Progressive politicians, leftist media outlets, secular universities, multinational corporations, and the entertainment industry are actively seeking a socialist agenda. The term that is used now is “Scientific Socialism.” How many times have we heard the slogan “We must follow the science!” The problem for me is the science keeps changing. The question that comes into my mind almost daily is, “Who is actually controlling the data and statistics that our leaders are supposed to rely on to determine the appropriate “scientific” response to the pandemic?” Good scientist who disagree are blackballed and censored. Former President Obama recently said, “listen to the experts, and follow science.” These words come from a Marxist/Socialist philosophy that has as it’s goal a planet run by a bureaucracy of technocrats.

The primary goal of Socialism is control over people using a science based humanism in which unelected experts determine global priorities, and enforce a science based code of conduct in which the individual and his rights are diminished for the sake of the greater good, and the health of planet earth as supreme.

Scientific Socialism will destroy any culture and country. It suppresses independent thought, it crushes creative enterprise, it eliminates free speech, it publicly shames and criminalizes those who disagree, and it actively turns people away from worshipping God and leads to a humanistic and godless tyranny.

I have been in Communist China, and in Communist Vietnam a number of times on short term missions trips, and have visited extensively with missionaries who have visited Cuba, and can’t imagine anyone with any level of intelligence and insight wanting that for our country. Between the years of 1917 and 2017 Marxist governments have been responsible for the deaths of approximately 100 million people in the name of the “good of society.”It is hard to imagine a 100 million people being murdered by their own governments.

The only way to make sense of this push to “transform America” is to understand that it is demonic to it’s core. I am going to be teaching a class on “Eschatology,”the study of the end times, and the goal of the devil as you study the Bible, is a one world economy, a one world government, and a one world religion.

As Christians we need to understand that things are going to get worse and worse, but as they do our ability to influence people around us is going to increase, but only if we live our lives with one foot in heaven. I truly believe that all that is happening is a clear sign that Jesus is returning soon, and that we need to live our lives as the only hope for many to know Jesus and live with Him forever. “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us, be reconciled to God!”

My class will start next Sunday, October 18th, it will be in the main Sanctuary from 10:15 to 11:15 am.

I was flying home from Mexico yesterday, and we hit a momentary turbulence which made the plane buck a bit. My imagination kicked into high gear, and I imagined the pilot coming on the loud speaker announcing that the jet engines had quit, and we were going to crash. But we were fairly close to the Pacific Ocean so they were going to try and reach the ocean before all elevation was lost, because the chance of survival was about 10% greater with a powerless landing on water rather than land. There was WiFi on the plane so I quickly googled “time to crash powerless jet at 30,000 feet,” and it said about 8 minutes.

So, our plane is losing altitude rapidly, and the probability of living is close to zero. I have 8 minutes, what am I going to think about? Am I going to feel remorse over my sins, my lack of accomplishments, or am I going to feel excited about my soon entry into the presence of God and the glory I will experience beyond comprehension? I imagined that most people in the plane would be screaming hysterically. Would I be filled with fear or would I have a strong peace because of my confidence that I would see Jesus in a few minutes? Would I attempt to share the gospel quickly with people around me? I could yell as loud as I could that I had the answer to getting into heaven so listen carefully and follow my instructions otherwise you are going to die in a few minutes and go straight to hell. I wondered if anyone would listen.

I was startled out of my private movie when a real voice came over the loud speaker and announced that we would be landing in a few minutes, I guessed it would be about 8 minutes! I prayed silently right then thanking the Lord for my faith, the confidence that it gave me, the peace, the strength, and the freedom from fear that were mine because of the Holy Spirit living in me, because I was a follower of Jesus.

I thought of the verses I had recently memorized from Philippians, “my citizenship is in heaven, from where I eagerly wait for my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

In Philippians Paul says, “join in following my example.” Leadership is not about title or position it is about the amount of influence you have on the people around you. Do people who know you well change their behavior, their opinions, and their values to be more inline with you in these areas? The more people act like you, believe what you believe, and become like you in their values the stronger your leadership.

This power to influence people is called charisma, it is called magnetism, and it is called giftedness, but what it is more than anything else is God’s power working through a person to influence another person to change, to grow, to accomplish. That power of God is given to those who meet certain qualifications, and when they do God uses them. I teach a leadership class each year to men and to ladies. I am not teaching the skill of leadership, but I am teaching what God requires of us in the way of behavior and character if He is going to give us His power. God works through and uses certain kinds of people. In the case of David He called it, “a man after my own heart”. Paul told Timothy, his prodigy that if he would become a certain kind of person than God would declare him to be “a golden vessel, set apart, useful to the master, prepared for every good work.”

I have identified some key character traits and behavior patterns that God promises to bless and use. I teach these principles in my “Leadership Class” and those who get it and change their behavior accordingly become leaders because they start influencing others around them, some dramatically so.

Being a person who positively influences others is very rewarding. Join me in my leadership class and learn what God blesses, values, and uses to accomplish His will in the lives of other people. Ladies leadership is Sunday morning at 8:00 am, and Men’s Leadership is Saturday nights at 5:30 pm and Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm.

Many mornings when I do a quick read of the news on my iPad I will say, “I don’t see anything about a bunch of people who have disappeared, the rapture must not have happened, so we didn’t get left behind!” Patty just rolls her eyes at me, and humors my attempt at eschatological humor.

One of the discussions that comes up with followers of Jesus Christ is, “does the rapture take place before, in the middle of, or at the end of the Tribulation?” As a believer in Jesus that is a pretty serious question because it is also asking the question, “do Christians go through the tribulation.” If you read the description of the Tribulation in the last book in the Bible, Revelation you will quickly come to the realization that those seven years are a hundred times worse than now. Then it will be a “mark” on the back of our hand or on our forehead instead of a face mask that everyone is expected to have, and instead of getting scolded, or fined, or catching COVID, we will be killed if we don’t comply. The bad thing about agreeing to receive the “Mark” is that the consequence is far worse than being killed.

Revelation 14:9-11 Then another angel . . . saying with a loud voice, “If anyone . . .receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone . . . forever and ever; they have no rest day and night,

I am going to start teaching a class on Eschatology, Sunday mornings, October 18th, at 9:15 to 10:15 am. We will look at what the Bible says about the Rapture, the Tribulation, the Kingdom of God, and many other very important topics. We will look at what are some of the “signs of the times,” and what they suggest about when Jesus is coming back.

1 Peter 2:17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.

Acts 23:2-5 The high priest Ananias commanded those standing beside Paul to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?” But the bystanders said, “Do you revile God’s high priest?” And Paul said, “I was not aware, brethren, that he was high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

President Obama was my least favorite President of those I have lived under, but it was a rare week that I didn’t pray for him and ask God to give him wisdom, to fill him with a knowledge of God’s will, and to protect him from the evil one. Our Governor, Kate Brown is my least favorite politician of all kinds, for all time, but I pray for her as well. I disagree with most of the decisions of our governor, I have written many emails to her office communicating that fact, and I signed the petition trying to recall her. If Joe Biden gets elected President he will take over top spot, or rather bottom spot from both Obama and Kate Brown.

I get in discussions, like most of you, with other people, both verbal and in writing about the politics of the day and my view about things, and some of them get fairly heated. But I try very hard to remember that there is a right way and a wrong way to talk about a leader of our country. A wrong way is to make jokes about them that are mean, rude, and insulting, though they may be funny. A wrong way is to call them derogatory names, though when you hear someone else do it, you smile. I have blown my commitment to honor the leaders of our country occasionally, but I try to remember to confess it to the Lord as sin and repent of ever doing it again before going to sleep.

I have read so many crude comments, heard so many very rude jokes, and seen so many stupid cartoons about the fly that landed on Vice President Pence’s head during the debate in the last day. Really, what does that have to do with anything. If I did that, what would that say about my character, my maturity, and my fear of the Lord.

Matthew 7:12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Five of us left JBC this morning at 3:00 am for the airport where we boarded a plane for Los Angeles and then after a two hour layover we boarded another plane to Cabo San Lucas and then a three hour car ride to La Paz where I sit now in a motel writing this blog at 9:30 pm. Tomorrow morning we get up at 5:30 am, eat breakfast at 6:00 am and then leave to go fishing all day in the sea of Cortez which is on the East side of Baja. We will be fishing for Dorado, Tuna, Sailfish, Marlin, Wahoo, Pargo, Bonita, and a variety of bottom fish. My goal is to bring a hundred pounds of an assortment of frozen fish back with me on the airplane. I am thinking that will be an easy goal to meet from what I see on the videos of fishing in this place, but we will see. I have had similar goals in the past and caught nothing, that is fishing, and I love it, good days and bad.

In the Gospel of Luke Jesus asked Peter how fishing was, and he responded by saying, “ we fished all night, we fished hard, and caught nothing.” Jesus said, “go back out and try again,” they did and caught so many fish their nets began to tear. I don’t think that is a norm for fishing that I can claim for myself, even though I am a Pastor. It would be really cool if I could claim that blessing for myself, I really would be the greatest fisherman in the world.

I am going to start teaching a “Doctrine and Theology” class on October 18th from 9:15 to 10:15 am, between the two Sunday morning services at JBC. Last year I taught on the Trinity, Creation and Evolution, and on Hermeneutics. This year I am going to teach on Eschatology or prophecy because of the times we are living in. As you study the various theological topics you discover that there are a lot of different interpretations of the Bible and many different views. The main reason for the great variety is because of the poor job that people do in hermeneutics, that is in deciding what the author of any given book in the Bible meant when he wrote what he did. There are principles or rules of hermeneutics that must be followed if a proper understanding of a particular passage of scripture is to be arrived at. A basic rule is, “there is one, and only one interpretation of any given passage of the Bible, and it has to do with the people that the passage was originally written to.” We, you and I, make applications of the primary interpretation to our own life, but only after we discover the one, true interpretation. God told Adam and Eve that they could eat from any tree in the garden except one. So is there a tree in my life that I shouldn’t eat from? What is the application to our life from that event in the Bible. The application I have made is, “When God gives a clear command, don’t break it, otherwise there will be serious consequences both for yourself and possibly for many others in your life.”

I invite you to join me in my class as we talk about the Tribulation, the rapture, the second coming, the anti-Christ, the Kingdom, and a bunch more information about the coming days that you will find very interesting.

I spend several hours almost every evening sitting in my recliner reading, writing, or praying. While I am in my chair Roscoe our new dog is usually sitting on the footstool between my legs. He is a cross between a Jack Russel Terrier and a miniature poodle and they are called a Jack a Poo. So far he has turned out to be a really good dog with a great disposition, very smart and easy to train, and the grand kids all think he is wonderful. He just had his 6 month birthday, I don’t know how much bigger he is going to get, he weighs about 15 lbs now, and they usually grow to be about 25 lbs. Even though he isn’t very big I think he will be a good watch dog. He regularly hears something outside and perks up his head and starts to growl. When I get up and check it out it is usually the neighbors cat, and how he hears that cat is amazing to me. I would think it would be annoying to be able to hear that well.

The word dog is in the Bible 15 times and the earliest was when Israel was leaving slavery in Egypt and crossing the Red Sea 3,500 years ago so people have had dogs for a long time.

Roscoe is the ultimate picture of devotion to his master. Wherever I go he wants to go, and he follows me without hesitation. If he is sound asleep in his bed and I get up to go outside for something he is immediately up and at my side. If I go out and work on something in my shop he lays down, not far away and watches everything I do, hardly ever taking his eyes off of me. The ultimate reward is a scratch on the head, and a “good boy,” he practically wiggles out of his skin in joy.

Psalms 123:1-2 To You I lift up my eyes,
O You who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the Lord our God,

When Jesus was being interrogated by Pontus Pilot, pilot responded to Jesus by saying to Him, “What is truth?” The Pharisees, the political party that had all the power in Jesus day were desperate to get rid of Jesus and they brought all kinds of false accusations against Jesus to Pilot to try and get Him crucified. Pilot was responsible to try and sort through the all the conflicting information and determine what was true, and in the process in frustration uttered those famous words, “what is truth?”

Today in the political scene, and with the media there is a ton on conflicting information, and everyone is declaring that everyone else who disagrees with them is a liar. The only thing that people in authority get called more than a “racist” is a liar. We who watch the news often cry out in frustration voicing the same words of pilot from 2000 years ago, “what is truth?”

As Christians it is more important than ever to read the Bible everyday. The Bible is the Word of God and it is the truth about everything.

2 Samuel 7:28 Now, O Lord God, You are God, and Your words are truth.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

It is important for us to understand that the devil and his demons are the ultimate source of all lies.

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

1 Timothy 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,

Jesus declared in John 8 that if we knew the truth it would make free. Èè

When I was about 25 years old and still farming, I wrote out these verses in a little notebook that fit in my shirt pocket, and I read them several times everyday. I was prompted to do it because of a sermon a visiting missionary that our church helped support gave in a Sunday morning service. The sermon was on the power of our words. With our lips we worship God, tell our wife we love her, share the good news of the gospel with a lost person, and encourage someone so that they choose to serve the Lord. But with those same lips we grumble about hard times, gossip about our neighbor, hurt a person terribly with our angry words, and speak or yell curse words.

The words that the missionary spoke that convicted me deeply was, “God is always testing people to see who He can use to do His work and accomplish great things for Him, and a primary test are the words that come out of our mouth.”

As a 25 year old I wanted desperately to serve the Lord and accomplish a lot for Him, but I knew that the words that often came out of my mouth would disqualify me from doing much that mattered for Him. As the missionary put it, “I was going to be on God’s bench instead of in the game,” and I had ridden the bench a lot as a High School basketball player, and I hated it. I did not want to ride the bench in the game of life. So, I wrote out those verses and read them over and over again until the power of God’s Word began to change me from the inside out. Occasionally I get them out and read them some more when I hear myself talking rude, or mean, or gossiping, or slandering, or complaining. I like being in the game.