters are packed full of information, encouragement, principles, and commands on how to be an overcomer.

Ephesians 6:11-12. . . stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Revelation 12:12 Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”

1 Peter 5:8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

2 Corinthians 2:11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

The devil has schemes that are well thought out, and he is very effective in accomplishing his goals.

There are a couple of priorities in his plans. The first is to destroy Israel, but God has promised to protect her. Watch the news.

The second thing the devil has his sights set on is a one world Government and ruler.

Understand that the devil drives most of what is happening in politics today.

The wise person who understands this resists the devil and his schemes, but doesn’t get uptight about current events.

People come from all over the world to fish the Kenai River in Alaska. Many of them fish at the same place we are fishing. We usually catch way more fish than most do so we often attract attention from the other fisherman. Some ask what we are doing and we usually share some of our methods and I often share some of the stuff that I fish with. My friends and I have been coming to this place to fish for sockeye salmon in the middle of July for over 20 years. We have experimented continuously with methods and gear over the years and have fine-tuned our system for catching reds. Occasionally someone will be out fishing us, and we ask questions, observe them, and make adjustments. Sockeye salmon are primarily plankton feeders so getting them to bite anything is a major challenge. They don’t bite to eat, they bite because of irritatipn, and for something to irritate them it has to be right in front of them. If it is 4 inches over their head or under them it won’t provoke a strike, it has to be right at their nose. Sockeye generally swim upriver on their journey to spawn with their belly 2 inches from the bottom of the river, so our lure needs to be 4 inches off of the bottom of the river, not 5 inches or 3 inches. The factors are the size of the hook, the length of the leader, the size and number of corkies, and the speed at which we retrieve. The factors that change a successful presentation of our lure to the fish and an unsuccessful one are minor. Those who catch fish are very fussy about their method and are constantly making adjustments in order to catch more fish.

I am commanded by Jesus to be a fisher of men, that is someone who is seeking lost people to share the gospel with effectively so that they trust Jesus Christ as their Savior and are transferred from an eternity of torment in the Lake of Fire, to heaven, a place of eternal joy. How do I do that so that people listen and respond positively? I need to become an effective and successful fisher of men. Do I work as hard to learn the most effective way to catch men as I do to catch sockeye salmon? I should, and you should as well.

A group of 3 of us have been in Soldotna, Alaska fishing on the Kenai River since Friday. This coming Friday is our last day to fish. We are fishing for Sockeye Salmon, commonly called “Reds”. So far the number of fish that have gone up the river to spawn has been small and we have had to spend 15 hours a day fishing to get our limits of 3 fish apiece, but we are hoping that the daily limit is raised to 6 fish per day, and that the run gets good. Our goal is to bring 100 lbs of fish home apiece. The fishing experience in Alaska is amazing even if I don’t catch a single fish, and any fish I catch is gravy. I need to remind myself of that periodically so I don’t get overly focused on catching fish and and make myself feel bad because we aren’t catching a lot of fish.

Life is like a fishing trip. There are the short range goals, the less important goals, and then there are the longe range goals, the ones that have significant rewards or benefits in life. Often we get so focused on the short range goals that we forget the long range goals. We forget to pursue them, and to be thankful for the progress made in accomplishing them.