If you want wisdom find some wise people and listen to them. In the midst of all the racism accusations taking place now I have found a number of black people who are very wise, intelligent, communicate well and are believers and followers of Jesus. I have been listening and learning from them. Try listening to some of these wise people on You Tube.

If you want to listen to the ultimate in foolishness, stupidity, and deception, then listen to the media.

Condoleezza Rice, David J Harris Jr, Candance Owens, Dr Ben Carson. Go to YouTube and put their name in ”search” and you will find many speeches, interviews, and podcasts by them. What they say is wise.

The media has become the ultimate source of demonically driven lies, stupidity, and divisiveness. If you regularly listen or read the garbage that is being poured out into our country today through mainstream media you will become confused, depressed, and ultimately a fool just like them.

Proverbs 13:20
He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

God gives great joy in spite of circumstances and events. He gives an incomprehensible peace that takes away all anxiety, fretting, and worry. He gives His strength to manage life well, and to carry out all responsibilities successfully. God loves to give to His children what they need if they ask.

The average Christian’s prayer life is very weak, meaning it won’t result in much joy, peace, and strength; God won’t do much in response to their prayers. Let me suggest some things that will increase the power of our praying, and increase the volume of joy, peace, and strength into our life.

2. Increase the frequency of our praying.

The Number one suggestion yesterday was to increase our intimacy with God through the discipline of regular prayer. Spending time with God in a regular time of undistracted, focused conversation with God. The closer we are with God the more power we have with Him in our prayers to Him. The suggestion was to have a regular date with God at the same time and place every day even for 15 minutes.

Number two suggestion is to pray all day long. Prayers that last a few seconds, usually in our thoughts, prompted by a personal need or the observed need or problems of others.

When I am feeling weary I come to Jesus and ask for strength. When I am feeling discouraged I come to Jesus and I ask for His joy. When I am feeling anxious I come to Jesus and ask for peace. When someone asks me a question that is important and I don’t know the answer I come to Jesus and ask for wisdom. when I drop a screw while working on a project I come to Jesus and ask Him to help me find it. When I see someone struggling in life I intercede for them. When I see someone sinning or making a poor choice in life I pray and ask God to convict them, and to deliver them from the devil. When I am fishing I ask God to help me to catch a fish. All day long every problem, every question, every fear, every encounter with another person, every news article, every feeling whether positive, negative, physical or emotional prompts a prayer.

I am also careful to thank God all day long for every blessing, for answers to my myriad of prayers all day long.

Psalms 103:1-2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;

Most believers don’t practice this kind of praying without ceasing because as weariness, discouragement, temptation, anxiety comes into their life; they simply don’t think about praying and asking God for help.

Train yourself to come to Jesus all day long. Memorize Matthew 11:28 and meditate on it, think about it all-day long, especially first thing in the morning and just before you fall asleep.

God gives great joy in spite of circumstances and events. He gives an incomprehensible peace that takes away all anxiety, fretting, and worry. He gives His strength to manage life well, and to carry out all responsibilities successfully. The time that we spend with God in prayer is what brings joy, peace, and strength into our life.

The average Christian’s prayer life is very weak, meaning it won’t result in much joy, peace, and strength; God won’t do much in response to their prayers. Let me suggest some things that will increase the power of our praying, and increase the volume of joy, peace, and strength into our life.

1. Increase the intimacy of our praying.

Patty and I live in the same house, we go to the same church, we usually eat at the same table, at the same time, we often ride together in the same car, and we sleep in the same bed. Does all that guarantee that we will have intimate conversations with each other? We can say ”Hi” as we pass in the house, we can exchange information about appointments and events during chance encounters, we can say, ”I love you” as we come and go. Talking is not the same as conversation, and just because we are married doesn’t mean our conversations will be intimate.

For me to have an intimate conversation with Patty requires that I focus on her only, and not be distracted by doing something else at the same time or listening to someone else, or even thinking about something unrelated to what we are discussing. Intimate conversation requires discipline, I have to discipline my ears, my eyes, and my mind.

Having an intimate conversation with God is difficult because we can’t see Him, we can’t touch Him, and we can’t hear Him, at least not in the way I hear Patty. Which means that the discipline required to have an intimate conversation with God is greater, much greater than it takes to have an intimate conversation with Patty. This discipline or the lack of it is what separates powerful prayers from weak.

You can increase the intimacy of your prayer time with God by;

– having a date with God for the purpose of talking to Him. Have a specific place and time as a regular routine when you focus on God alone in your thoughts and words.

– making a goal for a specific amount of time. Some people resist this suggestion thinking that it makes our time with God mechanical, legalistic, and obligatory. Making a goal for 15 minutes or whatever we want, is designed to overcome our forgetfulness, our business, and our being distracted by a hundred other things in our life. Making a goal is a commitment to seek God that He loves and honors.

James 5:16 The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

2 Timothy 3:1-4 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

”Brutal, haters of good” my, oh my, sounds like we are there to me. ”Last Days” are difficult and they will become increasingly more difficult.

The key two words are”Realize this.” The point God is communicating to us in this passage is, ”dont be surprised when things get bad, and than worse.” Why did God tell us this 2000 years ago? Maybe so that we would live our lives free of fear, and anxiety. Maybe so we would live our lives with confidence and strength. Maybe so we would live our lives with purpose and mission.

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.”

The devil and his demons are immeasurably evil, and their goal is to deceive, tempt, and control people to be evil as well. Once this starts it accelerates at a faster and faster pace, getting worse by the day and by the hour.

Philippians 3:18-19
For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.

My purpose and mission is in Daniel 12:3
”Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

Daniel 12:9-10 ”Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand.

Those who have insight will understand, they won’t wring their hands and be dismayed, because the worse it gets the closer we are to Jesus coming. God is in charge.

What is right? What is wrong? What is truth? What is false? What is good? What is bad? What is holy? What is evil?

Everyone has an opinion. I have an opinion. Who’s is right? My heart is easily deceived. My heart has a definite bent toward error.

There is a God, I know that, everybody knows that, He put that awareness in us. He created everything that exists. He is infinitely powerful. He is infinitely wise. He is infinitely good.

God created us in His image. He created us to be with Him, to know Him, to enjoy Him, and to love Him. He has communicated to us what is truth. He has communicated to us what is right and good. He has over the years orchastrated the writing of the Bible, His Word.

Psalms 19:7-8 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

I want to know what is right and how to act right, so I read the Bible every day. I have a goal of reading 12 chapters every day, not to impress, but to know what is true. I study the Bible every day, attempting to decern what God wants me to know about Him, what His perfect will is for my life, and to know wisdom. I spend 30 minutes every day memorizing key portions of the Bible so I can meditate on it, so it will penetrate my heart and change my character to be like God’s.

Proverbs 1:7 Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 10:21 fools die for lack of understanding.

Proverbs 10:23 Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool

Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes

Proverbs 13:16 a fool displays folly.

Proverbs 14:9 Fools mock at sin

Proverbs 14:16 a fool is arrogant and careless.

Proverbs 17:7 Excellent speech is not fitting for a fool,

Proverbs 18:2 A fool does not delight in understanding, But only in revealing his own mind.

Proverbs 18:6 A fool’s lips bring strife,

Proverbs 18:7 A fool’s mouth is his ruin, And his lips are the snare of his soul.

Proverbs 20:3 Keeping away from strife is an honor for a man, But any fool will quarrel.

Proverbs 26:11 Like a dog that returns to its vomit
Is a fool who repeats his folly.

Proverbs 29:9 When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man, The foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.

Proverbs 29:11 A fool always loses his temper,

Titus 3:9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.

Avoid foolish controversies, strife, and disputes about politics, pandemics, riots, and shutdowns, for they are unprofitable and worthless.

It is so easy to get into a foolish controversy with others in these times. It is so easy just to get into a group rant about any number of things. It is so easy to get drawn into these ”discussions,” but the truth is they are ”unprofitable and worthless.”

The warning in the Bible is to avoid foolish controversies, so I will. I will review and remake this commitment daily.

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This last Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, a group of 11 of us from JBC rafted down the ”Wild and Scenic” part of the Rogue River. It was a wonderful time of being in God’s creation, enjoying the challenge of navigating class IV rapids without capsizing, relaxing by the river as we camped each night, and having great fellowship with each other.

Daniel 3:4-7
Then the herald loudly proclaimed: “To you the command is given, O peoples, nations and men of every language, that at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up. But whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire.” Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery, bagpipe and all kinds of music, all the peoples, nations and men of every language fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

Why did King Nebuchadnezzar do this? Why did he issue this command?

Daniel 3:13 Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king.

Daniel 3:19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with wrath, and his facial expression was altered toward Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. He answered by giving orders to heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.

Why did Nebuchadnezzar get so angry when these three men refused to obey his command?

When I was growing up on our family dairy, we had a Jersey Bull, and he was very mean. If you had to go into the field that he was in you needed to keep track of where he was because he would ram into you with his head and try to stomp you to death. Do you think I ever tried to reason with him, or send him to a bull obedience school? No, he was a mean bull, that is what he was, there was no changing that.

There are some people who are like that, being in control of other people, telling them what to do, ordering them around, being in charge, that desire controls their life. And if someone resists their control the desire to conquer them and make them submit amplifies this internal obsession a hundred fold.

We can see this “Jersey Bull” in a lot of politicians today. Rules and regulations made that are nonsense, and clearly not about people’s welfare or health.

The bulk of the media are not about communicating news, they are about controlling the culture and the people in that culture.

The fact is that we all have some “Jersey Bull” in us. It shows up at work, in our marriages, as parents over our kids, and in our churches. Most of the conflicts we have with others is what we could call, ”Jersey Bull fights.”

Mark 10:42-45
Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

I am leaving in the morning with a group from our church who are going to raft down the wild and scenic section of the Rogue River. I bought a 15 foot raft several months ago but have not yet had it in the water so this will be our maiden voyage together. I have been watching a bunch of You Tube videos each night while riding my stationary bike, of people going over Rainey Falls and other rapids on the Rogue, many who flip, and have gotten myself into an adrenaline frenzy and we haven’t even left yet! I thoroughly enjoy an exciting adventure, and I am really looking forward to this trip. This trip isn’t near what the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon is going to be, that this same group is doing in August, but this one will be a nice warmup.

I won’t have any cell reception on the river so this will be my last blog until Friday night. I plan on having some cool pictures and exciting stories to blog about.

This is Memorial Day and I watched some videos of U.S. soldiers riding in a landing craft heading to Omaha beach in the Normandy invasion with artillery shells blowing up all around them. As I watched I wondered what they were thinking and feeling. What the probability of dying in a few minutes prompted them to picture in their head, and how they managed the fear they were feeling so that they were able to courageously charge off the boat in the teeth of continuous machine gun fire.

My Dad was in many sea battles during World War II, with torpedo planes, kamikaze planes, and bombers all around the ships he was on, trying to sink them. He had 4 different ships sunk under him during the war. I wonder how my adrenaline rush going through a class IV rapids will compare with what my Dad experienced when he felt the shudder of the aircraft carrier he was on when it had just been hit by a torpedo.

“Dangerous, dumb and weak,” is what was written by O’Rourke, a former Texas Congressman in response to the Governor of Texas opening up the State. That is what we at Jefferson Baptist Church do not want to do. I have some definite, and strong opinions about this whole coronavirus shut down thing, and many of you have opinions just as strong as mine in the opposite direction. I will not call your opinions “dangerous, dumb, and weak, because it would be rude and very unloving. Pastor Mike, the Elders, the rest of the staff and I are working hard at maintaining unity as we navigate through the next month as we open up JBC to meeting as a church family again with inspiring worship, motivational preaching, and Biblical fellowship. If we did it my way we would never have shut down in the first place, we would have kept meeting, worshiping, and teaching like we always did, and probably made the news, but that would have been an adventure with lots of blog material! But one of the character traits that God loves and blesses is deference, which is limiting my opinions, personal rights, and beliefs in order to not offend others and maintain unity and peace. It is impossible to do that all the time for sure, but I can certainly make the effort. If I make the effort, it would be cool if you would do the same. If we move too fast for you, you have the option of staying home and watching our services on your computer. If you do that, I won’t roll my eyes, shake my head, and imply in any way that you are dangerous, dumb or weak. If we do move faster than you would if you were leading, it will be great if you would make your personal choices that you are comfortable with, but not imply in any way that we are reckless and dumb. Through these days we want to do God’s will, glorify Him, and love one another. God blesses unity much more than methods. Those of you who have views like mine are not motivated by safety and health for yourself or others, or by the conviction that you need to be submissive to the governing authorities, you are motivated by the desire for justice. You feel strongly that the Constitution is being violated and that the Biblical mandate to gather as a church is being infringed upon. Your battle cry is that of Peter in Acts 4:19 when he was ordered by the authorities to stop preaching, “But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge’ “. You are like a race horse behind one of those starting gates, bucking and chafing against the restraints, wanting to run free. You will probably feel like we are being too slow and be tempted to accuse us of being wimpy leaders. Deference will be more patience, self control, and trusting in God’s sovereignty than anything else. It is saying to yourself, “I will give this thing a little more time trusting God to work, and in the meantime I won’t grumble, complain, or call Governor Brown Dangerous, dumb, or weak”, though I personally would like to. I will choose to do this because I value unity and the relationships that I have with you all, that I don’t want damaged.