Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | April 11, 2023

God’s Third Intervention, A New Creation!

The Mystery of the Church Age.

God had revealed two major prophetic events to the Old Testament prophets; their Messiah would come both as a suffering servant, and a triumphant King. In Isaiah 53, for example, the Messiah is described as the suffering servant; while in Isaiah 9 the Messiah is a victorious king.

These were two prophetic mountain tops that concealed a long valley in between, the age of the church; a time when God would introduce an entirely new creation, mankind indwelt by God! Although the prophets could see the two mountain tops, the valley in between them was hidden from view!

The valley held a mystery, the mystery of the church; a collection of individuals from every nation who would join in one body to serve the Lord Jesus Christ forever! We are now in year 1,990 of this hidden age.

This new creation would be available to all who would simply receive the free gift of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior regardless of nationality or ethnicity!

The implementation of this new plan required the completion of the First Advent by the Lord Jesus Christ including the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of the Lord back to heaven, which would then open the door to a completely new ministry by God, the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit Comes to Create a New Human Being

Our Lord is speaking to his disciples in John 16:5-15 and tells them of the importance of his going to the Father so the Holy Spirit can be sent to them.

5 “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”

Jesus tells them it is to their advantage that he go away so he might send the Holy Spirit to them to minister. I suspect their initial reaction was doubt, how could Jesus’ absence ever be better? While Jesus reveals the general ministry of the Holy Spirit to the world, he does not, at this point, explain the fundamental change the Holy Spirit will bring to mankind!

At the Feast of Pentecost on May 25, AD33, the Holy Spirit would indwell human beings for the fist time after resurrecting their dead spirits and awakening them to eternal life in Jesus Christ! Jesus makes a reference to this in John 14:16-17 where it is written:

“16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

At Pentecost, that is exactly what happened; the Holy Spirit joined with human Christians in an unbreakable bond that would never change. The Holy Spirit would join with every human being that received Jesus Christ as Savior and was born again into the family of God!

That union, between God and man, continues to this day! When you received Jesus Christ as your Savior, the Holy Spirit had come into you, resurrected your dead spirit, and took up an unbreakable presence in you that is eternal! You became a new creation as described in 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 where it is written:

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

While the church age had a specific time when it began, it will close at a future time when the church age is ended by the removal of all born again Christians from the face of the earth. This event has a specific future date that is only known by the Father!

Next time, the church’s work is finished and the church is called home.

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | April 6, 2023

Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the Beginning of the End!

The End of What?

This Friday is the day we observe Good Friday and while that is the day we remember the crucifixion, death and burial of our Lord Jesus Christ; Easter Sunday is the occasion we celebrate His resurrection from the dead.

A historic change in man’s relationship to God had occurred; by God’s grace, the barrier between God and man that had been created by Adam’s deliberate sin of disobedience had been removed by the death of our Lord, the Second Adam from above.

You may recall in Genesis 2:15-17

“15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

Unfortunately Adam choose to disobey God and when he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he, and all of humanity present and future died in Adam. As I’ve observed before, that means that you and I and every human born of a human father are born spiritually dead. It is the sin of Adam that created the barrier between God and man and the primary reason the Lord Jesus Christ suffered death as our kinsman-redeemer.

The Tearing of the Curtain on Good Friday

God gave us a symbol of the removal of this barrier when, at the time of the crucifixion, the curtain between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies in Herod’s temple was torn from the top to the bottom; signifying that access to God was now open to mankind through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

By his death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus Christ had paid the penalty for all human sin for all time; sin had been removed as a barrier between God and man. As hard as it may be to imagine, personal sin is no longer the issue; the only remaining issue requiring resolution is receiving the forgiveness of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and God.

The Good News

Because of the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, the end had come for sin as a barrier between God and man. This is effectively expressed in 1 John 2:1-2 where it is written:

“2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”

The church can now proclaim a message of hope, a message of reconciliation and good news for a suffering humanity:

BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND YOU WILL BE SAVED!

(First published April 3, 2015)

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | April 4, 2023

50,000 Views and Counting!

Monday Morning I Got a Big Surprise!

First of all, I didn’t know anyone was keeping track so you can imagine my surprise when I got this message from WordPress! It is very rewarding to realize that a 90 year old great-grandfather can still be used by the Lord in spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ!

In 2011, I had been reflecting on my genealogy and the sad fact I had no idea what my father and two grandfathers thought about the deeper spiritual facts that impact us all. I felt a sense of loss in knowing that I would never have the opportunity, this side of heaven, to have deeper conversations with them on spiritual matters!

My beloved wife had been suggesting I write a blog, but I objected that I was not a writer and had no business trying to write a blog. Then, I made a decision that a blog might be a way to communicate with my family the deeper thoughts I had about the Christian life in a format that could be available to them when they were ready and it was convenient for them. In July of 2011, I published my first blog.

My wife and I have been blessed by the opportunity to study the Bible under many notable teachers. The first that immediately comes to mind is Brother Burkes, pastor of Bay View Baptist Church in Norfolk, Virginia. The second was Bob Thieme, pastor of Berachah Church in Houston. Last, but certainly not least, was Brother John Bisagno, at Houston’s First Baptist Church.

In addition, after I retired from work, I was able to return to Dallas Theological Seminary, after a gap of 45 years, finish my work there and graduate in May of 2009.

My wife and I have enjoyed our lives as servants of the Lord Jesus Christ and rejoice in the rich blessings of a Holy Spirit filled life. We both recognize that we have been richly blessed by the Lord as each of us sought to faithfully serve our Lord and be faithful stewards of his word to our family and to others as we were enabled by the Lord.

My blog is written to share the blessings available to God’s children as they faithfully implement the word of God as a daily guide to life. My wife and I can testify that God’s way is the best way! I fully endorse 1 Timothy 2:15

“Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.”

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | March 30, 2023

Palm Sunday, 2023 and its Enormous Significance!

April 2nd, 2023 is Palm Sunday

This Sunday we observe and remember the entry of the Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem where He had come to die. This week was to be a terrible time of testing for the Jewish nation although they had no idea of the great significance of what was to happen from that point on.

The exact date for this momentous event had been prophesied by the Prophet Daniel and that prophecy, among many others, was being perfectly fulfilled by our Lord as He rode into the city. I would say it was certain that among the tens of thousands present that day, only the Lord understood the staggeringly wondrous truths that were being put into place as that amazing prophecy was fulfilled.

Four hundred and eighty-three years had passed since the beginning of the third and final group of three 490-year periods that had been given to Israel by God. The second group had ended with the Babylonian captivity and now the third group of 490 years had been put on hold at year 483 as also foretold by Daniel; I have written on this in some detail in a three-part series, The Seventy Weeks of Daniel.

Israel was being set aside for an unspecified number of years while a mystery was revealed, the mystery of the church and the age of grace, the age in which we now live. The remaining 7 years promised to Israel would resume at a point yet future when Israel would sign a covenant with the Antichrist.

The Entry into Jerusalem

Contrary to what we customarily celebrate, the entry was on a Monday, not a Sunday and it was not triumphal for our Lord; it was a time of great sadness as evidenced by Luke 19:41-42 where it is written,

“As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.”

The particular Greek word used for wept (ἔκλαυσεν) means a loud wracking sob; our Lord’s body was shaken by His sobs as He entered Jerusalem. He is likely the only one who understood the enormity of what was happening; the Jewish nation was being temporarily set aside, their rejection of their Messiah was going to yield great suffering for centuries to come. Their judgment would be severe and is still in force today.

It is likely, in His omniscience, that Jesus saw the Jerusalem of 70 AD as destroyed by Titus and could also see the bodies of some of those welcoming Him as they lay silent in death. This was a momentous, tragic moment that was being recognized only by the Lord and the thought of what was going to befall Jerusalem and His people reduced Him to wracking sobs. I suspect His disciples were totally confused by His reaction to the sight of Jerusalem and the excited crowds.

From the Shephard’s Notes.com

There is another extremely touching aspect of our Lord’s entering Jerusalem on Nisan 10. If we examine Exodus 12:3 we read,

“Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month (Nisan) each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.”

This was part of the instructions given to Israel on the occasion of the first Passover in Egypt. Traditionally, the family would select a perfect lamb and place it on display in front of their dwelling so all could see they were offering the Lord their very best.

God’s Passover Lamb put on display

On March 30, AD 33, the 10th of Nisan, the Father put His Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world on display for all Jerusalem to see that the Father was offering them His very best. (In 2023 we are in year 5783 according to the Jewish calendar and the 10th of Nisan will be Saturday, April 1st.)

After the passing of that day, Israel had been set aside for an undetermined number of years. Today we are at year 1,990 and still counting as Israel continues to suffer judgments until the return of the Lord they rejected.

The countdown clock on the remaining seven years of Israel’s last 490 years will recommence when Israel signs a covenant agreement with the Antichrist; this event and not the rapture of the church will be the trigger that starts their final countdown and the beginning of the Tribulation.

While this was an amazing week, filled with suffering and anguish for our Lord and judgment for Israel, it was the reason our Lord took on human form; that was necessary that He might die for our sins. The moment of triumph was coming soon, the following week our Lord would rise from the dead having perfectly paid the price of our redemption.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:1-4

(First published March 28, 2015, updated and revised)

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | March 6, 2023

We, as Christians, Live Under God’s Shield of Protection!

First of All, Who and What we Really Are!

A Satanic priority is to conceal who and what we really are; if the truth were widely understood and believed, then the world would be greatly changed! The basic truth of the matter is; we are eternal, spiritual beings created in the image of God! There will never be a time when we do not exist in some form somewhere.

It has pleased God to place us initially in a temporary container made of this earth; this container, our human bodies, are short-term affairs, referred to in the Bible as tents which have been cursed by God for Adam’s disobedience, and will not accompany us on our future travels.

The Bible provides a brief historic summary of how we got here, where we’ve been and where we’re going. It also reveals the plans God has for us are unalterable and inevitable. We discover, from the Bible, there is one race of humankind that now exists in two forms; those spiritually alive and those spiritually dead.

Those spiritually alive have received life by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior; those spiritually dead remain under the death curse that resulted from Adam’s disobedience to God’s command. Ethnic distinctions are meaningless Satanic deceptions; we are all one race descended from Adam through Noah!

God’s First Intervention, the Great Flood

History shows that God deals dramatically and decisively when he chooses to intervene in the affairs of mankind. The Bible is filled with instances in the past and in the future when God steps in with great power and drama!

In Matthew 24:36-39 it is written:

36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

The Lord Jesus Christ tells of a time when life was proceeding in a normal fashion and suddenly there was a massive change introduced by God; something that had never happened before started happening, water, pouring from the sky and monstrous torrents of water shooting miles up from the ground and flooding the earth.

For one thousand, six hundred and fifty-six years the ground had been watered by a mist that went up for the earth: “6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.” Genesis 2:6 Now, something was happening that defied the imagination.

Suddenly, the world as it had been known, was changing in a very dangerous way; earthquakes and volcanic eruptions were everywhere as the water started rising and wouldn’t stop. This would continue until every living creature on the face of the earth had drowned.

God’s Shield of Protection!

Although the world’s judgment would be severe; God, in his grace, had chosen some to protect from that judgment. In Genesis 6:5-14, the situation is explained:

“5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

13 And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.”

It is easy to imagine the ridicule and laughter that must have been generated by a man building a massive boat on dry land and likely telling of something that had never, in the history of mankind, happened before. There must have been some moments of doubt when animals of all sorts started making their way into this massive boat with no visible guidance or motivation; Noah was putting on quite a show!

The Bible does not reveal how many were watching the show nor how they reacted when the unimaginable started to happen; water started falling from the sky for the first time! Genesis 7 summarizes what happens next as a cataclysm of truly Biblical proportions begins to unfold for the terrified left outside the Ark.

God’s Second Intervention, the First Advent

As a further manifestation of God’s grace, God determined to send His Son to earth to take on human form and be born of a virgin so he might die as the payment for the sins of the world. In addition, after the successful completion of his task, the Son would return to heaven and God, the Holy Spirit would come to earth to indwell all those who received salvation by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.

God had hidden from the Old Testament prophets a new, secret development, the formation of a new entity called the church. All receiving Jesus Christ as Savior, would be given new spiritual life and joined, by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, into one spiritual body called the church.

This is where we find ourselves today, the church is almost 1,990 years old; having begun at Pentecost in 33 AD. At the First Advent, God had set Israel aside for an unrevealed number of years but had promised them an additional 7 years in the last days. I have written more on that in a three-part series that starts with; “The Seventy Weeks of Daniel”

Once Israel’s last seven years begins, the church will be gone, God does not mix the church and Israel. Israel had been set aside on March 30, AD 33 while the church didn’t come into existence until May 25, AD 33.

Next time, God’s Third Intervention, the New Creation.

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | February 27, 2023

Ninety Years Old (and Counting)!

While not as sonorous as 100 years old, 90 years old has a certain ring of its own.

A Chocolate Birthday Cake for my Ninetieth!

At the insistence of our daughter, Karen, our family celebrated my 90th birthday with a party at our house. It was a truly wonderful occasion with our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren in attendance! The great-grandchildren, running and playing made it a noisy, active, thoroughly joyous event!

Our house, which is usually rather quiet, was filled with the excited laughter and screams of little children playing; bringing back memories of past years when our children and grandchildren provided the excitement. Since we have lived in that same house for almost 48 years, our grandchildren can remember when they were the little ones playing on the floor; now their children are playing in the same rooms!

As a young man, I never had thoughts of being 90 years old; my life was too full of people, places and past-times to let such thoughts even momentarily drift through my mind.

There had been two older men in my youth that influenced my perceptions of being old; my mother’s father, Dave, and my father’s father, Bob. My name, Robert David Bower came from them; since Bob and Dave were already taken, I got Robert David. I was impressed by their age and appearance and thought of them as being really old.

In retrospect, I do not think of them as all that old; Bob died when he was 73 and Dave died when he was 74; for me, that is almost ancient history!

My parents divorced when I was 2, so I have very few memories of my father being an influencer in my life. He died in a car wreck when he was 69.

No Plan for the Future

I decided to retire when I was 71 years old; there were changes in the wind that suggested a change in my situation was timely. By God’s grace, I was in a financial situation that permitted me to consider retirement as an option so I retired in September of 2004.

I had no idea what I would do after I retired; I had always had some sort of job since I was in junior high and was living on my own and fully supporting myself by the time I was 18. It was going to take some adjusting to not think of going to work and doing something.

It really didn’t matter as the Lord, in his grace, had already planned my retirement and would reveal his plans to me at the appointed time. I can say, with great enthusiasm, that the years of my retirement have been gloriously rewarding and filled with unexpected opportunities and challenges!

Building on a Solid Foundation

My wife and I got married while we were still children, at least legally we were children; she was 17 and I was 19 and we decided we would finish growing up together. I had been living in a furnished room and she spent too much time worrying about me so we figured it would be easier on both of us if we lived closer together.

Now, over 70 years later, that arrangement is still working for both of us. I have written more on that in a 2-part series that starts with: “A Husband’s Perspective on Building a Successful Christian Marriage.”

Our marriage has served as the foundation for my life and I continually thank and praise the Lord for his grace in giving me his servant, Adele, to be my wife! Our love for each other has continued to grow each day and has provided the necessary component to make our marriage the happy adventure it has become.

I continue to welcome the future, knowing my times are in the Lord’s hands!

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | February 20, 2023

Is a Great Awakening Possible in 2023?

Revival at Asbury University Continues!

Are we witnessing the beginning of another “Great Awakening” in 2023? All over the world we are seeing evidence of a moving of the Holy Spirit in the lives of individuals. This appears to be a manifestation of God’s grace to a world desperately in need of repentance!

The very thought of a wide-spread revival brings tears to my eyes; I love the thought of the Holy Spirit turning people to the Lord Jesus Christ on a massive scale! It is surely possible if the Lord has decided to provide an opportunity to let the Holy Spirit call lost souls to repentance.

A Prayer for Revival

Holy Father, as your children, we rejoice in you and your faithfulness to all who love you and call you Father. We acknowledge your unfailing faithfulness to us in spite of our failures and sinful behavior.

As individuals and as a nation, we have sinned against you and your holy righteousness; nationally we have turned our backs on you, denied you, and deliberately violated your holy commands.

We are worthy of your judgment by our sinful actions but humbly seek your forgiveness and restoration. We are truly thankful for the work of the Holy Spirit that we see around the world, and ask for more grace that many may turn from wickedness and seek restoration by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior!

We know you loved the world and sent the Lord Jesus Christ to pay for the sins of the world by dying on the cross and rising from the grave. Please further extend your love by sending your Holy Spirit to awaken the dead spirits of those turning from their sinful ways and seeking the deliverance to be found in Jesus Christ.

We ask this in Jesus name, amen!

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | February 13, 2023

What If?

The Chinese Spy Balloon Had Carried one or More Hydrogen Bombs?

A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Montana, US, February 1, 2023 in this picture obtained from social media. (Chase Doak/via Reuters) The Indian Express, February 6, 2023

There has been a lot of angry dialog between China and the United States about the purpose of the balloon that recently drifted over the United States. Those charged with the safety of the people of the United States had absolutely no idea what the payload that balloon was carrying might actually be!

Numerous articles have appeared expressing concern this may have been a trial run for a future EMP attack on the USA, I have listed two below;

Dry run: Balloons called top ‘delivery platform’ for nuclear EMP attack

Washington Examiner

Expert: Chinese Balloon Could Be Dry Run to Deliver Nuclear EMP Device

Newsmax

I have found it rather fascinating to note this possibility has not been referenced by our government representatives; it would appear this should be considered a significant possibility and worthy of a proper response from our government!

If this thought occurred to me and others, it certainly should have occurred to those charged with our national defense!

At 60,000 feet, the balloon was much lower than the typical altitude referenced in most articles on the dangers of an EMP. The balloon had an altitude of around 11 miles while the optimal altitude for an EMP would be between 20 and 200 miles (1,056,000 feet) above the surface of the earth.

I’m confident the Chinese have the necessary technology to use the payload as a launch pad for one or more small rockets capable of lifting hydrogen bombs to the 200 mile altitude.

“Starfish Prime”

NPR published an article on July 1, 2010 on the detonation in space of a hydrogen bomb.

“The Americans launched their first atomic nuclear tests above the Earth’s atmosphere in 1958. Atom bombs had little effect on the magnetosphere, but the hydrogen bomb of July 9, 1962, did. Code-named “Starfish Prime” by the military, it literally created an artificial extension of the Van Allen belts that could be seen across the Pacific Ocean, from Hawaii to New Zealand.”

A Very Scary Light Show: Exploding H-Bombs In Space

July 1, 2010 4:01 PM ET

Heard on All Things Considered

Robert Krulwich

Hydrogen bomb blast 250 miles into space over the Pacific Ocean, July 9, 1962 from NPR

View from Hawaii

From ThoughtCo by Anne Marie Helmenstine

All of the light seen in the photos above are from the explosion of the 1.4 megaton H-bomb. The test was at an altitude of 250 miles, around 20 miles southwest of Hawaii, at around 2 AM.

Johnston Island, the launch site, is a small atoll owned by the United States, and is located around 825 miles southwest of Honolulu. The EMP damaged electrical systems in Hawaii.

More information on an EMP is available here:

Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) – What You Need to Know

By August Neverman, August 23, 2022, “Common Sense Home”

It certainly appears to have been a dereliction of duty to have failed to shoot down the balloon as soon as it entered the air space of the United States. In light of the potential dangers involved, let us hope our government exercises greater caution next time.

An EMP over the United States, at an optimal altitude, would devastate this country and return it to 19th century living conditions for an extended period of time! Small wonder the United States doesn’t appear in Bible prophecy!

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | February 6, 2023

If You Really Wanted to Destroy the United States, Then . . .

(The following article, by Victor Davis Hanson, expresses with great clarity the situation we face today!)

“It would be hard to imagine any planned agenda to destroy America that would have been as injurious as what we already suffered the last two years.

By Victor Davis Hanson December 6, 2022

Also published in American Greatness Wed. November 30, 2022 

First, you would surrender our prior energy independence.

Reduce new gas and oil leases on federal lands to the lowest levels of any president in history. Cut back production at precisely the time the world is emerging from a two-year lockdown with pent-up consumer demand.

Make war on coal and nuclear power. Drain the strategic petroleum reserve to make the pain for consumers more bearable for midterm election advantage.

Cancel the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil and gas field. Block pipelines like the Keystone oil pipeline and the Constitution natural gas line.

Overregulate and demonize frackers and horizontal drillers. Ensure there is less investment for their exploration and production.

Make use of internal combustion engines or fossil fuel power generation prohibitively expensive. Achieve a green oil-dependency along the lines of contemporary Europe.

Second, print trillions of dollars in new currency as the lockdowns end, demand rises, and consumers are already saturated with COVID-19 subsidies. Keep interest rates low, well below the rate of inflation, as you print more money. Ensure that passbook holders earn no interest at the very time prices skyrocket to the highest per annum level in 40 years.

“Spread the wealth” by sending money to those who already have enough, while making it less valuable for those deemed to have too much. Ensure runaway high prices to wean the middle class off its consumerism and supposedly to inspire them to buy less junk they don’t need. Damn the rich in the open and in the abstract, court them in the concrete and secret of darkness.

Third, end America’s physical boundaries. Render it an amorphous people and anywhere space. End any vestigial difference between a citizen and resident. Up the current nearly 50 million who were not born in the United States—27 percent of California’s population—to 100 million and more by allowing 3 million illegal aliens to enter per year.

Fourth, destroy the public trust in its elections. Render Election Day irrelevant. Make proper auditing of 110 million mail-in/early ballots impossible. Normalize ballot harvesting and curing.

Urge leftist billionaires to infuse their riches to “absorb” the work of state registrars in key precincts to ensure the correct “turn-out.”

Blast as “election denialists,” “insurrectionists,” and “democracy destroyers” anyone who objects to these radical ballot changes, neither passed by the U.S. Congress nor by state legislators. Weaponize the FBI, CIA, and Department of Justice.

Fifth, redefine crime as one rich man’s crime, another poor man’s necessity.

Let those who need “things” exercise their entitlement to them. Rewrite or ignore laws to exempt the oppressed who take, or do, what they want as atonement for past systemic racism and oppression.

Six, junk the ossified idea of a melting pot and multiracial society united by common American values and ideals. Instead, identify individuals by their superficial appearance. Seek to be a victim and monetize your claims against perceived victimizers. Call anyone a “racist” who resists.

Encourage each tribe, defined by common race, ethnic, gender, or sexual orientation affinities, to band together to oppose the monolithic “white privilege” majority. Encourage social and tribal tensions. Racially discriminate to end discrimination.

Greenlight statue toppling, name changing, boycotting, cancel culturing, ostracizing, and Trotskyizing. Erase the past, control the present, and create a new American person for the future.

Seven, render the United States just one of many nations abroad. Abandon Afghanistan in shame. Leave behind thousands of loyal Afghan allies, billions of dollars in equipment, a billion-dollar embassy, and the largest air base in central Asia. Appease the theocracy to reenter the Iran nuclear deal.

Beg enemies like Venezuela, Russia, and Iran to pump more oil when it is politically expedient for us to have abundant supplies—oil that we have in abundance but won’t produce. Discourage friends like Guinea from producing more energy and cancel allies’ energy projects like the EastMed pipeline.

Trash but then beg Saudi Arabia to pump more oil right before the midterms for domestic political advantage.

Eight, neuter the First Amendment. Enlist Silicon Valley monopolies to silence unwanted free speech while using Big Tech’s mega profits to warp elections. Declare free expression “hate speech.” Criminalize contrarian social media.

Nine, demonize half the country as semi-fascists, un-Americans, insurrectionists, and even potential domestic terrorists. Try to change inconvenient ancient rules: seek to pack the court, end the filibuster, junk the Electoral College, and bring in two more states.

Twice impeach a president who tried to stand in your way. Try him when he is an emeritus president and private citizen. Raid his home. Seek to indict a future rival to the current president.

Ten, never mention the origins of the COVID virus. Never blame China for the release of SARS-CoV-2 virus. Exempt investigations of U.S. health officials who subsidized Chinese gain-of-function research. Ignore the Bill of Rights to mandate vaccinations, mask wearing, and quarantines.

We have done all of the above. It would be hard to imagine any planned agenda to destroy America that would have been as injurious as what we already suffered the last two years.”

Victor Davis Hanson is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and a Member of the Board of Advisors for both the Independent Institute as well as its quarterly journal, The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy.

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Posted by: davidbowerkingwood | January 23, 2023

The Battle in Progress and You!

The Battle for the Souls of the Fallen Race of Adam

There is no neutral ground, you cannot think of yourself as a non-combatant; you are fully committed to this war by reason of your birth! You are either a soldier in God’s army or Satan’s army; those are the only two options! The only way to switch armies is to receive Jesus Christ as Savior; then you are born-again into the family of God and enrolled in God’s army for the duration of the war!

As Christians, we have joined a battle that has been in progress for thousands of years, but only after a profoundly significant change had taken place. On May 25, 33 AD, God created an entirely new form of human, a human eternally indwelt by God, the Holy Spirit. All who received Jesus Christ as Savior, were restored to spiritual life, born-again into the family of God and eternally indwelt by God, the Holy Spirit.

From that point on to this very day, the earth is populated by two distinctly different types of human beings; those born again with living spirits and eternally indwelt by God, the Holy Spirit, and those born of Adam, spiritually dead and under the control of a fallen sin nature.

Race is Irrelevant!

The only point of division is reception of Jesus Christ as Savior, there is no other; racism is nothing more than a Satanic deception! Those promoting racism are serving Satanic objectives in this ancient spiritual battle! I have written more on this in “Racism, Satanic Deception in Action.”

Directly because of the First Advent and the saving work of Jesus Christ, those born of Adam can receive Jesus Christ as Savior by faith alone, be born again into the family of God, given a living spirit and eternally indwelt by God, the Holy Spirit.

This is a battle for the souls of mankind and God’s army has been given it’s marching orders; in Matthew 28:18-20 it is written:

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Our marching orders are very clear, we have a specific objective, make disciples, baptize them and teach them to obey everything God has commanded us. We must remember flesh and blood is not the enemy!

Spiritual Carnage

The death and destruction produced by this spiritual war does not resemble the results of a typical human war; there are no bombed out villages, no mass destruction of large areas, no burned out tanks along the side of the road, nothing like that at all! Instead we have a more subtle carnage which affects the souls and spirits of mankind.

The Bible describes this kind of destruction in Galatians 5:19-21

“19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Any casual examination of the media will reveal an abundance of this sort of thing; this is the carnage being produced by the spiritual war. The greatest danger is the long-range impact of the consequences of this war. While cities can be rebuilt, souls, lost to Satan, will join Satan in the Lake of Fire for all eternity.

The Combatants

The major combatants in the spiritual war are not visible to humans; I suspect things are happening in the spiritual realm that would be overwhelming to humans if they were visible. The angelic creation is divided into two factions, the angels of God and the fallen angels who follow Satan. This information alone, moves the discussion infinitely beyond my comprehension.

Angels and Demons

While the Bible reveals very little about this conflict, we are given brief references to what has taken place before the creation of mankind. I have written more on this in “To the Soldiers in the Spiritual War” The angels of Satan are referred to as demons; one group of demons has been confined to the Abyss but will be released during the Tribulation. The balance of the demons are active in the world today, although limited by the power of God, the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit

During this Age of Grace, the Holy Spirit is restraining the forces of Satan, as bad as things are today, at some point in the future they will get dramatically worse! In 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 we read of the restraining ministry of the Holy Spirit:

7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

The restraining ministry of the Holy Spirit will stop when the church is removed at the Rapture, which brings the Age of Grace to a close. From that point on to the Second Advent of the Lord Jesus Christ, things will get really deadly! The Book of Revelation reveals some of what will take place during the Tribulation, the last seven years given to Israel.

While we live in the Age of Grace, the forces of Satan are kept in check to some degree. Demonic activity is contained by the power of the Holy Spirit but still being manifested even if not visible. By far, the greatest challenge is the sin nature that occupies every human being. Without the indwelling Holy Spirit, the sin nature can dominate the children of Adam; we are seeing the results of the sin nature’s activities in the news today.

Christian Soldiers

Christians today are fighting in the front lines of this war; we are engaged in the hand-to-hand combat “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

I find it interesting to note the Greek word for sword used in Ephesians 6:17; μάχαιρα, transliterated machaira which was the famous Roman short sword used in New Testament times by the Roman army. This sword was designed for close combat and was very effective in the hands of a trained soldier!

You may recall that Jesus, when tempted by Satan, used the Bible to defeat Satan in the wilderness. The word of God is powerful; in Hebrews 4:12 it is described:

“12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

The word used here for sword is from the same Greek word, transliterated machaira! The Bible is our machaira!

We are warned of the importance of putting on the whole armor of God; no other armor will serve us in this kind of combat! The Bible is our only offensive weapon!

The signs of the times would suggest the Age of Grace is coming to a close. Should that be the case, earth-shattering change is coming soon. Only God knows the exact timing but when God initiates the change, things will happen quickly; the world will never again be the same.

This is the time to make sure you’re on the right side of the cross! Receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Join the Army of God!

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